"Well, I"m glad of that; and we"ll not stand here discussing the matter. Do you know who I am?"
"Divil a thought have Oi."
"You were expecting to meet Mr. Enright, weren"t you? That was what Bill Lacy told you. He was to explain to you just what you were to do."
Brennan mumbled something indistinctly, now thoroughly aroused to the situation.
"Well, Mr. Enright couldn"t come, and Lacy is over across the creek yet, hunting down Ned Beaton"s murderer. I am Miss La Rue," she hurried on, almost breathlessly, "and I"ve brought you Lacy"s note, which you are to give to that Mexican--Pasqual Mendez. You understand?
You are to give it to him, and no one else. Lacy said you could kill your horse, if necessary, but the note must be there by daylight to-morrow. Here--take it."
Brennan thrust it into an inner pocket, and cleared his throat. There was no small risk in asking questions, yet, unless he learned more, this information might prove utterly useless. The note to Mendez meant little until he discovered where that bandit was to be found. He felt his flesh p.r.i.c.kle in the intensity of his suppressed excitement.
"Shure now, miss," he said insinuatingly. "Mr. Lacy must hev" sint more insthructions "long with ye then them. All ther word thet iver come ter me wus ter saddle oop, ride down here an" mate this man Enright. I don"t aven know fer shure whar ol" Mendez is--likely "nough he be in Mexico."
"In Mexico!" indignantly. "Of course not. Lacy said you knew the trail. It"s a place they call "Sunken Valley"--out there somewhere,"
and Brennan could barely distinguish the movement of her arm desert-ward. "It"s across that sand flat."
"Shoshone?"
"Yes; I couldn"t remember the name. That"s all I know about it, only Lacy said you"d been there before."
"Shure, miss," a.s.sured the marshal softly, clearly realising that he had already gone the limit, and that any further questioning must lead inevitably to trouble. "If it is Sunken Valley I"m ter ride ter, thet"s aisy."
"Then it"s good night."
She vanished up the side-trail, as though the wind had blown away a shadow. Except for the slight rustling of dried leaves under her feet, the two men, staring blindly through the darkness, could not have told the direction in which she had gone. Then all was silence, the mystery of night. Brennan gathered up his reins, straightening his body in the saddle. He glanced back toward the dim shade of his companion, chuckling.
"Some bit of luck that, Jim."
"Doesn"t seem to me we know much more than we did before," Westcott answered gloomily. "Only that this chap Mendez is at a place called Sunken Valley. I never heard of it; did you?"
"No; I reckon it"s no spot the law has ever had any use for. I"ve supposed all along them Mexican cattle thieves had a hidden corral somewhar in this country; but n.o.body has ever found it yet. Right now, thanks to this Miss La Rue, I"ve got a hunch that we"re goin" to make the discovery, and put Bill Lacy and ol" Mendez out of business. But there"s no sense of our ga.s.sin" here. We got a right smart bit o"
ridin" to do afore daylight."
They advanced cautiously as far as the bridge, but at that point Brennan turned his pony"s head southward, and spurred the reluctant animal up the steep bank. Without question Westcott followed, and the two horses broke into a trot as soon as they attained the more level land beyond. They were slightly above the town now, and could gaze back at the glittering lights in the valley below. The sound of men"s voices failed to reach them over the soft pounding of the ponies" hoofs on the prairie sod, but suddenly the distant crackling of a half dozen shots pierced the silence, and their eyes caught the sparkle of the discharges, winking like fireflies in the night. Before they could draw up their mounts, the fusillade had ended, and all beneath them was unbroken gloom.
"Must be rushing the rock," commented Westcott.
"More likely saw something and blazed away at it, just as they did at that log," and Brennan laughed. "Anyhow they haven"t discovered we have vanished yet. With an hour more we"ll be where trails are unknown."
"In the desert?"
"That is the only safe hiding place around here. Besides we"re carrying a message to Mendez."
"Without the slightest knowledge of where that party is."
"Well, hardly that, Jim. I may not know exactly, but I"ve got a glimmer of a notion about where the cuss hangs out, an" I"m going to have a hunt for it. There"s five thousand dollars posted down in Arizona for that fellow, dead or alive; an" I need the money. Besides, I reckon this yere Miss Donovan, an" yer ol" partner--what"s his name?--sure, Cavendish--will be mighty glad to see us. You"re game for a try, ain"t yer?"
"I shall never stop until I do find them, Dan," said the other earnestly, the very tone of his voice carrying conviction. "Every cent of reward is yours; it will be satisfaction enough for me to know those two are safe."
"That"s how I figured it. Now let"s trot on; we ain"t gaining nothing by sittin" our saddles here. We can talk while we travel."
