XI
"We retired to a strategic position prepared in advance." --_Communiques of the Crown Prince._
Charlie See was little known in the county seat. It was not hiscounty, to begin with, and his orbit met Hillsboro's only at theintersection of their planes. Hillsboro was a mining town, first, lastand at all intervening periods. Hillsboro's "seaport," Lake Valley,was the cowman's town; skyward terminus of the High Line, twig from abranch railroad which was itself a feeder for an inconsiderable spur.The great tides of traffic surged far to north and south. This was aremote and sheltered backwater, and Hillsboro lay yet twelve milesinland from Lake Valley. Here, if anywhere, you found peace and quiet;Hillsboro was as far from the tumult and hurly-burly as a corner ofFifth Avenue and Forty-second Street.
Along the winding way, where lights of business glowed warm andmellow, feverish knots and clusters of men made a low-voiced buzzing;a buzzing which at See's approach either ceased or grew suddenlyclear to discussion of crossroads trivialities. From one of theseconfidential knots, before the Gans Hotel, a unit detached itselfand strolled down the street.
"Howdy, Mr. See," said the unit as Charlie overtook it. "Which waynow?"
"Oh, just going round to the hardware store to get a collar button."
"You don't know me," said the sauntering unit. "My name is Maginnis."
"I withdraw the collar button," said Charlie. He slowed his step andshot a glance at the grizzled face beside him. Who's Who in Cowlandhas a well-thumbed page for Spinal Maginnis. "What's your will?"
"You arrested young Dines?"
"In a way, yes. I was with the bunch."
"It is told of you by camp fires," said Maginnis, "that you'll do totake along. Will you come?"
"With you, yes. Spill it."
"For me. To do what I can't do for myself. You arrested Johnny Dines,or helped; so you can go where I'm not wanted. Notice anything backyonder?" He jerked his head toward the main street.
"Well, I'm not walking in my sleep this bright beautiful evening.Whispering fools, you mean?"
"Exactly. Some knaves, too. But fools are worse always, and moredangerous. This town is all fussed up and hectic about the Forbeskilling. Ugly rumors--Dines did this, Dines did that, Dines is a redhellion. I don't like the way things shape up. There's a lot ofoffscourings and riffraff here--and someone is putting up free whisky.It's known that I was a friend of this boy's father, and it issuspected that I may be interested in his father's son. But you--can'tyou find out--Oh, hell, you know what I want!"
"Sure I do. You're afraid of a mob, with a scoundrel back of it.Excuse me for wasting words. You're afraid of a mob. I'm your man.Free whisky is where I live. Me for the gilded haunts of sin. Anyparticular haunt you have in mind?"
"Sure I have. No need to go to The Bank. Joe is a pretty decent oldscout. You skip Joe's place and drop in at The Mermaid. Where theylove money most is where trouble starts."
"Where will I report to you?"
"You know Perrault's house?"
"With trees all round, and a little vineyard? Just below the jail?Yes."
"You'll find me there, and a couple more old residenters. Hop along,now."
The Mermaid saloon squatted in a low, dark corner of Hillsboro--evenif the words were used in the most literal sense.
Waywardly careless, Hillsboro checkered with alternate homes andmines the undulations of a dozen low hills; an amphitheater girdledby high mountain walls, with a central arena for commercial gladiators.Stamp mills hung along the scarred hillsides, stamp mills exhibitingevery known variety of size and battery. In quite the Athenian manner,courthouse, church and school crowned each a hill of its own,and doubtless proved what has been so often and so well said ofour civilization. At any rate the courthouse cost more than theschool--about as much more as it was used less; and the church steeplewas such as to attract comment from any god. The school was lessimposing.
