Rocking and swaying and skidding, the vehicle seemed literally to precipitate itself to the depths below, and, as the horses, with necks outstretched and mouths beginning to gape, with ears flattened and streaming flanks, reached the bottom, the desperate nature of the journey became even more apparent. There was neither wavering nor mercy in the eyes of the teamster and his escort as they pressed on down the valley.
One of the escort called sharply to the teamster.
"Can we make it?" he shouted.
"Got to," came back the answer through clenched jaws. "If we got twenty minutes on the gorl darned p"lice they won"t see us for dust.
Heh!"
The man"s final exclamation came as one of his horses stumbled. But he kept the straining beast on its legs by the sheer physical strength of his hands upon the reins. The check was barely an instant, but he picked up the rawhide whip lying in the wagon and plied it mercilessly.
The exhausted beasts responded and the vehicle flew down the trail, swaying and yawing the whole breadth of the road. The dust in its wake rose up in a dense cloud. Into this the escort plunged and quickly became lost to view behind the bush which lined the sharply twisting trail.
Faster and faster the horses sped under the iron hand of the teamster, till distance took hold of the clatter and finally diminished it to a rumble. In a few minutes even the rising cloud of dust, like smoke above the tree tops, thinned and finally melted away, and so, once more, peace returned to the twilit valley.
A wagon was lumbering slowly toward Rocky Springs. It was less than a mile beyond the outskirts of the village, and already an occasional flash of white paint through the trees revealed the sides of some outlying house in the distance ahead.
The horses were dejected-looking creatures, and their flanks were streaked with gray lines of caking sweat. They were walking, and the teamster on the wagon sat huddled down in the driving seat, an exquisite picture of unclean ease.
He was a hard-faced, unwashed creature, whose swarthy features were ingrained with sweat and dirt. He was clad in typical prairie costume, his loose cotton shirt well matching the unclean condition of his face. One cheek was bulging with a big chew of tobacco, while the other sank in over the hollows left by absent back teeth.
He certainly was unprepossessing. Even his contented smile only added to the evil of his expression. His contentment, however, was by no means his whole atmosphere. In fact, it was rather studied, for his eyes were alight and watchful with the furtive watchfulness so easy to detect in those of partial color. They suggested that his ears, too, were no less alert, and now and again this suggestion received confirmation in the quick turn of the head in a direction which said plainly he was listening for any unusual sound from behind him.
One of these turns of the head remained longer than usual. Then, with quite a sharp movement of the body, he swung one of the great pistols hanging at his waist, so that its barrel rested across his thigh, and its b.u.t.t was ready to his hand. Then, with a malicious chuckle, he took a firmer grip of his reins, and his jaded horses raised their drooping heads.
The object of his change of att.i.tude quickly became apparent, for, a few moments later, the distant sound of hoof-beats, far behind him, echoed through the still valley.
He checked his horses still more, and it became evident that he wished those who were behind him to come up before he reached the village.
The smile on his evil face became more humorous, and he spat out a stream of tobacco juice with great enjoyment.
The sounds grew louder, and he turned about and peered down the darkening valley. There was nothing and no one in sight yet amid the woodland shadows. Only the clatter of hoofs was growing with each moment. He finally turned back and resettled himself. His att.i.tude now became one of even more studied indifference, but his gun remained close to his hand.
The sounds behind him were drawing nearer. His tired horses p.r.i.c.ked their ears. They, too, seemed to become interested. The pursuers came on. They were less than a hundred yards behind. In a few moments they were directly behind. Then the man lazily turned his head. For some moments he stared stupidly at the three uniformed figures who had descended upon him. Then he suddenly sat up and brought his horses to a standstill. The policemen were surrounding his wagon.
Sergeant McBain was abreast of him on one side, one trooper drew up his horse at the other side, while the third came to a halt at the rear of the wagon and peered into it.
"Evenin", sergeant," cried the teamster, with deliberate cheeriness.
"Makin" Rocky Springs?"
McBain"s hard blue eyes looked straight into the half-breed"s face. He was endeavoring to fix and hold those dark, furtive eyes. But it was not easy.
"Maybe," he said curtly.
Then he glanced swiftly over the outfit. The sweat-streaked horses interested him. The nature of the wagon. Then, finally, the contents of the wagon covered with a light canvas protection against the dust.
