Chapter 2

Bunty O’Neil of the Oreana saloon was not what you would call a lovable character. He was of medium height, thick of neck and broad of shoulder. His face was blocky, expressionless, swarthy; a hard-headed individual, whose bunting practice in a fight had given him his nickname. He would grasp an opponent with his huge hands, yank him forward and butt him with his head. Only in rare cases did Bunty fail to put his opponent hors de combat. It was an unlooked for move, except where Bunty’s system was well known.

Bunty had once worked it successfully on Bill Wyatt. Bill had wakened up about fifteen minutes later and found that both of his eyes were of a purple tint and did not admit much light. He had waited for the swelling to go down, had walked up behind Bunty in the Oreana saloon and crowned him with the barrel of a six-shooter.

Bunty had had six stitches taken in his scalp, and had sent word to Bill Wyatt to keep out of the Oreana. Bill did. This had happened six months prior to Sad and Swede’s coming to Oreana, but Bill had never been in the place since. Yet Bill had known Bunty in the northern part of the state, and it was Bill who had induced Bunty to come to Oreana and buy out the Oreana saloon and gambling house.

Just now Bunty and the sheriff were standing on the porch of the saloon, talking seriously. It was the day after Sad and Swede had come to Oreana.

“You say they brought in three hundred and ten head?” asked Bunty. The sheriff nodded.

“Yeah. They’re in the old pasture at the Bar S. The boys have gone down into the lower ranges now, but they won’t be able to round up everythin’ for a couple days. There’s enough feed in the pasture for a few days.”

“That’s good.” Bunty smiled contentedly. “Three hundred and ten head, eh? Mebbe I’ll get my money after all, Buck.”

“I reckon yuh will, Bunty. For gosh sake, how much money did Jim Steeb owe yuh, anyway?”

Bunty grinned widely and shook his head.

“Jim plunged quite a lot, Buck. His whisky bill ain’t more than a few hundred, but his faro and poker playin’ sure cost money. I reckon the notes he gave me will come close to ten thousand.”

The sheriff whistled his amazement.

“As much as that, Bunty? Huh! Yuh know,” the sheriff squinted thoughtfully. “Yuh know, it seems too darned bad Jim went through all that money and didn’t leave a darned thing for the kid. Old Eph Wyatt is goin’ to adopt him, I think.”

“Old Eph?” Bunty laughed. “Goin’ to adopt him, eh? Well, well!”

Just then Sad and Swede came out of the hotel and sauntered toward the general store.

“They tell me that one of them fellers took a fall out of Bill Wyatt,” said Bunty thoughtfully.

“The skinny one. They’re down here to buy some stock at the sale. The skinny one’s name is Sontag and the other is Harrigan. Seem like a salty pair of fellers. Sontag tells me that they own a ranch in the Sundown country.”

“Well, all I care about it is to get my money out of the deal, Buck.”

They went into the saloon, as Sad and Swede crossed the street, following them inside. The sheriff greeted them warmly and introduced them to Bunty as the owner of the Oreana. There was little activity in the place and the day was warm.

“You interested in the Bar S sale?” asked Bunty.

Sad nodded. “Kinda. We’re lookin’ for some stock, and thought this might be a chance to buy some reasonable. Course we don’t want a lot of runts.”

“We might take a ride out to the Bar S this evenin’,” suggested the sheriff. “The boys threw three hundred and ten head into the pasture last night, and it might help yuh some to look ’em over.”

“We’d sure appreciate the chance,” agreed Sad.

They spent the rest of the day, loafing in the shade, and did not start for the Bar S until late in the afternoon. It was five miles to the ranch, located northeast of Oreana. The ranch buildings were badly in need of repair, but it was easy to see that at one time the Bar S had been considerable of a ranch.

There was no one at the place, and the sheriff explained that there had been no one in charge since the death of Steeb. They rode out past the corrals and on to a knoll that furnished a view of the Bar S pasture, which contained about a hundred acres.

But there were no cattle in sight. The sheriff gnawed his mustache and squinted around wonderingly.

“’S funny,” he muttered. “They were here last night.”

“Are yuh sure this is the place?” asked Swede.

“Am I sure? I’m jist as sure as anythin’,” replied the sheriff and spurred his horse off the knoll.

They rode to the lower end of the pasture, and it did not take them long to find where the barb-wires had been cut, and about a hundred feet of them ripped off the posts.

“They knowed how to do it,” observed Sad. “They cut the wires, bunched the ends, tied ’em to a rope and jist rode ’em loose.”

“And let the whole herd drift,” observed the sheriff. “Well, that’s jist plumb meanness, I’d say.”

Sad looked at the sheriff and grinned softly.

“Sheriff, do you think that they just turned them cows loose?”

“Eh?” The sheriff’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Yuh don’t think that anybody would try to rustle a herd like that, do yuh?”

“Why not?”

“Well, I dunno. Yuh can’t git away with that many. Anybody would be a fool to try and steal a herd like that.”

“All right,” Sad grinned widely and turned his horse. “You know the morals of this country better than we do.”

They rode back to Oreana and stabled their horses. The sheriff was very thoughtful during the ride, but could hardly bring himself to believe that anyone would try and steal three hundred and ten head of cattle in one herd.

“I think that someone is jist doin’ it to be mean,” he declared.

“And I think they’re doin’ it for profit,” laughed Sad.

It did not take the sheriff long to impart the story to Bunty O’Neil, who swore under his breath and questioned them closely. The sheriff told Bunty what he thought about it, but Bunty did not agree.

“They’ve had about twenty-four hours start,” observed Bunty. “And yuh can move a big herd a long ways in that length of time. It’s so dry in the hills that yuh couldn’t trail a herd; so the best yuh can do is to trust to luck.”

