Books: Happy Hawkins
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Robert Alexander Wason >> Happy Hawkins
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Bill Andrews he set up after a bit, with his hands on the ground,
bracin' himself while he was tryin' to recall the history of the few
precedin' moments. Dick looked down at him calmly an' said, "As soon
as you have apologized to Miss Judson you may come into the office
and we shall transact our business." Then he lifted his hat, whirled
on his heel, an 'stalked inside like as if he was a colonel.
Bill Andrews was purty tol'able low-spirited; but he handed out as
affectin' an excuse as he could dream up, and as soon as Barbie had
spoke her piece he slouched into the office purty consid'able
cargoed up with conflictin' emotions. I'd ruther shoot a man an' not
kill him, than to be the cause of makin' him look ridiculous before
a woman--that is, a revengeful sneak like what Bill Andrews was.
As soon as he an' Dick got through with their talk, an' it was a
purty tol'able lengthy confab at that, Bill Andrews went to the boss
an' tendered in his resignation. Cast Steel accepted it mighty
hearty, 'cause Barbie had just been callin' on him; an' that very
mornin' Dick made Pete Hanson foreman.
Next night the office safe was opened an' fifteen hundred dollars
was took. Every one thought right away of Bill Andrews, an' the ol'
man sent us out in pairs to scour the country. The' wasn't much
scourin' to be done, how-ever, 'cause we found Bill Andrews on the
next ranch, an' they was ready to swear 'at he hadn't left it all
night. The' wasn't no one else that any one felt like suspectin'.
Jabez wasn't the man to weep over upsettin' a can o' condensed, an'
purty soon the theft was forgot an' everything was runnin' along as
smooth as forty quarts o' joint-oil.
The ol' man kept dependin' more an' more on Dick, until finally Dick
got to signin' checks, orderin' all the supplies, an' takin' full
charge; while Jabez spent most of his time taggin' around after
Barbie. They was like a couple o' young children; but Barbie wasn't
quite so high-headed with Dick after the dog affair, an' they got to
ridin' together quite a bit themselves. Barbie was just as good
friends with me as ever; but I could see--any one could see--that
Jabez was willin' to call Dick a son-in-law just the minute that
Barbie was.
By the time he had been there a year Dick was the big head chief,
an' the ranch was boomin' along like a river steamboat. He allus got
the best of everything in the way of supplies, an' every laddie-buck
in the West knew of it; so 'at a Diamond Dot puncher didn't throw up
his job just for exercise. The' was a swarm o' white-faced calves,
an' about half of 'em wore other fellers' brands, which was a
receipt for a lot of fancy money, so 'at Jabez was as well satisfied
as the men; an' even Barbie had come to own up that Dick was the
fittin'est man in those parts. I could read every thought in her
head, an' it hurt me to think that at last I had dropped back to
second fiddle; but I could see that Dick had had chances that I
hadn't had, an'--an' I allus aim to play fair, so I took to ridin'
alone an' workin' harder than I was used to.
She could strum a guitar till you'd be willin' to swear it was the
heavenly harps of the Celustial Choir; an' she an' Dick used to loaf
around in the moonlight makin' melody 'at was worth goin' a good
long ways to hear. They sure made a tasty couple, an' all the boys
used to like to see 'em together. In fact, the whole Diamond Dot was
as match-makey as a quiltin' bee.
One moonlight night I'd been up to ol' Monody's grave, an' I came
walkin' back about half-past nine. It was more'n twelve years since
Ol' Monody had passed over, but it didn't seem that long. Just as I
turned a corner; I heard a laugh that seemed to float to me from a
long ways back in the past. It was Jim Jimison's laugh, an' as I
came around the corner of the house there he stood with his back to
me, talkin' to Barbie. "Well, for the Gee Whizz!" I cried. He
turned, an' it was Dick. We looked into each other's eyes a moment,
an' then I forced a laugh an' went on to the stallion stable, where
I sat down to puzzle it out.