This was a high, rainy country. The frontier of the pines lay justbehind and just above the town, on the first upward slopes. The desertlevels were far below. Shade trees, then, can grow in Hillsboro; dogrow there by Nature and by artifice, making a joyous riot of visiblesong--in the residential section. Industrial Hillsboro, however,held--or was held?--to the flintier hills, bleak and bare and brown,where the big smelter overhung and dominated the north. The steepnarrow valley of the Percha divided Hillsboro rather equally betweenthe good and the goats.
There was also the inevitable Mexican quarter--here, as ever,Chihuahua. But if Hillsboro could claim no originality of naming, shecould boast of something unique in map making. The Mexican suburb randirectly through the heart of the town. Then the Mexican town was theold town? A good guess, but not the right one. The effective causewas that the lordly white man scorned to garden--cowmen and minersholding an equally foolish tradition on this head; while the humble_paisano_ has gardened since Scipio and Hasdrubal; would garden inhell. So the narrow bottom lands of the creek were given over to truckpatches and brown gardeners; tiny empires between loop and loop oftwisting water; black loam, pay dirt. It is curious to consider thatthis pay dirt will be fruitful still, these homes will still be homes,a thousand years after the last yellow dross has been sifted from thehills.
So much for the town proper. A small outlying fringe lay below thebroad white wagon road twisting away between the hills in long curvesor terraced zigzags to the railhead. Here a flat black level of glassyobsidian shouldered across the valley and forced the little river toan unexpected whirling plunge where the dark box of the Percha ledwandering through the eastern barrier of hills; and on that blackcheerless level huddled the wide, low length of The Mermaid,paintless, forbidding, shunning and shunned. Most odd to contemplate;this glassy barren, nonproducing, uncultivated and unmined, waste andsterile, was yet a better money-maker than the best placer or therichest loam land of all Hillsboro. Tellurian papers please copy.
The Mermaid boasted no Jonson, and differed in other respects from TheMermaid of Broad Street. Nor might it be reproached with any insidiousallure, though one of the seven deadly arts had been invoked. Facingthe bar, a startled sea maid turned her head, ever about to plunge tothe safety of green seas. The result was not convincing; she did notlook startled enough to dive. But perhaps the artist had a model.Legend says the canvas was painted to liquidate a liquor bill, whichwould explain much; it is hard paying for a dead horse. It had oncebeen signed, but some kindly hand had scraped the name away. Inmoments of irritation Hillsboro spoke of The Mermaid as "The Dive."
"Johnny Dines--yah! Thought he could pull that stuff and get away withit," said Jody Weir loudly. "Fine bluff, but it got called. Bankin'on the cowmen to stick with him and get him out of it."
The Mermaid bar was crowded. It was a dingy place and a dingy crew.The barkeeper had need for all his craft and swiftness to giveservice. The barkeeper was also the owner--a tall man with a whitebloodless face, whiter for black brows like scars. The gambling hallbehind was lit up but deserted. The crowd was in too ugly a mood forgambling. They had been drinking bad liquor, much too much for most ofthem; headed by Weir, Caney and Hales, seconded by any chance buyer,and followed up by the Merman, who served a round on the house withunwonted frequency.
Jody pounded on the bar.
"Yes, that's his little scheme--intimidation. He's countin' on thecowboys to scare Hillsboro out--him playin' plumb innocent ofcourse--knowin' nothin', victim of circumstances. Sure! 'Turn thispoor persecuted boy loose!' they'll say. 'You got nothin' on him.' Oh,them bold bad men!"
"That don't sound reasonable, Jody," objected Shaky Akins. "Forbeswas a cowman. You're a cowman yourself."
"Yes--but I saw. These fellers'll hear, and then they'll shootoff their mouths on general principles, not knowing straight upabout it; then they'll stick to what they first said, out of plumbpig-headedness. One thing I'm glad of: I sure hope Cole Ralston likesthe way his new man turned out."
"Dines and Charlie See favor each other a heap. Not in lo
oks so much,"said Shaky, "but in their ways. I used to know Charlie See right well,over on the Pecos. He was shortstop on the Roswell nine. He couldn'thit, and he couldn't field, and he couldn't run bases--but oh, people,how that man could play ball!"
