10 - Alcatraz - The Thief

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter ten of Alcatraz by Max Brand. This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain. The thief, they camewith a rush at that the mayors the
girl prized so highly, were,in the phrase of the cowpunchers, high
headed fools, incapable of taking careof themselves, running wild through the night.

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As likely as not they would cutthemselves the pieces on the first bobed
wire fence that blocked their way.With such a thought to urge them,
Marianne's hired men caught their fastest mountsand saddled Like lightning. There was a
play of ropes and curses in thebig corral, the scuffle of leather has

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saddle after saddle flopped in the place, and then a stream of dim riders
darted through the corral gate, allof this dazed by the misfortune Marianne made
at the sea. But as thefirst of the pursuers darted out of sight,
she turned and ran to the boxstall, where she kept her favorite

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pony, a nimble bay, inimitableon a mountain trail and with plenty of
foot on the flat. But neverdid hurry waste so much precious time.
The rush of her entrance in thedark startled the nervous horse, and she
had to soothe it for a minuteor more with a voice broken by excitement.

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After that, there was the saddlingto be done, and her fingers
stumbled and stuttered over the straps,so that when at last she led the
bay out and swung up to thesaddle, there was no sound or sight
of the cowpunchers. But a youngmoon was edging above the eastern mountains,
and by that light now only anillusionary haze, she hoped to gain sight

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of her men down the road.She jockeyed the mare at the top of
her pace, with a barbed wirerunning in three dim streaks of light on
either side, until at last shestruck the edge of the desert. The
moon was now well above the horizon, and the sands rolled in dune levels
and black hollows over which she couldpeer for a considerable distance. Still there

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was no sight of her cowpunchers,and this was a matter of small wonder,
for a ten minute start had sentthem far away ahead of her.
It would never do to push aheadwith a blind energy. Already, the
bay was beginning to feel the run, and Marianne reluctantly drew down to the
long lope, which is the favoritegait of the cow pony. At this

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pace, she rocked on over mileafter mile of desert through the moon haze,
but never a token of the cowpuncherscame to her. Twice she was
on the verge of turning back.Twice she shook her head and urged the
mare on again. Upon hour hadslipped by her. Perhaps Hervey long since

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had given up the chase and turnedtowards the ranch. In the meantime,
so much alike was all the groundshe covered that she seemed to be riding
on a treadmill. But yet shecould not return. The moon floated higher
and higher as the night grew old, and at length there was a dim
lightening in the east, which foretolddawn. But Marianne kept on. If

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she lost the Mayor's it would bevery much like losing her last claim to
the respect of her father. Shecould see him in prospect shrug his shoulders
and roll another cigarette. Above all, she could see low Hervey smile with
a suppressed wisdom. Both of themhad from the first not only disapproved of

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the long price of the coal horses, but of their long legs as well.
And their damned high heads, tellingherself fiercely that before long, when
the mares were used to the mountainways and trails, she would ride one
of them against the pick of Hervey'ssaddle ponies, and at the end of
a day he would know how muchblood counts in horse flesh. But if

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that chance were lost to her withthe mayors themselves, she did not know
where she could find the courage togo back and face the people at the
ranch. Meantime, the dawn grewslowly in the east, but even when
the mountains were huge and black againstflaming colors of the horizon sky, there

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was no breaking of mary Anne's gloom. Now and then hopelessly she raised her
field glasses and swept the segment ofthe compass, But it was an automatic
act, and her own forecast offailure obscured her vision, until at last,
saddle racked, trembling with weariness andgrief, she stopped the mare.

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She was beaten. She had turnedthe bay towards the home trail when something
subconsciously noted made her glance over hershoulder, and she saw them. She
needed no glass to bring them close, though, six small forms moving over
the distant hill could be nothing else. But if she doubted, all room

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for doubt was instantly removed, forin a moment, a group of horsemen
passed raggedly over the same crest Herveyhad found them. After all, tears
of relief and astonishment streamed down herface. God bless low Hervey for his
good work. Even the bay seemedto recover her spirit at the sight.

