CHAPTER XVI.
WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE.
Let us now retrace our steps to the Haunted Mesa, and ascertain how it fared with Coyote Pete and the professor, after the boys" astonishing disappearance through the balanced trap-door in the base of the hollow altar. As we know, the lads" elders were crouched at the opposite end of the former sacrificial structure, when, before their eyes, the lads were swallowed up.
For an instant--as well they might have been--the two onlookers were fairly paralyzed with amazement. The occurrence seemed to be without natural explanation. But an investigation by Pete, crawling on his hands and knees while he made it, soon revealed the nature of the device which, as we know, was nothing more nor less than a balanced trap-door of stone. An unusual weight placed upon one end of it instantly tilted it and projected whatever was on it upon the staircase below.
The professor, who recalled having read of such devices in other dwelling-places of ancient communities, was at first for following the boys into the unknown interior of the mesa, but before any move could be made in that direction, one of the newly-arrived party shoved his face over the top of the hollow altar in a spirit of investigation. He fell back with a yell, crying out that there were spirits within it, as his eyes encountered the crouching forms of its two occupants.
"What"s the matter, you fool?" demanded Ramon himself, who happened to be close at hand.
"Oh, the spirits! The spirits of the hollow altar!" howled the Mexican in abject terror, his knees knocking together and his face taking on a sickly pallor.
"Hey! What"s that the crazy galoot"s after saying?"
The question came from a thickset man, of about middle age, upon whose upper lip bristled a fringe of reddish hair. His eyes were blue, narrow and evil, and his face was scarred in half a dozen places.
"Why, Hickey, my amigo, he says that the place is haunted," laughed Ramon.
The man addressed as Hickey turned to his two companions, one of whom was a tall, lanky chap, with straggly black hair, and bristly, unshaven chin. The other was a short, fat, rather good-natured looking little man, whose truculent chin, however, gave the lie to his incessant smile. Somehow, you felt, after a lengthy inspection of this latter, that he was by no means the amiable personage his fixed smile seemed to indicate. Small wonder, considering that his smile was fixed upon his face by reason of an old knife wound, which, in severing some facial muscles, had drawn up the corners of his mouth into a perpetual grin.
"Hullo! Here"s Rafter and Con Divver!" exclaimed the bristly-moustached one. "Well, fellows, what d"ye think of this here country?"
"All right, as fur as we"ve gone," grunted the lanky man, "but I"m itching to git across the border and git my paws on some of that gold."
"Ye"re right, Rafter," agreed the man with the perpetual smile, "that"s what we"re after. I ain"t made a good haul since we cleaned out the safe of that asphalt company in Venezuela."
"Well, gentlemen," smiled Ramon, in his most ingratiating manner, "you will have ample opportunity shortly. I happen to know that one of the first things that General Madero intends to do is to move upon the mines of the robber Americanos, and get some of their gringo gold."
"Hooray! That"s the talk," grunted Jim Hickey, who, like his mates, styled himself "soldier of fortune." But, alas! that high-sounding t.i.tle in his case, as in many others, was simply a polite way of disguising his true calling, to-wit, that of an unscrupulous adventurer, whose object was to line his own pockets. A fashion has arisen of late of writing about soldiers of fortune as if they were n.o.ble, Quixotic persons. Those with whom the author has come in contact, however, have, without exception, been mercenary and cold-blooded men, to whom the name highway robber could be applied with far more justice than the higher sounding term. Such men were Jim Hickey and his two companions, who had flocked like buzzards to the border at the first word of trouble.
"Waal, thar"s that greaser of yours still cuttin" up didoes," drawled Divver. "What"s ther matter with ther coyote, anyhow? Say, Ramon, ain"t that the main station of yer subway, yonder in ther rock pile?"
He pointed to the hollow altar, in which crouched Pete and the professor. They had heard every word of this conversation, of course, and its effect upon them may be imagined.
"That, senors, is indeed the entrance to our convenient little underground river. Ha! ha! an excellent joke on the worthy Colonel Briggs. He is guarding every point of the border but this one. Of course, he concluded, in his wise way, that n.o.body could cross those barren hills yonder, but, as you know, gentlemen, we go under, and not over them."
"Trust you greasers?" grinned Rafter, who was a New Englander; "ye"re as slick ez paint, and thet"s a fact. But, let"s see what in ther name of juniper scairt thet feller o" yourn. Seems like he"s teetotel abstinence on thet altar."
"Yes, there is a superst.i.tion that the mesa is haunted," rejoined Ramon. "That is the reason why I could never get a man to ascend it without myself. If you gentlemen noticed the tracks upon the pathway, you would have seen they went only to the top of the path. Beyond that my men would in no manner go on the night we came here to reconnoiter."
"That was before you sent the order through fer the arms?" inquired Hickey.
"_Si, senor_. But now, as you see, everything bids fair to go well, and----"
"By hemlock!" broke in Rafter"s sharp voice, as he drew his pistol, "thar"s two cusses hidin" in ther altar."
