Stepsons of Light Part 13

"Where's your stand-in? At Garfield?"

"Never you mind my stand-in. That's my lookout. A letter posted at Garfield to-night goes to Rincon by buckboard to-morrow; it lays over in Rincon to-morrow night, goes out on the High Line to Nutt on the nine-fifteen day after to-morrow, takes the branch line to Lake Valley, and goes from Lake to Hillsboro by stage. It don't get to Hillsboro till two in the afternoon, day after to-morrow. It takes as long from Garfield to Hillsboro as from Chicago. After--after--if we turn the trick--we can come back and post location notices for ourselves. Then we can beat it on a bee line for Hillsboro and record 'em."

"Aha! So it's at Hillsboro post office you're the solid Muldoon, is it?"

Weir's gun flashed to a level with Caney's breast. "That will be all from you, Caney! Your next supposing along those lines will be your last. Get me? Now or ever! Keep your mouth closed, and Adam Forbes'

mouth. That's your job."

"Put up your gun, kid. I can't afford to be killed. I'm going to be a howlin' millionaire. I'll say no more, but I'm not sorry I spoke. You bein' so very earnest that way, I'm satisfied you can deliver the goods. That is what I want to know--for I tell you now, I don't expect to head Forbes off here. He had too much start of us--unless he dilly-dallies along the road or is delayed."

"If he comes back, won't he bring a gang with him? If he does we're done," said Hales. "That's why I'm willing to kill my horse to beat him to it. You two seem more interested in chewing the rag."

"O, that's all right! Jody and me, we've come to a good understanding," said Caney smoothly. Jody Weir glanced carelessly at the back of Hales' head, his eyes wandered till they met Caney's eyes and held steadily there for a moment; his brows arched a trifle.

"Well, here we are," announced Jody. "We'd better make the climb afoot. The horses are about done and they'd make too much noise anyway--floundering about. It's all slick rock."

They took their rifles from the saddles, they clambered up the steep pa.s.s, they peered over cautiously.

"h.e.l.l! There's two of them!" said Caney. "Get 'em both! Big stakes!

This is the chance of a lifetime!"

Below them on a little shelf of promontory stood a saddled horse, a blue horse. A yearling was hog-tied there, and a branding fire burned beside. As they looked, a young man knelt over the yearling and earmarked it. Close by, Adam Forbes slouched in the saddle, leaning with both hands on the horn. He gave a letter to the young man, who stuck it into his shirt and then went back to the yearling. He loosed the hogging-string. The yearling scrambled to his feet, bawling defiance, intent on battle; the young man grabbed the yearling's tail and jerked him round till his head faced down the canon. Adam Forbes made a pa.s.s with his horse and slapped with his hat; the yearling fled.

"Wait! Wait!" whispered Jody. "I know that man! That's Johnny Dines.

Wait! Adam wants to get back and feel that gold in his fingers. Ten to one Dines is going across the river; I can guess his business; he's hunting for the John Cross. Adam gave him the location-papers to mail.

If Adam goes back--there's your scapegoat--Dines! He'll be the man that killed Forbes!"

"Friend of yours, Jody?"

"d.a.m.n him! If they both start down the canon, you fellows get Forbes.

I'll get Dines myself. That's the kind of friend he is. Get your guns ready--they'll be going in a minute, one way or the other."

"Curiously enough, I know Johnny Dines myself," muttered Hales. "Very intelligent man, Dines. Very! I would take a singular satisfaction in seeing young Dines hung. To that laudable end I sure hope your Mr.

Forbes will not go down the canon."

"Well, he won't! Didn't you see him give Dines the papers?" said Caney. "Lay still! This is going to match up like clockwork."

The men below waved their hands to each other in friendly fashion; Forbes jogged lazily up the canon; Dines stamped out the branding fire and rode whistling on the riverward road.

