Range War Along the Pecos, by John Theron Crow

Range War Along the Pecos

CHAPTER SIXTY

 
Earlier that day, after being informed of the massacre of his south-section crew by the Fogg's, Tanner had immediately set out for his ranch. Thus far, to his knowledge, the Concho River riders had not arrived. Upon their arrival, Wade Terrell, Case Tyree, and Ace Scurlock were to report directly to him. Were he not present at the ranch, they were to head straight to Olsen's Falls and apprise him of their arrival.
Tanner had until now, been delaying any action against the Fogg's until that event, but felt as though he could wait no longer. He had not expected the Fogg's to attack so soon, nor so devastatingly. At the moment, he had thirty-five gunmen left, led by his foreman and perhaps top gunhand, Duke Collins.
Collins was a rare personage indeed, in the west. He wore two ornate, engraved, ivory handled, Colt Army 1860 44s. Six feet tall on the nose, he had light brown, curly hair, at about collar length. He weighed about one-ninety, and possessed an athletic body that was reminiscent of Greek statuary. His eyes were light blue, suggesting a hint of nordic ancestry, and he was clean-shaven at all times. One would be hard pressed to pick him out of a group of cowboys as an Englishman, however, since he had long since adopted the Texas style of attire. Of course, as soon as he spoke, his accent immediately gave away his nationality.
He was born Henry Leighton Collins, son of Lord Alford Collins of England. Although born in England, young Collins had moved around all over the world. He had lived in India and Australia as well as Africa and France while growing up. Lord Alford had been independently wealthy almost beyond belief, and had spent his life roaming the globe. He had made certain however, that no matter where young Henry might be at the time, that some of the finest teachers were along as well, to attend to the boy's education.
Henry had received the nickname "Duke" when a child in India. A man had asked him if he would grow up to be a Lord like his father. The impetuous young Henry had replied, "Of course not! By the time I'm his age, I shall be a Duke, at least!" From then on, even his father had begun calling him Duke. The name had stuck.
By the time he was eighteen, he set out to see the world on his own, and hired out as a mercenary to Russia for two years. Next, with his father's money, he sailed to America in 1861, and roamed the west for a year, during the civil war. He then sailed to Africa and explored several, until then, unexplored regions, barely escaping with his life on numerous occasions. In 1864, he returned to the U.S. by way of Texas, just as the Civil War was ending.
Already proficient with any sort of weapon, and in various forms of hand-to-hand combat, he soon mastered the fast-draw to a degree many experts found enviable. He became a sheriff in one town near the border, and in the line of duty, slew eight men in gunfights before moving on. In 1867, he spent nearly a year as a bounty-hunter, and killed twelve more men, nine of these in gunfights. In 1868, he roamed the west, primarily gambling, and was involved in eight more gunfights, in one case, against four gunmen at once. He never received so much as a scratch. Early in 69, he had returned to England where he had met Morgan Tanner.
Tanner's family had done business with the Collins family for many years. Morgan Tanner at the time, was attempting to sell Lord Collins on a plan to provide beef to England at a cheaper price than any other buyer in the States. Of course, at that time, Tanner had only begun setting up the apparatus by which he would build his own private empire out in Western Texas.
Nevertheless, Tanner's family had money, and Tanner was convincing. Thus, they agreed that when the time came, Collins would steer many of England's major beef buyers in Tanner's direction. Collins had overheard the scheme, and had rapidly made friends with Tanner. He had expressed a desire to help Tanner establish his western empire. The whole idea sounded like another adventure to Duke, and he was willing even to work for free, if only to be allowed a part in the undertaking. He loved the outdoors, and any type of a challenge. Already, he stood to inherit his Father's wealth, so money, was never a factor in his own mind.
Tanner had been reluctant and suspicious at first, but even he had heard of the famous English gunman and adventurer, and finally acquiesced. They had begun the ranch together, gradually hiring more and more gunmen as needed. Unlike most of the other men who worked for Tanner, Collins was as educated and refined as Tanner himself. He proved to be absolutely competent, trustworthy, and reliable. More importantly to Tanner, he could be equally ruthless, when the situation called for it. Collins was Tanner's right hand man, and had amazingly enough, become a close friend as well. One of the few people to whom Tanner did not look down upon.
