CHAPTER IV.
FRANK PROVES HIMSELF A HERO.
"There!" said Frank, with something like a sigh of relief. "If Pierre gets into that office to-night, he"ll have to use an ax; and if he tries that"--
Frank finished the sentence by shaking his head in a threatening manner, and taking down his rifle, which he proceeded to load very carefully. He had made up his mind to fight, if it should become necessary.
He was now more anxious than ever for the arrival of his two friends, for he did not like the idea of remaining alone in the house all night, with so much money under his charge, and a villainous-looking Mexican hovering about. Frank, as we know, was very far from being a coward; but having by some means got it into his head that Pierre was a rascal, and that something unpleasant would happen before morning, he could not help feeling rather anxious.
The afternoon wore slowly away, but Johnny and d.i.c.k did not make their appearance. Darkness came on apace, and Frank, being at last satisfied that he was to be left alone in his glory for that night at least, ate his supper, and visited Roderick in his stable to see that he was well provided for, and then whistled for his dog, which he had not seen since the departure of Mr. Brown. Marmion, however, did not respond to the call. Frank whistled and shouted several times in vain, and then set out to hunt up his favorite. He visited the Rancheros" quarters, and found Felix and Pierre sitting in the door of one of the cabins, smoking their cigarettes. The former had not seen the dog; but, willing to serve Frank to any extent in his power, offered to go in search of the animal.
Pierre, however, said that would be useless, for he had seen Marmion in hot pursuit of a rabbit. No doubt he had driven the game into its burrow, and was engaged in digging it out. When he caught the rabbit, he would come home of his own free will.
Although Frank was suspicious of every thing Pierre said or did, he could see no reason for disbelieving this story. Marmion was quite as fond of the chase as his young master, and frequently indulged in hunting expeditions on his own responsibility; sometimes being absent all day and nearly all night. But he was not off hunting then, and Pierre had told a deliberate falsehood, when he said that he had seen him in pursuit of a rabbit. The Ranchero had determined upon a course of action which he knew he could not follow out so long as the dog was at liberty, and Marmion was, at that very moment, lying bound and muzzled under one of the corn-cribs, almost within hearing of his master"s voice.
Frank slowly retraced his steps toward the house, feeling more nervous and uneasy than ever. In Marmion he had an ally that could be depended on in any emergency; and, if the dog had been at his side, he would have felt perfectly safe. But he was not the one to indulge long in gloomy thoughts without a cause, and in order to drive them away, he lighted his lamp, and, drawing his easy-chair upon the porch, amused himself until nine o"clock with his guitar. The music not only served to soothe his troubled feelings, but also had the effect of banishing his suspicions to a great extent, and left him in a much more cheerful frame of mind.
"How foolish I have been," said he, to himself. "Because Pierre is ugly, like all the rest of his race, and because he always carries a knife in his belt, and hates Marmion, I have been willing to believe him capable of any villainy. I don"t suppose he has thought of that gold since he saw me lock it up."
As Frank said this, he pulled his chair into the room, and selecting Cooper"s "Last of the Mohicans" from the numerous volumes in the library, he dismissed all thoughts of the Ranchero, and sat down to read until he should become sleepy. He soon grew so deeply interested in his book, that he did not hear the light step that sounded on the porch, nor did he see the dark, glittering eyes which looked steadily at him through the open window. He saw them a moment afterward, however, for, while he was absorbed in that particular part of the fight at Glen"s Falls, where Hawk-Eye snapped his unloaded rifle at the Indian who was making off with the canoe in which the scout had left his ammunition, a figure glided quickly but noiselessly into the room, and stopped behind the boy"s chair.
"Now, my opinion is that Hawk-Eye was not much of a backwoodsman, after all," said Frank, who was in the habit of commenting upon and criticising every thing he read. "Why did he leave his extra powder-horn in his canoe, when he knew that the Hurons were all around him? You wouldn"t catch d.i.c.k or old Bob Kelly in any such sc.r.a.pe, nor me either, for that matter, for I would"--
Frank"s soliloquy was brought to a close very suddenly, and what he was about to say must forever remain a secret. His throat was seized with an iron grasp, and he was lifted bodily out of his chair, and thrown upon the floor. So quickly was it done that he had no time to resist or to cry out. Before he could realize what had happened, he found himself lying flat on his back, and felt a heavy weight upon his breast holding him down.
Filled with surprise and indignation, he looked up into the face that was bending over him, and recognized Pierre Costello, whose features wore a fiendish expression, the effect of which was heightened by a murderous-looking knife which he carried between his teeth. Scowling fiercely, as if he were trying to strike terror to the boy"s heart by his very appearance, he loosened his grasp on Frank"s throat, and the latter, after coughing and swallowing to overcome the effects of the choking he had received, demanded:
"What do you mean, you villain?"
Pierre, without making any reply, coolly proceeded to overhaul the contents of Frank"s pockets. Like all boys of his age, our hero was supplied with a variety of articles, which, however serviceable they may be to a youngster of sixteen, no one else could possibly find use for, and the Ranchero"s investigations brought to light a fish-line, bait-box, a rooster"s spur, of which Frank intended to make a charger for his rifle, a piece of buckskin, half a dozen bullets, a bra.s.s cannon, a pocket comb, a quill pop-gun, a small compa.s.s, a silver ring, a match-box, a jack-knife, and a piece of lead. These articles he tossed upon the floor, rather contemptuously, and then turned all Frank"s pockets inside out, but failed to discover any thing more.
