The Range Boss by Seltzer Charles Alden

Author:Seltzer, Charles Alden [Seltzer, Charles Alden]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-02-28T00:56:41.578000+00:00

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CHAPTER XVI

TWO ARE TAUGHT LESSONS

There was one other thing that Ruth did not know--the rage that dwelt in Randerson's heart against Chavis and Kester. He had shown no indication of it when she had related to him the story of her adventure with the men, nor did he mention it to any of his associates. There had been a time in his life when he would have brought the men to a quick and final accounting, for their offense was one that the laws governing human conduct in this country would not condone; but he was not the man he had been before the coming of Ruth; her views on the taking of human life--no matter what the provocation--were barriers that effectively restrained his desires.

Yet he could not permit Kester and Chavis to think they could repeat the offense with impunity. That would be an indication of impotence, of servile yielding to the feminine edict that had already gone forth, and behind which Chavis and his men were even now hiding--the decree of the Flying W owner that there should be no taking of human life. His lips twisted crookedly as on the morning of the day following his adventure with Ruth and the recreant pony he mounted his own animal and rode away from the outfit without telling any of them where he was going. Two or three hours later, in a little basin near the plateau where Ruth had overheard the men talking, Chavis and Kester were watching the crooked smile; their own faces as pale as Randerson's, their breath swelling their lungs as the threat of impending violence assailed them; their muscles rippling and cringing in momentary expectation of the rapid movement they expected--and dreaded; their hearts laboring and pounding. For they saw in the face of this man who had brought his pony to a halt within ten feet of them a decision to adhere to the principles that had governed him all his days, and they knew that a woman's order would not stay the retributive impulse that was gleaming in his eyes.

"We'll get to an understandin' before we quit here," he said, his cold, alert eyes roving over them. "You've made one break, an' you're gettin' out of it because my boss ain't dead stuck on attendin' funerals. I reckon you know I ain't got no such nice scruples, an' a funeral more or less won't set so awful heavy on my conscience. There's goin' to be more mourners requisitioned in this country damned sudden if women ain't goin' to be allowed range rights. I ain't passin' around no more warnin's, an' you two is talkin' mighty sudden or the mourners will be yowlin'. What's the verdict?"

Chavis sighed. "We wasn't meanin' no harm," he apologized, some color coming into his face again.

"An' you?" Randerson's level look confused Kester.

"I ain't travelin' that trail no more," he promised, his eyes shifting. He knew as well as Chavis that it was the only way. A

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