CHAPTER XX: EVIDENCECultus and Jane found an anxious group at the JK ranch. Bad News had brought Tommy Simpson, Ole Oleson, Sam Hawker, Archie Lee, Hank Norsh and Ed Brown to assist him in the search, and they were all sitting around the living-room, trying to figure out where to begin the search, when Cultus and Jane came in.Cultus had asked Jane not to mention finding the horse, and they had tied Amigo behind the stable.Bad News fairly exploded with relief when they came in. Jane went to her father, and he took her in his arms thankfully, while the crowd hurled questions at Cultus. But he didn’t need to tell it, because Jane was breathlessly explaining everything while the cowboys stood around, open-mouthed.“Do you mean to tell me that you found the Lost Trail?” asked her father.“I reckon it is,” grinned Cultus. “But I’ll bet it’ll never be any good to anybody now. That dynamite must have ruined a lot of it, and that trail won’t stand much ruinin’.”“Look at my elbows,” said Jane. “My toes are all worn off, too.”Bad News came around beside Cultus, his eyes serious.“What do yuh know about that note Blaze Nolan sent yuh?”“Doyouthink he sent me that note, Bad News?”“That’s what I’d like to know.”“Do you know of any reason why Blaze Nolan would try to kill me and Miss Kelton? And Blaze Nolan ain’t twins. Yuh must remember that two men were shootin’ at us.”“That’s right. We’ll investigate Padre Canyon to-morrow.”“That’ll be fine. I expect they’ll wait for yuh to show up.”“Who do yuh reckon set off the dynamite?” asked Hank North. “We heard that blast plumb down in Medicine Tree.”“I heard it here,” said Jim Kelton. “It was like thunder.”“I should think they might have heard it in Europe,” laughed Jane, hugging her father again, before she went to her room to doctor her feet.“Mr. Collins will stay here to-night, dad,” she said. “He needs some patching, too.”“He sure does and will,” said her father.The men accepted the food that the cook had been preparing, laughed over their coffee which had been prepared to cheer them on their search of Padre Canyon, and headed for town in far better spirits than they had when they came to the ranch.“What is yore verdict, Collins?” asked Jim Kelton, when they sat alone in the living-room.“Somebody has decided to put me out of the way,” smiled Cultus. “They almost made good to-day. They knew I liked Blaze Nolan, so they used him as the bait for their trap. We got out mighty lucky. In fact, we’re luckier than you can imagine. The stage was all set for a killin’, but somethin’ went wrong.”“Why put you out of the way, Collins?”“The man I came here after is a horse-thief and a murderer. I’m not sure who he is, yet. But he knows I’m after him. Kelton, the man who dynamited that trail, to-night, rode my stolen gray horse. He rode without a saddle, and the horse bucked him off when I whistled a certain signal. Yore daughter and me rode the horse from Padre Canyon to here, and he’s tied out behind yore stable right now.”“Well, that’s a remarkable thing! Where did the man go?”“Off in the brush.”“Do you suppose he was one of the men who tried to kill you?”“Quien sabe?”“Well, that’s sure queer. Collins, where do you suppose Blaze Nolan has gone? He is undoubtedly in the employ of Kendall Marsh, and I’m wondering if he didn’t go over the range on that Lost Trail. He could hide somewhere around Marshville indefinitely.”“I don’t think Blaze Nolan has ever left this valley.”“That’s a queer statement, Collins. Why should he stay here?”“He might not be able to get away.”“You mean he’s afraid to show himself?”“I can’t tell yuh just what I do mean. No, I’m not in cahoots with Blaze Nolan. I just figure he’s got the worst end of a deal, and I’d like to see him come out of it—clean.”“How could he come out of it clean?”Cultus eased back on the comfortable couch, squinting one eye as he looked at the ceiling.“Suppose,” he said slowly, “that Blaze Nolan never killed yore son?”The old man’s anger blazed up quickly.“That’s foolish, Collins.”“Sounds foolish to you,” corrected Cultus.“Sounds foolish to anybody who was here at that time. If you had been here and heard that trial and heard all that was said, and⸺”“The queer part was the disappearance of that girl,” interrupted Cultus. “Did you ever stop to consider that it was queer she wasn’t here to testify? Was there anybody to prove conclusively that yore son and Blaze Nolan fought over her?”“Alden Marsh testified to it.”“A drunken kid.”“The jury and the judge accepted his testimony.”“Did Blaze Nolan ever strike you as a man who would be engaged to a decent girl and then fight a gun battle with another man over a dance-hall girl?”