"It"s a good thing, stranger," Dawson was saying, "yuh hit the Bend when we was havin" a dance. There ain"t more"n fifty or sixty men a-livin" reg"lar in the place."
"Well," said the dusty man, "I did think o" headin" for Fort Yardley.
But them feather-dusters was in between, so it was the Bend or nothin".
Oh, I knowed I was takin" chances, what with no ranches in between, an"
the little hoss liable to go lame on me an" all. It"s a long ride, gents. Say, seems like we"re a-crawlin" an" a-crawlin" an" gittin"
nowheres."
"We"re a-gittin" some"ers right lively," corrected Doubleday. "If yore pardners have plenty o" cartridges they"ll be a-holdin" out all right when we git there. Don"t yuh fret none, stranger."
"I ain"t--only--only--well, gents, there was a roarin" pa.s.sel o" them Injuns."
"Sh.o.r.e, sh.o.r.e, but we"ll strike the Hatchet near Tepee Mountain "round sun-up, an" from Tepee to Johnson"s Peak ain"t more"n twenty miles--less, if anythin"."
In the keen light of dawn the pyramidal bulk of Tepee Mountain loomed not six miles ahead. When the sun rose the posse had skirted its base and was riding along the bank of Hatchet Creek.
And now the dusty man began to display signs of a great nervousness.
He fidgeted in his saddle, examined and tried the lever action of his rifle, and gloomily repeated many times that he believed the posse would arrive too late. As they pa.s.sed above a cut bank, the dusty man, riding near the edge, dropped his Winchester. The piece slipped over the edge and splashed into the water fifteen feet below. Swearing, the dusty man rode back to where the bank was lower and dismounted.
"Don"t wait for me!" he shouted, wading upstream. "I"ll catch up."
The posse rode onward. Some of the horses were staggering with fatigue. All of them were jaded and dripping with sweat. Suddenly Telescope Laguerre rode from the line and vaulted out of his saddle.
He landed on his hands and knees and remained in that position, his head thrust forward, his eyes blazing with excitement.
"What"s eatin" Telescope?" demanded Doubleday.
"Tom! Tom! Come here! Queeck!" shouted the half-breed.
"Say!" snorted Doubleday. "What is this, anyway? Do you fellers know there"s some Injuns up here a piece?"
But Loudon had joined Telescope and neither of the two gave the slightest heed to the outraged Doubleday.
"Look!" exclaimed Laguerre, as the tail of the column pa.s.sed. "Look!
Yore hoss she come out o" de wood here! See!"
"My hoss! You mean Ranger?" Loudon stared, thunderstruck, at the hoofmarks of two horses.
"Yore hoss, Ranger! Ah, once I see de hoss-track I know heem again!
Las" tam you shoe de hoss you shoe heem all "roun". Dees ees hees track. No man was ride heem. She was de led hoss. Feller ride odder hoss. See! Dey come out de wood un go dees way."
Telescope waved a hand over the way they had come.
"How old are the tracks?" queried Loudon, breathlessly.
"Mabbeso four day. No use follow dem. We lose "em on de hard groun"."
"Telescope, I got an idea somethin"s wrong. I dunno what, but these tracks comin" in here thisaway, an" that fellah with the Injun story--I guess now they hitch somehow. I tell yuh I dunno how"--as Telescope opened his mouth to speak--"an" I may be wrong, but I"m goin" back after that party from Hatchet Creek."
Loudon swung into his saddle and spurred his mount. The animal responded gamely, but a pitifully slow lope was the best speed it could shake out of its weary legs. Laguerre"s pony was in worse case. The short halt had stiffened his knees slightly and he stumbled at every other step. The two men lolloped jerkily downstream. Rounding a sharp bend, they came in sight of the cut bank where the dusty stranger had dropped his gun. Neither man nor horse was visible.
"By gar!" exclaimed Laguerre. "By gar!"
Just then his horse stumbled for the last time, fell on its knees, and rolled over on its side. Laguerre flung himself clear and bounced to his feet. The pony struggled up, but Laguerre did not remount. He dragged his rifle from the scabbard and ran forward on foot to rejoin his comrade. Loudon was leaning over the saddlehorn examining the spot where the dusty man had left his horse.
"Ground"s kind o" hard," said Loudon, "but it looks like he"d headed for that flat."
"He go dere all right!" exclaimed Laguerre, excitedly. "Come on, Tom!"
Running awkwardly, for cow-country boots are not fashioned for rapid locomotion, Laguerre led the way toward a broad meadow fifty yards away. Once in the meadow the trail was easier to follow. The meadow was at least a quarter-mile wide, and woods bordered it on three sides.
The trail led straight across it, and on into the forest. The trees did not grow thickly, and Laguerre, his eyes on the ground, threaded his way in and out between the trunks at an ankle-straining trot. He had excellent wind, had Telescope Laguerre. Loudon was forced to employ spurs and quirt in order to keep up with him.
Four hundred yards deep in the forest they saw ahead an opening in the trees. A minute later they charged into a large meadow. In the middle of the meadow was an ancient shack, doorless, the roof fallen in, flanked by a corral which gave evidence of having been recently repaired.
"Somethin" movin" in that corral," said Loudon, and dragged out his gun.
Then, in half a watch-tick, a man on a chestnut horse flashed across the open s.p.a.ce between the corral and the shack. Loudon and Laguerre swung to one side, but the man did not immediately reappear on the other side of the shack. A few steps farther and they saw him. He was riding directly away from them and was within fifty yards of the forest.
The fugitive was a long two hundred yards distant, but they recognized his back without any difficulty. He was the dusty man from Hatchet Creek, and his horse was Loudon"s Ranger.
"Look out for the hoss!" cried Loudon, as Laguerre flung up his rifle.
The rifle cracked spitefully once and again. The rider, with a derisive yell, disappeared among the trees. Laguerre dropped his rifle-b.u.t.t, and began to utter strange and awful oaths in a polyglot of French and English. Loudon sheathed his six-shooter, kicked his feet out of the stirrups, and calmly rolled a cigarette.
"No use a-cussin", Telescope," he observed. "He"s done gone."
Pht-bang! a rifle spat from the distant wood. Loudon"s horse gave a convulsive sidewise leap, dropped with a groan and rolled half over, pinning Loudon to the ground. Laguerre, flat on his stomach, was firing at the thinning smoke-cloud under the trees. But there were no more shots from the forest.
"Say, Telescope," called Loudon, "when yuh get plumb through would yuh mind pullin" this cayuse off o" my legs?"
Still cursing, Laguerre levered up the body of the dead pony with the barrel of his rifle, and Loudon wriggled free. He endeavoured to stand on his feet, but sat down abruptly.
"What"s de matter?" inquired Laguerre. "Bullet hit you, too?"
"No," replied Loudon, gingerly feeling his right ankle, "my foot feels funny."
"Mabbeso de leg broke," suggested Laguerre. "Mabbeso dat feller she try anudder shot. Better you be behin" de log-house."
He picked up his rifle, helped Loudon to stand erect, and pa.s.sed an arm around his waist. So, hopping on one foot, Loudon reached the shelter of the shack wall. Laguerre eased him to the ground and skipped nimbly down past the corral.
"Mabbeso I geet dat feller," he called over his shoulder. "Be back soon."
Laguerre returned in five minutes.
"Dat feller she geet clean away," he said, disconsolately. "Nevair touch heem. By gar! Eef I not have run so hard, I shoot better. Geet heem sh.o.r.e den."
"Pull my boot off, will yuh, Telescope?" requested Loudon, extending his leg.
Laguerre pulled. Loudon gritted his teeth. The pain was sharp, nauseating.