CHAPTER XVII. BUCK MAKES HIS GET-AWAY CAPÍTULO XVII. BUCK FAZ SUA FUGA

Straight from the room of the dead man, Fatty Matthews had hurried down to the bar, and there he stepped into the silence and found the battery of eyes all turned upon that calm figure at the end of the room. Upon this man he trotted, breathing hard, and his fat sides jostled up and down as he ran. Em cima desse homem ele trotou, respirando com dificuldade, e seus lados gordos balançavam para cima e para baixo enquanto ele corria. According to Brownsville, there were only two things that could make Fatty run: a gun or the sight of a drink. De acordo com Brownsville, havia apenas duas coisas que poderiam fazer Fatty correr: uma arma ou a visão de uma bebida. But all maxims err. Mas todas as máximas erram. When he reached Barry he struck him on the shoulder with a heavy hand. Quando ele alcançou Barry, ele o atingiu no ombro com uma mão pesada. That is, he struck at the shoulder, but as if the shadow of the falling hand carried a warning before it, at the same time that it dropped Barry swerved around in his chair. Ou seja, ele bateu no ombro, mas como se a sombra da mão caindo carregasse um aviso diante dela, ao mesmo tempo em que caiu, Barry girou na cadeira. Not a hurried movement, but in some mysterious manner his shoulder was not in the way of the plump fist. Não foi um movimento apressado, mas de alguma maneira misteriosa seu ombro não estava no caminho do punho rechonchudo. It struck, instead, upon the back of the chair, and the marshal cursed bitterly. Em vez disso, atingiu o encosto da cadeira, e o marechal praguejou amargamente.

"Stranger," he said hotly, "I got one thing to say: Jerry Strann has just died upstairs. In ten seconds Mac Strann will be down here lookin' for you !" He stepped back, humming desperately to cover his wheezing, but Barry continued to braid the horsehair with deft fingers. Ele deu um passo para trás, cantarolando desesperadamente para cobrir sua respiração ofegante, mas Barry continuou a trançar a crina com dedos hábeis.

"I got a double knot that's kind of new," he said. "Eu tenho um nó duplo que é meio novo", disse ele. "Want to watch me tie it?" "Quer me ver amarrar?" The deputy sheriff turned on the crowd. O vice-xerife virou-se para a multidão.

"Boys," he exclaimed, waving his arms, "he's crazy. You heard what he said. You know I've give him fair warning. If we got to dig his grave in Brownsville, is it my fault? Se tivermos que cavar a sepultura dele em Brownsville, a culpa é minha? It ain't!" He stepped to the bar and pounded upon it. Ele foi até o bar e bateu nele. "O'Brien, for God's sake, a drink!" It was a welcome suggestion to the entire nervous crowd, but while the glasses spun across the bar Buck Daniels walked slowly down the length of the barroom towards Barry. Foi uma sugestão bem-vinda para toda a multidão nervosa, mas enquanto os copos giravam pelo bar, Buck Daniels caminhou lentamente pelo salão em direção a Barry. His face was a study which few men could have solved; unless there had been someone present who had seen a man walk to his execution. Seu rosto era um estudo que poucos homens poderiam ter resolvido; a menos que houvesse alguém presente que tivesse visto um homem caminhar para sua execução. Beside Dan Barry he stopped and watched the agile hands at work. Ao lado de Dan Barry, ele parou e observou as mãos ágeis trabalhando. There was a change in the position of Barry now, for he had taken the chair facing the door and the entire crowd; Buck Daniels stood opposite. Houve uma mudança na posição de Barry agora, pois ele havia tomado a cadeira de frente para a porta e toda a multidão; Buck Daniels estava em frente. The horsehair plied back and forth. A crina de cavalo dobrava para frente e para trás. And Daniels noted the hands, lean, tapering like the fingers of a girl of sixteen. E Daniels notou as mãos, magras, afilando como os dedos de uma garota de dezesseis anos. They were perfectly steady; they were the hands of one who had struggled, in life, with no greater foe than ennui. Eles estavam perfeitamente estáveis; eram as mãos de alguém que havia lutado, em vida, com nenhum inimigo maior do que o tédio.

"Dan," said Buck, and there was a quiver of excitement in his voice, like the tremor of a piano string long after it has been struck. "Dan", disse Buck, e havia um tremor de excitação em sua voz, como o tremor de uma corda de piano muito depois de ser tocada. "Dan, I been thinking about something and now I'm ready to tell you what it is." Barry looked up in slow surprise.

Now the face of Buck Daniels held what men have called a "deadly pallor," that pallor which comes over one who is cornered and about to fight for his life. Agora, o rosto de Buck Daniels exibia o que os homens chamam de "palidez mortal", aquela palidez que toma conta de quem está encurralado e prestes a lutar por sua vida. He leaned closer, resting one hand upon the edge of the table, so that his face was close to Dan Barry. Ele se inclinou mais perto, descansando uma mão na borda da mesa, de modo que seu rosto ficasse perto de Dan Barry.

"Barry," he said, "I'm askin' you for the last time: Will you get your hoss and ride back to Kate Cumberland with me?" Dan Barry smiled his gentle, apologetic smile.

