Free Ole Devil and the Caplocks by J.T. Edson Page A

Company “C,” there was no sign of her grandfather
and the mule train.
    “Howdy, Di, Cap’n Hardin,”
greeted the lanky sergeant, after looking around, as the two riders
converged with his party. “Seems like them two fellers was
wrong.”
    “Which two fellers?” Di
inquired.
    “ They
met up with us on the trail,” the sergeant elaborated. “Allowed
they seed a fair-sized bunch of hombres led by a right
fine-looking, but somewhat mussed-up woman headed this
way.”
    “That sounds like that
blasted de Moreau bitch and her renegades. Devil,” Di spat
out.
    “ Which’s
what your grandpappy figured,” the sergeant admitted. “So he told
us to head back here and find out if you needed a hand. Reckoned us
coming up from behind, we’d get ’em boxed in and whup ’em
good.”
    “It’s a pity they never
came,” Di declared. “We could have settled—”
    “Turn your men, Sergeant!”
Ole Devil barked.
    “What’s up?” Di asked,
startled by the vehemence with which the order had been
given.
    “They haven’t come here,”
Ole Devil replied. “So it must have been a trick to draw off the
escort and let them attack the mule train. If they can stop it,
they’ll have us pinned down here until they can raise enough help
to come and take the consignment from us.”

Chapter Six – They Won’t Move Without Her
     
    Although Ole Devil Hardin
was extremely perturbed by the thought that Ewart Brindley might
have been tricked, he also realized that he could not set off
immediately to satisfy himself upon the matter. First, taking into
consideration the other development which had arisen to threaten
the safety of the consignment, he had to organize additional
protection for it. There was a chance that the mozo had been lying, or was
mistaken, and the Arizona Hopi Activos Regiment could be much
closer than he had claimed. So the circle of pickets had to be
reinforced, thereby lessening the possibility of another lone man
suffering the same fate as Ilkey; or, worse still, falling alive
into the enemies’ hands and being made to answer their questions.
Unfortunately, the only way in which the pickets could be
strengthened was by reducing the already small force who were at
Santa Cristobal Bay.
    Under different
circumstances, the arrival of Sergeant Maxime and his detail would
have been a blessing. However, with the possible danger to the mule
train, Ole Devil did not dare take the chance of adding the
newcomers to his defenders. Instead, he told them to return as
quickly as possible while he rejoined the rest of Company “C” and,
after he had made his arrangements, he would follow.
    Appreciating the
difficulty the young Texian was having in deciding upon the best
line of action, Diamond-Hitch Brindley did not attempt to influence
him. Despite being aware of how tough her grandfather and his men
were, she shared Ole Devil’s concern for the safety of the
consignment. However, she also knew that mentioning the matter
would do nothing to lessen the burden of his
responsibility.
    “ Shucks,
Devil,” the girl remarked, turning her borrowed mount at the
Texian’s side as Sergeant Maxime led the detail in the direction
from which they had come. “Grandpappy Ewart’s been taking good care
of his-self for a heap of years. And I reckon him ’n’ our Tejas packers can
look out for themselves until your boys get back. Anyway, de Moreau
don’t have all that many men with her.”
    “That’s the thing I’m
counting on most,” Ole Devil replied. “But, if she sent those men
to tell your grandfather about seeing her and her men coming this
way, she must have had a reason for doing it. I wish I could think
what it was.”
    Throughout the short ride
back to his waiting companions, the Texian tried to console himself
with the thought that Di’s final comment had been valid. The
arrival of Mannen Blaze and Company “C” the previous day had
scattered the renegades who were with Madeline de Moreau. Nor, even
if she had