MAC STRANN DECIDES TO KEEP THE LAW
It was hours later that night when Haw-Haw Langley
and Mac Strann sat their horses on the hill to the
south. Before them, on the nearest rise of ground,
a clump of tall trees and the sharp triangle of a roof
split the sky, while down towards the right spread
a wide huddle of sheds and barns.
“That’s where the trail ends,” said
Mac Strann, and started his horse down the slope.
Haw-Haw Langley urged his little mount hurriedly alongside
the squat bulk of his companion. He looked like
the skeleton reality, and Mac Strann the blunt, deformed
shadow.
“You ain’t going into the house lookin’
for him, Mac?” he asked, and he lowered his
voice to a sharp whisper in spite of the distance.
“Maybe there’s a pile of men in that house.
It’s got room for a whole army. You ain’t
going in there by yourself, Mac?”
“Haw-Haw,” explained the big man quietly,
“I ain’t going after Barry. I’m
going to make him come after me.”
Haw-Haw considered this explanation for a dazed moment.
It was far too mysterious for his comprehension.
“What you goin’ to do?” he asked
again.
“Would you know that black hoss agin if you
seen him?” asked Mac Strann.
“In a thousand.”
“That hoss has had a long ride; and Barry has
put him in one of them barns, they ain’t no
doubt. Most like, the dog is with the hoss.”
“It looks a considerable lot like a wolf,”
muttered Langley. “I wouldn’t choose
meetin’ up with that dog in the dark. Besides,
what good is it goin’ to do you to find the
dog?”
“If you hurt a man’s dog,” explained
Mac Strann calmly, “you’re hurting the
man, ain’t you? I’m going to hurt
this man’s dog; afterwards the dog’ll
bring the man to me. They ain’t no doubt
of that. I ain’t goin’ to kill the
dog. I’m goin’ to jest nick him so’s
he’ll get well and then hit my trail.”
“What sense is they in that?”
“If Barry comes to me, ain’t he the one
that’s breakin’ the law? If I kill
him then, won’t it be in self-defense? I
ain’t no law-breaker, Haw-Haw. It ain’t
any good bein’ a law-breaker. Them lawyers
can talk a man right into a grave. They’s
worse nor poison. I’d rather be caught in
a bear trap a hundred miles from my shack than have
a lawyer fasten onto my leg right in the middle of
Brownsville. No, Haw-Haw, I ain’t going
to break any law. But I’m going to fix
the wolf so’s he’ll know me; and when
he gets well he’ll hit my trail, and when he
hits my trail he’ll have Barry with him.
And when Barry sees me, then——”
he raised his arms above him in the dark. “Then!”
breathed Mac Strann, “Jerry can start sleepin’
sound for the first time!”
Haw-Haw Langley wrapped his long arms about himself.
“An’ I’ll be there to watch.
I’ll be there to see fair play, don’t you
never doubt it, Mac. Why didn’t I never
go with you before? Why, Jerry never done anything
to touch this! But be careful, Mac. Don’t
make no slip up to-night. If they’s trouble—I
ain’t a fighting man, Mac. I ain’t
no ways built for it.”
