"I saw Terrill. It must have been just before he was killed. I didn"t meet anybody else." Jack showed no trace of temper under the inquisition.
"Of course you saw him before he was killed--about a minute. Mebbe you didn"t plug him the next minute with a .44."
The charge roused Sage-brush"s fighting blood. Drawing his gun, he attempted to get a fair shot at the accuser. Fresno and Show Low grabbed him by the arms, holding him back. The foreman shouted: "There"ll be some one plugged right now if you-all make another break like that."
Slim waved his hands over his head, driving the men backward, as if he were shooing away a flock of chickens.
"Easy now--easy," he drawled. "There ain"t a-goin" to be nothin" doin"
here, "cept law an" justice."
Buck laughed sneeringly at the wavering of his men. He would have to do something to put more heart into them and regain the ground he had lost by his single-handed conduct of the case.
"There ain"t, eh?" he asked contemptuously. "Well, it"s lucky I brought some of my own outfit with me."
"Mebbe you"ll need them if you get too careless with your talk,"
answered the unruffled Sheriff.
Turning to Jack, Slim said: "This fool thing can be settled with one word from you."
The young ranchman listened to the Sheriff earnestly. He wished to clear himself forever of all suspicion. He did not want Echo ever to hear that there was a false impression abroad that she was the wife of a slayer. "What is it?" he asked simply.
"Why, you paid off a mortgage of an even three thousan" dollars last week, didn"t you?"
"Yes, what has that to do with it?" he asked.
Buck broke in at this point. Here was the strongest card that he had in his hand, and the Sheriff had played it to McKee"s advantage.
"Plenty," Buck shouted. "Old Terrill was shot and killed and robbed, an" the man who did it got just three thousan" dollars."
"An" you mean to say that the boss here--" began Sage-brush, in his anger making a rush at McKee. He was held back, but the disturbance attracted Echo and Mrs. Allen from the kitchen. Echo hurried to her husband"s side. He slipped his arm about her waist, and together they faced his accuser.
"All you got to say is where did you get that money," cried Buck, who had seen d.i.c.k Lane pay it to Payson, and conjectured that Payson did not dare to reveal the fact of this payment, with all the disclosure it implied.
"Why, it was paid to me by--" Then Jack stopped. He could not tell who gave him the money without revealing to Echo the return of d.i.c.k.
The whole miserable lie would then come out. Echo noticed Jack"s hesitancy.
"What is it--what"s the matter?" she asked, in frightened tones.
"Nothing, nothing," he answered lightly, to lessen her terror.
"Hats off, everybody," commanded Slim, in deference to the presence of Echo.
"Who are these men--what"s wrong?" pleaded Echo.
Buck bowed to the trembling woman, who had thrown her arms about her husband"s neck.
"Nothin"," he exclaimed. "Only we want to know where your husband got the money to pay off the mortgage on this ranch."
The request seemed a very simple one to Echo. All the talk of harming Jack, the high words, the threats, could be silenced easily by her hero. Smiling into his eyes, Echo said: "Tell them, Jack."
"I can"t," he faltered.
"It was paid to him by a friend," bravely began Echo. "A friend to whom he lent it some time ago."
Buck interrupted her explanation. "Then let him tell his friend"s name, and where we can find him." Turning to Jack, he bullied: "Come on--what"s his name?"
Jack closed his eyes to shut out the sight of his wife. In his agony he clenched his fists, until his nails sank into the flesh. "I can"t tell you that," he cried, in misery.
"Of course he can"t," sneered Buck, smiling evilly in his triumph.
"He can"t account for himself on the night of the weddin"; he rides a pacin" horse--rode on that night; he gets three thousan" dollars paid him, and he can"t tell who paid it; what"s the verdict?" Buck did not wait for an answer. Raising his voice, he shouted: "Guilty."
"d.a.m.n you," bellowed Sage-brush, lunging toward him, only to be held in restraint by his a.s.sociates.
"Jack! Jack! what have you to say?" begged Echo.
"Nothing," was his only answer.
"Tell him he lies!" cried Sage-brush. "Jack, we all know you--you"re as white a man as ever lived, an" they ain"t one of this outfit that ain"t ready to die for you right now--"
"You bet!" chorused his men.
"He ain"t goin" to get off like that," declared Buck. Looking confidently at his own followers, he said: "The Lazy K can take care of him."
Buck"s men moved closer to him, preparing to draw their guns, if need be, and open fire on Jack"s defenders.
"Look out, boss!" warned Sage-brush, at the hostile movement of Buck and his punchers.
"Hold on!" drawled the Sheriff, who, as the danger grew more real, became more deliberate in his movements. "They ain"t goin" to be nothin" done here unless it"s done in the law--you all know me, boys--I"m the sheriff--this man"s my prisoner." Pointing to Jack, he added: "There ain"t n.o.body goin" to take him from me--an" live."
Buck saw Jack slipping from his clutches. "You"re not goin" to be bluffed by one man, are you, boys?"
"No," his punchers answered in unison, crowding toward Jack, who held up his hand and cried: "Stop! I want a fair deal, and I"ll get it."
"I"ll settle this thing all right. All I ask is a few words alone with my wife."
Jack clasped Echo to his breast as he begged this boon from the men who sought his life.
"No!" bl.u.s.tered Buck.
"Yes," ordered Slim quietly but emphatically. "Payson--you"ll give me your word you won"t try to escape?"
"Yes," agreed Jack.
"His word don"t go with us," shouted Buck.
Slim laid his hand on the b.u.t.t of his revolver, ready to draw, if necessary, to enforce his command. Buck saw the movement, and shouted to him: "Keep your hand away from that gun, Sheriff. You know I am quick on the draw." He significantly fingered his holster as he spoke.
"So I"ve heard tell," agreed Slim, hastily withdrawing his hand from his revolver.