Chapter XI: Out of the Frying Pan

“I AM glad it is all settled,” said Frank Austin, handing the pen back to the lawyer. He reached across the table and shook hands with Cal Sands. Between them lay the signed and sealed document which made Cal Sands half owner of the Star A cattle and horse outfit.

“It’s shore a big day for me,” smiled Sands, looking at the smudge of ink on his finger. “I can’t believe I own half that outfit.”

“Well, you do, Cal. Now I wish you could accomplish what I mentioned when I first spoke of making you my partner.”

Sands pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Yuh never can tell, Frank. This might be a big inducement in that direction, as soon as it becomes known.”

“Yes--money makes a difference.”

While they were talking in the lawyer’s office, Hal Austin rode into Keno City on a rangy sorrel. Smoky Hill was sitting in the shade of the sheriff’s office, and Hal drew up there.

“Hyah, Hal,” grinned Smoky. “Long time I no see yuh. Too _mucho señorita_.”

Hal grinned, but shook his head. “I been stayin’ down at Indian Wells.”

Smoky nodded and glanced up the street. “Yore pa and Cal Sands are up there at Charley Bell’s office now. I heard he’s takin’ Cal Sands in as his partner in the Star A.”

“No!”

“That’s what I heard. Git down and stay a while.”

Hal’s face was a little white beneath the tan, and his hand gripped tightly on his reins. “I haven’t time now, Smoky; later, mebbe.”

Hal turned and rode down a side street, circled the town and came out on the road to the Star A. He did not want to meet his father or Cal Sands. What in the world had induced his father to give half of the Star A to Cal Sands, he wondered? His father had promised to make _him_ half owner, as soon as he was capable of running the ranch. Capable! He was supposed to learn the business from Cal Sands, and just because he and Cal Sands did not get along, Cal Sands got the ranch.

Hal had been capable of doing a cowboy’s work. Sands could not teach him more than that. Hal wondered bitterly what Sands had told his father. He would have given odds that it was not the truth.

Hal had heard about the inquest over Slade’s body. If the Silver Bar officers were willing to cover up the name of Austin in the matter, why should Cal Sands tell his father, even pointing out the fact that Slade had been shot in the back? Hal had tried to remember what happened that night, but was unable to remember a single thing, except that there had been guns fired, and that he had been handled roughly.

He had never quarrelled with Slade. In fact, he had liked Slade better than any of the cowboys at the ranch. But he had no defence to offer in refutation of Sands’s statement that he had shot Slade in the back. Legally he was safe, but morally, and in the eyes of his father, he was a murderer.

It did not seem to Hal that his father had given him any consideration. He had not asked Hal for any statement as to what he knew about it. He had taken Cal Sands’s word as final. And now he had given the foreman half of the big ranch.

“I reckon that settles me with dad,” Hal reflected bitterly as he galloped toward the Star A. “He has probably told mother and Betty, but I’ll face ’em. I don’t want dad and Cal Sands there; I want to talk to mother and Betty alone. Unless Sands has hypnotised everybody on the ranch, I’ve got a chance at least to deny the charges.”

Old Omaha was dragging a heavy trunk through the front doorway when Hal rode into the yard. Mrs. Austin was going to make good with her declaration to leave the ranch that day. Omaha watched Hal dismount.

“Well, dog-gone!” snorted Omaha. “Where yuh been, Hal? Everybody’s been huntin’ for yuh a long time. Didn’t yuh know yore mother and sister was here?”

Hal started to reply, when his mother came to the doorway.

“Hal!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Hal, I’m so glad to see you!”

He went up the steps in two jumps, and threw his arms around her. Omaha cleared his throat and went shuffling back into the house. They drew away from each other, and Betty appeared on the scene.

“I heard mother speak your name, Hal,” she said, “and I nearly fell over my trunk.”

Hal threw one arm around her and kissed her.

“You didn’t know we were here? Why, Hal, we’ve been here ages.”

“Your father has searched for you every day,” said his mother. “He and Cal Sands have been to Keno City, Silver Bar, Indian Wells-- oh, all around, but they couldn’t find you. Why, we are leaving here to-day, Hal. Betty and I thought you had gone home.”

Hal shook his head. It was evident that his father had not told them about the Slade killing.

“Dad and Cal Sands are in Keno City to-day,” offered Betty.

“I know they are.”

“Oh, did you see your father down there?” asked Mrs. Austin.

Hal laughed harshly and shook his head. “No, I dodged both of them.”

“You--you dodged your father?” Mrs. Austin stammered. “Why, Hal, he has searched for you--wanted to find you. And you--why, I do not understand.”

“I didn’t come out here to make a confession, mother,” he said wearily. “God only knows what you’ll think when you hear about it; but you’ll know why I dodged dad and Cal Sands. I was in Silver Bar the night you came, drunk.

“Oh, I’m not trying to prove any alibi for myself, mother. Excuse my French, but I’ve been in a hell of a mess. No, don’t ask any questions; I’ve got to talk.