"Nonsense. They're not a bit alike. You think so, just because they'reboth little."
"I don't either. I think so because they're both--oh my!"
"I don't like this man See, either," said Caney. "I don't like a hairof his head. Too damn smart. Somebody's going to break him in twobefore he's much older."
"Now listen!" said Shaky Akins, without heat. "When you go to breakCharlie See you'll find he is a right flexible citizen--any man, anytime, anywhere."
"Well," said Hales, "all this talking is dry work. Come up, boys. Thisone is on me."
"What will it be, gentlemen?" inquired the suave Merman. "One Scotch.Yes. Three straights. A highball. Three rums. One gin sling. Make ittwo? Right. Next? Whisky straight. And the same. What's yours, Mr.Akins?"
"Another blond bland blend," said Shaky. "But you haven't answered myquestion, Jody. Why should cowmen see this killing any different fromanyone else? Just clannishness, you think?"
"Because cowmen can read sign," said Charlie See. He stood framed inthe front door: he stepped inside.
The startled room turned to the door. There were nudges and whispers.Talking ceased. There had been a dozen noisy conversations besides theone recorded.
"Reading tracks is harder to learn than Greek, and more interesting,"said Charlie. "Cattlemen have always had to read sign, and they'vealways had to read it right--ever since they was six years old. Whatyou begin learning at six years old is the only thing you ever learngood. So cowmen don't just look and talk. They see and think."
He moved easily across the room in a vast silence. Caney's eyes metthose of the Merman barkeeper. The Merman's bloodless and sinisterface made no change, but he made a change in the order.
"Step up, Mr. See," said the Merman. "This one's on me. What will itbe?"
"Beer," said Charlie. He nodded to the crowd. "Howdy, boys! Hello,Shaky--that you?"
He lined up beside Shaky; he noted sly sidelong glances and furtivefaces reflected in the blistered mirror behind the bar.
"Sure is. Play you a game of pool--what?"
"All set?" demanded Caney from the other end of the bar. "Drink herdown, fellers! Here's to the gallows tree!"
"Looks like a good season for fruit," said Charlie. A miner laughed.
Shaky drained his glass. "Come on, pool shark." He hooked his arm inCharlie's and they went back to the big hall. Part of the crowddrifted after them.
There was only one pool table, just beyond the door. Down one sidewere ranged tables for monte, faro, senate and stud. On the other sidethe bar extended beyond the partition and took up twenty feet of thehall, opposite the pool table. On the end of the bar were rangedgenerous platters of free lunch--shrimps, pretzels, strips of toastedbread, sausages, mustard, pickles, olives, crackers and cheese. Behindit was a large quick-lunch oil stove, darkened now. Beyond that wasa vast oak refrigerator with a high ornamental top reaching almostto the ceiling. Next in order was a crap table and another forseven-and-a-half. A big heater, unused now, shared the central spacewith the pool table. Between these last two was a small table litteredwith papers and magazines. Two or three men sat there reading.
"Pretty quiet to-night?" said Charlie, nodding his chin at the sheetedgames.
"Yes. Halfway between pay days. Don't pay to start up," said Shakycarelessly. "At that, it is quieter than usual to-night."
They played golf pool.
"It is not true that everyone who plays golf pool goes goopy,"remarked Charlie at the end of the first game. "All crazy men playgolf pool, of course. But that is not quite the same thing, I hope.Beware of hasty deductions--as the bank examiner told the cashier.Let's play rotation."
Jody Weir stuck his head through the doorway. "Hey, you! I'm buying.Come have a drink!"
Most of the loungers rose and went forward to the bar. The men at thereading table did not move; possibly they did not hear. One was anAustralian, a simple-faced giant, fathoms deep in a Sydney paper; hislips moved as he read, his eye glistened.