Tanner often wondered what it would be like if Collins suddenly were to find out that he no longer stood to inherit his Father's wealth. He figured that were such to occur, he would have to watch Collins like a hawk, and perhaps even have him killed. Collins was one man who was capable of taking over, doing away with Tanner, and picking up where Tanner had left off, with relative ease. Fortunately though, Collins' primary interest seemed to be in the building of Tanner's empire. It almost seemed if the man had no other ambition in life but adventure. Even Collins had told him that there might come a time when the wanderlust overtook him and he might pick up and head for Africa or some other remote corner of the world.
Nevertheless, those same traits which made Collins a potential danger to Tanner, were also the ones that compelled Tanner's respect and admiration. Thus, unbeknownst to anyone other than Tanner's lawyer, Tanner himself, had willed the entire ranch holdings to Collins, in the event of his own premature demise, assuming that he had neither wife nor children at the time. Tanner felt that what he was building, was too great to be left to a lesser man. Should Collins ever decide to depart, Tanner would inform him of that fact. As it stood, he did not trust him enough to tell him unless absolutely necessary. It was just possible, that being in possession of such information, might make Collins greedy enough to insure that some dire fate DID in fact, overtake Tanner.
At the moment, Tanner would once again have to rely heavily on Collins. They had thirty-five men with which to totally decimate the Fogg's, once and for all. Problem was, Fogg had at least twenty men, and had demolished twenty of Tanner's men already, emerging virtually unscathed from the encounter. True, his own south section crew had been mostly cowhands, and true, they had been caught "somewhat" off guard. Even so, the implications were frightening. On horseback, especially anywhere near pistol range, Fogg was virtually invincible.
What Tanner hoped to do was catch them in ambush somehow. Barring that, at first sight of Fogg, he would have to have his men dismount and fire their Winchesters and Henry rifles from the ground. That would at least, put them upon more even footing. The Foggs all possessed repeating rifles as well, and were almost as good at firing them from a moving horse, as they were their pistols. Any type of mounted Cavalry confrontation would be out of the question then.
Upon arrival at his rancheria, Morgan Tanner was pleasantly surprised. The Concho River riders had finally arrived.
The arrival of the Concho River crew added another thirty gunmen to the thirty-five already at Tanner's disposal. Their acknowledged leader was Wade Terrell, who had also been Abe Brockman's foreman and right-hand man on the Rocking-B up until Brockman's untimely demise.
As soon as the Rocking-B crew had arrived, Terrell and Duke Collins had seen to the placement of the Rocking-B herd. This had proved to be no small chore, thus, Terrell had been unable to go immediately to Olsen's Falls and report to Tanner as he'd been instructed. The Rocking-B herd was tremendous, and along with the cattle, there was also a large number of breeding horses as well. Some of the stock were in the process of experimental breeding and had to be kept separated from the majority of the herd. To add to that, the Rocking-B herd itself was to be kept separate from the MT herd until a full appraisal could be made.
Upon Tanner's arrival, the men had just finished placing the herds in their appropriate positions and were resting up from their work. The men were all dog-tired, so Tanner, after assembling them together and apprising them of his plans, allowed them four and one half hours by which to sleep. Afterwards, they would pay a visit to Captain Fogg. Tanner intended to leave only fifteen men to guard his rancheria, and divide the rest into two groups, one lead by himself and Duke Collins, and the other, would be the Concho River riders led by Terrell. With any luck, the two groups would catch Fogg in between them and then, systematically cut him to pieces. Barring that, one group would find him, and should he attempt to escape, the other would cut him off. It was his intention to make an end of Fogg once and for all, within the next forty-eight hours, if possible.

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