14 - Alcatraz - Strategy

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter fourteen of Alcatraz by Max Brand. This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain. Strategy. Never had readParis passed the night of such pleasant dreams.
For never, indeed, had hebeen so exquisitely flattered as during the
preceding evening, when Marianne Jordan keptthem after dinner in the ranch house,

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while the other hired men, aswas their custom, loitered to smoke their
after dinner cigarettes in the moist coolnessof the patio. For the building was
on the Spanish Mexican style. Thewalls were heavy enough to defy the most
biting cold of winter and the mostsearching sun in summer, and they marched

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in a wide circle around an interiorcourt, which was bordered with a clumsy
arcade of dobe pillars. By daylight, the defects and construction were rather too
apparent, but at night the effectwas imposing, almost grand. But while
the cow hands smoked in the patio, the noise of their laughter and their

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heavy voices penetrated no louder than thedim humming of bees to the ear of
red. Jim Parris sitting tetetee withMary Anne in an inner room and he
did not envy the sprawling freedom ofthose outside. Pretty girls had come his
way now and again during his wanderingsnorth and south, and east and west

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through the mountain desert, but neverbefore had he seen one in such a
background. She had had the goodtaste to make the inside of the house
well nigh as Spanish as its exterior. There were cool, dim spaces in
the big rooms, and here andthere were bright spots of color. Her
very costume for the evening showed thesame discrimination. She wore dress riding clothes,

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but from her own garden she hadchosen a scentless blossom of a kind
which Red Paris had never seen before. The absent charm of perfume was turned
into a deeper coloring, a crimsonintensest fire in the darkness of her hair.
That one touch of color and nomore. But it gave wonderful warmth

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to her eyes and to her smile, And indeed she was not sparing in
her smiles. Read Jim Parris pleasedher, and she was not afraid to
show it. To be sure,she talked of the business before them,
but she talked of it only inscattered phrases. Other topics drew her away.

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A score of little side issues carriedher away, and Jim Parris was
glad of the diversions, for theonly thing which she disliked in her,
the only thing which repelled him timeand again, was this eagerness of hers
to have the chestnut stallion killed.She spoke of Alcatraz with a consuming hatred,

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and Paris was a little horrified.He knew that Alcatraz had stolen away
the six mayors, and Marianne explainedbriefly and eloquently how much the return of
those mayors meant to her self respectand to the financial soundness of the ranch.
But this, after all, wasa small excuse for an ugly passion.

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If he could have known that,with her own eyes she had seen
the chestnut crushed Cordova to shapelessness andalmost death, the mystery might have been
cleared. But Marianne could not referto that terrible memory. All she could
say was that Alcatraz must be killedat once, and she said it with
her eyes on fire with detestation.Indeed, that touch of angry passion in

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her was the flower of hermes tored Jim, keeping him from complete infatuation.
When she sang to him, playingher her own lightly touched accompaniment at
the piano. He had never beenentertained like this before, and when a
girl sang a love ballad, Anneat the same time looked at him with
eyes at once serious and laughing,he had to set his teeth and shake

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himself to keep from taking the wordsof the poet too literally. Perhaps Marianne
was going a little farther than sheintended, but after all, every good
woman has a tremendous desire to makemen happy and handsome. Jim Parris,
with his straight, steady eyes andhis free laughter, was such a pleasant

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fellow to work with that Marianne quiteforgot moderation, and before the evening was
over, Jim had come within ahair's breadth of plunging over the cliff and
confessing his admiration in terms so outrightthat Marianne would have closed up her charming
gaiety as a flower closes up itsbeauty and fragrance at the first warning hi

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of night. A dozen times RedParis came to this alarming point, but
he was always saved by remembering thatthis delightful girl had brought him here for
the purpose of killing a horse,and that memory chilled Jim to the very
core of his manly heart. Ofcourse, he knew that wild running stallions