“It kinda looks like we might as well go home,” observed Swede. “No use of us stayin’ here, if there ain’t no cows for sale.”

Bunty’s eyes grew hard as he leaned on the bar and toyed with his glass. The sheriff cleared his throat and sent his glass spinning down the bar.

“Bunty has got a lot of notes against the Bar S,” he explained. “And if there ain’t no cows—Bunty loses.”

“That’s the how of it, eh?” said Sad.

“Yeah, that’s the how of it,” said Bunty angrily. “And I’ll get them cows—or get somethin’.”

“You’ve got sort of an idea who took ’em, ain’t yuh?” asked Sad.

“How would I?” snapped Bunty.

“I dunno how yuh would—I’m no mindreader,” and Sad walked away from the bar and grew interested in a poker game.

Bunty looked after him, an angry glint in his eyes, but said nothing until Swede walked away.

“What did he mean, Buck?” he then asked.

The sheriff shook his head. “I dunno. I hope the boys show up tomorrow, but I’m scared they won’t. We’ve got to try and find them missin’ cattle, that’s a cinch. I don’t believe yet that anybody had the nerve to try and steal a herd that big.”

The sheriff left the saloon, but Bunty remained at the bar, drinking his own liquor. It was not often that Bunty drank heavily. Liquor made him quarrelsome. Several patrons steered clear of the bar and had their drinks served at a table, when they realized that Bunty was on a spree.

Bunty leaned across the bar and motioned the bartender closer.

“What did that skinny puncher mean?” he demanded.

“The skinny one? I dunno what he said, Bunty. Personally, I think he’s crazy. The damn fool fell off the bar yesterday, tryin’ to hit a horsefly with his hat. And they said that there was whisky in the drinks we served here. What are they—e-vangelists?”

Bunty grunted an oath and reached for the bottle. Sad and Swede were coming toward the bar, heading for the door. Bunty stepped in front of Sad and motioned them to stop and drink with him.

“Yuh ain’t in no hurry, are yuh?” he growled.

“Not a bit,” grinned Sad.

“I’m glad yuh ain’t—’cause you’d stop anyway.”

Sad glanced keenly at Bunty. He realized that the other was angry over something, and that he might be a hard man to handle.

“I’m not buyin’ yuh any drinks,” Bunty informed them harshly. “I only buy drinks for my friends.”

“Then have a drink on me,” grinned Sad.

“No, I won’t do that, either.” Bunty moved in closer to Sad.

“I want to know what wuh mean by that remark a while ago—about yuh not bein’ a mind reader.”

“Oh!” Sad squinted thoughtfully. “Well, I’m not, Bunty. I’ll leave it to Swede if I am.”

“You’ll leave nothin’ to nobody! C’mere!”

Bunty grasped Sad by the shoulders, sinking his powerful fingers deeply into the flesh. It was the prelude to crashing the top of his head into Sad’s face—and Sad realized it.

But Bunty did not work fast enough. With a sudden shift of his feet, Sad kicked Bunty in the shins so hard that the hotelman forgot everything except the excruciating pain. His hands jerked loose and he reached for his shins just in time to get Sad’s fist square in his nose, with the full swinging weight of the wiry cowpuncher behind it.

The blow straightened Bunty back onto his heels, and before he could catch his balance Sad was into him, smashing with both hands to the head, and Bunty went reeling across the room to crash into the back of a poker player’s chair and go flat on his back.

At least a dozen men had seen the whole affair. They had expected Bunty to butt the face almost off this thin cowpuncher and end the fight to suit himself. But they had reckoned without Sad Sontag, who now was standing against the bar, blowing on his sore knuckles and grinning widely.

There was little commotion. A couple of men picked Bunty up and half-dragged him to the rear of the room, where they could wash him off, the poker player adjusted his chair and the games went on.

Sad and Swede went back to the hotel, where Sad procured some hot water in which to bathe his swollen right hand. Swede became pessimistic.

“Aw, let’s go home,” he argued dismally. “You’ve whipped both of their best fighters. This here town kinda palls upon me, Sad, and I’d crave to ride home.”

“I’ve had a pretty fair time,” said Sad seriously, examining his knuckles. “I s’pose Bunty was aimin’ to butt me in the face, wasn’t he?”

“That’s his style,” agreed Swede wearily. “There ain’t no cows to be bought; so we might as well start home t’morrow.”

“It’s a funny thing about them stolen cows,” observed Sad, as he stretched out on the bed and began rolling a cigarette. “I’ll betcha anythin’ that Bunty knows who stole ’em. Somebody knows that Bunty has notes against the Bar S; so they crimped his chances to collect by stealin’ the whole danged herd.

“There’s somebody who hates Bunty quite a lot, Swede. It ain’t no little job to steal three hundred head of cattle. Mebbe they just done it to aggravate the sheriff, or Bunty.”

“Then yuh think they’ll have enough stock for us to wait for the sale?”

“Yuh never can tell.” Sad blew smoke rings at the dingy ceiling. “I’ve got a hunch that they won’t. Tomorrow we’ll find out more about it, and if it don’t look more promisin’ we’ll rattle our hocks out of Oreana. I’ve had all the fightin’ I want, y’betcha.”

“We might ride out past old Eph Wyatt’s place,” suggester Swede. “I’m kinda curious to know how the old man and the kid are comin’ along.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that, Swede. I’m curious about that kid myself. Somehow I’ve got a hunch that the kid ain’t had a square deal.”

“Just how do yuh mean, Sad?”

“Aw, just kinda mind readin’, I reckon.”