XXII

AN ALTERNATIVE PROPOSED AND DECLINED

The prediction made by Blister Haines that some overbearing puncher would
bully Bob because of his reputation as safe game did not long wait
fulfillment. A new rider joined the Slash Lazy D outfit. He had been
working for the K Bar T for a couple of months. Prior to that time he had
not been seen on the river. The rumor was that he hailed from Wyoming. To
ask for more specific information would not have been good form. More
than one or two cowboys in the Rio Blanco country had left their former
homes just ahead of a sheriff.

Bandy Walker knew how to rope and ride. That was the main consideration
of Harshaw when he hired him. He guessed the fellow's name was not Walker
any more than it was Bandy. One cognomen had been given him because he
was so bow-legged; the other he had no doubt taken for purposes of
non-identification.

Bandy was short, heavy-set, and muscular. At a glance one would have
picked him out as dangerous. The expression on the face was sulky. The
eyes were expressionless as jade.

He was given the bunk next Dillon and before twenty-four hours were past
he had begun to bully him. It began with a surly request behind which Bob
sensed a command.

"Fellow, get my bridle, won't you? I left it with my saddle somewheres
close to the chuck house. Got to fix it to-night."

Dillon had taken off his high-heeled boots because they were hurting his
feet. He observed that Walker, lying fully dressed on the blankets, was
still wearing his.

"Why, sure," Bob said amiably, and he tugged on his boots.

Presently he returned with the bridle and handed it to Bandy.

That was the beginning of it. Before the week was out Bob was the man's
flunkey, the butt of his ill-natured jokes, the helpless victim of his
bad temper. Inside, he writhed. Another failure was being scored against
him. But what could he do? This Bandy Walker was a gunman and a
rough-and-tumble fighter. He boasted of it. Bob would be a child in his
hands.

The other punchers watched the affair, drew deductions, but made no
audible comments. The law of the outdoors is that every man must play his
own hand. The Slash Lazy D resented Bandy. He was ugly in face, voice,
and manner. His speech was offensive. He managed to convey insult by the
curl of his lip. Yet he was cunning enough to keep within the bounds of
safety. Nobody wanted to pick a quarrel with him, for it might turn out
to be a serious business