It wasn't very long before Dick came to me an' held out his hand. I
took it, an' we gave an old-time grip. "I was wonderin' how long it
would be before you saw through me," he sez.
I got the moon in his face an' looked at him a long time. Of course
a dozen years and the beard made a lot of difference, but not near
all. When I'd left him, he was only a boy, a boy all the way
through,--looks, words, actions; while now he was a man an' a sizey
one at that. It ain't years alone that make any such change. I knew
in a minute that Jim had been through something that was mighty near
too narrow to get through. "Well," sez I, "what's the story?"
"You put me on my feet, Happy," sez he, "an' after you left I just
kept on goin'. I tended to my stuff, an' I improved it an' I took on
new ranges, an' I made it go, I sure made it go. Then the Exporters
Cattle Company got after me. My range was needed to fill a gap
between two o' their ranges, an' they tried to make me sell.
"I didn't want to sell, I was makin' money an' I was layin' it up;
and I wasn't ready to stop workin' at my age, so I fought back. I
didn't stand any show. There's a bunch o' these big companies that
are all the same, under different names, an' they fought me on the
ground an' on the railroads, an' at the stock yards; they tried to
turn my men again me; they had my stuff run onto their range, an'
then tried to prevent my gettin' it back. I didn't mind their open
warfare; but their underhanded ways drove me wild. One o' their
agents used to dog me around every time I'd go to town. He'd grin
an' ask me if I wasn't ready to sell out YET. I finally closed out
the cattle, an' started to raise only horses. One night my three
thorough-bred stallions had their throats cut, an' then next time I
went to town he came in when I was eatin' my supper, grinnin' as
usual, an' asked me if I thought raisin' hosses would pay.
"I knew what his game was an' tried my best to hold in, but I
couldn't help tellin' him that I didn't suppose it would pay quite
so well as hirin' out to murder hosses would. This was enough for
him; he called me everything he could lay tongue to, and when I rose
to my feet he pulled his gun. The other men in the room were
beginnin' to sneer at me, but I knew the consequences, and started
to leave. He grabbed me by the shoulder an' whirled me around. 'Git
down on your knees,' he sez, 'an' 'pologize to me.'
"That was my limit. My cup was nearly full of coffee, an' I dashed
the coffee in his face, hoping to get hold of his gun. But he jumped
back an' fired. He missed me, an' I hit him in the center of the
forehead with the coffee cup. It was big an' heavy, and it--killed
him. This was just what the bunch wanted; but in spite of their
precautions I got away, came north, and got into another business;
but that didn't suit either; so here I am, with the worst gang in
this country achin' to get track o' me."
"How long ago was this, Jim?" sez I.
"Call me Dick," sez he. "It was about four years ago now. I leased
my land for more'n enough to pay taxes, but I suppose it will all
blow up sometime, an' they'll get me in the end."
"I don't suppose the' 's any way to go back an' square it, is
there?" sez I.
"Hell, no!" he sez, bitter as death. "They own Texas."
"Haven't you any friends there who would swear it was self-defense?"
sez I.
"I've got plenty of friends there--that's how I got away; but they
don't dare to fight that cattle crowd in the open," sez he.
"Looks purty bad," sez I.
"It's rotten bad!" sez he. "But this is business all right. Whenever
I hear any one talk about the morals of business it drives me wild.
The' ain't any morals in business. The best it ever is, is straight
gamblin'--I say the BEST it ever is, is straight gamblin'"--Jim's
voice was gritty with wrath--"while at the worst," he went on, "it
stoops to murder, wholesale and retail, it ruins homes, it
manufactures thieves an' perjurers an'--" "You remind me of a feller
named Fergoson," sez I. "He said that at the best, business was
stealin'."
"I like him," sez Jim, or I suppose I better say Dick. "I like him.
You couldn't fool him with a lot o' pleasant names for things. He
dealt in the spirit of a deed. I like him."
It wasn't much peculiar that I hadn't recognized the boy. As he
talked, I could see the caged tiger glarin' out through his eyes,
an' I knew that something wild would happen if the bars ever broke.
