"Who"s thet on a hoss?"
Gulden"s gang crowded to the door.
"Thet"s Handy Oliver."
"No!"
"Sh.o.r.e is. I know him. But it ain"t his hoss.... Say, he"s hurryin"."
Low exclamations of surprise and curiosity followed. Kells and his men looked attentively, but no one spoke. The clatter of hoofs on the stony road told of a horse swiftly approaching--pounding to a halt before the cabin.
"Handy!... Air you chased?... What"s wrong?... You sh.o.r.e look pale round the gills." These and other remarks were flung out the door.
"Where"s Kells? Let me in," replied Oliver, hoa.r.s.ely.
The crowd jostled and split to admit the long, lean Oliver. He stalked straight toward Kells, till the table alone stood between them. He was gray of face, breathing hard, resolute and stern.
"Kells, I throwed--you--down!" he said, with outstretched hand. It was a gesture of self-condemnation and remorse.
"What of that?" demanded Kells, with his head leaping like the strike of an eagle.
"I"m takin" it back!"
Kells met the outstretched hand with his own and wrung it. "Handy, I never knew you to right--about--face. But I"m glad.... What"s changed you so quickly?"
"VIGILANTES!"
Kells"s animation and eagerness suddenly froze. "VIGILANTES!" he ground out.
"No rumor, Kells, this time. I"ve sure some news.... Come close, all you fellows. You, Gulden, come an" listen. Here"s where we git together closer"n ever."
Gulden surged forward with his group. Handy Oliver was surrounded by pale, tight faces, dark-browed and hardeyed.
He gazed at them, preparing them for a startling revelation. "Men, of all the white-livered traitors as ever was Red Pearce was the worst!" he declared, hoa.r.s.ely.
No one moved or spoke.
"AN" HE WAS A VIGILANTE!"
A low, strange sound, almost a roar, breathed through the group.
"Listen now an" don"t interrupt. We ain"t got a lot of time.... So never mind how I happened to find out about Pearce. It was all accident, an"
jest because I put two an" two together.... Pearce was approached by one of this secret vigilante band, an" he planned to sell the Border Legion outright. There was to be a big stake in it for him. He held off day after day, only tippin" off some of the gang. There"s Dartt an"
Singleton an" Frenchy an" Texas all caught red-handed at jobs. Pearce put the vigilantes to watchin" them jest to prove his claim.... Aw! I"ve got the proofs! Jest wait. Listen to me!... You all never in your lives seen a snake like Red Pearce. An" the job he had put up on us was grand.
To-day he was to squeal on the whole gang. You know how he began on Kells--an" how with his oily tongue he asked a guarantee of no gun-play.
But he figgered Kells wrong for once. He accused Kells"s girl an" got killed for his pains. Mebbe it was part of his plan to git the girl himself. Anyway, he had agreed to betray the Border Legion to-day. An"
if he hadn"t been killed by this time we"d all be tied up, ready for the noose!... Mebbe thet wasn"t a lucky shot of the boss"s. Men, I was the first to declare myself against Kells, an" I"m here now to say thet I was a fool. So you"ve all been fools who"ve bucked against him. If this ain"t provin" it, what can!
"But I must hustle with my story.... They was havin" a trial down at the big hall, an" thet place was sure packed. No diggin" gold to-day!...
Think of what thet means for Alder Creek. I got inside where I could stand on a barrel an" see. Dartt an" Singleton an" Frenchy an" Texas was bein" tried by a masked court. A man near me said two of them had been proved guilty. It didn"t take long to make out a case against Texas an" Frenchy. Miners there recognized them an" identified them. They was convicted an" sentenced to be hung!.. Then the offer was made to let them go free out of the border if they"d turn state"s evidence an" give away the leader an" men of the Border Legion. Thet was put up to each prisoner. Dartt he never answered at all. An" Singleton told them to go to h.e.l.l. An" Texas he swore he was only a common an" honest road-agent, an" never heard of the Legion. But the Frenchman showed a yellow streak.
He might have taken the offer. But Texas cussed him tumble, an" made him ashamed to talk. But if they git Frenchy away from Texas they"ll make him blab. He"s like a greaser. Then there was a delay. The big crowd of miners yelled for ropes. But the vigilantes are waitin", an" it"s my hunch they"re waitin" for Pearce."
"So! And where do we stand?" cried Kells, clear and cold.
"We"re not spotted yet, thet"s certain," replied Oliver, "else them masked vigilantes would have been on the job before now. But it"s not sense to figger we can risk another day.... I reckon it"s. .h.i.t the trail back to Cabin Gulch."
"Gulden, what do you say?" queried Kells, sharply.
"I"ll go or stay--whatever you want," replied the giant. In this crisis he seemed to be glad to have Kells decide the issue. And his followers resembled sheep ready to plunge after the leader.
But though Kells, by a strange stroke, had been made wholly master of the Legion, he did not show the old elation or radiance. Perhaps he saw more clearly than ever before. Still he was quick, decisive, strong, equal to the occasion.
"Listen--all of you," he said. "Our horses and outfits are hidden in a gulch several miles below camp. We"ve got to go that way. We can"t pack any grub or stuff from here. We"ll risk going through camp. Now leave here two or three at a time, and wait down there on the edge of the crowd for me. When I come we"ll stick together. Then all do as I do."
Gulden put the nugget under his coat and strode out, accompanied by Budd and Jones. They hurried away. The others went in couples. Soon only Bate Wood and Handy Oliver were left with Kells.
"Now you fellows go," said Kells. "Be sure to round up the gang down there and wait for me."
When they had gone he called for Jim and Joan to come out.
All this time Joan"s hand had been gripped in Jim"s, and Joan had been so absorbed that she had forgotten the fact. He released her and faced her, silent, pale. Then he went out. Joan swiftly followed.
Kells was buckling on his spurs. "You heard?" he said, the moment he saw Jim"s face.
"Yes," replied Jim.
"So much the better. We"ve got to rustle.... Joan, put on that long coat of Cleve"s. Take off your mask.... Jim, get what gold you have, and hurry. If we"re gone when you come back hurry down the road. I want you with me."
Cleve stalked out, and Joan ran into her room and put on the long coat.
She had little time to choose what possessions she could take; and that choice fell upon the little saddle-bag, into which she hurriedly stuffed comb and brush and soap--all it would hold. Then she returned to the larger room.
Kells had lifted a plank of the floor, and was now in the act of putting small buckskin sacks of gold into his pockets. They made his coat bulge at the sides.
"Joan, stick some meat and biscuits in your pockets," he said. "I"d never get hungry with my pockets full of gold. But you might."
Joan rummaged around in Bate Wood"s rude cupboard.
"These biscuits are as heavy as gold--and harder," she said.
Kells flashed a glance at her that held pride, admiration, and sadness.
"You are the gamest girl I ever knew! I wish I"d--But that"s too late!... Joan, if anything happens to me stick close to Cleve. I believe you can trust him. Come on now."
Then he strode out of the cabin. Joan had almost to run to keep up with him. There were no other men now in sight. She knew that Jim would follow soon, because his gold-dust was hidden in the cavern back of her room, and he would not need much time to get it. Nevertheless, she anxiously looked back. She and Kells had gone perhaps a couple of hundred yards before Jim appeared, and then he came on the run. At a point about opposite the first tents he joined Kells.
"Jim, how about guns?" asked the bandit.
"I"ve got two," replied Cleve.
"Good! There"s no telling--Jim, I"m afraid of the gang. They"re crazy.