Green was up again at once and stood back, waiting, but Tarman lay there like a log, breathing heavily, but unconscious; the fight was finished! For a moment the onlookers gazed in amazed silence at the fallen giant, and then pandemonium broke loose. Blaynes, furious at the loss of his money and his baulked vengeance, was excitedly talking to the marshal, a point which Snap at once observed. It took but a minute to re-invest the victor with his gun-belt and discarded gear, and then the gunman whispered :
`They're hatchin' somethin'; make the back door.'
Almost unnoticed by the clamorous, wrangling crowd, Green, with Larry and Dirty, slid through the back entrance of the saloon and gained the hotel. Here, a little later, Snap and West joined them. The gunman was grinning.
`Blaynes was tryin' to get the marshal to arrest yu for disturbin' the peace, but he sorta re-considered the notion when I pointed out that he'd have to jail Tarman to, an' that same feller come alive again just in time to take in the argument, an' well, yu oughta heard him; I reckon Tonk knows all about hisself now.'
`Point is, what're yu goin' to do, Don?' asked Larry.
Green smiled rather lopsidedly at his friend. `I gotta bed here, an' I'm aimin' to occupy it a whole lot to-night,' he said. From this resolve all their arguments and entreaties failed to move him. Nor would he tell them anything regarding his future movements.
`It's mighty good o' yu boys to back me up, but I'm a lone wolf an' about as popular as a drink o' whisky at a temperance meeting; I ain't allowin' yu to get in worse than yu are. I'll be around, an' that's all I'm tellin' yu.'
With that they had to be content. But to Snap, when the other men had gone for the horses, he said, `Snap, how long have yu known Tarman?'
Despite his habitual command of self, the gunman gave a slight start of surprise, for such a question had been totally unexpected. He was silent for a moment and then he said, `That's one o' the things I can't tell yu, Green.'
It was the answer the puncher had looked for and he accepned it without further argument; right or wrong, the little man had his own code of honour, and Green was not the kind to ask him no go back on it.
As they rode home to the ranch the two younger cowboys were full of the fight, and the bulge they would have on those of the outfit who had not seen it. Snap was thoughtful, pondering on the last question.
`He's a noticin' cuss, for shore,' he unconsciously said aloud. `He's a human clam, but Gosh! he can fight,' cried Dirty. `All the same, I dunno as we oughtta left him.'
`Reckon he can take care of himself,' reassured Lunt, and smiled at a thought he did not impart to his companions.
Chapter XV
GREEN was down early next morning and having dealt with a satisfying breakfast, was watching the trail which led to the Y Z and wondering if Larry had managed to deliver the message he had charged him with. Presently his doubts were ended as he saw a familiar figure loping into the town. Noreen pulled up as the lounging puncher's hat swept from his head. The marks of the battle were plain to see, but there was a sardonic grin on his face as he looked up at her, and amusement in his tone as he said:
`I shore am a regular trouble-hunter, eh?'
`Larry said you wanted to see me,' she evaded.
`He can say that any time an' be tellin' the truth,' smiled the man. Then, dropping into gravity, he added, `I'm wantin' yu to do me a kindness. It's about Blue--I dunno what to do with him; he's too good a hoss for the job I got in hand, I figured if yu would accept him' he paused awkwardly, and then, `Yu see, I'd know he was in good hands.'
The girl's face paled a little as she realised his meaning, and at the same time it thrilled her to think that he wished her to have the animal he loved.
`You think you are in great danger?' she asked.
`Shucks, there I go a-scarin' yu most to death,' he said smilingly. `A puncher's always in danger, more or less. The trouble is I can't leave the hoss here, an' I got nowhere to take him.'
`I'll keep him for you at the ranch,' she said. `But you will have to get him there.'
He shook his head. `Yu don't know Blue,' he said. `Come along an' I'll introduce yu.'
At the hotel corral she dismounted and hitched her horse, while her companion undid the gate. The roan, with the several other occupants, promptly retreated to the far side of the enclosure. Green whistled and the roan pointed its ears but took no further notice. He whistled again, sharply, and the horse turned its head and then paced slowly towards him.
`Come here, yu old pirut; tryin' to play yu are a wild hoss again, eh?' admonished his master.
Reluctantly the animal came to his side, rolling a wicked eye on the girl. Green patted the sleek neck, pulled the quivering ears and then said: `Stroke his muzzle; he won't hurt yu.'
Little as she fancied the task, Noreen did as she was bid, and to her surprise the animal made no attempt to bite her, though its lip lifted to show the powerful teeth which could have crushed her slender wrist in an instant.
`Now feed him this,' the puncher said, slipping some pieces of sugar into her hand.
Noreen did so, and the horse took it daintily and appeared to lose its nervousness. The girl laughed as she said, `So horses are like their masters--it's a case of "Feed the brute."'
The cowboy laughed too. `That ain't quite so. I reckon they are more like ladies; yu gotta be properly introduced. Now he knows yu, yu can ride him.'
`Really?' cried Noreen.
`Shore thing,' replied Green confidently. `But yu will have to saddle him yoreself.'
He fetched her saddle and bridle, and the girl, wondering greatly, put them on the roan. Then she put her foot in the stirrup and swung up, fully expecting to be pitched headlong. But the roan, after the mildest attempt at a buck, settled down and trotted sedately round the corral. The girl cried out with delight; always she had wanted to ride this beautiful creature.
`It's just wonderful, but perhaps when you are not present--'
`No, he'll stay put, but don't let anybody else gamble with him. Yu can ride him back to the Y Z now, an' one o' the boys can fetch in yore pony. I'm shore obliged to yu for takin' him.'
`He'll be waiting for you when you come for him,' she said. `What are you going to do? Why do you have to stay here and run such risks?'
The thought that she cared what became of him sent a spasm of joy through his being, but he had his poker face on and with the gravity of an Indian he replied:
`I gotta job, an' I ain't the on'y one that's takin' risks. S'long, Blue, be a good little hoss, an' mebbe I'll come an' see yu again.'
He rubbed the twitching nostrils and the horse nuzzled his hand, snapping at it playfully. The girl, herself a horse-lover, divined what the parting meant.
`Of course you will come and see us both again,' she said. `And remember, he's still your horse.'
With a wave of her hand she rode out of the corral, and the man's eyes followed her. The approach of West cut short his meditations, and he looked up to find the one-time miner regarding him with patent disgust.
`Don't tell me yu've give that hoss away,' he said. `The owner o' this travellers' palace said he was yourn.'
`I've done that very thing,' smiled Green. `Had yore breakfast?'
`Breakfast don't look good to me this mornin',' was the rueful reply. `I reckon I must be sufferin' from what the educated sharps call the "aftermouth" o' the night before. If yo're sot on comin' back with me, I'm ready to make a start.'