“Damn it—no! But facts are facts.”“The testimony of a drunken kid is not always true facts, Kelton.”“Oh, pshaw! Wasn’t Nolan found leaning over my son, a smoking gun in his hand? Don’t try to tell me that he was innocent. He had no defence.”“I’ve heard all about that. After he was arrested, did you or any of his old friends go down to the jail and tell him yuh wanted to see him exonerate himself? Yuh did not. You glared at him through the trial, and said you’d like to hang him. Every damn one of yuh turned him down, pronounced him a murderer, even before his trial. You swore he was the worst wretch unhung. Kelton, you ruined his faith, and he didn’t want to fight back. That woman was gone, and she was the only person on earth who could prove that she was nothin’ to Blaze Nolan; that he didn’t even know her name.”The old man shifted his gaze from Cultus and stared at the rug, his eyes half-closed. Somehow he had never looked at things in that light. He realised now that all of them had taken Alden Marsh’s word for everything. It couldn’t be undone now.“It might interest yuh to know that the dance-hall girl is in the pay of Kendall Marsh, as a spy,” continued Cultus.“Blaze Nolan is also in the pay of Kendall Marsh.”“I happen to know that that ain’t true. Didn’t yore daughter tell you what happened that night at the Triangle X?”“She told me what she heard. It was little enough. I don’t believe Marsh intended killin’ Blaze Nolan.”“Prob’ly not. He just meant to have a man shoot him in the back with both barrels of a shotgun at ten feet. The trouble with some of you folks is the fact that when yuh make up yore minds, yuh stick to it. You made up yore minds that Blaze Nolan was guilty. I hope I don’t hurt yore feelin’s, but I’m goin’ to try and bust up yore perfectly good ideas. Now, I’ll go out and stable my horse.”He walked stiffly from the room, and the old man’s eyes followed him curiously. Somehow, even with all his prejudices, he hoped Cultus might be able to accomplish it, but the possibility seemed so very remote that he felt sorry for Cultus.Cultus’s feet were so sore that he could hardly hobble across the patio. He went out through the rear arch and made his way around behind the stable, where he stopped and leaned against the corner. Then he came back, went through the stable and came out. The tall, gray horse was gone again.
Cultus and Jane found an anxious group at the JK ranch. Bad News had brought Tommy Simpson, Ole Oleson, Sam Hawker, Archie Lee, Hank Norsh and Ed Brown to assist him in the search, and they were all sitting around the living-room, trying to figure out where to begin the search, when Cultus and Jane came in.
Cultus had asked Jane not to mention finding the horse, and they had tied Amigo behind the stable.
Bad News fairly exploded with relief when they came in. Jane went to her father, and he took her in his arms thankfully, while the crowd hurled questions at Cultus. But he didn’t need to tell it, because Jane was breathlessly explaining everything while the cowboys stood around, open-mouthed.
“Do you mean to tell me that you found the Lost Trail?” asked her father.
“I reckon it is,” grinned Cultus. “But I’ll bet it’ll never be any good to anybody now. That dynamite must have ruined a lot of it, and that trail won’t stand much ruinin’.”
“Look at my elbows,” said Jane. “My toes are all worn off, too.”
Bad News came around beside Cultus, his eyes serious.
“What do yuh know about that note Blaze Nolan sent yuh?”
“Doyouthink he sent me that note, Bad News?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Do you know of any reason why Blaze Nolan would try to kill me and Miss Kelton? And Blaze Nolan ain’t twins. Yuh must remember that two men were shootin’ at us.”
“That’s right. We’ll investigate Padre Canyon to-morrow.”
“That’ll be fine. I expect they’ll wait for yuh to show up.”
“Who do yuh reckon set off the dynamite?” asked Hank North. “We heard that blast plumb down in Medicine Tree.”
“I heard it here,” said Jim Kelton. “It was like thunder.”
“I should think they might have heard it in Europe,” laughed Jane, hugging her father again, before she went to her room to doctor her feet.
“Mr. Collins will stay here to-night, dad,” she said. “He needs some patching, too.”
“He sure does and will,” said her father.
The men accepted the food that the cook had been preparing, laughed over their coffee which had been prepared to cheer them on their search of Padre Canyon, and headed for town in far better spirits than they had when they came to the ranch.
“What is yore verdict, Collins?” asked Jim Kelton, when they sat alone in the living-room.
