"Frame-up, eh?" he said. "What"s the game?"
"You"re wanted for drawin" a gun on Dave Silverthorn--in his office.
I"m a deputy sheriff, an" I"ve got a warrant for you. Want to see it?"
Sanderson did not answer. Here was a manifestation of Dale"s power and cupidity.
The charge was a mere subterfuge, designed to deprive him of his liberty. Sanderson had no intention of submitting.
The deputy saw resistance in the gleam of Sanderson"s eyes, and he spoke sharply, warningly:
"Don"t try any funny business; I"ve a dozen men here!"
Sanderson laughed in his face. He lunged forward, striking bitterly with the movement. The deputy"s body doubled forward--Sanderson"s fist had been driven into his stomach. His gun clattered to the floor; he reached out, trying to grasp Sanderson, who evaded him and struck upward viciously.
The deputy slid to the floor, and Sanderson stood beside the table, his gun menacing the deputy"s followers.
Sanderson had worked fast. Possibly the deputy"s men had antic.i.p.ated no resistance from Sanderson, or they had been stunned with the rapidity with which he had placed their leader out of action.
Not one of them had drawn a weapon. They watched Sanderson silently as he began to back away from them, still covering them with his pistol.
Sanderson had decided to desert Owen; the man had proved a traitor, and could not expect any consideration. Owen might talk--Sanderson expected he would talk; but he did not intend to jeopardize his liberty by staying to find out.
He stepped backward cautiously, for he saw certain of the men begin to move restlessly. He cautioned them, swinging the muzzle of his pistol back and forth, the crowd behind him splitting apart as he retreated.
He had gone a dozen steps when someone tripped him. He fell backward, landing on his shoulders, his right elbow striking hard on the board floor and knocking the pistol out of his hand.
He saw the men surge forward, and he made a desperate effort to get to his feet. But he did not succeed. He was on his knees when several men, throwing themselves at him, landed on top of him. Their combined weight crushed him to the floor, but he squirmed out of the ma.s.s and got to his feet, striking at the faces he saw around him, worrying the men hither and yon, dragging them with him as he reeled under savage blows that were rained on him.
He had torn himself almost free; one man still clung to him, and he was trying to shake the fellow off, that he might hit him effectively, when a great weight seemed to fall on his head, blackness surrounded him, and he pitched face down on the floor.
CHAPTER XIV
TEE VOICE OF THE COYOTE
When Sanderson regained consciousness he was lying on his back on a board floor. His head seemed to have been smashed, he was dizzy and weak, but he sat up and looked around him.
Then he grinned wanly.
He was in jail. A heavy, barred door was in front of him; turning his head he saw an iron-grated window behind him. Door and window were set in heavy stone walls; two other stone walls, with a narrow iron cot set against one of them, rose blankly on either side.
Sanderson got up, reeling, and went to the window. Darkness had come; he could see Okar"s lights flickering and winking at him from the buildings that skirted the street. Various sounds reached his ears--Okar"s citizens were enjoying themselves.
Sanderson did not watch the lights long. He walked to the cot, seated himself on its edge, rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in the upturned palms of his hands and reflected on what had occurred to him.
Remembering the four thousand dollars in bills of large denomination that Burroughs had paid him when leaving the Pig-Pen, his hand went to the money belt around his waist.
Belt and money were gone!
Sanderson got up again, walked to the door and called.
A heavy-featured man slouched down the corridor and halted near the door.
"Awake, eh?" he grinned. "Dale sure did hand it to you--now, didn"t he? Well," he added as Sanderson"s lips straightened at his words, "what"s eatin" you?"
"I had a belt with some money in it--four thousand. What"s become of it?"
"Four thousand!" the man jeered. "That b.u.mp on the head is still affectin" you, I reckon. Four thousand--shucks!" He laughed. "Well, I ain"t seen it--if that"s any consolation to you. If you"d had it when you come here I"d sure seen it."
"Who brought me here?"
"Dale and his first deputy--the guy you poked in the stummick, over in the Okar Hotel. They tell me you fi"t like h.e.l.l! What"s Dale got ag"in" you? Be sure was some het up about you."
Sanderson did not answer. He turned his back to the jailer and walked to the cot, again sitting on its edge. He heard the jailer sniff contemptuously, but he paid no attention to him.
Prominent in Sanderson"s thoughts was the realization that Dale had taken his money. He knew that was the last of it--Dale would not admit taking it. Sanderson had intended to use the four thousand on the Double A irrigation project. The sum, together with the three thousand he meant to draw from the Okar bank, would have been enough to make a decent start.
Sanderson had some bitter thoughts as he sat on the edge of the cot, all of them centering around Dale, Silverthorn, Maison, Owen, Mary Bransford, and himself. He realized that he had been defeated in the first clash with the forces opposed to him, that Owen had turned traitor, that Mary Bransford"s position now was more precarious than it had been before his coming, and that he had to deal with resourceful, desperate, and unscrupulous men.
And yet, sitting there at the edge of the cot, Sanderson grinned. The grin did not make his face attractive, for it reflected something of the cold, bitter humor and savage pa.s.sion that had gripped his soul.
At noon the next day Sanderson, looking out of the window of his cell; heard a sound at the door. He turned, to see Silverthorn standing in the corridor.
Silverthorn smiled blandly at him.
"Over it, I see," he said. "They used you rather roughly, eh? Well, they tell me you made them step some."
Sanderson deliberately turned his back and continued to look out of the window.
"On your dignity, eh?" sneered Silverthorn. "Well, let me tell you something. We"ve heard a lot about you--from Dal Colton and Barney Owen. Morley--one of our men--got Owen soused last night, as per orders, and Owen spilled his knowledge of you all over the town. It"s pretty well known, now, that you are Deal Sanderson, from down Tombstone way.
"I don"t know what your game was, but I think it"s pretty well queered by now. I suppose you had some idea of impersonating Bransford, hoping to get a slice of the property. I don"t blame you for trying. It was up to us to see that you didn"t get away with it.
"But we don"t want to play hog. If you"ll admit before a notary that you are not Will Bransford we"ll hand you back the four thousand Dale took from you, give you ten thousand in addition and safe conduct out of the county. That strike you?"
Sanderson did not answer.
Silverthorn"s face reddened. "You"re a d.a.m.ned fool!" he sneered, venomously. "We"ll keep you in jail here for a thousand years, if necessary. We"ll do worse!
"Look here!" he suddenly said. But Sanderson did not turn.
Silverthorn rattled a paper.
"Here"s a withdrawal slip on the Okar bank, calling for three thousand two hundred dollars, signed by Will Bransford. Barney Owen drew the money last night and blew it in gambling and drinking. He says he"s been signing Bransford"s name--forging it--at your orders. The signature he put on this paper is a dead ringer for the one on the registry blank you gave Dale.
"Dale saw Owen sign that. That"s why he knew you are not Will Bransford. Understand? Maison will swear you signed the withdrawal slip and got the money. We"ll prove that you are not Bransford, and you"ll go to the Las Vegas pen for twenty years! Now, let"s talk business!"