Wunpost

by Dane Coolidge

  CHAPTER XV

  WUNPOST TAKES THEM ALL ON

  The morning found Wunpost at Salt Creek Crossing, where the bones of ahundred emigrants lie buried in the sand without even a cross to marktheir resting place. It was a place well calculated to bring up thoughtsof death, but Wunpost faced the coming day calmly. At the first flush ofdawn the sand was still hot from the sun of the evening before; the lowair seemed to suffocate him with its below-sea-level pressure, and thesalt marshes to give off stinking gases; it was a hell-hole, even then,and the day was yet to come, when the Valley would make life a torment.

  The white borax-flats would reflect a blinding light, the briny marsheswould seethe in the sun; and every rock, every sand-dune, would radiatemore heat to add to the flame in the sky. Wunpost knew it well, thelong-enduring agony which would be his lot that day; but he moved aboutbriskly, bailing the slime from the well and sinking it deeper into thesand. He doused his body into the water and let his pores drink, andthrew buckets of it on his beseeching mules; but only after thewell-hole had been scraped and bailed twice would he permit them todrink the brackish water. Then he tied them in the shade of the wiltingmesquite trees and strode to the top of the hill.

  A man, perforce, takes on the color of his surroundings, and Wunpost wascoated white from the crystallized salt and baked black underneath bythe glare; but the look in his eyes was as savage and implacable as thatof a devil from hell. He sat down on the point and focussed his glasseson Poison Spring, and then on the trail beyond; and at last, out on themarshes, he saw an object that moved--it was Pisen-face Lynch and hishorse. The horse was in the lead, picking his way along a trail whichled across the Sink towards the Ranch; and Lynch was behind, followingfeebly and sinking down, then springing up again and struggling on. Hisway led over hummocks of solid salt, across mud-holes andborax-encrusted flats; and far to the south another form moved towardshim--it was the Indian, riding out to bring him in.

  The sun swung up high, striking through Wunpost's thin shirt like theblast from a furnace door; sweat rolled down his face, to be sopped upby the bath-towel which he wore draped about his neck; but he sat on hishilltop, grim as a gargoyle on Notre Dame, gloating down on thesuffering man. This was Pisen-face Lynch, the bad man from Bodie, whowas going to trail him to his mine; this was Eells' hired man-killer andprofessional claim-jumper who had robbed him of the Wunpost and WillieMeena--and now he was a derelict, lost on the desert he claimed to know,following along behind his half-dead horse; and but for the Indian whowas coming out to meet him he would go to his just reward. Wunpost putup his glasses and turned back with a grin--it was hell, but he wasgetting his revenge.

  Wunpost spent the heat of the day in the bottom of the well, floatingabout like a frog in the brine, but as evening came on he crawled outdripping and saddled up and packed in haste. Every cinch-ring wassearing hot, even the wood and leather burned him, and as he threw onthe packs he lifted one foot after the other in a devil's dance over thehot sands. It was hot even for Death Valley, the hottest place in NorthAmerica, but there was no use in waiting for it to cool. Wunpost sousedhimself and mounted, and the next morning at dawn he looked down fromthe rim of the Panamints.

  The great sink-hole was beginning to seethe, to give off its poisonousvapors and fill up like a bowl with its own heat; but he had escaped itand fled to the heights while Pisen-face Lynch stayed below. He wasstill at the ranch, gasping for breath before the water-fan which servedto keep the men there alive; and as he breathed that bone-dry air andfelt the day's heat coming on, he was cursing the name of Calhoun. Yes,cursing long and loud, or deep and low, and vowing to wreak his revenge;for before he had worked for hire, but now he had a grievance of hisown. He would take up Wunpost's trail like an Indian on the warpath,like a warrior who had been robbed of his medicine-bag; he would come onthe run and with blood in his eye--that is, if the heat had not killedhim. For his pride was involved, and his name as a trailer and anall-around desert-man; he had been led into a trap by a boy in histwenties, and it was up to him to demonstrate or quit.

  Wunpost went his way tranquilly, for there was no one to pursue him; andten days later he rode down Jail Canyon with his pack-mule loaded withore. It had been his boast that he would return in two weeks with amule-load of Sockdolager gold; but Billy, as usual, had taken his boastlightly and came running with news of her own.

  "Hello!" she called. "Say, you can't guess what I've done--I've taughtRed and Good Luck to be friends. They eat their supper together!"

  "Good!" observed Wunpost, "and not to change the subject, what's thechances for a white man to eat? I've been living on jerky for threedays."

  "Why, they're good," returned Billy, suddenly quieted by his manner."What's the matter--have you had any trouble?"

  "Oh, no!" blustered Wunpost, "nah, nothing like that--the other fellowhad all the trouble. Did Pisen-face Lynch and that Injun come back?Well, I'll bet they were dragging their tracks out!"

  "They didn't come through here, but I saw them on the trail--it musthave been a week ago. But what's all that that you've got in yourpack-sacks--have you been out and got some more ore?"