"Let's go up to the hotel," said Akins. "This table is no good. Theygot a jim dandy up there. New one."
"Oh, this is all right," said Charlie. "I'll break. Say, Shaky, you'veseen my new ranch. What'll you give me for it, lock, stock and barrel,lease, cattle and cat, just as she lays, everything except the saddlestock? I'm thinking some about drifting."
"That's a good idea--a fine idea," said Shaky. He caught Charlie'seye, and pointed his brows significantly toward the barroom. "Whereto?"
"Away. Old Mex, I guess. Gimme a bid."
Shaky considered while he chalked his cue. Then he shook his head.
"No. Nice place--but I wouldn't ever be satisfied there.... Mescalerosheld up a wagon train there in 1879--where your pasture is now,halfway between your well and Mason's Ranch. Killed thirteen men andone woman. I was a kid then, living at Fort Selden. A damn fool tookme out with the burial party, and I saw all those mutilated bodies. Inever got over it. That's why I'm Shaky Akins."
"Why, I thought--" began See uncomfortably.
"No. 'Twasn't chills. I'm giving it to you straight. I hesitated abouttelling you. I've never told anyone--but there's a reason for tellingyou--now--to-night. I lost my nerve. I'm not a man. See, I've dreamedof those people ten thousand times. It's hell!"
Weir's head appeared at the door again; his face was red and hot.
"You, See! Ain't you comin' out to drink?"
"Why, no. We're playing pool."
"Well, I must say, you're not a bit--"
"I know I'm not a bit," said See placidly. "That's no news. I've beentold before that I'm not a bit. You run on, now. We're playing pool."
The face withdrew. There was a hush in the boisterous mirth without.Then it rose in redoubled volume.
"Come up to the hotel with me," urged Shaky, moistening his lips. "Igot a date with a man there at ten. We can play pool there while I'mwaiting."
"Oh, I'll stay here, I guess. I want to read the papers."
"You headstrong little fool," whispered Akins. "Their hearts isbad--can't you see? Come along!" Aloud he said: "If you get that ballit makes you pool."
The door from the barroom opened and two men appeared. One, a heavyman with a bullet head much too small for him, went to the free lunch;the other, a dwarfish creature with a twisted sullen face, walked tothe Australian and shook him by the shoulder.
"Come on, Sanders. Say good night to the library. You're a married manand you don't want to be in this." His voice had been contemptuouslykind so far; but now he snarled hatred. "Hell will be popping herepretty quick, and some smart Aleck is going to get what's coming tohim. Oh, bring your precious 'pyper,' if you want to. Sim won't mind.Come along--Larriken!"
The big man followed obediently.
"Part of that is good," observed Shaky Akins. "The part where he saidgood night. I'm saying it."
He made for the back door. The other man at the reading table rose andfollowed him.
"Good night, Shaky. Drop me a post hole, sometime," said Charlie.
The bullet-head man, now eating toast and shrimps, regarded See witha malicious sneer. See rummaged through the papers, selected a copyof The Black Range, and seated himself sidewise on the end of thebilliard table; then laying the paper down he reached for the triangleand pyramided the pool balls.
The swinging door crashed inward before a vicious kick. Caney stalkedin. His pitted face was black with rage. Weir followed. As the doorswung to there was a glimpse of savage eager faces crowded beyond.
Caney glared across the billiard table.
"We're not good enough for you to drink with, I reckon," he croaked.
Charlie laid aside the triangle. The free lunch man laughedspitefully. "Aren't you?" said Charlie, indifferently.
Caney raised his voice. "And I hea
r you been saying I was a gallowsbird?"
Charlie See adjusted a ball at the corner of the pyramid. Then he gaveto Caney a slow and speculative glance.
"Now that I take a good look at you--it seems probable, don't it?"
"Damn you!" roared Caney. "What do you mean?"
"Business!"
