Read Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 07 - Sudden Rides Again(1938) for Free Online Page B

me?”
                 “Hell,
yu ain’t gotta have four eyes to see that,” came the reply. “Didn’t yu git his
gal out’n a jam? Any o’ the boys would ‘a’ given a month’s pay for the chance.
Yu must be one o’ those lucky guys.”
                 “Shore,
lucky don’t begin to tell about me,” Sudden retorted,
with such emphatic bitterness that his companion stared. “Shucks, I don’t need
any thanks; I’ve a mind to go back.”
                 “Then
I’ll have to bring the outfit,” Frosty said.”When the 01’ Man wants a thing it
has gotta be got, come hell or high water. Are yu goin’ to make me fall down on
my job?”
                 The
puncher’s respect for his new friend’s shrewdness increased; this was an
argument to which there was only one reply.
                 “Yu
win,” he said, and presently, “They were talkin’ in the bar last night ‘bout
Hell City; ever seen it?”
                 “From
the outside on’y, an’ that’s aplenty.”
                 “Is
the boss of it young Keith?”
                 The
Double K cowboy shrugged. “Common talk sez so, an’ all the signs read that
way,” he replied. “Allasame, I dunno. Time he left here, Jeff warn’t bad, just
wild an’ headstrong. When yu ride a colt too hard yu break its spirit or turn
it into an outlaw. The Colonel didn’t savvy what he was doin’. He’s a good
rancher, an’ square, but, if he gits to Paradise—which is some doubtful—I’ll
bet he’ll want to run it.”
                 “Stiff-necked, huh?”
                 “Brother,
yu said it; I don’t reckon that fella ever does see his own feet. He wants Jeff
an’ Miss Joan to make a match, an’ a blind man could tell they’s headin’ that
way, but he gives the boy orders, puttin’ him on the prod immediate. If he’d
waited, but there, Ken Keith never could wait, an’ I’ll wager he’s cussin’ me out
right now because I can’t ride twenty mile in as many minutes.”

  Chapter
V
                 The
Double K range occupied an expansive tract of open country towards the end of
the big basin and about ten miles south of Dugout. The ranch-house faced a
long, grassy incline, and was protected from the sun by lofty pines. It was a
wide, one-storied building of trimmed timber, with a roofed verandah along the
whole front, and chimneys of stone. The bunkhouse, smithy, storage-barns and
corrals were about a hundred yards distant. As the riders aproached, they could see a tall figure striding up and down le verandah.
                 “Like
I said, callin’ me everythin’ he can think of,” Frosty grinned, “an’ lemme tell
yu, he knows some words. Allasame, if he offers yu a job I hope yu’ll take it;
I’d admire to have yu here.”
                 “I
thought yu were tryin’ to scare me away.” Sudden smiled.
                 His
companion shot a sly glance at him. “I’d say yu don’t scare easy. Don’t git any
wrong ideas ‘bout the 01’ Man; he’s all wool, an’ we’re proud of him; also, the
pay an’ the grub is good.”
                 “The
foreman—is he good, too?”
                 Frosty
frowned a little. “Sam’s mouth opens too easy.”
                 “He
never named him,” Sudden said. “I like to know somethin’ of the man I take
orders from.”
                 “Him
an’ me don’t exactly hit it, but that ain’t to say he an’t cover his job,”
Frosty said bluntly.
                 In
a few moments they reached the ranch-house and dismounted. Colonel Keith was on
the far side of fifty, but his erect, spare frame showed no sign of age. He had
a large, high-bridged nose, keen black eyes set beneath bushy eyebrows, thin,
carefully shaven lips, and he wore his grey hair somewhat long. A suit of fine
white linen gave him the