There was a few moments of silence, both men evidently busied with their thoughts; then Westcott asked:
"What is your idea, Dan?"
The marshal rode steadily, humped up over his saddle-horn, his eyes on the uncertainties in front.
"I ain"t really got none," he admitted doggedly, "less it be a blind trust in Divine Providence; still I got a medium strong grip on a few things. That Capley girl told you that Matt Moore drove out on the ridge road?"
"Yes; I asked her about that twice."
"Well, he likely was headed for this yere Sunken Valley. That"s point number one. But he never followed the ridge road very far, for it skirts the desert. He must have turned off south--but where?"
"Near the lone cottonwood is my guess."
"Why?"
"Because there is a swale there of hard sand, which is easily followed, and leaves no trail. On either side for miles the sand is in drifts, and no two horses would ever pull a wagon through it. This hard ridge, which is more rock than sand, goes straight south to Badger Springs, the only place to get water. I was there once, three years ago."
"You"ve hit it, old man," exclaimed the other confidently. "That"s exactly how I had it doped out. He"d have to use that swale, or go ten miles farther east. I never was at Badger myself, but I"ve travelled that ridge road some, with my eyes open. Then, I take it, that our course is already laid out pretty straight as far as them springs.
Beyond there the general lay of the land may help us, and I aim to reach that point along about daylight. Accordin" to Miss La Rue--she"s that blond female I seen at the hotel, ain"t she--Ca.s.sady was expected to reach this place where Mendez is about dawn, if he had to kill his hoss to do it. That would mean some considerable of a ride, I reckon."
"And yet," put in Westcott, with increasing interest, "would seem naturally to limit the spot to within a radius of ten miles from Badger Springs."
"Likely enough--yes; either south, southeast, or southwest; what sort o" country is it?"
"Absolutely barren; a desolate waste as far as the eye can see, except that range of mountains away to the south, fifty miles or more off. It would be a dead level, except for the sand-hills; that"s all the memory I"ve got of it."
"Well, thar"s allers some landmark to a trail, an" I used ter be a pretty fair tracker. Speed yer hoss up a bit, Jim; we"ve got to ride faster than this."
"How about the note she gave you?"
"We"ll wait a while to read that. I don"t want to strike no light just yet. Maybe it had best be kept till daybreak."
The men rode steadily, and mostly in silence, a large part of the way side by side. The animals they bestrode were fairly mated, quite capable of maintaining their gait for several hours, and needing little urging. The night air was cool, and a rather stiff breeze swept over the wide extent of desert, occasionally hurling spits of loosened sand into their faces, and causing them to ride with lowered heads. The night gloom enveloped them completely; their strained eyes were scarcely able to trace the dim outlines of the ridge road, but the horses were desert broke, and held closely to the beaten track, Before they arrived at the lone cottonwood, Westcott"s pony, which carried by far the heavier load, began to show signs of fatigue. They drew up here, and the marshal dismounted, searching about blindly in the darkness.
"Too d.a.m.n dark," he said, coming back, and catching up his rein. "A cat couldn"t find anything there; but there"s firm sand. Wait a minute; I"ve got a pocket compa.s.s."
He struck a match, sheltering the sputtering blaze with one hand. The light illuminated his face for an instant, and then went out, leaving the night blacker than before.
"That"s south," he announced, snapping the compa.s.s-case shut, "and this blame wind is southeast; that ought to keep us fairly straight."
"The ponies will do that; they"ll keep where the travelling is good.
Shift this bag back of your saddle, Dan. You ride lighter, and my horse is beginning to pant already; that will ease him a few pounds."
The transfer was made, and the two men rode out into the rear desert, urging their animals forward, trusting largely to their natural instinct for guidance. They would follow the hard sand, and before long the scent of water would as certainly lead them directly toward the spring. With reins dangling and bodies crouched to escape the blast of the sharp wind, neither spoke as they plunged through the gloom which circled about them like a black wall.
Yet it was not long until dawn began to turn the desert grey, gradually revealing its forlorn desolation. Westcott lifted his head, and gazed about with wearied eyes, smarting still from the whipping of the sand-grit. On every side stretched away a scene of utter desolation, unrelieved by either shrub or tree--an apparently endless ocean of sand, in places levelled by the wind, and elsewhere piled into fantastic heaps. There were no landmarks, nothing on which the mind could concentrate--just sand, barren, shapeless, ever-changing form, stretching to the far horizons. The breeze slackened somewhat as the sun reddened the east, and the ponies threw up their heads and whinnied slightly, increasing their speed. Westcott saw the marshal arouse himself, straighten in the saddle, and stare about, his eyes still dull and heavy.