"I'm mighty sorry, Dick," sez I.
"Oh, I ain't through with 'em yet. I'm not clear out of the game.
You don't need to think 'at they've broke me," sez he.
"I wasn't thinkin' o' you," I said in a low tone.
He drew in his breath, an' the noise he made was half way between a
sob an' a groan. "My God!" he said between set teeth. "Do you think
that I haven't carried that cross also? But I've changed a lot in
five years, an' they won't think of me at the Diamond Dot. Happy,
I've got a scheme for organizin' the cattlemen o' the Northwest to
fight that Texas crowd an' whip 'em out o' the business. I know the
game from A to Z, an' if I can just work it through without comin'
out in the open I can beat 'em."
"Mebbe," sez I, "but it's exposin' her to a mighty big risk."
"I'll never do that, whatever happens," sez he.
"As long as this Texas crime hangs over you, it hangs over her too,"
sez I, "an' as soon as your fight gets under way they'll turn your
record inside out, an' you know it."
He gripped his hands together an' punched a hole in the ground with
his heel, an' you could tell by his face that he was mighty sorry he
couldn't have picked out the face he'd have liked to have under his
heel instead of the ground. Finally he put his hand on my shoulder
an' sez, "Well, Happy, you allus did have the gift of hittin' the
nail on the head; an' I'll promise that no matter what comes up, I
won't do anything to risk the happiness of--of Barbie. You just
remember to keep on callin' me Dick, an' I reckon I'll be content to
let the revenge part go, an' just settle down with my head under
cover. They didn't remember me in the Chicago stock yards, an' you
didn't recognize me; so I suppose it's safe enough, if I just keep
quiet."
We shook hands, an' he went back to the house; but I could easy see
that he was troubled. I stayed out with the stars purty late that
night. It was clear an' bright an' peaceful when I looked up, but
when I tried to look ahead it seemed misty an' dark an' gloomy, so I
looked straight up for a long, long time; an' then when they soothed
me, as they allus do, I went to bed an' slept like a log.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A FRIENDLY GAME
About three days after this, a slick lookin' feller came ridin' in
about sun-down, an' of course they booked him for supper an' bed; a
stranger didn't want to expose himself to a meal at that outfit,
less'n he was in the mood to eat. He was a fine easy talker, an' he
had indoor hands too, an' one o' these smiles what is made to order;
what you might call a candidate's smile--a sort o' lightin' up in
honor o' the person bein' addressed. Barbie had a bit of a headache,
'cause her cinch had broke that mornin' while she was havin' a
little argument with a bad-actor; an' about eight o'clock she give
us the fare-you-well an' fluttered up to bed.
So the four of us--me, Dick, the stranger, an' ol' Jabez--sat there
smokin' seegars an' tellin' anecdotes. About nine Piker, which was
the name the stranger had handed in, sez, "Do you gentlemen ever
indulge in a little friendly game?"
Now Dick had never throwed a card in his life, to my knowin'. The
ol' man used to play some, but he was mighty choicy who he played
with; while I--well, o' course, I played. Dick didn't say anything
at first, but he give the stranger a long an' a curious look, as
though he was tryin' to place him. He looked so long that both me
an' the ol' man noticed it. "I don't care to play," sez Dick,
blowin' a ring o' smoke to the ceilin'.
The ol' man had been trottin' along without a break for a
consid'able of a stretch, an' the proposition looked amply
sufficient to him, so he sez pleasantly, "Well, now, boys, it
wouldn't be a bad way to spend the evenin'. We could make the stakes
small an' we could have a right sociable time together."
'Tain't altogether wise to jump hasty at another man's idee of size.
I had seen the ol' man sit in a game where steers was the ante an'
car-loads the limit; but at that time I thought I knew just a little
wee mite more about the game than any other man what played
straight, so I sez, "Well, I'll set in a while; but I don't care to
lose more'n a hundred dollars"; which was just what I'd saved out
for a little vacation I was ruminatin' about.