No man's eye could have said which hand moved first. But See was thequicker. As Caney's gun flashed, a pool ball struck him over theheart, he dropped like a log, his bullet went wide. A green ballglanced from Jody's gun arm as it rose; the cartridge explodedharmlessly as the gun dropped; Weir staggered back, howling. He struckthe swinging door simultaneously with the free-lunch man; and in thatsame second a battering-ram mob crashed against it from the otherside. Weir was knocked sprawling; the door sagged from a broken hinge.See crouched behind the heavy table and pitched. Two things happened.Bullets plowed the green cloth of the table and ricocheted from thesmooth slate; bushels of billiard balls streamed through the open doorand thudded on quivering flesh. Flesh did not like that. It squeakedand turned and fled, tramping the fallen, screaming. Billiard ballscrashed sickeningly on defenseless backs. In cold fact, Charlie Seethrew six balls; at that close range flesh could have sworn to sixty.Charlie felt rather than saw a bloodless face rise behind the bar; heducked to the shelter of the billiard table as a bullet grooved therail; his own gun roared, a heavy mirror splintered behind the bar:the Merman had also ducked. Charlie threw two shots through thepartition. At the front, woodwork groaned and shattered as a six-footmob passed through a four-foot door. Charlie had a glimpse of thecrouching Merman, the last man through. For encouragement anothershot, purposely high, crashed through the transom; the Merman escapedin a shower of glass.
"How's that, umpire?" said Charlie See.
The business had been transacted in ten seconds. If one man can covera hundred yards in ten seconds how many yards can forty men make inthe same time?
"Curious!" said Charlie. "Some of that bunch might have stood up to agun well enough. But they can't see bullets. And once they turnedtail--good night!"
He slipped along the rail to the other end of the table, his gunpoised and ready. Caney sprawled on the floor in a huddle. His mouthwas open, gasping, his eyes rolled back so that only the whites werevisible, his livid face twitched horribly. See swooped down on Caney'sgun and made swift inspection of the cylinder; he did the like byWeir's, and then tiptoed to the partition door, first thrusting hisown gun into his waistband. The barroom was empty; only the divingMermaid smiled invitation to him. See turned and raced for the backdoor. Even as he turned a gust of wind puffed through the open frontdoor and the wrecked middle door; the lamps flared, the back doorslammed with a crash.
With the sound of that slamming door, a swift new thought came toSee. He checked, halted, turned back. He took one look at theunconscious Caney. Then he swept a generous portion of free lunch intohis hat and tossed it over the crowning woodwork of the ten-footrefrigerator, with the level motion of a mason tossing bricks to hismate. Caney's revolver followed, then Weir's and his own. He dartedbehind the bar and confiscated a half-filled bottle of wine, theappetizing name of which had won his approving notice earlier in theevening. He stepped on a chair beside the refrigerator, leaped up,caught the oaken edge of it, swung up with a supple twist of hisstrong young body, and dropped to the top of the refrigerator, safehidden by the two-foot parapet of ornamental woodwork.
A little later two men sprang together through the front door; asloe-eyed Mexican and the dwarfish friend of the Australian giant.They leaped aside to left and right, guns ready; they looked into thegambling hall; they flanked the bar, one at each end, and searchedbehind it.
Then the little man went to the door and called out scornfully: "Comein, you damn cowards! He's gone!"
Shadowy forms grew out of the starlight, with whistlings, answeredfrom afar; more shadows came.
"Is Caney dead?" inquired a voice.
"Hell, I don't know and I don't care!" answered the little mantruculently. "I had no time to look at Caney, not knowing when thatdevil would hop me. See for yourself."
The crowd struggled in--but not all of them. Weir came in groaning,his face distorted with pain as he fondled his crippled arm. TheMerman examined Caney. "Dead, nothing," he reported. "Knocked out.He won't breathe easy again for a week. Bring some whisky and apail of water. Isn't this fine? I don't think! Billiard tableruined--plate-glass mirror shot to pieces--half a dozen men crippled,and that damned little hell hound got off scot-free!"
