"But you saw a difference?"
"Because I looked for it; I never would have otherwise. Of course what I looked at was a dead face in the coffin, a dead face that was seared and burned. But anyway, I was already convinced that he was not the man. I am not sure what I should have thought if I had met him alive upon the street."
Lacy appeared amused, crossing the room, and expectorating into the open stove.
"You fellows make me laugh," he said grimly. "I am hardly idiot enough to be taken in by that sort of old wives" tale. However, if that is your story stick to it--but if you were to ever tell it in court, it would take a jury about five minutes to bring in their verdict. Still I see what you"re up against--the death of this fellow means that you are afraid now to leave Cavendish alive. If he ever appears again in the flesh this New York murder will have to be accounted for. Is that it?"
"It leaves us in an awkward position."
"All right. We understand each other then. Let"s get to business.
You want me to help out in a sort of accident, I presume--a fall over a cliff, or the premature discharge of blasting powder; these things are quite common out here."
Neither Enright nor Beaton answered, but Lacy was in no way embarra.s.sed by their silence. He knew now he had the whip-hand.
"And to prevent any stir at this end, before you fellows get hold of the stuff, you want me to call off my working gang and let Westcott alone. Come, now, speak up."
"Yes," acknowledged Enright. "I don"t care so much for Westcott, but I want things kept quiet. There"s a newspaperwoman down at the hotel. I haven"t been able to discover yet what she is doing out here, but she"s one of the big writers on the New York _Star_. If she got an inkling of this affair----"
"Who is she? Not the girl you had that row over, Beaton?"
The gunman nodded.
"She"s the one."
"Do you suppose Jim Westcott knew her before? He brought her to the hotel and was mighty touchy about her."
"h.e.l.l, no; she told me all about that--why she cut that fellow dead in the dining-room when he tried to speak to her the next day."
Lacy whistled a few bars, his hands thrust deep into his trouser-pockets. Then, after a few minutes" cogitation, he resumed:
"All right then; we"ll take it as it lies. The only question unsettled, Enright, is--what is all this worth to me?"
CHAPTER XV: MISS LA RUE PAYS A CALL
Some slight noise caused Westcott to straighten up, and turn partially around. He had barely time to fling up one arm in the warding off of a blow. The next instant was one of mad, desperate struggle, in which he realised only that he dare not relax his grip on the wrist of his unknown antagonist. It was a fierce, intense grapple, every muscle strained to the utmost, silent except for the stamping of feet, deadly in purpose.
The knife fell from the cramped fingers, but the fellow struggled like a demon, clutching at the miner"s throat, but unable to confine his arms. Twice Westcott drove his clenched right into the shadowed face, smashing it the last time so hard the man"s grip relaxed, and he went staggering back. With a leap forward, the battle-fury on him, Westcott closed before the other could regain position. Again the clenched fist struck and the fellow went down in the darkness, whirling backward to the earth--and lay there, motionless.
An instant, panting, breathless, scarcely yet comprehending what had occurred, the victor stared at the huddled figure, his arm drawn back.
Then he became aware of excitement within, the sound of voices, the tramp of feet on the floor, the sudden opening of a door. A gleam of light shot out, revealing the figures of men. With one spring he was across the shapeless form on the ground, and had vanished into the darkness beyond.
Lacy was first to reach the unconscious body, stumbling over it in the black shadow, as he rushed forward, revolver in hand. He cursed, rising to his knees, and staring about in the silent darkness.
"There"s a man lying here--dead likely. Bring a light. No, the fellow is alive. Dammit, it"s Moore, and completely knocked out. Here you--what happened?"
The fellow groaned, opened his eyes, and looked about dazedly.
"Speak up, man!" and Lacy dragged him to a sitting position in no gentle fashion. "Who hit you?"
"There--there was a fellow at that window there. I--I saw him from below, and crept up behind but he turned around just as I struck."
"Who was he?"
"I never saw his face. He hit me first."
"He was at that window, you say?"
"Yes; kneelin" down like he was lookin" into the room. Oh, Lord!"
Lacy crunched over to the side of the shack, and bent down to get a better view. His fingers came in contact with the knife which upheld the sash, and he plucked it out, holding it up into the beam of light pa.s.sing through the rent in the torn curtain. He stared at the curiously carved handle intently.
"This is certainly h.e.l.l," he said soberly. "That"s Jim Westcott"s jack-knife. He"s been listening to all we said. Now we are up against it."
"What"s that?" The question came from Enright, still at the corner of the house, unable to tell what had happened.
"Westcott has been here listening to our talk. He pried up the window with this knife, so he could hear. Moore caught him, and got knocked out."
"He--he heard our talk in--in there," repeated the dazed lawyer, his lips trembling. "And--has got away? Good G.o.d! man, where has he gone?
After the sheriff?"
Lacy stared at him through the darkness, and burst into a roar of unrestrained laughter.
"Who? Jim Westcott? The sheriff? Well, hardly at this stage of the game. That"s your way down East, no doubt, but out in this country the style is different. No, sir; Westcott isn"t after any sheriff. In the first place he hasn"t any evidence. He knows a thing or two, but he can"t prove it; and if we move faster than he does we"ll block his game--see?"
"What do you mean?"
Lacy leaned forward, and hissed his answer into Enright"s ear.
"Put Cavendish where he can"t get at him. There"s no other chance. If Jim Westcott ever finds that fellow alive our goose is cooked. And we"ve got the advantage--we know where the man is."
"And Westcott doesn"t?"
"Exactly, but he will know. He"ll comb these hills until he finds the trail--that"s Jim Westcott. Come on back inside, both of you, and I"ll tell you my plan. No, there is no use trying to run him down to-night--a hundred men couldn"t do it. What"s that, Moore? Go on to the shaft-house, and let Dan fix you up. No, we won"t need any guard.
That fellow will never come back here again to-night. Come on, boys."
The door closed behind them, shutting out the yellow glow, and leaving the hillside black and lonely. A bucket of rock rattled onto the dump, and Moore, limping painfully, swearing with every step, clambered up the dark trail toward the shaft-house.
Miss Donovan did not go down to supper. Beaton waited some time in the office, his eyes on the stairs, but she failed to appear, and he lacked the necessary courage to seek her in her own room. Then Enright called him and compelled his attendance. The absence of the girl was not caused from any lack of appet.i.te as she subsidised the Chinaman to smuggle her a supply of food by way of the back stairs, which she ate with decided relish, but she had no desire to show any anxiety regarding a meeting with the newcomers.
Her newspaper experience had given her some knowledge of human nature and she felt convinced that her task of extracting information would be greatly simplified if these people sought her company first. To hold aloof would have a tendency to increase their interest, for Beaton would certainly tell of her presence in the hotel, and, if their purpose there had any criminal intent, suspicion would be aroused.
This theory, however, became somewhat strained as the time pa.s.sed quietly, and seemed to break entirely when from her window she saw Beaton and the heavy-set man ride out of town on a pair of livery horses. She watched them move down the long street, and turn into the trail leading out across the purple hills. The lowering darkness finally hid them from view. She was still at the window beginning to regret her choice when some one rapped at the door. She arose to her feet, and took a step or two forward, her heart beating swifter.
"Come in."
The door opened, and the light from the windows revealed Miss La Rue, rather tastefully attired in green silk, her blond hair fluffed artfully, and a dainty patch of black court-plaster adorning one cheek.