"Oh, we'll only play a quarter ante an' five dollar limit," sez
Jabez. "Come on, boys, clear the table an' let's get started."
Dick didn't seem to want to play at all, but after the ol' man had
coaxed him a little he drew up his chair an' we started in. The old
man's deck was purty tol'able careworn an' floppy, an' the stranger
sez, "I happen to have a couple o' new decks what have never been
opened. We'll open one in honor o' the occasion."
"This deck is good enough," sez Dick, an' he spoke purty harsh. As
me an' the ol' man looked up, our glances met an' we showed
surprise. Dick wasn't a bit like himself; but the stranger didn't
take no offense, he just smiled a bit careless an' put his cards on
the stand, sayin, "Well, I'll just leave 'em here handy, an' if we
decide to use 'em later we can open 'em up. For my part, I like a
new deck."
"So do I," sez the ol' man. "I'm sorry mine are so bum. I meant to
send for some new ones a long time ago, but I allus forgot it."
The stranger took out a healthy lookin' stack o' gold, Dick an'
Jabez did the same, an' my little squad o' yella fellers looked
purty tol'able squeezy. Dick was tremendous sober; his face was
pale, his eyes were hid away beneath his brows, an' kept dartin'
here an' there like the eyes of a hawk. Now for me, I allus have a
curious promonition when anything is goin' to happen, an' I began to
have it bad.
Still the longer we played the easier Dick got in his ways, an'
purty soon he was smilin' as open-faced as a dollar watch. We played
along nice an' gentle; my luck arrived early, an purty soon the
yella fellers begun to percalate in my direction. About half-past
ten Piker had to dig up some more funds, an' he sez, "It's gettin'
kind o' late, boys, let's raise the edge a bit. Hawkins there has
had all the luck so far, an' when it changes we ought to have a show
to get back our riskin's."
"All right," sez Jabez, "we'll double."
"The stakes suit me all right," sez Dick. "In fact, I'd ruther split
'em."
I was feelin' purty consid'able opulent myself, so I voted to
double.
"Three to one," sez Piker, "the stakes are doubled."
"The original agreement can't be changed durin' a game without the
unanimous consent of all the players," sez Dick, speakin' like a
judge; "but as the rest of you wish it, I'll give mine."
From that on the luck shifted. Two or three times I see a queer look
steal across the ol' man's face; but everything was out in the open,
as far as I could see. I played even Steven; but the wind shifted
plumb away from Jabez, an' he lost steady. Part of the time Dick
corraled the pots, an' part of the time me an' Piker provided
shelter for 'em: but no matter who won, the ol' man lost.
Twice he frowned purty serious, an' once I caught him givin' Dick a
queer hurt look. The ol' man hadn't a drop o' welcher blood in his
make-up; but cheatin' was spelled in mighty red letters to 'im. Dick
was smilin' now as sweet as a girl baby, an' makin' funny, joshin'
remarks, which was a new turn for him; but at the same time the' was
somethin' in his face that wasn't altogether pleasant.
When midnight arrived Dick an' Piker was each about two thousand
ahead, I was slidin' back to taw, an' the old man was payin' the
fiddler. We had doubled the edge again at eleven, an' were usin'
both the strange decks, changin' every few deals. Then the luck
began to settle to Dick. Two out of three times on his own deals,
an' every single time on Piker's deals, the devidends slid into
Dick's coffers, while I was growin' resigned to havin' had a good
run for my money. Jabez' face was drawn an' worried, which was
queer, 'cause he was allus a royal loser.
At last we had built up a four-story jack-pot, an' every feller's
face wore the take-off-your-hat-to-me smile. It was Dick's deal an'
we all held three cards except Jabez who had furnished openers. He
only wintered through a pair, but after he looked at his draw he
settled back to enjoy himself. I held three kings an' a brace o
trays. It looked to me as if that jack-pot belonged to Happy
Hawkins. The peculiar expression had wore off Jabez' face, an' his
eyes had a glad glint in 'em. I was only in for my table stakes, so
I didn't make much of a noise, nohow; but the other three kept
boostin' her up till it begun to look like a man's game all right.