“Somebody has decided to put me out of the way,” smiled Cultus. “They almost made good to-day. They knew I liked Blaze Nolan, so they used him as the bait for their trap. We got out mighty lucky. In fact, we’re luckier than you can imagine. The stage was all set for a killin’, but somethin’ went wrong.”
“Why put you out of the way, Collins?”
“The man I came here after is a horse-thief and a murderer. I’m not sure who he is, yet. But he knows I’m after him. Kelton, the man who dynamited that trail, to-night, rode my stolen gray horse. He rode without a saddle, and the horse bucked him off when I whistled a certain signal. Yore daughter and me rode the horse from Padre Canyon to here, and he’s tied out behind yore stable right now.”
“Well, that’s a remarkable thing! Where did the man go?”
“Off in the brush.”
“Do you suppose he was one of the men who tried to kill you?”
“Quien sabe?”
“Well, that’s sure queer. Collins, where do you suppose Blaze Nolan has gone? He is undoubtedly in the employ of Kendall Marsh, and I’m wondering if he didn’t go over the range on that Lost Trail. He could hide somewhere around Marshville indefinitely.”
“I don’t think Blaze Nolan has ever left this valley.”
“That’s a queer statement, Collins. Why should he stay here?”
“He might not be able to get away.”
“You mean he’s afraid to show himself?”
“I can’t tell yuh just what I do mean. No, I’m not in cahoots with Blaze Nolan. I just figure he’s got the worst end of a deal, and I’d like to see him come out of it—clean.”
“How could he come out of it clean?”
Cultus eased back on the comfortable couch, squinting one eye as he looked at the ceiling.
“Suppose,” he said slowly, “that Blaze Nolan never killed yore son?”
The old man’s anger blazed up quickly.
“That’s foolish, Collins.”
“Sounds foolish to you,” corrected Cultus.
“Sounds foolish to anybody who was here at that time. If you had been here and heard that trial and heard all that was said, and⸺”
“The queer part was the disappearance of that girl,” interrupted Cultus. “Did you ever stop to consider that it was queer she wasn’t here to testify? Was there anybody to prove conclusively that yore son and Blaze Nolan fought over her?”
“Alden Marsh testified to it.”
“A drunken kid.”
“The jury and the judge accepted his testimony.”
“Did Blaze Nolan ever strike you as a man who would be engaged to a decent girl and then fight a gun battle with another man over a dance-hall girl?”
“Damn it—no! But facts are facts.”
“The testimony of a drunken kid is not always true facts, Kelton.”
“Oh, pshaw! Wasn’t Nolan found leaning over my son, a smoking gun in his hand? Don’t try to tell me that he was innocent. He had no defence.”
“I’ve heard all about that. After he was arrested, did you or any of his old friends go down to the jail and tell him yuh wanted to see him exonerate himself? Yuh did not. You glared at him through the trial, and said you’d like to hang him. Every damn one of yuh turned him down, pronounced him a murderer, even before his trial. You swore he was the worst wretch unhung. Kelton, you ruined his faith, and he didn’t want to fight back. That woman was gone, and she was the only person on earth who could prove that she was nothin’ to Blaze Nolan; that he didn’t even know her name.”
The old man shifted his gaze from Cultus and stared at the rug, his eyes half-closed. Somehow he had never looked at things in that light. He realised now that all of them had taken Alden Marsh’s word for everything. It couldn’t be undone now.
“It might interest yuh to know that the dance-hall girl is in the pay of Kendall Marsh, as a spy,” continued Cultus.
“Blaze Nolan is also in the pay of Kendall Marsh.”
“I happen to know that that ain’t true. Didn’t yore daughter tell you what happened that night at the Triangle X?”
“She told me what she heard. It was little enough. I don’t believe Marsh intended killin’ Blaze Nolan.”
“Prob’ly not. He just meant to have a man shoot him in the back with both barrels of a shotgun at ten feet. The trouble with some of you folks is the fact that when yuh make up yore minds, yuh stick to it. You made up yore minds that Blaze Nolan was guilty. I hope I don’t hurt yore feelin’s, but I’m goin’ to try and bust up yore perfectly good ideas. Now, I’ll go out and stable my horse.”
He walked stiffly from the room, and the old man’s eyes followed him curiously. Somehow, even with all his prejudices, he hoped Cultus might be able to accomplish it, but the possibility seemed so very remote that he felt sorry for Cultus.
Cultus’s feet were so sore that he could hardly hobble across the patio. He went out through the rear arch and made his way around behind the stable, where he stopped and leaned against the corner. Then he came back, went through the stable and came out. The tall, gray horse was gone again.