I didn"t put much stock in that idea, and told the sheriff so.
"Waal, round up a better one," was his retort.
Not being able to do that, I told him of the bullets in the telegraph pole, and took him over to where the mail car had stood.
"Jerusalem crickets!" was his comment as he measured the aim. "If that"s where they put two of their pills, they must have pumped the other four inter the moon."
"What other four?" I asked.
"Shots," he replied sententiously.
"The road agents only fired four times," I told him.
"Them and your pards must have been pretty nigh together for a minute, then," he said, pointing to the ground.
I glanced down, and sure enough, there were six empty cartridge-sh.e.l.ls. I stood looking blankly at them, hardly able to believe what I saw; for Albert Cullen had said distinctly that the train-robbers had fired only four times, and that the last three Winchester shots I had heard had been fired by himself.
Then, without speaking, I walked slowly back, searching along the edge of the road-bed for more sh.e.l.ls; but, though I went beyond the point where the last car had stood, not one did I find. Any man who has fired a Winchester knows that it drops its empty sh.e.l.l in loading, and I could therefore draw only one conclusion,--namely, that all seven discharges of the Winchesters had occurred up by the mail-car. I had heard of men supposing they had fired their guns through hearing another go off; but with a repeating rifle one has to fire before one can reload. The fact was evident that Albert Cullen either had fired his Winchester up by the mail-car, or else had not fired it at all.
In either case he had lied, and Lord Ralles and Captain Ackland had backed him up in it.
CHAPTER V
A TRIP TO THE GRAND CAnON
I stood pondering, for no explanation that would fit the facts seemed possible. I should have considered the young fellow"s story only an attempt to gain a little reputation for pluck, if in any way I could have accounted for the appearance and disappearance of the robbers. Yet to suppose--which seemed the only other horn to the dilemma--that the son and guests of the vice-president of the Missouri Western, and one of our own directors, would be concerned in train-robbery was to believe something equally improbable. Indeed, I should have put the whole thing down as a practical joke of Mr. Cullen"s party, if it had not been for the loss of the registered letters. Even a practical joker would hardly care to go to the length of cutting open government mail-pouches; for Uncle Sam doesn"t approve of such conduct.
Whatever the explanation, I had enough facts to prevent me from wasting more time on that alkali plain. Getting the men and horses back onto the cars, I jumped up on the tail-board and ordered the runner to pull out for Flagstaff. It was a run of seven hours, getting us in a little after eight, and in those hours I had done a lot of thinking which had all come to one result,--that Mr. Cullen"s party was concerned in the hold-up.
The two private cars were on a siding, but the Cullens had left for the Grand Canon the moment they had arrived, and were about reaching there by this time. I went to 218 and questioned the cook and waiter, but they had either seen nothing or else had been primed, for not a fact did I get from them. Going to my own car, I ordered a quick supper, and while I was eating it I questioned my boy. He told me that he had heard the shots, and had bolted the front door of my car, as I had ordered when I went out; that as he turned to go to a safer place, he had seen a man, revolver in hand, climb over the off-side gate of Mr. Cullen"s car, and for a moment he had supposed it a road agent, till he saw that it was Albert Cullen.
"That was just after I had got off?" I asked.
"Yis, sah."
"Then it couldn"t have been Mr. Cullen, Jim," I declared, "for I found him up at the other end of the car."
"Tell you it wuz, Mr. Gordon," Jim insisted. "I done seen his face clar in de light, and he done go into Mr. Cullen"s car whar de old gentleman wuz sittin"."
That set me whistling to myself, and I laughed to think how near I had come to giving nitroglycerin to a fellow who was only shamming heart-failure; for that it was Frederic Cullen who had climbed on the car I hadn"t the slightest doubt, the resemblance between the two brothers being quite strong enough to deceive any one who had never seen them together. I smiled a little, and remarked to myself, "I think I can make good my boast that I would catch the robbers; but whether the Cullens will like my doing it, I question. What is more, Lord Ralles will owe me a bottle." Then I thought of Madge, and didn"t feel as pleased over my success as I had felt a moment before.
By nine o"clock the posse and I were in the saddle and skirting the San Francisco peaks. There was no use of pressing the ponies, for our game wasn"t trying to escape, and, for that matter, couldn"t, as the Colorado River wasn"t pa.s.sable within fifty miles. It was a lovely moonlight night, and the ride through the pines was as pretty a one as I remember ever to have made. It set me thinking of Madge and of our talk the evening before, and of what a change twenty-four hours had brought. It was lucky I was riding an Indian pony, or I should probably have landed in a heap. I don"t know that I should have cared particularly if a prairie-dog burrow had made me dash my brains out, for I wasn"t happy over the job that lay before me.
We watered at Silver Spring at quarter-past twelve. From that point we were clear of the pines and out on the plain, so we could go a better pace. This brought us to the half-way ranch by two, where we gave the ponies a feed and an hour"s rest. We reached the last relay station just as the moon set, about three-forty; and, as all the rest of the ride was through Coconino forest, we held up there for daylight, getting a little sleep meanwhile.