"If you'll excuse the limit, I'd like to show my appreciation of
this little hand by bettin' a hundred on it," sez Piker.
"I'm willin'," sez Jabez, "an' if it goes, why, I'll see your
appreciation an' raise you five hundred." "I don't have any more
vote," sez I, "just enjoy yourselves."
"Oh, no, Happy," sez Dick, as serious as a hangman; "no matter if we
raise the edge every hand, you must vote on it each time. We must be
perfectly regular, you know, because this is merely a friendly
little game to pass away the evening, you remember. I shall make no
objections."
Jabez had slid deep into his chair, an' now he had a fierce scowl on
his face. "That was MY toe you was a-pressin'," he sez, lookin'
Piker between the eyes.
"I beg your pardon," sez Piker, laughin' easy; "I thought it was
Silv--I mean Whittington's. I wanted him to keep still until after
this hand was out. Then I'll be willin' to quit or go back to the
old limit, or keep right along with the lid off."
I glanced at Dick; an' talk about jerk-lightnin'! Well, I can't see
yet what kept Piker from gettin' scorched; but Jabez was in a good
humor again from lookin' at his royalty, so he turns to Dick an'
sez, "Now, Dick, Piker's company, you know, an' I reckon we'd better
humor him. What do you say?"
"Off goes the lid," sez Dick.
They bet around awhile longer until nearly all of Dick's money was
in the pot an' Jabez had a neat little pile of checks representin'
him. Then Dick bet his balance an' called. We all laid down with a
satisfied grin. Jabez had queens full on jacks, Piker had three
bullets an' a team o' ten-spots; Dick had a royal straight flush,
an' I had a nervous chill. Three aristocratic fulls an' a royal
straight! Nobody spoke, an' the money stayed where it was, in the
center of the table. Finally the of man sez, makin' an effort to
speak cordial, "Well, I've had enough for one evenin', I guess I'll
quit." "Now, boys," sez Dick, in a low, husky voice, "I don't
believe in gamblin'. I only went into this to be sociable, an' I
want you all to take your money back."
We sat an' looked at Dick with our eyes poppin' out, 'cause that
wasn't our way o' playin' the game in that neighborhood. Suddenly
the ol' man whirled an' glared at Piker. "What the hell do you mean
by pressin' my toe?" he growls between his set teeth. "This is the
fourth time you've done it to-night."
Piker seemed confused, an' mumbled an' stammered, an' couldn't
hardly speak at all. "It ain't my custom to play with strangers,"
sez Jabez, an' he was fast gettin' into the dangerous stage, "but
you are my guest. I won't take my money back, but if Dick is
willin', I'll write him a check for yours an' you can take your
condemned filthy gold an' get out o' here."
"I ain't askin' my money back," sez Piker. "I'm game, I am; but I
can't savvy this scheme o' dividin' up after the game." He paused a
second, an' then sez clear an' distinct, "This ain't exactly the way
'at Silver Dick used to play the game when he made a business of
it."
Piker leaned back an' stared at Dick in a sneerin' sort of way;
while me an' the ol' man stared at him with our eyes poppin' out.
Silver Dick, Silver Dick: every one in the West had heard of Silver
Dick. It didn't seem possible; but as me an' Jabez sat gazin' at
him, we knew 'at our Dick was Silver Dick the gambler, an' the
smoothest article, accordin' to reports, 'at ever threw a card. Dick
didn't say a word; just sat there with his face pale as a sheet, an'
his glitterin' black eyes dartin' flame at Piker's nasty grin.
"I see you don't recognize me with a full beard," sez Piker; "but
down at Laramie they called me Jo Denton. It was my cousin, Big
Brown, that you shot."
"Do you happen to know what I shot him for?" Dick's face was as hard
as marble, an' his voice was as cold as ice.
