"Young fellow, have you ever thought that Ridley never was held up, that it was a fake robbery pulled off to deceive me? Where is Ridley? He lit out mighty sudden when he saw how I took it. He couldn"t even tell me where the hold-up happened. I never did hit the trail of the robbers."
"It wasn"t a fake. I can prove that."
"I"m here to be shown," said the cattleman skeptically.
"But first about Tony. It looks bad for him on the surface. I"ll admit that. But--"
"Don"t talk to me about my boy"s murderer, Roberts!" cried Wadley, flushing angrily. "I"ll not do a thing for him. I"ll help those that aim to do justice on him."
"He didn"t kill yore son."
"What! Didn"t you arrest him yoreself for it?"
"When I arrested him, I didn"t believe he had done it. I know it now.
He"s my star witness, an" I knew he would skip across the border if I let him out."
"You can"t convince me, but let"s hear yore fairy tale. I got to listen, I reckon."
Jack told his story in few words. He explained what he had found at the scene of the murder and how he had picked up the trail of the three hors.e.m.e.n who had followed Rutherford to the place of his death. He had back-tracked to the camp of the rendezvous at the rim-rock, and he had found there corroborative evidence of the statement Tony Alviro had made to him.
"What was it he told you, and what did you find?"
The big cattleman looked at him with a suspicion that was akin to hostility. His son had been a ne"er-do-well. In his heart Wadley was not sure he had not been worse. But he was ready to fight at the drop of the hat any man who dared suggest it. He did not want to listen to any evidence that would lead him to believe ill of the son who had gone wrong.
"Tony admits all the evidence against him. He did follow Rutherford intendin" to kill him. But when he saw yore son strike straight across country to the cap-rock, he trailed him to see where he was goin".
Alviro had heard stories."
"You can"t tell me anything against my boy. I won"t stand for it," broke out the tortured father.
The Ranger looked straight at him. "I"m goin" to tell you no harm of him except that he kept bad company," he said gently. "I reckon you know that already."
"Go on," commanded the father hoa.r.s.ely.
"Tony followed him to the rim-rock, an" on the way they jumped up the camper, though Alviro did not know it. At the rim-rock Rutherford met two men. Presently another man joined them."
"Who were they?"
"Alviro isn"t dead sure. He climbed up to a rock bluff back of them, but it was still dark an" he couldn"t make them out. Pretty soon Rutherford found out they had a sack of gold. He must have found out where they got it, too."
Underneath the deep tan of his cheeks the old-timer whitened. "So you"re tryin" to tell me that my boy was one of the gang that robbed my messenger! An" you"re askin" me to believe it on the word of a greaser with a rope around his neck. Is that it?"
"No. They had a quarrel, but yore son bluffed "em out. They gave the gold to him. He saddled an" rode away with it. On his way back to town he was murdered. So he never got a chance to turn it back to you."
The father of the man who had been killed drew a long, sobbing breath of relief. His clenched fists slowly opened.
"Tony saw all this, did he?"
"Not all of it. Day was comin" on, an" he couldn"t follow Rutherford right away. Before he got goin" the three men saddled. They trailed along after yore son, an" Tony a mile or so behind "em. After awhile he heard a shot. He took his time investigatin", because he didn"t want to stop any bullets himself. At the foot of Battle b.u.t.te he found Rutherford. He had been shot from behind an" flung over the bluff."
The face of the cattleman twitched. "If I can lay my hands on the man or men that did it--"
"Mebbe you can, if you"ll give me time. I checked up Tony"s story, an"
everywhere there was evidence to back it. He had no rifle with him, but I picked up a sh.e.l.l back of some rocks a hundred yards from where yore son must have been standin" when he was shot. The sh.e.l.l came from a "73.
I back-tracked to the night-camp, an" it was just like Tony had said.
Four men had been there. One left before the others. You could see the signs where they had trailed him. Once or twice they missed his tracks an" found "em again. Same way with the single man followin" them. He had taken short-cuts too. Sometimes he blotted out the hoofprints of the three in front, so I know he was not ahead of "em."
"You think the Dinsmores did this, Jack?"
"I want more evidence before I say so publicly. But Tony didn"t. Here"s another point in his favor. If Tony shot him on the bluff an" flung the body over, why did he have to go down below an" look at it? No need a-tall of that. No; Tony went down to make sure who it was that had been killed. Soon as he knew that he guessed he would be accused of it, an"
he lit out for No Man"s Land. I found him there three weeks later."
The cattleman apologized after a fashion for some hard things he had said and thought about his former employee. "I don"t spend any of my time likin" yore style, Roberts. You"re too high-heeled for me. But I"ll say this for you: Ellison picked a good man when he got you. You"re a straight-up rider, an" you"ll do to take along. What"s yore programme?"
He told it. The cattleman looked at him with increased respect. He gave a short, barking laugh.
"If it was anybody else I"d say it was crazy, but you"re such a doggoned h.e.l.lion of a go-getter mebbe you can put it over."
"Looks to me like a good bet," said Roberts mildly.
"Well, I an" my friends will be right there if we"re needed. I"ll see you through. Can"t afford to have my best witness strung up to a wagon-tongue yet awhile."
They talked over the details; then the Ranger started for the jail, and the cattleman breezed around to give a little tip to some reliable friends. Wadley was quite of a mind with Roberts. There was going to be no lynching at Tascosa if he could help it.
CHAPTER XIV
JACK SERVES NOTICE
Jack Roberts liked to get his information first hand. On his way to the jail he deflected, pa.s.sed up the wide, dusty main street, and stopped at a log "hogan" made of _bois d"arc_ timber and cedar from the brakes.
Across the front of it was printed roughly a sign:
THE SILVER DOLLAR
The Ranger took a little hitch at his guns to make sure they would slide easily from the holsters in case of need, then strolled into the saloon, a picture of negligent indifference.
A tall man, lank as a shad, was master of ceremonies. Steve Gurley was in high feather. He was treating the crowd and was availing himself of his privilege as host to do the bulk of the talking. His theme was the righteousness of mob law, with particular application to the case of Tony Alviro. He talked loudly, as befits one who is a leader of public opinion.
Some wandering of attention in his audience brought him to a pause. He turned, to see the Ranger leaning indolently against the door-jamb. Jack was smiling in the manner of one quietly amused.
"Who invited you here?" demanded Gurley, taken aback, but unwilling to show it.
"Me, I just dropped in to hear yore big talk. Reminds me of old Geronimo. Like you, he gets all filled up with words about every so often and has to steam off. Go ahead, Gurley. Don"t let me interrupt you. Make heap oration."
But Gurley"s fluency was gone. His cross-eyed glance slid round the room to take stock of his backers. Was this fellow Roberts alone, or had he a dozen Rangers in town with him? He decided to bluff, though with no very great confidence. For into the picture had walked a man, a personality, dynamic and forceful. The outlaw had seen him in action once, and he had been on that occasion as easy to handle as a cageful of panthers.
"Come to see the hangin", have you, Mr. Ranger?"