"He! Drap-a that-a gun d.a.m.n quick!"
Smith bent, leisurely, and laid his rifle on a mossy rock.
"Now! You there! Why you want Sard! Eh?"
"I"ll tell Sard, not you," retorted Smith coolly. "You listen to me, whoever you are. I"m from Sard"s office in New York. I"m Abrams. The police are on their way here to find Quintana."
"How I know? Eh? Why shall I believe that? You tell-a me queeck or I blow-a your d.a.m.n head off!"
"Quintana will blow-a _your_ head off unless you take me to Sard,"
drawled Smith.
A movement might have meant death, but he calmly rummaged for a cigarette, lighted it, blew a cloud insolently toward the white glare ahead. Then he took another chance:
"I guess you"re Nick Salzar, aren"t you?"
"Si! I am Salzar. Who the dev" are you?"
"I"m Eddie Abrams, Sard"s lawyer. My business is to find my client. If you stop me you"ll go to prison--the whole gang of you--Sard, Quintana, Picquet, Sanchez, Georgiades and Harry Beck,--and _you_!"
After a dead silence: "Maybe _you"ll_ go to the chair, too!"
It was the third chance he took.
There was a dreadful stillness in the woods. Finally came a slight series of splashes; the crunch of heavy boots on rock.
"For why you com-a here, eh?" demanded Salzar, in a less aggressive manner. "What-a da matt", eh?"
"Well," said Smith, "if you"ve got to know, there are people from Esthonia in New York.... If you understand that."
"Christi! When do they arrive?"
"A week ago. Sard"s place is in the hands of the police. I couldn"t stop them. They"ve got his safe and all his papers. City, State, and Federal officers are looking for him. The Constabulary rode into Ghost Lake yesterday. Now, don"t you think you"d better lead me to Sard?"
"Cristi!" exclaimed Salzar. "Sard he is a mile ahead with the others.
d.a.m.n! d.a.m.n! Me, how should I know what is to be done? Me, I have my orders from Quintana. What I do, eh? Cristi! What to do? What you say I should do, eh, Abrams?"
A new fear had succeeded the old one--that was evident--and Salzar came forward into the light of his own fixed torch--a well-knit figure in slouch hat, grey shirt, and grey breeches, and wearing a red bandanna over the lower part of his face. He carried a heavy rifle.
He came on, st.u.r.dily, splashing through the water, and walked up to Smith, his rifle resting on his right shoulder.
"For me," he said excitedly, "long time I have worry in this-a d.a.m.n wood! Si! Where you say those carbinieri? Eh?"
"At Ghost Lake. _Your_ signature is in the hotel ledger."
"Cristi! You know where Clinch is?"
"You know, too. He is on the way to Drowned Valley."
"d.a.m.n! I knew it. Quintana also. You know where is Quintana? And Sard? I tell-a you. They march ver" fast to the Dump of Clinch. Si! And there they would discover these-a beeg-a dimon"--these-a Flame-Jewel. Si!
_Now_, you tell-a me what I do?"
Smith said slowly: "If Quintana is marching on Clinch"s he"s marching into a trap!"
Salzar blanched above his bandanna.
"The State Troopers are there," said Smith. "They"ll get him sure."
"Cristi," faltered Salzar, "--then they are gobble--Quintana, Sard, everybody! Si?"
Smith considered the man: "You can save _your_ skin anyway. You can go back and tell Harry Beck. Then both of you can beat it for Drowned Valley."
He picked up his rifle, stood a moment in troubled reflection:
"If I could overtake Quintana I"d do it," he said. "I think I"ll try. If I can"t, he"s done for. You tell Harry Beck that Eddie Abrams advises him to beat it for Drowned Valley."
Suddenly Salzar tore the bandanna from his face, flung it down and stamped on it.
"What I tell Quintana!" he yelled, his features distorted with rage. "I don"t-a like!--no, not me!--no, I tell-a heem, stay at those Ghost-a Lake and watch thees-a fellow Clinch. Si! Not for me thees-a wood. No! I spit upon it! I curse like h.e.l.l! I tell Quintana I don"t-a like. Now, eet is trouble that comes and we lose-a out! d.a.m.n! _d.a.m.n!_ Me, I find me Beck. You shall say to Jose Quintana how he is a damfool. Me, I am finish--me, Nick Salzar! You hear me, Abrams! I am through! I go!"
He glared at Smith, started to move, came back and took his torch, made a violent gesture with it which drenched the woods with goblin light.
"You stop-a Quintana, maybe. You tell-a heem he is the bigg-a fool! You tell-a heem Nick Salzar is no d.a.m.n fool. No! Adios, my frien" Abrams. I beat it. I save my skin!"
Once more Salzar turned and headed for Drowned Valley.... Where Clinch would not fail to kill him.... The man was going to his death.... And it was Smith who sent him.
Suddenly it came to Smith that he could not do this thing; that this man had no chance; that he was slaying a human being with perfect safety to himself and without giving him a chance.
"Salzar!" he called sharply.
The man halted and looked around.
"Come back!"
Salzar hesitated, turned finally, slouched toward him.
Smith laid aside his pack and rifle, and, as Salzar came up, he quietly took his weapon from him and laid it beside his own.
"What-a da matt"?" demanded Salzar, astonished. "Why you taka my gun?"
Smith measured him. They were well matched.
"Set your torch in that crotch," he said.
Salzar, puzzled and impatient, demanded to know why. Smith took both torches, set them opposite each other and drew Salzar into the white glare.
"Now," he said, "you dirty desperado, I am going to try to kill you clean. Look out for yourself!"