“I went down there with Jigger Slade. I liked Jigger. He found me in Keno City and asked me to ride over to Silver Bar with him. He heard that dad was coming there, and for some reason he wanted to see him. I had no dinner, and I drank on an empty stomach. It knocked me out pretty quick. I remember some shots being fired, and some one was shoving me around.

“I woke up over near Keno City in a buggy with one of our cowboys, Tommy Wilson, who told me I had shot Jigger Slade in self-defence. I didn’t believe it. However, I went on down to Indian Wells, because I didn’t want to see dad right away. But for some reason they covered up what I had done, and laid the blame of the shooting on some cowboy from over on Flask River.

“I didn’t know you were here, until I saw dad down in Indian Wells. I was riding back with dad and Cal Sands, when Sands and I quarrelled. Then Sands told dad that Slade wasn’t shot in self-defence at all--that I shot him in the back--murdered him. Sands said that, because of dad, the authorities made it self-defence.”

“Why, Hal!” Mrs. Austin’s face was pasty. “They--they say you murdered a man? You couldn’t do that!”

“Dad believed Cal Sands.”

“Why, this is terrible!” exclaimed Betty. “Dad certainly wouldn’t believe you could do a thing like that.”

“But he does, Betty. Sands has him hypnotised. To-day he presented Sands with a half interest in this ranch--the half interest I was to have.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Mrs. Austin weakly. “They said they were going to make one last effort to find you.”

“They knew where to find me.”

“But about this shooting,” said Mrs. Austin. “It is a terrible thing. Tell me what happened, Hal.”

“I don’t know anything about it, mother. They held an inquest, but my name was not mentioned. The authorities covered it up in some way. Sands said it was on account of dad. They made it self-defence, and said another man did the shooting. But that doesn’t alter the fact that--oh, what’s the use? Dad didn’t want me to come out here.”

“I can’t believe that,” sighed his mother. “Still, he and Sands deceived us.”

“Sands!” exclaimed Hal angrily. “If it hadn’t been for Sands, everything would have been all right.”

“He wrote to your father, Hal. That was why we all came. He said that you were drinking, gambling, running around with questionable women; that you cursed him for trying to interfere, and left the ranch.”

Hal laughed bitterly. “Perhaps I drank too much and gambled a little, but he lied about the women.”

“But there is a woman, isn’t there, Hal?” queried Betty.

“Yes.”

“A Mexican girl?” asked his mother.

“Juana Diaz,” said Hal. “Sands wanted her, but she disliked him. I brought her to a dance at Keno City, and the next day Sands and I quarrelled. It wasn’t because I drank and gambled, but because I stole the girl he claimed. I didn’t really do that, because she never liked him.”

“But a--a Mexican girl, Hal!” said his mother. “I do not approve.”

“Neither does her mother, apparently. She said I would have to have my father’s approval before I could have Juana.”

“Ah, that is sensible.” Mrs. Austin sighed with relief.

“It sounds ridiculous,” declared Betty. “Hal is of age. Why should they seek the approval of his father?”

“Betty, your father always knows best.”

“I’d like to have that proved to me,” said Hal bitterly. “But it doesn’t matter now. I’ll get a job at forty dollars a month and stay down here.”

“Nothing of the kind,” replied Mrs. Austin severely. “You go home with us.”

“Thank you, mother, but that is impossible.”

“You would give up everything for that Mexican girl?”

“Give up everything? What is there for me to give up? Dad is through with me; he has proved that. I’d marry Juana in a minute, if she’d agree--even if I had to work for a month.”

“I’d like to see her,” said Betty.

“Would you do that, Betty? Gosh, I’d like that. How about you, mother? Would you be willing to meet Juana and her mother?”

“I’m afraid that would be impossible, as we are going away to-day.”

“We could go to-morrow,” said Betty quickly.

“Well----” Mrs. Austin paused dubiously. “Does this Mexican woman speak English?”

“Better than I do,” smiled Hal. “Juana is educated.”

“I see. But your father might object to our going there.”

“Surely there could be no harm in it,” said Betty quickly.

“Not any harm--no. I think we shall do that. Betty, will you tell Omaha to take that trunk back into the house?”

“Gee, that’s great,” sighed Hal.

“But just remember, we haven’t seen her yet,” said Mrs. Austin severely.

“And here come dad and Cal Sands!” exclaimed Betty, stopping in the doorway.

Hal’s eyes hardened as he watched the two men ride in. He got to his feet and hitched up his belt. Mrs. Austin put a hand on his arm quickly.

“Do not make a scene, Hal,” she warned.

He shook his head. “Not of my making,” he muttered. “Sooner or later there will be a showdown between Cal Sands and me.”

The two men dismounted at the stable, and Sands took charge of the horses, while Frank Austin came straight to the porch. He stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked intently at Hal. “So you finally decided to come up here, eh?” he said.

“I am here, dad.”

His father seemed at a loss as to what should be said next.

“Frank,” said Mrs. Austin, breaking an awkward pause, “why did you insist that Hal did not know we were here?”

“So that’s the way it is,” he replied. “I try to protect everybody concerned, and he makes me out a liar, eh?”

“I told them the truth, not knowing what you had said,” replied Hal evenly.