"You mention your men last, I notice," sneered the little man. "ArtPrice has got three of his back ribs caved in, and Lanning needs afull set of teeth--to say nothing of them run over by the stampede.Jiminy, but you're a fine bunch!"
They poured water on Caney's head, and they poured whisky down Caney'sthroat; he gasped, spluttered, opened his eyes, and sat up, assistedby Hales and the Merman.
"Here--four of you chaps carry Caney to the doc," ordered the Merman."Take that door--break off the other hinge. Tell doc a windlass gotaway from him and the handle struck him in the breast. Tell him thathe stopped the ore bucket from smashing the men at the bottom--sobstuff. Coach Caney up, before you go in. He's not so bad--he's comingto. Fresh air will do him good, likely. Drag it, now."
"Say, Travis, I didn't see you doin' so much," muttered one of thegangsters as Caney was carried away, deathly sick. He eyed the littleman resentfully. "Seems to me like you talk pretty big."
The little man turned on him in a fury.
"What the hell could I do? Swept up in a bunch of blatting bull calveslike that, and me the size I am? By the jumping Jupiter, if I couldhave got the chance I would 'a' stayed for one fall if he had been thedevil himself, pitchfork, horns and tail! As it was, I'm blame wellthankful I wasn't stomped to death."
"All this proves what I was telling you," said Hales suavely. "If youchaps intend to stretch Johnny Dines, to-night's the only time. If onepuncher can do this to you"--he surveyed the wrecked saloon with amalicious grin--"what do you expect when the John Cross warriors gethere? It's now or never."
"Never, as far as I'm concerned," declared the bullet-headed man ofthe free lunch. "I'm outclassed. I've had e-nough! I'm done and I'mgone!"
"Never for me too. And I'm done with this pack of curs--done for alltime," yelped the little man. "I'm beginning to get a faint idea ofwhat I must look like to any man that's even half white. Little See isworth the whole boiling of us. For two cents I'd hunt him up and kisshis foot and be his Man Friday--if he'd have me. I begin to thinkDines never killed Forbes at all. Forbes was shot in the back, andShaky Akins says Dines is just such another as Charlie See. And Shakywould be a decent man himself if he didn't have to pack soapstones.I'll take his word for Dines. As sure as I'm a foot high, I've a goodmind to go down to the jail and throw in with Gwinne."
"You wouldn't squeal, Travis?" pleaded the Merman. "You was in this asdeep as the rest of us, and you passed your word."
"Yes, I suppose I did," agreed the little man reluctantly. Then heburst into a sudden fury. "Damn my word, if that was all! Old Gwinnewouldn't have me--he wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole. I've keptmy word to scum like you till no decent man will believe me underoath." He threw up his hands with a tragic gesture. "Oh, I've playedthe fool!" he said. "I have been a common fool!"
He turned his back deliberately to that enraged crew of murderers andwalked the length of the long hall to the back door. From his hidingplace above the big refrigerator Charlie See raised his head to peerbetween the interstices and curlicues of the woodwork so he mightlook after this later prodigal. Charlie was really quite touched, andhe warmed toward the prodigal all the more because that evildoer hadwasted no regret on wickedness, but had gone straight to the root ofthe matter and reserved his remorse for the more serious offense. Thiswas Charlie's own view in the matter of fools; and he was tolerant ofall opinion which matched his own. But Charlie did not wear asympathetic look; he munched contentedly on a cheese sandwich.
/> "Never mind Travis," said the Merman. "Let him go. The little foolwon't peach, and that's the main thing. I'm going after Dines now, ifwe did make a bad start. There's plenty of us here, and I can wake uptwo of my dealers who will stand hitched. And that ain't all. A bunchfrom the mines will drop down for a snifter at eleven o'clock, whenthe graveyard shift goes on and they come off. I'll pick out those Ican trust. Some of 'em are tough enough to suit even Travis--though Idoubt if they'd take any kinder to pool balls than you boys did--nottill they got used to 'em. I don't blame you fellows. Billiard ballsare something new."