"I don't no ways see how I can, Buck." "Eu não vejo como eu posso, Buck." "Then," said Buck through his teeth, "of all the lyin' hounds in the world you're the lyin'est and meanest and lowest. "Então", disse Buck entre dentes, "de todos os cães mentirosos do mundo, você é o mais mentiroso, o mais mesquinho e o mais baixo. Which they ain't words to tell you what I think of you. Que não são palavras para dizer o que penso de você. Take this instead!" And the hand which rested on the table darted up and smote Dan Barry on the cheek, a tingling blow. E a mão que estava sobre a mesa disparou e deu um tapa na bochecha de Dan Barry, um golpe de formigamento. With the same motion which started his hand for the blow, Buck Daniels turned on his heel and stepped a pace or two towards the centre of the room.

There was not a man in the room who had not heard the last words of Buck Daniels, and not a man who had not seen the blow. Everyone of them had seen, or heard accurately described, how the slender stranger beat Jerry Strann to the draw and shot him down in that same place. Todos eles tinham visto, ou ouvido descrever com precisão, como o estranho esbelto venceu Jerry Strann e o abateu no mesmo lugar. Such a moan came from them as when many men catch their breath with pain, and with a simultaneous movement those who were in line with Buck Daniels and Barry leaped back against the bar on one side and against the wall on the other. Um gemido veio deles como quando muitos homens prendem a respiração de dor, e com um movimento simultâneo aqueles que estavam na fila com Buck Daniels e Barry pulavam para trás contra a barra de um lado e contra a parede do outro. Their eyes, fascinated, held on the face of Barry, and they saw the pale outline which the fingers of Daniels had left on the cheek of the other. Seus olhos, fascinados, fixaram-se no rosto de Barry, e eles viram o contorno pálido que os dedos de Daniels haviam deixado na bochecha do outro. But if horror was the first thing they felt, amazement was the next. Mas se horror foi a primeira coisa que sentiram, espanto foi a próxima. For Dan Barry sat bolt erect in his chair, staring in an astonishment too great for words. Pois Dan Barry estava sentado ereto em sua cadeira, olhando com um espanto grande demais para palavras. His right hand hung poised and moveless just above the butt of his gun; his whole posture was that of one in the midst of an action, suspended there, frozen to stone. Sua mão direita estava parada e imóvel logo acima da coronha de sua arma; toda a sua postura era a de alguém no meio de uma ação, suspenso ali, congelado como pedra. They waited for that poised hand to drop, for the slender fingers to clutch the butt of the gun, for the convulsive jerk that would bring out the gleaming barrel, the explosion, the spurt of smoke, and Buck Daniels lurching forward to his face on the floor. Eles esperaram que aquela mão equilibrada caísse, que os dedos finos agarrassem a coronha da arma, que o puxão convulsivo que traria o cano reluzente, a explosão, o jato de fumaça, e Buck Daniels cambaleando para o rosto no chão. o chão.

But that hand did not move; and Buck Daniels? Standing there with his back to the suspended death behind him, he drew out Durham and brown papers, without haste, rolled a cigarette, and reached to a hip pocket. Parado ali, de costas para a morte suspensa atrás dele, ele tirou Durham e papéis pardos, sem pressa, enrolou um cigarro e enfiou a mão no bolso.

At that move Dan Barry started. His hand darted down and fastened on his gun, and he leaned forward in his chair with the yellow glimmering light flaring up in his eyes. Sua mão disparou para baixo e prendeu sua arma, e ele se inclinou para frente em sua cadeira com a luz amarela brilhando em seus olhos. But the hand of Buck Daniels came out from his hip bearing a match. Mas a mão de Buck Daniels saiu de seu quadril com um fósforo. He raised his leg, scratched the match, there was a blue spurt of flame, and Buck calmly lighted his cigarette and started towards the door, sauntering. Ele levantou a perna, riscou o fósforo, houve um jato azul de chamas, e Buck acendeu o cigarro calmamente e foi em direção à porta, passeando.

The instant the swinging doors closed Barry started from his chair with a strange cry—none of them had ever heard the like from human lips—for there was grief in it, and above all there was a deadly eagerness. No instante em que as portas de vaivém se fecharam, Barry deu um pulo de sua cadeira com um grito estranho - nenhum deles jamais ouvira algo parecido de lábios humanos - pois havia tristeza nele e, acima de tudo, uma ansiedade mortal. So a hungry man might cry out at the sight of food. Assim, um homem faminto pode gritar ao ver comida. Down the length of the barroom he darted and was drawing his gun as he whipped through the doors. Ao longo do bar, ele disparou e estava sacando sua arma enquanto passava pelas portas. A common rush followed him, and those who reached the open first saw Buck Daniels leaning far forward in his saddle and spurring desperately into the gloom of the night. Uma corrida comum o seguiu, e aqueles que chegaram primeiro ao descampado viram Buck Daniels inclinado para a frente em sua sela e esporeando desesperadamente na escuridão da noite. Instantly he was only a twinkling figure in the shadows, and the beat of the hoofs rattled back at them. Instantaneamente ele era apenas uma figura cintilante nas sombras, e a batida dos cascos ressoou para eles. Dan Barry stood with his gun poised high for a second or more. Dan Barry ficou com a arma no alto por um segundo ou mais. Then he turned, dropped the gun into the holster, and with the same strange, unearthly cry of eagerness, he raced off in the direction of the barns. Então ele se virou, colocou a arma no coldre e com o mesmo grito estranho e sobrenatural de ansiedade, ele correu na direção dos celeiros.