Frank Austin flushed hotly. Hal seemed cool; there was almost a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Well, I did it all for the best,” sighed Austin wearily.

“The best?” queried Mrs. Austin.

“Yes, the best. It seems that the young man has been dragging the name of Austin in the deepest mud he could find; and I thought it would be best for you and Betty to go back home, thinking that Hal did not know you were here. I’m sorry if I have done wrong, but there are things----”

“You can go ahead and talk freely,” said Hal. “I’ve told them the whole story.”

“You did? Everything?”

“Even that I’m supposed to have murdered a man.”

“My God, Hal! That was one thing I didn’t---- Why did you tell that?”

“Why not?”

“Well, if for nothing else, to protect your mother’s feelings.”

“Mother took it like a good sport.”

“Why not?” queried Mrs. Austin calmly. “I do not believe a word of it.”

“I wish I didn’t,” sighed Austin. “Luckily, it was handled right. Think what it would have meant to me, if--if the officers hadn’t considered me. The sheriff, the coroner, everybody concerned.”

Hal looked steadily at his father for several moments. “What did it cost you, dad?”

“Cost me? Why, what do you mean?”

Austin flushed hotly and seemed confused over the question.

“Your bank roll was their consideration,” said Hal flatly. “What was my worthless life worth to them, anyway?”

“That is my business,” angrily retorted his father. “You should be thankful that you are not in the jail at Silver Bar, charged with murder.” He turned to Mrs. Austin. “Are your trunks ready to send down, Laura?”

“We are not going to-day.”

“Not going? What changed your plans?”

“Hal did. I have heard his version of the story. It appears that the whole trouble started over the fact that Cal Sands was jealous of Hal. It was not because Hal drank and gambled too much, but because of the Mexican girl. I am utterly opposed to Hal marrying a Mexican girl, you understand. But there is a queer angle to this thing, Frank. This girl’s mother refuses to consent to a marriage until Hal has your consent.”

“Nothing queer about it,” blustered Austin. “She knows I’d cut Hal off without a cent. All they want is my money, and if you’d consider----”

“I have thought of that----”

“I’m glad you can see it.”

“At any rate, Hal is entitled to some consideration,” said Mrs. Austin. “He has asked that I go down and see this girl and her mother, and I shall do this for him. After all is said and done, Frank, Hal is of age. It would be unjust for you to disinherit him for selecting his own wife, after he is of age. Normal young men usually do that, do they not?”

“But, Laura, you don’t understand,” pleaded Austin. “This girl is an ordinary Mexican girl. You would not welcome her to your home. Why, such things are out of the question. I have some big ideas for Hal’s future, and this will squelch all of them.”

“Is that why you gave Sands half of this ranch to-day--to help my future?” asked Hal.

Austin shut his jaw tightly, glaring at Hal. “Well, what of it?” he snapped finally. “I made Sands my partner because I wanted a man to watch my interests down here. I’m so sick and tired of this country I don’t care to ever see it again.”

“That’s all right, dad,” replied Hal. “It is your ranch. Only you said I was to have a half interest, you remember.”

“Well, what is to hinder you from taking my half?”

“And being a partner of Cal Sands? No, dad; nothing like that. I owe him a punch on the nose, that’s all.”

Hal turned to his mother. “Will you come to Indian Wells to-morrow, mother?”

“Yes, Hal.”

“Fine. You, too, Betty. You’ll like Juana. Good-bye, everybody.”

They watched him mount and ride back toward Keno City. Austin’s face was a study in emotions as he left the porch and walked down to meet Sands at the corral.

“Well, what happened?” asked Sands.

Austin leaned his elbows against the fence and held his head in his hands. “Hal told them the whole thing, Cal.”

“No!”

“Everything,” Austin said bitterly.

“Holy smoke! What did Mrs. Austin say?”

“Didn’t believe a word of it. Blames you for running Hal away from here. And what is worse than that, she and Betty are going down to Indian Wells to-morrow to visit Juana and her mother.”

Sands whistled softly. “That’s bad, Frank.”

“The worst thing in the world. Suppose Rosita tells my wife----”

Sands shook his head. “Yore best bet is to tell yore wife all about it. That would clear everythin’ up and stop Hal from goin’ any further.”

“And ruin me for all time, Cal. Possibly you don’t know it, but my wife’s money put me where I am. Everything is Austin and Company--and Laura is the company. This ranch is the only thing I owned outright. Do you suppose for a minute I could afford to let Laura know I deserted this Mexican woman? No, your idea is all wrong, Cal. Damn it, if I could only think. Hal upset everything by confessing.”

“How about payin’ Rosita to keep her mouth shut--to refuse to meet Mrs. Austin? A few dollars might buy her off.”

“That’s right. But I couldn’t do it.”

“I could. Hell, you’ve got to do somethin’, Frank.”

“That’s true enough,” Austin admitted helplessly. “I’ve got five hundred in cash, if that would be enough.”

“Huh!” snorted Sands. “I could get her throat cut for less than that.”

“No, no! Nothing like that!” stammered Austin.

“Of course not--I merely meant that five hundred is a lot of money.”

“To-night?”

“Sure. No time like the present.”