The New Englander had separated from the others, and taken a peek over the edge of the ancient sacrificial device, to ascertain what had caused the sudden alarm of the Mexican. What he had seen had caused his amazed exclamation.
"What"s that?" came the bull-throated roar of Hickey, "two men in that brick pile?"
"That"s whatsoever. One on "em is a big, long, rangy cuss, like a yearlin" colt, by gosh, and ther other"s the dead spit of the school teacher at ther Four Corners, back er hum."
"We must see into this."
It was Ramon who spoke. As he did so, he advanced in his agile, cat-like way upon the altar. In his hand he held his revolver. But, as he reached the edge of the pit and raised himself to peep over, something--which something was Coyote Pete"s fist--caught him full between the eyes, and sent him toppling backward into the arms of Rafter. Together the lanky New Englander and the Mexican crashed to the ground, while Pete set up a defiant yell.
"Come on!" he cried. "Any of your outfit thet"s jes" pinin" fer a facial ma.s.sage, hed better step this way, an" be accommodated."
Ill-advised as Pete"s hasty action was, it at least created a brief spell in which he had time to leap over the edge of the altar, and, before Ramon or any of the rest could recover from their astonishment, the cow-puncher had seized the Mexican"s pistol and was standing at bay, his back against the altar.
"Now, then, any gent desirous uv heving his system ventilated free of charge, will kin"ly step this way," he mocked. "Ah----" as Hickey"s hand slid to his waist, "don"t touch thet gun, mister, or yer friends will be sendin" you flowers."
"Waal, by Juniper!" drawled Rafter, as he gathered his spidery form together and scrambled to his feet. "You seem ter hev ther drop on us, stranger."
"Thet"s what," retorted the cow-puncher, "and I mean to keep it till we can come to terms. That Mexican gent yonder knows me of old--don"t you, Ramon?--and he knows thet what I say I"ll do, I"ll do."
"So you are spying upon me again, are you?" grated out Ramon viciously.
"Not content with driving me out of the Hachetas, you must even interfere with my political activities."
"Waal, if yer gitting perlitically active with machine guns and shootin" irons, I reckon Mister Diaz ull interfere with yer "bout as much as I will," grunted Pete, keeping the men before him covered with the Mexican"s pistol. The part of this speech referring to the machine guns was a mere guess of the shrewd cow-puncher. But, as the reader knows, he had struck the nail on the head. "But see here, Ramon," he went on, dropping his tone, "we ain"t here to molest you. We come out here with a scientific gent, to measure the mesa. We was going back home ter-night, an" was takin" a last look around when you come along.
I"ll give you my word--and you know it"s good--that we don"t want ter meddle with your affairs so long as they don"t affect us. Run all the guns you want--for I know that"s your little game--but we"ve got some kids with us, and it"s up to me to get "em back home safe. Let us git out of here peaceable, and no more will be said."
"Hum!" grunted the Mexican. "You forget that I owe you a little debt for some things that happened across the border some time ago. Black Ramon does not forget, nor does he forgive. I can guess who those boys are you have with you, and here is my proposal: You leave that cub, Jack Merrill, with me, and the rest of you can go, and----"
_Swish_!
Before Coyote Pete realized it, a raw-hide lariat circled through the air from behind, and settled about his neck. The next instant he was jerked from his feet, as Con Divver, who had crept un.o.bserved around the altar, drew the rope tight. Ramon had seen the other creeping up, and had been talking against time till the crucial moment arrived.
Now, with a howl of triumph, he rushed at the cow-puncher, and was about to aim a terrific kick at his prostrate body, when a lanky form suddenly appeared over the edge of the altar, and fixing ten bony fingers in Ramon"s inky locks, tugged till the Mexican yelled with pain.
"Well may you cry aloud for mercy, sir!" exclaimed the professor, for he it was who had suddenly come to the rescue, forgetting even the pain of his ankle in the crisis. "Even in Homer you may find it written, "Never kick a man when he"s down.""
"_Phew_!" whistled Hickey, his smile puckering up his whole face in an evil grimace. "This is growing interesting."
"Sanctissima Santos! Take him off! Make him let go!" yelled Ramon, dancing in agony. But the professor"s long digits were entwined in his locks, and the man of science showed no disposition to let go.
"Sa-ay, yo-ou animated hop-toad, I reckin you"d better let go uv ther Mexican gent"s draperies, er I"ll be compelled ter drill yer, by hemlock."
It was Rafter who drawled out the words, and, as he spoke, he held a revolver leveled at the professor"s head.
"Better drop the varmint, perfuss," directed Pete, from the ground, "they"ve got us hog-tied and ready fer the brand."
"By ginger! I cal-kerlate ther ain"t no de-oubt uv thet," drawled Rafter, as the professor dropped his hold on Ramon"s locks, and began flourishing a small geological hammer.
It would be wearisome to relate in detail all that took place at the mesa after this, but suffice it to say that Ramon"s rage on the discovery that the lads had accidentally found the underground pa.s.sageway was what it might have been imagined to be. As we know, a fruitless pursuit of them followed.