The Forfeit by Ridgwell Cullum Read Free Book Online Page B

supply. No. He saw the superheated furnace of the woods blazing, and he saw men struggling with all their might to save themselves, and some of their more precious belongings. The reckless daring of those two, perhaps at the last moment, returning to their shelter on one final journey to save some detail of their home. Then the awful penalty for their temerity. Perhaps overwhelmed by smoke. Death-hideous, appalling death. Death, a thousand times worse than that which, in the routine of their lives, it was their work to mete out to the valuable fur bearers which yielded them a means of existence.
    A sudden question, not unaccompanied by fear, swept through his brain. It was a question inspired by the belief that these men were fur hunters. Who-who were they? He drew close up to each body in turn, seeking identity where none was discoverable. A sweat broke upon his temples. There was no sign in them. There was no human semblance except for outline.
    "God! If it should be--"
    His sentence remained incompleted. A dreadful fear had broken it off. He was gazing down upon the second body, in earnest, horrified contemplation. Then to his amazement he was answered by Bud's familiar voice.
    "It ain't the boy we're chasin' up, Jeff," he said, with a deep assurance.
    "How d'you know that?"
    The demand was incisive, almost rough.
    "These folks weren't pelt hunters. Not by a sight. I bin around."
    Jeff had turned to the speaker, and a great relief shone in his eyes.
    "What-who were they-then?" he asked sharply.
    "Maybe it was a ranch-of sorts."
    "Of sorts? You mean--?"
    "Rustlers. Come right on out of here, an' I'll show you."
    With gentle insistence he drew his friend away from the painfully fascinating spectacle which held so difficult a riddle. And presently they were again with their horses, which were grazing unconcernedly upon the sweet blue grass which the valley yielded so generously.
    "Well?" There was almost impatience in Jeff's monosyllable.
    For answer Bud pointed at a number of rough fences, uneven, crude, makeshift, some distance away.
    "See them? Oh, yes, I guess they're corrals sure. But it don't take a feller who's lived all his life among cattle more'n five seconds to locate their meanin'. They're corrals set up in an a'mighty hurry by folks who hate work o' that sort anyway. An' I'd say, Jeff, cattlemen-real cattlemen-don't dump a range down in the heart of the Cathills, not even fer this sweet-grass you can see around, when ther's the prairie jest outside. That is cattlemen who got no sort o' reason fer keepin' quit of the-open plains. Then ther's bin a big drive away north from here. Mebbe they wer' gettin' clear of this fire."
    Under the influence of Bud's clear convictions all Jeff's fears vanished. He accepted the other's admittedly better understanding of these things all the more readily that he desired earnestly to dispel the last shadows of his momentary doubt.
    "That's so," he agreed. Then he added: "But anyway, our camp's gone."
    "Yes. We'll make camp some'ere else. Meanwhiles--"
    "Yes?"
    "We must follow up the trail."
    There was irrevocable decision in the older cattleman's tone. And his words had the effect of startling the other.
    "But-I don't see--"
    "They're rustlers. Ther's their tracks clear as day. This is their hiding. Wal, I guess there's jest one thing to be done. It's our duty to track 'em down. Our duty to the cattle world, Jeff, boy."
    "But what about-Ronald?"
    Bud looked him squarely in the eyes.
    "We're cattlemen first, Jeff. The other'll come later."
    Jeff nodded, but there was a certain reluctance in his manner. His whole heart was set upon the search for his twin brother. He felt that his duty as a cattleman scarcely had the right to claim him at such a time. But the older man's manner made it difficult to protest, and, in deference to him, he felt it would be ungenerous to refuse. After all it only meant perhaps the delay of a day for his own projects.
    "Then we'll feed and water right here,