"We want to get a move on, before the moon gets up," said Weir.
"Oh, that's all right! Lots of time. We'll stretch Mr. Dines, moonriseor not," said the Merman reassuringly. "But we'll meet the night shiftat the bridge as they come off, and save a lot of time. Let's seenow--Ames, Vet Blackman, Kroner, Shaw, Lithpin Tham--"
On the refrigerator, Charlie See put by his lunch. He fished out atally book and pencil and began taking down names.
* * * * *
Charlie See raced to Perrault's door a little before eleven. Heslipped in without a summons, he closed the door behind him and leanedhis back against it. The waiting men rose to meet him--Perrault,Maginnis, Preisser, and a fourth, whom Charlie did not know.
"Come on to the jail, Maginnis! The gang have closed up the Mermaidand they are now organizing their lynchin' bee. We've just time tobeat 'em to it!"
"How many?" asked Perrault, reaching up for a rifle.
"You don't go, Perrault. This is no place for a family man."
"But, Spinal--"
"Shut up! No married man in this. Nor you, Preisser. You're too old.Mr. See, this is Buck Hamilton. Shall we get someone else? ShakyAkins? Where's Lull?"
"Lull is asleep. Let him be. Worn out. Akins is--we've no time forAkins. Here's a plenty--us three, the jailer and Dines. Jailer allright, is he?"
"Any turn in the road. Do you usually tote three guns, young feller?"
"Two of these are momentums--no, mementos," said Charlie. "I've beenspoiling the Egyptians. Spoiled some six or eight, I guess--and acouple more soured on the job. That'll keep. Tell you to-morrow. Let'sgo!"
"Vait! Vait!" said Preisser. "Go by my place--I'll gome vith you sofar--science shall aid your brude force. Perrault and me, you say, vestay here. Ve are not vit to sed in der vorevront of battles--vat?Good! Then ve vill send to represend us my specimens. I haf two luflyspecimens of abblied psygology, galgulated to haf gontrollinginfluence vith a mob at the--ah, yes!--the zoological moment! You villsee, you vill say I am quide righdt! Gome on!"
* * * * *
"And they aim to get here sudden and soon?" Mr. George Gwinne smiledon his three visitors benevolently. "That's good. We won't have longto wait. I hate waiting. Bad for the nerves. Well, let's get a wiggle.What you got in that box, Spinal? Dynamite?"
Spinal grinned happily.
"Ho! Dynamite? My, you're the desprit character, ain't you? Dynamite?Not much. Old stuff, and it shoots both ways. We're up-to-date, weare. This here box, Mr. Gwinne--we have in this box the last strawthat broke the camel's back. Listen!"
He held up the box. Gwinne listened. His smile broadened. He sat downsuddenly and--the story hates to tell this--Mr. Gwinne giggled. It wasan unseemly exhibition, particularly from a man so large as Mr.Gwinne.
"Going to give Dines a gun?" inquired Hamilton.
Mr. Gwinne wiped his eyes. "No. That wouldn't be sensible. They'dspring a light on us, see Dines, shoot Dines, and go home. But theydon't want to lynch us and they'll hesitate about throwing the firstshot. We'll keep Dines where he is."
He led the way to Johnny's cell. The conversation had been low-voiced;Johnny was asleep. Gwinne roused him.
"Hey, Johnny! When is your friend coming to break you out?"
"Huh?" said Johnny.
"If he shows up, send him to the back door, and I'll let him in. We'regoing to have a lynchin' bee presently."
"Why, that was me!" said Charlie.