We rode into the camp at the Grand Canon a little after eight, and the deserted look of the tents gave me a moment"s fright, for I feared that the party had gone. Tolfree explained, however, that some had ridden out to Moran Point, and the rest had gone down Hance"s trail. So I breakfasted and then took a look at Albert Cullen"s Winchester. That it had been recently fired was as plain as the Grand Canon itself; throwing back the bar, I found an empty cartridge sh.e.l.l, still oily from the discharge.
That completed the tale of seven shots. I didn"t feel absolutely safe till I had asked Tolfree if there had been any shooting of echoes by the party, but his denial rounded out my chain of evidence.
Telling the sheriff to guard the bags of the party carefully, I took two of the posse and rode over to Moran"s Point. Sure enough, there were Mr. Cullen, Albert, and Captain Ackland. They gave a shout at seeing me, and even before I had reached them they called to know how I could come so soon, and if I had caught the robbers. Mr. Cullen started to tell his pleasure at my rejoining the party, but my expression made him pause, and it seemed to dawn on all three that the Winchester across my saddle, and the cowboys" hands resting nonchalantly on the revolvers in their belts, had a meaning.
"Mr. Cullen," I explained, "I"ve got a very unpleasant job on hand, which I don"t want to make any worse than need be. Every fact points to your party as guilty of holding up the train last night and stealing those letters. Probably you weren"t all concerned, but I"ve got to go on the a.s.sumption that you are all guilty, till you prove otherwise."
"Aw, you"re joking," drawled Albert.
"I hope so," I said, "but for the present I"ve got to be English and treat the joke seriously."
"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Cullen.
"I don"t wish to arrest you gentlemen unless you force me to," I said, "for I don"t see that it will do any good. But I want you to return to camp with us."
They a.s.sented to that, and, single file, we rode back. When there I told each that he must be searched, to which they submitted at once. After that we went through their baggage. I wasn"t going to have the sheriff or cowboys tumbling over Miss Cullen"s clothes, so I looked over her bag myself. The prettiness and daintiness of the various contents were a revelation to me, and I tried to put them back as neatly as I had found them, but I didn"t know much about the articles, and it was a terrible job trying to fold up some of the things. Why, there was a big pink affair, lined with silk, with bits of ribbon and lace all over it, which nearly drove me out of my head, for I would have defied mortal man to pack it so that it shouldn"t muss. I had a funny little feeling of tenderness for everything, which made fussing over it all a pleasure, even while I felt all the time that I was doing a sneak act and had really no right to touch her belongings. I didn"t find anything incriminating, and the posse reported the same result with the other baggage. If the letters were still in existence, they were either concealed somewhere or were in the possession of the party in the Canon. Telling the sheriff to keep those in the camp under absolute surveillance, I took a single man, and saddling a couple of mules, started down the trail.
We found Frederic and "Captain" Hance just dismounting at the Rock Cabin, and I told the former he was in custody for the present, and asked him where Miss Cullen and Lord Ralles were. He told me they were just behind; but I wasn"t going to take any risks, and, ordering the deputy to look after Cullen, I went on down the trail. I couldn"t resist calling back,--
"How"s your respiration, Mr. Cullen?"
He laughed, and called, "Digitalis put me on my feet like a flash."
"He"s got the most brains of any man in this party," I remarked to myself.
The trail at this point is very winding, so that one can rarely see fifty feet in advance, and sometimes not ten. Owing to this, the first thing I knew I plumped round a curve on to a mule, which was patiently standing there. Just back of him was another, on which sat Miss Cullen, and standing close beside her was Lord Ralles. One of his hands held the mule"s bridle; the other held Madge"s arm, and he was saying, "You owe it to me, and I will have one. Or if--"
I swore to myself, and coughed aloud, which made Miss Cullen look up. The moment she saw me she cried, "Mr. Gordon! How delightful!" even while she grew as red as she had been pale the moment before. Lord Ralles grew red too, but in a different way.
"Have you caught the robbers?" cried Miss Cullen.
"I"m afraid I have," I answered.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
I smiled at the absolute innocence and wonder with which she spoke, and replied, "I know now, Miss Cullen, why you said I was braver than the Britishers."
"How do you know?"
I couldn"t resist getting in a side-shot at Lord Ralles, who had mounted his mule and sat scowling. "The train-robbers were such thoroughgoing duffers at the trade," I said, "that if they had left their names and addresses they wouldn"t have made it much easier. We Americans may not know enough to deal with real road agents, but we can do something with amateurs."
"What are we stopping here for?" snapped Lord Ralles.
"I"m sure I don"t know," I responded. "Miss Cullen, if you will kindly pa.s.s us, and then if Lord Ralles will follow you, we will go on to the cabin. I must ask you to keep close together."
"I stay or go as I please, and not by your orders," a.s.serted Lord Ralles, snappishly.
"Out in this part of the country," I said calmly, "it is considered shocking bad form for an unarmed man to argue with one who carries a repeating rifle. Kindly follow Miss Cullen." And, leaning over, I struck his mule with the loose ends of my bridle, starting it up the trail.
When we reached the cabin the deputy told me that he had made Frederic strip and had searched his clothing, finding nothing. I ordered Lord Ralles to dismount and go into the cabin.
"For what?" he demanded.