"Where are they?" demanded Pierre, removing the knife from his mouth, and looking savagely at his prisoner, who all this time had lain perfectly still upon the floor, apparently not the least alarmed.
"Where are what?" inquired Frank.
"The keys, you young vagabond!" returned the Ranchero, astonished at the result of his search, and in a great hurry to get through with his business. "The keys that open the office and the safe. Speak quick!"
"The safe key is where you"ll never get your hands upon it," replied Frank. "If you want it, you"ll have to go to San Diego, catch Uncle James, and throw him down, as you did me, and search his pockets for it.
But that is something a dozen such fellows as you couldn"t do."
"But the office key! Where"s that?"
"It"s in a safe place, also," said Frank, who had already resolved that the would-be robber should never learn from him where he had hidden the key. "If I were a man, I should like to see you hold me down so easily.
Let me up, or I"ll call for help!"
"If you speak above your breath, I"ll choke you!" said Pierre, with savage emphasis. "I am not done with you yet! Is the money in the safe?"
"That"s none of your business! Let me up, I say! Here, Marmion!
Marmion!"
"_Carrajo!_" muttered the Ranchero, again seizing his prisoner"s throat in his powerful fingers. "Do you want me to kill you?"
Frank, nothing daunted by this rough treatment, struggled manfully, and tried hard to make a defiant reply, but could not utter a sound. Pierre tightened his grasp, until it seemed as if he had deliberately resolved to send him out of the world altogether, and then released his hold, and waited until Frank was able to speak before he said:
"You see that I am in earnest! Now, answer me! Is the gold in the safe?"
"I am in earnest, too!" replied Frank, as bravely as ever. "I shall not tell you where it is. Are you going to let me up?"
"I am going to make you tell where you have put that key!" said Pierre, as he removed the sash his prisoner wore around his waist, and began to confine his arms behind his back. "If I once get inside the office, I"ll soon find out where you have put that gold."
"But you are not inside the office yet, and I don"t think you will get there very soon. If you were well acquainted with me, you would know that you can not drive me one inch. You"re a coward, Pierre," he added, as he released one of his hands by a sudden jerk, and made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to seize the ruffian by the hair. "You don"t give a fellow a fair chance. I wish my dog was here."
"You need not look for him," said the Ranchero; "he"ll never come."
Frank made no reply. He was wondering what his captor intended to do with him, and turning over in his mind numerous wild plans for escape.
Pierre, in his haste, was tying the sash in a very clumsy manner, and Frank was certain that, with one vigorous twist, he could set himself at liberty. In spite of his unpleasant and even painful situation--for, after his attempt to catch the Ranchero by the hair, the latter had turned him upon his face, and was kneeling upon him to hold him down--he could not help chuckling to himself when he thought how he would astonish Pierre if he did not mind what he was about.
"Perhaps he will leave me, and try to force an entrance into the office," soliloquized Frank. "If he does, I am all right! I"ll jerk my arms out of this sash, pick up that rifle, and the first thing Mr.
Pierre Costello knows, he"ll be the prisoner. I"ll march him to the quarters, and tell Felix to tie him, hand and foot."
Unfortunately for the success of these plans, the Ranchero did not leave the room after he had tied Frank"s arms. He was too well acquainted with the old house to think of trying to force an entrance into the office.
He knew that the doors and window-shutters were as strong as wood and iron could make them, and that it would be a dangerous piece of business to attempt to break them open. Felix, all unconscious of what was going on in the house, snored l.u.s.tily in his quarters, and the housekeeper slept in a room adjoining the kitchen; and if Pierre awakened either of them, he might bid good-by to all hopes of ever securing possession of the gold. His only hope was in compelling Frank to tell where he had put the office key.
"Now, then," said he, "I will give you one more chance. Where is it?"
"Where"s what?" asked Frank.
"The office key!" exclaimed the Ranchero, enraged at the coolness of his prisoner. "Tell me where it is, or I"ll drive you through the floor!"
As he said this, he raised his fist over Frank"s head, as if he were on the point of putting his threat into execution.
"Drive away!" replied Frank.
"Then you won"t tell me where it is?" yelled the Ranchero.
"No, I won"t! And when I say no, I mean it; and all the threats you can make won"t scare me into saying any thing else!"
Pierre hesitated a moment, and then jumped to his feet, his actions indicating that he was determined to waste no more words. He placed his knife upon the table, closed the windows, and dropped the curtains, so that any one who might happen to pa.s.s by could not see what was going on in the room. His next action was to seize Frank by the collar of his jacket, and pull him roughly to his feet, preparatory to putting into operation his new plan for compelling him to tell where he had hidden the office key.
"If you conclude to answer my question, let me know it," said the Ranchero.
"I will," was Frank"s reply.
Pierre stepped upon a chair, and removing one of the pictures from its hook, tossed it upon the bed. After that, he took Frank"s la.s.so down from the nail, beside the book-case, and holding the noose in his hand, threw the other end over the hook.
Frank had thus far shown himself to be possessed of a good share of courage. He had bravely endured the choking, and had made defiant replies to all Pierre"s threats; but when he saw this movement, he became thoroughly alarmed. He knew what was coming.
"Aha!" exclaimed the Ranchero, who had not failed to notice the sudden pallor that overspread the boy"s countenance; "Aha!"