There were some who followed him even then, and this is what they reported to incredulous ears when they returned. Barry ran straight for the left hand corral and wrenched at the gate, which appeared to be secured by a lock and chain. Barry correu direto para o curral da esquerda e torceu o portão, que parecia estar trancado com cadeado e corrente. Seeing that it would not give way he ran around to the barn, and came out again carrying a saddle and bridle. Vendo que não cedeu, correu para o celeiro e saiu novamente carregando uma sela e rédeas. These he tossed over the high fence into the corral. Then he picked up a loose scantling and with it pried and wrenched off the top bar of the fence in one section and vaulted into the enclosure. Então ele pegou um escapulário solto e com ele arrancou e arrancou a barra superior da cerca em uma seção e saltou para dentro do cercado.

The black stallion had whinnied once or twice during this time and the great black, shaggy dog had come snarling and whining about the feet of his master. O garanhão preto relinchou uma ou duas vezes durante esse tempo e o grande cão preto e peludo veio rosnando e ganindo sobre os pés de seu mestre. Now the stranger tossed on the saddle and cinched it with amazing speed, sprang onto his mount, and urged it across to the other side of the corral. Agora o estranho atirou na sela e a prendeu com incrível velocidade, saltou sobre sua montaria e a empurrou para o outro lado do curral. Up to that moment no one in the little crowd of watchers had suspected the intention of the rider. Até aquele momento ninguém na pequena multidão de observadores suspeitara da intenção do cavaleiro. For the fence, even after the removal of the top bar, was nearly six feet in height. But when Barry took his horse to the far side of the corral and then swung him about facing the derailed section, it was plain that he meant to attempt to jump at that place. Mas quando Barry levou seu cavalo para o outro lado do curral e então o girou de frente para a seção descarrilada, ficou claro que ele pretendia tentar pular naquele lugar. Even then, as O'Brien explained later, and many a time, the thing was so impossible that he could not believe his eyes. Mesmo assim, como O'Brien explicou mais tarde, e muitas vezes, a coisa era tão impossível que ele não podia acreditar em seus olhos. There was a dreamlike element to the whole event. Havia um elemento de sonho em todo o evento. And like a phantom in a vision he saw the black horse start into a sharp gallop; saw the great dog sail across the fence first; saw the horse and rider shoot into the air against the stars; heard the click of hoofs against the top rail; heard the thud of hoofs on the near side of the fence, and then the horseman flashed about the corner of the barn and in an instant his hoofs were beating a far distant tattoo. E como um fantasma em uma visão, ele viu o cavalo preto começar a galopar; viu o grande cão cruzar a cerca primeiro; viu o cavalo e o cavaleiro dispararem no ar contra as estrelas; ouviu o clique de cascos contra o trilho superior; ouviu o baque de cascos no lado mais próximo da cerca, e então o cavaleiro apareceu no canto do celeiro e em um instante seus cascos estavam batendo uma tatuagem distante.

As for the watchers, they returned in a dead silence to the barroom and they had hardly entered when Mac Strann stalked through the doors behind them; he went straight to O'Brien. "Somewhere about," he said in his thick, deep voice, "they's a man named Dan Barry. "Em algum lugar", ele disse em sua voz grossa e profunda, "está um homem chamado Dan Barry. Where is he?" And O'Brien answered: "Mac, he was sittin' down there at that table until two minutes ago, but where he is now I ain't any idea." The tall, skeleton form of Haw-Haw Langley materialised behind Mac Strann, and his face was contorted with anger. A forma alta e esquelética de Haw-Haw Langley se materializou atrás de Mac Strann, e seu rosto estava contorcido de raiva.

"If he was here two minutes ago," he said, "he ain't more than two minutes away." "Which way?" asked Mac Strann.

"North," answered a score of voices. "Norte", respondeu uma vintena de vozes. O'Brien stepped up to Mac Strann. He said: "Mac, we know what you got in your mind. We know what you've lost, and there ain't any of us that ain't sorry for Jerry—and for you. But, Mac, I can give you the best advice you ever heard in your life: Keep off'n the trail of Barry!" Mas, Mac, posso lhe dar o melhor conselho que você já ouviu em sua vida: fique longe do rastro de Barry!" Haw-Haw Langley added at the ear of Mac Strann: "That was Jerry's advice when he lay dyin'. An' it's my advice, too. Mac, Barry ain't a safe man to foller!" Mac, Barry não é um homem seguro para seguir!" "Haw-Haw," answered Mac Strann, "Will you gimme a hand saddlin' my hoss? "Haw-Haw", respondeu Mac Strann, "você me dá uma mão para selar meu hoss? I got an appointment, an' I'm two minutes late already."