Jasper frowned. “That ain’t the way I figure it at all. If I hadn’t made you known to Mister Caster, then Mister Mull would not be coming down here. You paid for one and are getting two. An honest man would see that.”
Longarm picked up his beer and sipped at it thoughtfully. After a moment he said, “Well, I don’t want to cheat you, Jasper, and I don’t want folks thinking that I have. But I can’t see paying no more than fifty dollars for Mull. You got to admit I done most of that on my own. Hell, do you even know James Mull? I bet you never laid eyes on the man.”
Jasper looked outraged. “Why, damned if that be so!” he said heatedly. “I’ve met up with him twenty times. I-” He paused. “Well, maybe not that many, but I damn shore know the man. Real skinny kind of feller like Raymond, though he ain’t built nowhere the way Raymond is. Tall and skinny. An’ always wears a suit with a vest. And a derby hat. Dresses like a real big shot.”
Longarm yawned. “Well,” he said, “I’ll give you fifty for him. You reckon that to be fair? He wouldn’t even be coming it weren’t for me.”
Jasper turned the matter over in his mind. “Well,” he said finally, “I would reckon him being the boss of Mister Caster, he’d fetch a better price. Say seventy-five.”
Now Longarm frowned. “Seventy-five? For a man I caused to be fetched? Hell, Jasper, I’m beginning to think this town is full of thieves. If I give you the seventy-five it has got to be with the understanding that you don’t tell nobody about this little talk we had. I don’t want it getting around that I’m such an easy touch.”
Jasper looked insulted. “Say, maybe you didn’t hear me when I said folks tell me things when they don’t want them getting around. I can keep a secret better than any man alive.”
“You’ll tell Raymond. He’s your partner. You’ll tell him.”
“Raymond ain’t my partner in everything,” Jasper said staunchly. “Just some little business we got.”
“Yeah, you’ll tell Raymond and Raymond will tell Raoul and Raoul will tell Caster. And Caster will jump my ass and say the deal is off because I let the cat out of the bag. Ain’t nobody supposed to know that Mull is coming.”
“Well, they won’t hear it from me,” Jasper assured him. “No, sir.”
Longarm pursed his lips and appeared to be thinking. “Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll give you the seventy-five, but I ain’t going to give it to You until Mull actually steps down off the train.”
Jasper started to protest. “Now, what’s that got to do with me? I ain’t got no say about him actually coming or not.”
“if Mull doesn’t come, Jasper, then I ain’t getting two for one, am I?”
Jasper thought about it for a moment, frowning, working it around until it finally made sense to him. “No, I mean yeah,” he said uncertainly. “I reckon you’re right. But how am I gonna get my money? You’ll be with Caster.”
“Tell you what—My foreman, the man who’s gathering the cattle for me, he’ll be in town in the next couple of days. Soon as he gets here, Mull is supposed to come. Raoul San Diego will more than likely be the one that sends the telegram. You’ll be in the know about that, won’t you?”
Jasper looked uncertain, but he said, “I reckon I would. I can make it my bid’ness to be in the know.”
“Then there you have it. I’ll send my foreman along with you to the depot. You point out Mull to him and he’ll have instructions to hand you the money.”
Jasper peered closely at Longarm. “You wouldn’t be trying to trick me, would you?”
Longarm gave him a patient look. “Jasper, I know who your friends are. A pair of brothers who are supposed to be worse than the smallpox. I don’t figure to get myself in bad with them over a matter of seventy-five dollars. I ain’t a gunfighter and neither is the man gathering the cattle. We’re just trying to do some business.”
The doubt vanished from Jasper White’s face. “Well, so long as you understand how matters stand.” He stood up. “When are yore cattle due in?”
Longarm shrugged. “Any day now. The sooner the better, so far as I’m concerned.”
“Well, our business is finished. I point out Mister James Mull, and yore man gives me seventy-five dollars. Is that right?”
“You better point out the right one,” Longarm warned. “The man you described could be a ribbon salesman calling on general merchandise stores. I ain’t paying no money for a ribbon drummer.”
Jasper was insulted. “Long,” he said, “I ain’t never cheated nobody on my facts and I ain’t goin’ to start with you, even if I do think you tried to pull a fast one on me. Nosir. If Mister Mull is on that train, he will be pointed out to yore foreman.”
Longarm shrugged and picked up his beer. “Then we got a deal, Mister White.” He raised his mug and watched Jasper nod curtly and walk out of the bar. After the man was gone Longarm called for another large whiskey, and then he sat back and began trying to figure out how they were going to succeed in carrying off an operation that was becoming more and more complicated. One thing he did need to do was get over to a bank and make arrangements for them to receive funds in his name. He didn’t know where he was going to get such funds, or more to the point, how he was going to get such funds, but he did know that arrangements had to be made to receive the money. But it was Saturday, and the clock on the wall behind the bar showed it to be half past noon. After finding out from the bartender that the local banks definitely closed at twelve noon, Longarm relaxed. That was one thing, at least, he didn’t have to worry about today. The banks were closed and he couldn’t do a thing about that. Matters would simply have to wait until Monday. He picked up his new whiskey and began sipping at it reflectively. Then a thought hit him. “What’s the biggest bank in town?” he asked the bartender.
The bartender shrugged. “First National of Laredo, I reckon. At least they claim to be.”
Longarm got up quickly, leaving two dollars on the table. “Is there still a train going north this afternoon?” he asked.
“Yeah, San Antonio Express. But it leaves at one o’clock. You ain’t got much time.”
“Oh, I ain’t going,” Longarm said. “Just seeing a friend off.”
He hurried out of the bar and began walking as fast as he could toward the depot. Once again he was breaking his vow against walking, but he didn’t see what he could do about it.
Chapter 7
It was a long hard trip. Longarm had to ride the train over a hundred miles before they got to a town that had a telegraph office, Hondo; a little village that existed because it had once been an important jumping-off place for herds that were trailing to the far north. Now it made its living off the railroad and such businesses and ranching as were in its vicinity.
But then, once Longarm had got the telegram off to Billy Vail with instructions about the money, he realized he’d have been better off going on to San Antonio because he was stuck in Hondo until the next southbound train came through, out of San Antonio, and that wasn’t due until two in the morning. At least in San Antonio there would have been some first-rate bars and a chance at a real poker game. His disgust almost knew no bounds when he finally found a game being played in a place that was half saloon and half feed store. The game was a nickle ante, quarter limit. He barely managed to choke out “No, thanks,” when he’d been invited to sit in.
In the end he’d taken a room at a rickety hotel and, armed with a bottle of whiskey had spent the time until two A.M. drinking and dozing and feeling bitter. He was bitter because, by rights, such a job should have been handled by Austin Davis. It was a chore for the junior member of the team. But Longarm had been afraid to wait until Davis showed up. There might not have been enough time to send him off on the train to a telegraph station and time for the money to be sent. Caster was too impatient, and Longarm had no intention of giving him any excuse to slip out of the noose, especially now that he knew James Mull was coming. He had telegraphed Billy to have five thousand dollars sent by wire to the First National Bank of Laredo, to be held for C. Long. He had not used his first name because of the nagging fear that someone would recognize it. Unlikely as that was, he didn’t see any point in taking a chance.