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whose steel saddle stock must be clearedfrom a range, and by shooting,
if necessary. He would have receivedsuch an order from a man, and
never thought the less of him.But the command was too stern for the
smiling lips of mary Anne to besure. Paris was by no means a
gentle rider. In fact, herode so very hard that only fine horses

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could measure up to his demands.And who since the world began, has
ridden many fine horses without coming tolove the entire race red. Paris,
at least was such a man,And indeed he had spent many an hour
dreaming of some happy day when heshould find beneath him a mount with speed
like an eagle, soul of alion, and the gentle, trusting heart

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of a child. Finally the eveningended, he left the house and the
puzzled smile of Marianne behind him,and went to the bunk house and a
sleep of happy dreams. But everydream ended with the thought of a wild
chestnut running into the circle of hisrifle's sights. Leaping into the air at
the report of his gun and droppingan earth on the grass. What wonder

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then, that when he wakened hethought of Marianne Jordan with mixed emotions.
Perhaps the really important point was thathe thought of her so much, whether
for good or evil. He wentin with the other men to breakfast in
the long dining room of the ranchhouse, and there was Marianne Jordan again

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presiding at the head of the table. But half of the gland of the
evening before was gone from her,and she kept her eyes seriously lowered,
frowning. In fact, she hadmuch to think about, for late the
preceding evening, low Hervey had cometo her and showed her the first note
that her father had written. Shewas not alarmed by this sudden trip over

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the mountains. There had been somany vagaries in the action of Oliver Jordan
in the past few months that thisunannounced drive to an undetermined destination was not
particularly surprising. It was only thedelegation of such authority to Hervey that astonished
her. She forgot even read JimParris and the Lost Coal's Horses in her

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abstraction, for whenever she looked downthe table, she saw nothing save in
the erect, burly form of theforeman swelling so it seemed to her with
the newly acquired and aggressive importance.However, he had the written word of
her father, and she had toset her teeth over her irritation and digested

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as well as she could. Herveyhad presented reasonable excuses to be sure.
There was certain work offense, repairing, certain construction of sheds, which he
had called to the attention of OliverJordan, and which Jordan had commissioned him
to overlook during his absence. Itold him there wasn't any use in writing

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out a note like this one,Hervey had assured her. But you know
how the chief is these days,sorta said in his ways when he makes
up his mind about anything. Andthis was so entirely true that she was
half inclined to dismiss the whole matterfrom her mind. Oliver Jordan paid so
little heed to the running of theranch, and when he did make a

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suggestion, he was so peremptory aboutit that his commission to Hervey was not
altogether astonishing. Nevertheless, it kepther minded throughout breakfast. Red Paris was
naturally somewhat offended by the blankness ofher eye as she passed him over.
She had been so extremely intimate andcordial the night before that this neglect was

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almost an insult. Perhaps she hadonly been playing a game, trying to
amuse herself during a dull hour,instead of truly wishing to please him.
He grew childishly sulky at the thought. After all, there was a good
deal of the spoiled child about RedJim. He had had his way in
the world so much that opposition orneglect threw him into a temper, and

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he stamped out of the dining roomahead of the rest of the men,
his head down, his brows blacklow. Hervey, following with the other
men, had noted everything. Itbehooved him to be on the watch during
the time of trial and triumph,and at breakfast he had observed Red Paris
looking at the girl a dozen timeswith an anticipatory smile, which changed straightway

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to glumness when her glance passed himcarelessly by. And now Hervey communicated his
opinions to the others on the wayto the bunk house to get their things
for the day's riding. Our newfriend the gun fighter, he said,
poigtedly, emphasizing the last phrase,ain't none too happy this mornin. Mary

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Anne give him a smile last night, and he was waiting for another this
morning. He sure looks cut up. Uh. The bowed head and rounded
shoulders of red Paris brought a chucklefrom the cowpunchers. They were not at
all kindly disposed towards him. Toomuch reputation is a bad thing for a
man to have on his hands.In the West, he is apt to