"Where you from?" he demanded peremptorily.
"Just got through from Myrtle," replied the man, quite undisturbed by the other"s manner.
"Fourteen miles," said McBain sharply. "Guess your plugs sweated some. What"s your name, and who do you work for?"
"Guess I"m Pete Clancy, an" I"m Kate Seton"s "hired" man. Been across to Myrtle for fixin"s for her."
"Fixings?"
The sergeant"s eyes at last compelled the other"s. There was something like insolence in the way Pete Clancy returned his stare. There was also humor.
"Sure," he returned easily. "Guess you"ll find "em in the wagon ef you raise that cover. There"s one of them fakes fer sewin" with. There"s a deal o" fancy canned truck, an" say, the leddy"s death on notions. Get a peek at the colors o" them silk duds. On"y keep dirty hands off"n "em, or she"ll cuss me to h.e.l.l for a fust-cla.s.s hog."
McBain signed to the trooper at the rear of the wagon and the man stripped the cover off. The first thing the officer beheld was a sewing machine in its shining walnut case. Beside this was an open packing case filled with canned fruits and meats, and a large supply of groceries. In another box, packed under layers of paper, were materials for dressmaking, and a roll of white lawn for other articles of a woman"s apparel.
With obvious disgust he signed again to the trooper to replace the cover. Then Clancy broke in.
"Say," he cried ironically, "ain"t they dandy? I tell you, sergeant, when it comes to fancy things, women ha" got us skinned to death.
Fancy us wearin" skirts an" things made o" them flimsies! We"d fall right through "em an" break our dirty necks. An" the colors, too.
Guess they"d shame a dago wench, an" set a three-year old stud bull shakin" his sides with a puffic tempest of indignation. But when it comes to canned truck, well, say, prairie hash ain"t nothin" to it, an" if I hadn"t been raised in a Bible cla.s.s, an" had the feel o" the cold water o" righteousness in my bones, I"d never ha" hauled them all this way without gettin" a peek into them cans. I----"
"Cut it out, man," cried the officer sharply. "I need a straight word with you. Get me? Straight. Your bluff"ll do for other folks. You haven"t been to Myrtle. You come from White Point, where you helped hold up a freight. You ran a big cargo of liquor in this wagon, which is why your plugs are tuckered out. You"ve cached that liquor in this valley, at the place you gathered up this truck. I don"t say you aren"t "hired man" to Miss Seton in Rocky Springs, but you"re playing a double game. You fetched her goods and dumped "em at the cache, only to pick "em up when you were through with your other game."
The man laughed insolently.
"Gee! I must be a ter"ble bad feller, sergeant," he cried. "Me, as was raised in a Bible cla.s.s." His eyes twinkled as he went on. "An" I done all that? All that you sed, sergeant? Say, I"m a real bright feller.
Guess I"ll get a drink o" that liquor, won"t I? It "ud be a b.u.m trick----"
The sergeant"s eyes snapped.
"You"ll get the penitentiary before we"re through with you. You and the boys with you. We"ve followed your trail all the way, and that trail ends right here. We"re wise to you----"
"But you ain"t wise where the liquor"s cached," retorted the man with a chuckle.
Then he looked straight into the officer"s eyes.
"Say," he cried with his big laugh. "You can talk penitentiary till you"re sick. Ther" ain"t no liquor in my wagon, an" if there ever has been any, as you kind o" fancy, it"s right up to you to locate it, and spill it, an" not set right there keepin" me from my work."
As he finished speaking, with elaborate display, he shook his reins and shouted at his horses, which promptly moved on.
As the wagon rolled away he turned his head and spoke over his shoulder.
"You can"t spill canned truck an" sewin" machines, sergeant," he called back derisively. "That penitentiary racket don"t fizz nothin".
Guess you best think again."
The officer"s chagrin was complete. It was the start the outlaws had had that had beaten him. This was the wagon; this was one of the men.
Of these things he was convinced. There were others in it, too, but they----. He turned to his troopers.
"I"d give a month"s pay to get bracelets on that feller," he said with a grin that had no mirth in it. Then he added grimly, as he gazed after the receding wagon: "And I"m a Scotchman."