  "Why, sure," answered Wunpost, deftly easing off his kyacks and loweringthe load to the ground. "Didn't I tell you I was going to get some?"

  "Yes, but----"

  "But what?" he demanded, looking down on her arrogantly, and Wilhelminabecame interested in the dog.

  "You have such a funny way of talking," she said at last, "andbesides--would you mind letting me look at it?"

  "I sure would!" replied Wunpost; "you leave them sacks alone. And anytime my word ain't as good as gold----"

  "Oh, of course it's good!" she protested, and he took her at her word.

  "All right, then--I've got the gold."

  "Oh, have you really?" she cried, and as he rolled his eyes accusinglyshe laughed and bit her lip. "That's just _my_ way of talking," sheexplained, rather lamely. "I mean I'm glad--and surprised."

  "Well, you'll be more surprised," he said, nodding grimly, "when I showyou a piece of the ore. I sold that last lot to a jeweler in Los Angelesfor twenty-four dollars an ounce, quartz and all--and pure gold is wortha little over twenty. Talk about your jewelry ore! Wait till I show thisin Blackwater and watch them saloon-bums come through here. Too lazy togo out and find anything for themselves--all they know is to follow somepoor guy like me and rob him of what he finds. What's the news from downbelow?"

  "Oh, nothing," answered Billy, and stood watching him doubtfully as heunsaddled and turned out his gaunted mules. His new black hat wassweated through already and his clothes were salt-stained and worn, butit was the look in his eye even more than his clothes which convincedher he had had a hard trip. He was close-mouthed and grim and the oldrollicking smile seemed to have been lost beneath a two weeks' growth ofbeard. Perhaps she had done wrong to speak of the dog first, but sheknew there was something behind.

  "Did you have a fight with Mr. Lynch?" she asked at last, and he darteda quick glance and said nothing. "Because when he went through here,"she went on finally, "he seemed to be awful quarrelsome."

  "Yes, he's quarrelsome," admitted Wunpost, "but so am I. You wait till Itangle with him, sometime."

  "You're hungry!" she declared, still gazing at him fixedly, and he gaveway to a twisted grin.

  "How'd you guess it?" he inquired; but she did not tell him, for ofcourse they were supposed to be friends. Yes, good friends, andmore--she had let him kiss her once, but now he seemed to have forgottenit. He ate supper greedily and went back to the corral to sleep, and inthe morning he was gone.

  The early-risers at Blackwater, out to look for their burros or to get alittle eye-opener at the saloon, were astonished to see his mules in theadobe corral and Wunpost himself on the street. He was reputed to be inhiding from Pisen-face Lynch, who had been inquiring for him for over aweek; and the news was soon passed to Lynch himself, for Blackwater hada grudge against Wunpost. He had made the town, yes, in a manner ofspeaking--for of co
urse he had discovered the Willie Meena Mine andbrought in Eells and the boomers--but never to their knowledge had hespoken a good word of them, or of anything else in town. He cameswaggering down their streets as if he owned the place, or had enoughmoney to buy it--and besides, he had led them on two disastrousstampedes in which no one had even located a claim. And the StingingLizard Mine was salted! Hence their haste to tell Lynch and themalevolent zeal with which they maneuvered to bring them together.

  Wunpost was standing before the Express office, waiting for the agent toopen up and receive his ore-sacks for shipment, when he espied his enemyadvancing, closely followed by an expectant crowd. Lynch was stillhaggard and emaciated from his hard trip through Death Valley, and hisface had the pallor of indoors; but his small, hateful eyes seemed toburn in their sockets and he walked with venomous quickness. But Wunpoststood waiting, his head thrust out and his gun pulled well to the front,and Lynch came to a sudden halt.

  "So there you are!" he burst out accusingly, "you low-down, poisoningwhelp! You poisoned that water, you know you did, and I've a danged goodmind to kill ye!"

  "Hop to it!" invited Wunpost, "just git them rubbernecks away. I ain'tscared of you or nobody!"

  He paused, and the rubbernecks betook themselves away, but Pisen-faceLynch did not shoot. He stood in the street, shifting his feet uneasily,and Wunpost opened the vials of scorn.

  "You're bad, ain't you?" he taunted. "You're so bad your face hurts you,but you can't run no blazer on me. And just because you chased me cleandown into Death Valley you don't need to think I'm afraid. I was justshowing you up as a desert-man, et cetery, but if any man had told meyou'd drink that poisoned water I'd've said he was crazy with the heat.You're a lovely looking specimen of humanity! What's the matter--didn'tyou like them Epsom salts?"

  "There was arsenic in that water!" charged Pisen-face fiercely. "I hadit analyzed--you were trying to kill me!"

  "Why, sure there was arsenic," returned Wunpost mockingly, "don't youknow that rank, fishy smell? But don't blame me--it was God Almightythat threw the mixture together. And didn't I leave you a drink in thatempty can? Well, where is your proper gratitude?"