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be expected to live up to itevery moment of his waking hours. Not
a man in the Valley of theEagle's outfit, but was waiting to see
the newcomer make his first move towardsbullying one of them. In such a
move, they were prepared to resenten mass. That Marianne might have made
a good deal of a fool outof Paris, as Hervey suggested, pleased

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them immensely. Maybe the ranch suitshim pretty well, suggested slim ironically.
Maybe he figures it might be worthhis while to pick it up by marrying
the old man's girl, and LouLou Hervey shrugged his shoulders. He did
not wish to directly accuse the gunfighter of anything, for talk is easily

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traced to its source, and theaccount of Shorty had filled the foreman with
immense respect for the fighting qualities ofRed Paris. However, he was equally
determined to rouse a hostile sentiment towardhim among the cow hans, Well said,
Lou, you can't blame a gentfor playin for high stakes if he's

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going to gamble at all. Iguess read Paris is all right. A
kid like him can't help being alittle proud of himself. Damn fathead,
growled, slim less, merciful,sat right next to me and didn't say
two words all through breakfast. Ain'tgone awayte no words on common cowpunchers.
Maybe so the first impression of RedJim was created on the ranch, an

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impression which might be dispelled by thefirst real test of the man, or
which, in the absence of sucha test, might cling to him forever.
Paris was a conceited gun fighter,heartbreaker and bully. The men who
trooped into the bunk house behind himalready hated him with religious intensity. In

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ten minutes, they might have acceptedhim as a bunkie for your true Western
cowpuncher, when all is said anddone, unites with Spartan's stoicism, a
Spartan keenness of suspicion. It wasnot hard for the foreman to see the
trend of events. Something had rousedan ugly mood in Paris. It might

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be, as he surmised the girl. No matter what, he was obviously
not in a mood to bear tamperingwith Hervey determined to force the issue at
once, knowing that his other menwould be a solid unit behind him.
Hey there, ready, called,cheerily enough, but brusquely, and then
bending over to fuss at a spur, he winked broadly at the other men.

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They were instantly keen for the baitingof Paris, whatever form it might
take, Well, said Red Paris. Trot over the corral and rope that
Roman nosed buckskin with the white stockingson her fore legs, will you,
I've got a few things to tendto in here now. There was nothing
entirely unheard of in a foreman orderingone of his men to catch a saddle

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horse for him, but usually suchthings were done by request rather than demain.
And moreover, there was something sobreezy in the manner of Hervey,
taking the compliance of Red so forgranted that. The latter raised his head
slowly and turned to the foreman witha gloomy eye. He had come to
the ranch to hunt a wild horse, not to play valet to a foreman.

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Partner drawled Red Paris, and thesilken smoothness of his tones was ample
proof that he was enraged. Idon't know the ways you folks have up
here, but around the parts whereI've been, a gent that's big enough
to ride is big enough to saddlehis own horse. The reply of lou
Hervey was just sharp enough to goadthe newcomer, just soft enough to stay

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on the windward side of an insult. I'll tell you, he said,
quietly, around the Valley of theEagles, the boys do what the foreman
asks them to do, most generally, and the foreman don't play favorites.
I'm waiting for that horse. Parisrolled a cigarette and smiled as he looked

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at Hervey. It was a sicklysmile, his lips being white and stiff,
and in another it might have beenconsidered a sign of fear. In
Red Paris, every one there knewit was simply the badge of a rising
fury. They knew by the sametoken that he was as dangerous as he
had been advertised. Men whom angerreddens are blinded by it, but those

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who turned pale never stop thinking.Meantime, Red Jim looked at Hervey and
looked at the cowpunchers behind Hervey.It was not hard to see that in
a pinch they would be solid behindtheir foreman. They watched him with wolfish
eagerness. Why should they be soinstantly hostile, he could not guess,
But he was enough of a travelerto be prepared for strange customs in strange

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places. There was only one importantpoint. He would not saddle the buckskin.
Moreover, at the sight of thissolid front and there aggressive sneers,
he grew fighting hot. How gentscome in these parts, he said,
with deliberate scorn. I don't know, and I don't care a damn.
If they brush their foreman's boots andsaddle his horse for him, they can