"Weir, you're dead sure you can pull the trick about the papers? All right, then--you and Hales go over there and write out joint location papers in the names of the three of us. Got a pencil? Yes? Burn the old notices, and burn 'em quick. Burn his kegs and turn his hobbled horse loose. We will bring his tools as we come back, and hide 'em in the rocks. Any old sc.r.a.p of paper will do us. Here's some old letters.

Use the backs of them. After we get to Hillsboro we'll make copies to file."

These directions came jerkily and piecemeal as the conspirators scrambled down the hillside.

"Where'll we join you?"

Caney paused with his foot in the stirrup to give Jody Weir a black look.

"I'll join you, young fellow, and I'll join you at our mine. Do you know, I don't altogether trust you? I want to see those two sets of location papers with my two eyes before we start. So you'll have lots of time. Don't you make no mistakes. And when we go, we go together.

Then if we happen to find Adam Forbes by the fire where he caught young Dines stealin' a maverick of his--"

"How'll you manage that? Forbes is halfway to the head of the canon by now."

"That's your way to the left, gentlemen. Take your time, now. I'm in no hurry and you needn't be, and our horses are all tired from their run. And you want to be most mighty sure you keep on going. For the next half hour n.o.body's going to know what I'm doing but me and G.o.d--and we won't tell."

Caney turned off to the right. Fifteen minutes later he met Adam Forbes in a tangle of red hills by the head of Redgate.

"Hi, Adam! We got 'em!" he hailed jubilantly. "Caught 'em with the goods. Two men and five saddles. Both Mexicans."

"They must have given you one h.e.l.l of a chase, judging from your horse."

"They did. We spied 'em jest over the divide at the head of Deadman.

There wasn't any chance to head 'em off. We woulda tagged along out of sight, but they saw us first. They dropped their lead horses and pulled out--but we got close enough to begin foggin' lead at 'em in a straight piece of canon, and they laid 'em down."

"Know 'em?"

"Neither one. Old Mexico men, I judge by the talk of 'em. Hales and Jody took 'em on down Deadman--them and the lead horses--while I come back for you."

"Me? Whadya want o' me?"

"Why, you want to go down to represent for yourself. You know that odd bit of land, grown up to brush, that you bought of Miguel Silva?"

"Took it on a bad debt. What of it?"

"Why, there's an old tumbledown shack on it, and they've been using that as a store house, tha'sall. By their tell they got eighteen a.s.sorted saddles hid there."

"Well, I'm d.a.m.ned!" said Adam, turning back. "That's a blame fine howdy-do, ain't it? How long have they been at this lay?"

"Four or five months. More'n that south of here. But they just lately been extendin' and branchin' out."

"Making new commercial connections, so to speak. Any of the Garfield _gente_ implicated?"

"One. Albino Villa Neuva."

Adam nodded. "Always thought he was a bad _hombre_, Albino."

"They're going to come clean, these two," said Caney cheerfully. "We told 'em if they'd turn state's evidence they'd probable get off light. Reckon we're going to round up the whole gang. Say, I thought you'd hiked on to Garfield. I started back to your little old mine, cut into your sign, and was followin' you up."

"Yes, I did start down all right. But I met up with a lad down here a stretch and give him my papers and shackled on back. d.a.m.n your saddle thieves, anyway--I sure wanted to go back and paw round that claim of mine. My pack horse is back there hobbled, too."

"Aw, nemmine your pack horse. He'll make out till mornin'."

Ahead of them the wagon road was gouged into the side of an overhang of promontory, under a saddleback pa.s.s to northward. A dim trail curved away toward the pa.s.s. Adam's eye followed the trail. Caney's horse fell back a step.

"There's where I found my mail carrier," said Adam; "up on top of that little thumb. A Bar Cross waddy, he was--brandin' a calf."

Caney fired three times. The muzzle of his forty-five was almost between Adam's shoulders. Adam fell sidewise to the left, he clutched at his rifle, he pulled it with him as he fell. His foot hung in the stirrup, his horse dragged him for a few feet. Then his foot came free. He rolled over once, and tried to pull his rifle up. Then he lay still with his face in the dust.