  He ogled him sarcastically and Lynch took a step forward, only to haltas Wunpost stepped to meet him.

  "That's all right!" threatened Lynch, his voice tremulous with rage andweakness. "You wait till I git back my strength. I'll fix you for this,you dirty, poisoning coward--you led me to that spring on purpose!"

  "Yes, and you followed, you sucker!" returned Wunpost insultingly; "evenyour Injun had better sense than that. What did you expect me todo--leave you a canteen of good water so you could trail me up and potme? No, you can consider yourself lucky I didn't shoot you like a dogfor following me off the trail. I gave you the road--what did you wantto follow _me_ for? By grab, it looked danged bad!"

  "I'll go where I please!" declared Lynch defiantly. "You're hiding amine that belongs to Mr. Eells and my instructions were to follow youand find it."

  "Well, if you'd followed your instructions," returned Wunpost easily,"you sure would have found a mine. Do you see these two bags? Plum fullof ore that I dug since I gave you the shake. Go back and report that toyour boss."

  "You're a liar!" snarled Lynch, but his eyes were on the ore-sacks andnow they were gleaming with envy. And other eyes also were suddenlyfocussed on the gold, at which Wunpost surveyed the crowd intolerantly.

  "You're a prize bunch of prospectors," he announced as from thehousetops. "Why don't you get out in the hills and rustle? That's theway I got my start. But you Blackwater stiffs want to hang around townand let somebody else do the work. All you want is a chance to stake anextension on some big strike, so you can sell it to some promoter fromLos!"

  He grunted contemptuously and picked up the two big sacks while thecitizens of Blackwater sneered back at him.

  "Aw, bull!" scoffed one, "you ain't got no gold! And if you have, bygrab, you stole it. What about the Stinging Lizard?"

  "Well, _what_ about it?" retorted Wunpost, giving his bags to theExpress agent, "----put down the value on that at seven thousanddollars." This last was aside to the inquiring Express agent, but thecrowd heard it and burst out hooting.

  "Seven thousands _cents_!" yelled a voice; "you never _saw_seven thousand dollars! You're a bull-shover and your mine was salted!"

  "Sure it was salted!" agreed Wunpost, laughing exultantly, "but youBlackwater stiffs will bite at anything. Did _I_ ever claim it wasa mine? I'm a bull-shover, am I? Well, when did I ever come here and tryto sell somebody a mine? No; I came into town with some Sockdolager ore,and you dastards all tried to get me drunk; and I finally made a dealwith the barkeep at The Mint to show him the place for a thousand dollarbill. Well, didn't I show him the place--and didn't he come back morethan satisfied with his pockets bursting out with the gold? _He_never had no kick--I met him in Los Angeles and he told me he had soldthe rock for thirteen hundred dollars to a jeweler. But say, my friends,don't you think I knew where he would go to get that thousand dollarbill? Do you think I was so drunk I expected a barkeeper to havethousand dollar bills in his pocket? No; I knowed who he would go to,and Eells gave him the bill and a pocket full of Boston beans; but helost them on the road, so I brought him down Jail Canyon and old-scoutLynch here, he followed my tracks!

  "Wasn't that wonderful, now? He followed our tracks back and he foundthe Stinging Lizard Mine--and then, of course, he jumped it! That's hisjob, when he ain't licking old Judson Eells' boots or framing up somecrooked deal with Flappum; and then he went back and told Eells. Andthen Eells--you know him--being as he'd stole the mine from me, like allcrooks he thought it was valuable. Was it up to me then to go to Mr.Eells and tell him that the mine was salted? Would _you_ have doneit--would _anybody_? Well, he thought he had me cinched, and I soldout for twenty thousand dollars. And now, my friend, you said a momentago that I'd never _seen_ seven thousand dollars. All right, I say_you_ never did! But just, by grab, to show you who's four-flushingI'll put you out of your misery--I'll _show_ you seven thousand,savvy?"

  He stuck out his head and gazed insolently into the man's face and thendrew out his wad of bills. They were badly sweated, but the numbers werethere--he peeled off seven bills and waved them airily, then laughed andshoved them into his overalls.

  "Tuh hell with you!" he burst out defiantly, consigning all Blackwaterto perdition with one grand, oratorical flourish. "You think you're sosmart," he went on tauntingly, "now come and trail me to my mine. If youfind it you can have it--it ain't even staked--but they ain't one of youdares to follow me. I ain't afraid of Eells and his hired yaller dog,and I ain't afraid of _you_! I'll take you _all_ on--old Eellsand all the rest of you--and I ain't afraid to show you the ore!"

  He strode into the Express office and grabbed up a sack, which he cutopen with a slash of his knife; and then he reached in and took out agreat chunk that bulged and gleamed with gold.

  "Am I four-flushing?" he inquired, and when no one answered he gruntedand tied up the hole. There was a silence, and the crowd began to filteraway--all but Lynch, who stood staring like an Indian. Then he tooturned away, his haggard eyes blinking fast, like a woman on the vergeof bitter tears.