"I wasn't there at the time," sez Piker in an irritatin' voice, "but
I know that it was because he spoke about it bein' a little peculiar
that you held such wonderful good hands on your own deal."
Dick didn't make no reply, but he slipped his hand inside his shirt,
an' I knew he had his gun there.
"I say that this was the EXCUSE for your shootin';" Piker went on,
bent on gettin' all the trouble the' was; "but I allus believed,
myself, that it started over the woman you was keepin'."
Dick's gun flashed in the air; but quick as a wink ol' Cast Steel
knocked it up with his right hand, an' struck at Dick with his left.
The bullet crashed through the ceiling, an' Dick grabbed Jabez'
wrist at the same instant. Piker made a quick snap under the table,
a gun went off, an' the bullet tore through the slack o' Dick's vest
an' spinged into the wall behind him.
Then I kicked off my hobbles an' sailed in on my own hook. Dick had
allus been white to me--an' back in the old days he was the squarest
feller on earth--so I felt mightly relieved when I caught Piker in
the center of the forehead with a full left swing. It was a blow 'at
nobody didn't have no grounds to complain of. The chair flew over
backwards, Piker's feet made a lovely circle, an' his head tried to
insinuate itself into the mopboard. He remained quiet, an' I started
in to satisfy my curiosity.
"Stay where you are," commanded Dick, an' I stuck in my tracks. "No
man is allowed to doubt my deal without havin' something to remind
him of it. I ain't a-goin' to kill that snake now; but I do intend
to remove his trigger fingers."
Dick still held Jabez by a peculiar twist in the wrist 'at made the
ol' man wince a little; he held his gun ready, an' calmly sized up
Piker's hand, which was flattened out again the wall. I stood where
I was, an' the room was so quiet it hurt your ears.
A grin of wolfish joy came into Dick's face as he stood there with
his gun back of his head an' his thumb on the hammer--of course he
was a snap-shooter--these nervous fellers allus are. It seemed as if
we had all been in that same position for ages, when suddenly a
voice said, "Why, Dad, what's the matter?"
It was Barbie with her hair all rumpled up an' a loose gray wrapper
on. Dick dropped his hands to his side an' turned his face away;
while Jabez put his arm about her an' told her that we had had a
little mix-up but that it was all over now an' she must go back to
bed. She reared up an' vetoed the motion without parley; but the ol'
man finally convinced her, an' she agreed to go if we'd promise not
to stir up any more trouble. Me an' Jabez promised quick, but Dick
never said a word. She looked him in the face mighty beseechful, but
he wouldn't look at her; an' when he finally promised not to START
any more fuss his voice was so low you could hardly hear him.
She was pale as a ghost, an' Dick's voice made her all the more
suspicious. "I'll not go one step," she said at last, sinkin' down
in a chair; but Dick walked over to her an' asked her to step into
the next room with him a minute. They only talked together a few
moments, an' then we heard her give a stifled sob an' go back
upstairs. I never see such a change as had come over Jabez. His face
was drawn an' haggard like the face of a man lost in the desert
without water.
The time had come at last when another man stood between his
daughter--his greatest treasure on earth--an' himself. I remembered
what Friar Tuck had said about the time comin' when she'd be all
girl an' would stand before him with the questions of life in her
eyes, an' I pitied him, God knows I pitied him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CAST STEEL
Jabez had got the rope on himself when Dick came back, an' he spoke
to him in the voice of a father sayin' farewell to the son who had
gone wrong once too often. "I don't care nothin' about the money,
Dick," he said. "You'd 'a' been welcome to all I had; but I can't
forgive you about my little girl. You made her love you, you schemed
to do it, an' you came here with that end in view. I trusted you
from the ground up, but I can see a heap o' things now 'at I
wouldn't see before. I had a letter written from Bill Andrews
tellin' me 'at he had heard you brag 'at you intended to get holt o'
my money, an' that it would pay me to search you instead o'
suspectin' him--"
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