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go ahead and do it. ButI come up here to catch a wild
horse that the gents in the Valleyof the Eagles couldn't get. That's my
job and nothing else. The growlof his cowpunchers was sweetest music to the
ear of lou Hervey. He glancedat them as much as to say,
you see what I got on myhands. Then he stepped forward and cleared

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his throat. You're young, kiddy, declared, and when you grow up
you'll know better than to talk likethis. But cowpunchers, we ain't goin
to make no trouble for you.But I'll tell you short, Paris,
you go out and rope that horseor else, roll your blankets and clear
out. Understand, I was jokingwhen I asked you to rope the horse.

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First, I wanted to see whatsort you were. Well, I
see, and I don't like whatI see. Hervey began, Paris trembling
with passion. Hervey, Wait aminute, said the foreman. I know
you're kind. You sign your namewith bullets, you pay your way with
lead. You bully a crowd byfingering a gun butt well, son,

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that sort of thing. Don't goin the valley of the Eagles. Lay
a hand on that gun, andI'll have the boys tie you in knots
and row you in a barrel oftar. We've got handy, Paris,
get that horse from me or getout. Red Paris sat down on the
edge of his bunk. He madeno move towards his revolver. Indeed,

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it lay almost arm's length away.Almost every one noted that he crossed his
legs and his glance wandered slowly upand down the line of grim faces.
Partner, he said softly to Hervey, I'm not going to get that horse,
and I'm not going to get out. The next move is up to
you, is it tar. Fora moment, Hervey was dazed. No

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one could have foreseen such dare deviltryas this. At the same time,
he was badly cornered. If hismen rushed Red Paris, Red Paris would
get his gun, and if RedParis got his gun, the first shot
would be for Hervey. Hold on, boys, he called suddenly above the
angry curses of his men. I'mnot going to risk one of you in

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getting this fool. Miss Jordan hiredhim. She can fire him if I
can't, which we'll find out pronto. Slim go get her, will you.
Slim jumped through the door. Theyheard his footsteps fade away at a
run, and then, after aninterval of steady silence, his voice began
in the distance, replying too sharp, hurried and querries of mary Anne.

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In another moment, Marianne was inthe bunk house. Her glance shot from
Hervey to Paris and back again.I knew you'd be up to something like
this, she cried, I knewit, Lou Hervey. Hervey made a
gesture of surrender. Ask the boys, he pleaded, Ask them if I
didn't try to go easy with him. But he's all teeth, he wants

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to bite, and we ain't goingto put up with that sort of gent
here. I guess I've ordered himoff the ranch. Does that go with
you? Oh, Jim Parris,cried the girl. Why have you let
this happen? I'm sure, sorry, said Parris. He disdained further explanation,
but said mary Anne. I've gotto have that terrible stallion killed.

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And who can do it? ButJim Parris, mister Hervey, give me
time, said Lou, and I'lldo it. She stamped her foot in
anger. How you wielded the authorityout of my father, I don't know,
she said, But you have it, and you can discharge him if
you want. But he'll hear anotherside of this when he returns, mister
Hervey. I promise you that,she whirled on Red Jim, mister Parris,

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If mister Hervey allows you to stay, will you remain for a week,
say and try to get rid ofAlcatraz for me, Mister Hervey,
will you let me have mister Parrisfor one week? There was more angry
demand than appeal in her voice,but Hervey knew he must give way.
After all, the way to carrythis thing through was to use the high

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hand as little as possible. OliverJordan would certainly wait a week before he
returned. I sure want to bereasonable, miss Jordany, said, I'm
only acting in your father's interests.Of course he can stay for a week.
She whirled away from him with aglance of angry suspicion, which softened

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instantly as she faced Red Jim.You will stay, she pleaded. Sullen
pride drew Jim one way, thebright, eager eyes drew him another.
As long as you want, hesaid, gravely. End of Chapter fourteen.