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She had picked up her head beforeshe felt the rain of the Mistress.
And now she answered the first wordby swinging into a brisk gallop that overhauled
the others swiftly. How the eyesof Marianne feasted on the reclaimed truants.
They danced along gaily, her slenderbodies shining with sweat in the light of

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the early day, and Lady Marymincing in the lead. A moment later,
Marianne was among her cowpunchers. Theywere stolid as ever, but she
knew them well enough to understand bythe smiles they interchanged that they were intensely
pleased with their work of the night. Then she found herself crying to Hervey,

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You're wonderful, simply wonderful. Howcould you have followed them so far?
And found them in the night.At that, of course, Hervey
became exceedingly matter of fact. Hespoke as though the explanation were self evident.
They busted away in a straight line, he said, So I knew

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by that that something was leading them. Then days ain't on sense enough of
their own to run so straight.She noted, the slur without anger.
Well, what was leading them musthave been what led him out of the
corral, and what led him outof the corral? Horse thieves, cried
mary Anne, but Hervey observed herwithout interest. Horse stealing ain't popular around

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these parts for some time, hesaid, rustle a cow now and then,
But they don't aim no higher,not since we strung Juss and Clare
to the cottonwood. Nope, theywas stole, but not by a man.
Here. He made a tantalizing pauseto roll a cigarette, with Mary
Anne exclaiming, if not a man, then what on earth? Mister Hervey,

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He puffed out his answer with thefirst big cloud of smoke by another
horse. I guessed it right off. Remember what I said last night about
the chestnut stallion and the bad luckhe put on my gun, she recalled
vividly how Hervey with the utmost Sulimnityhad avowed that the leader of the mustangs

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put bad luck on his bullets,and that they had not seen the last
of the horse. She dared nottrust herself to answer low, but glanced
at the other men to see ifthey were not smiling at their foreman's absurd
idea. They were as grave asimages. The Chestnut wanted to get back
at us for killing his herd,off went on hervey. So he sneaks

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up to the ranch and opens thecorral gate and takes the mayor's out.
When I seen the mayors were travelingso straight as all that, I guessed
what was up. But if thehorse was leading him, where would he
take'em straight to water? Therewas no use trying to run down them
long legged gallopers. I took aswing off to the right and headed for

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Warner's tank. Sure enough, whenwe got there, we seen the mayors
spread out, and the Chestnut andthe gray mare hanging around. He paused
again and looked sternly at Slim,and Slim flushed to the eyes and glared
straight ahead. Slim here had beensaying, maybe it was my bum shooting

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and not the bad luck the stallionput on my rifle. That made me
miss, so I give him thejob of plugging the horse. Well,
he tried and missed three times.Off goes the gray and the chestnut like
a streak the first crack out ofthe box. But we got ahead of
the mayors and turned em and herewe are. That's all they was to
it. But he added gravely,we ain't seen the last of that chestnut

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horse, Miss Jordan, I guesshardly another man on the range could have
trailed him so well, she saidgratefully, But this wild horse, do
you really think he'll try to stealher mares again? Think? I know?
And the next time we won't gethim back, sup plumb easy.
Right this morning, If they'd gotstarted quick enough when he give him the

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signal, we'd never have headed him. But they ain't turned wild yet,
they ain't used to his ways.Give him another whirl with them and they'll
be lo on to hymn for good. Ain't no horses around these parts can
run them mares down. She heardthe tribute with a smile of pleasure,
and ran satisfied glances over the sixbeauties which cantered or trotted before them.

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But even wild things are captured,she argued, even dearer caught. If
the chestnut did run off the maresagain, why couldn't hervey interrupted dryly down
Concord Way. Jess Rankin was pesteredby a black mustang. Jess was a
pretty tolerable fair hunter node mustangs andmustang ways, and had a right fine

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string of saddle horses. Well,it took just four years of hard work
to get that black up by MexicoCreek. Bud Wilkinson had a gray stallion
that run amok his range. TookBud nigh on to five years to get
the gray. Well, I seenboth the gray and the black, and
I helped run em a couple oftimes. Well, Miss Jordan, when

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it come the running, neither ofem was one, two three beside this
chestnut. And if it took fiveyears to get in rifle range of em
for a good shot, it'll taketen to get the chestnut. That's the
way I figure. As he ended, his companions nodded soberly, plumb streak

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of light. They said, justnatural, crazy fool when it comes the
running, that horse is. AndMaryanne, for the first time truly appreciated
how great was the danger from whichthe mayors had been saved, sighed as
she looked them over again one byone. It had been a double triumph
this night's work. Not only werethe mayors retaken, but they had proved

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their speed and staying powers conclusively inthe long run over the desert. Hervey
himself began hinting as they rode onthat he would like to clamp a saddle
on that lady mary horse one ofthese days. In truth, her purchase
was vindicated completely, and Mary Annefell into a happy dream of a ranch

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stalked with saddle horses, all drawnfrom the blood of these neat footed mares.
With such horses to offer, shecould pick and call among the best
punchers in the West. Into thedream. Appropriately enough ran the neigh of
a horse, long drawn and shrillof pitch, interrupted by a sudden burst

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of deep throated curses from the riders. The six mayors had come to a
halt, with their beautiful heads raisedto listen, and on a far off
hill, Mary saw the signaler,a chestnut horse gleaming red in the morning
light. It's him, shouted Hervey. The nervy devil has come back to
give us a look. Shorty takea crack at him, for that matter,

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every man in the park. Hewas whipping his rifle out of its
holster. As Mary raised her fieldglass hurriedly to study the stranger, She
focused on him clearly at once,and it was a startling thing to see
the distant figure shoot suddenly close toher, distinct in every detail, in
every detail, an item of perfectbeauty. She gasped her admiration and astonishment.

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MUSTANGI might be, but the shortline of the back above and the
long line below, the deep setof the shoulders, the length of neck,
the Arab perfection of head, wouldhave allowed him to pass unquestioned muster
among a group of thoroughbreds, anda picked group at that. He turned
at that instant and galloped the shortdistance along the crest, neighing again,

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and then paused, like an expectantdog with one foe foot raised a white
stockinged forefoot. Mary Anne gripped theglass hard and then dropped it. By
the liquid smoothness of that gallop,by the white stockinged forefoot, by something
about his head, and above all, by what she knew of his cunning.

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She had recognized Alcatraz and where inthe first glimpse she had been about
to warn the men not to shootthis peerless beauty. She now dropped the
glass, with the memory of thetrampling of Manuel Cordova rushing back across her
mind. It's Alcatraz, she cried, It's that chestnut. I told you

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of it, Gloucesterville. Mister Hervey, oh shoot and shoot to kill.
He's a murderer, not a horse. That injunction was not needed. The
rifle spoke from the shoulder of Shorty, but the stallion neither fell nor fled,
and his challenging Neiy rang faintly downto them. Mind the Mayor's shrilled

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Maryanne. Suddenly they're starting for him. In fact, it seemed as though
the report of the rifle had startedthe Coal's horses towards their late companion.
They went forward at a high steppingtrot, as horses will when their minds
are not quite made up about theircourse. Now, in obedience to shouted

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otters from Hervey, the cowpunchers splitinto two groups and slipped away on either
side head the truants. Marianne herselfspurring as hard as she could. After
Hervey heard the foreman groaning. ByGod, you ever see a horse stand
up under gunfire like that? Foras they galloped, the men were pumping

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and shot after shot wildly, andAlcatraz did not stir. The firing merely
served to rouse the mayors from trotto gallop, and from gallop to run.
For the first time, Marianne mournedtheir speed. They glided away,
as though the horses of the cowpuncherswere running fetlock deep in mud. They

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shot up the slope towards the distantstallion like six bright arrows. Then came
Hervey's last despairing effort, pull up, shorty, slim, pull up,
and try to drop that devil.They obeyed. Marianne, racing blindly ahead,
heard a clanger of shots behind her, and riveted her eyes on the

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chestnut, waiting for him the fall. But he did not fall. He
seemed to challenge the bullets with hislordly head, and in another moment he
was wheeling with the mayors about him. Even in her anguish Marianne noted with
a thrill of wonder that though theCoal's horses were racing at the top of
their speed, the stallion overtook theminstantly and shot into the lead for that

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matter, handicapped with a wretched ride, staggering, weak from underfeeding, he
had been good enough to beat themin Gloucesterville, and now he was transformed
by rich pasture and glorious freedom.The whole group disappear eared, and when
she reached the crest in turn,she saw them streaking far off, hopelessly

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beyond pursuit, and in the rearlabored a gray mare, sadly outrun.
Then as she drew rein, withthe mare heaving and swaying from exhaustion beneath
her, she remembered the words oflew Hervey, It'll take ten years to
get the chestnut. Marianne dropped herface in her hands and burst into tears.

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It was only a momentary surrender whenshe turned back to join the down
headed men on the home trail,for it was worse than useless to follow
Alcatraz on such jaded horses. Mariannehad rallied to continue the fight ten years
to capture Alcatraz and the mayors heled. She swept the forms of the

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cowpunchers with one of those all embracingglances of which few great men and all
excited women are capable. Yes,old Age would capture Alcatraz before such men
as these. For this trail therewas needed a spirit as much superior to
other men in tireless endurance and inspeed as Alcatraz was superior to other horses.

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There was needed a man who stoodamong his fellows as Alcatraz had stood
on the hill crest, defiant,lordly and free. And as the thought
drove home in her Mary Anne uttereda little cry of triumph, all in
a breath. She had it red. Paris was the man. But would

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he come, Yes, for thesake of such a battle as this,
he would journey to the end ofthe world and give his services for nothing.
End of Chapter ten.