"Oh, was it? Excuse me. I didn't recognize your voice. You wasspeakin' pretty low, you see. I was right round the corner. Dog heardyou, and I heard the dog. Well, that's too bad. We could use anothergood man, right now." Mr. Gwinne spoke the last words with someannoyance. "Well, come on--let's get everything ready. You fellows hadbetter scatter round on top of the cells. I reckon the iron is thickenough to turn a bullet. Anyhow, they can't see you. I'll put out thelight. I'm going to have a devil of a time to keep this dog quiet.I'll have to stay right with him or he'll bark and spoil the effect."
"They're coming," announced Spinal Maginnis, from a window. "Walkin'quiet--but I hear 'em crossin' the gravel."
"By-by, Dinesy," said See. "I've been rolling my warhoop, like yousaid."
The jail was dark and silent. About it shadows mingled, scattered, andgathered again. There was a whispered colloquy. Then a score ofshadows detached themselves from the gloom. They ranged themselves ina line opposite the jail door. Other shadows crept from either sideand took stations along the wall, ready to rush in when the door wasbroken down.
A low whistle sounded. The men facing the door came forward at a walk,at a trot, at a run. They carried a huge beam, which they used as abattering ram. As they neared the door the men by the jail wallcrowded close. At the last step the beam bearers increased their paceand heaved forward together.
Unlocked, unbolted, not even latched, the door flung wide at the firsttouch, and whirled crashing back against the wall; the crew of thebattering ram, braced for a shock, fell sprawling across thethreshold. Reserves from the sides sprang over them, too eager to notethe ominous ease of that door forcing, and plunged into the silentdarkness of the jail.
They stiffened in their tracks. For a shaft of light swept across thedark, a trembling cone of radiance, a dancing light on the clump ofmasked men who shrank aside from that shining circle, on a doorwaywhere maskers crowded in. A melancholy voice floated through thedarkness.
"Come in," said Gwinne. "Come in--if you don't mind the smoke."
The lynchers crowded back, they huddled against the walls in thedarkness beyond that cone of dazzling light.
"Are you all there?" said Gwinne. His voice was bored and listless."Shaw, Ellis, Clark, Clancy, Tucker, Woodard, Bruno, Toad Hales--"
"I want Sim!" announced Charlie See's voice joyously. "Sim is mine.Somebody show me which is Sim! Is that him pushin' back toward thedoor?"
A clicking sound came with the words, answered by similar clickingshere and there in the darkness.
"Tom Ross has got Sim covered," said the unhurried voice of SpinalMaginnis. "You and Hiram Yoast be sure to get that big fellow infront. I got my man picked."
A chuckle came from across the way. "You, Vet Blackman! Remember whatI told you? This is me--Buck Hamilton. You're my meat!"
"Oh, keep still and let me call the roll," complained Gwinne'svoice--which seemed to have shifted its position. "Kroner, Jody Weir,Eastman, Wiley, Hover, Lithpin Tham--"
The beam of light shifted till it lit on the floor halfway down thecorridor; it fell on three boxes there.
From the outer box a cord led up through the quivering light. Thiscord tightened now, and raised a door at the end of the box; anothercord tilted the box steeply.
"Look! Look! Look!" shrieked someone by the door.
Two rattlesnakes slid squirming from the box into that glowingcircle--they writhed, coiled, swayed. _Z-z-z--B-z-z-zt!_ The lightwent out with a snap.
"Will you fire first, gentlemen of the blackguards?" said Gwinne.
Someone screamed in the dark--and with that scream the mob broke.Crowding, cursing, yelling, trampling each other, fighting, thelynchers jammed through the door; they crashed through a fence, theytumbled over boulders--but they made time. A desultory fusilladefollowed them; merely for encouragement.
XII
"Ostrich, _n._ A large bird to which (for its sins, doubtless) naturehas denied the hi
nder toe in which so many pious naturalists haveseen a conspicuous evidence of design. The absence of a good workingpair of wings is no defect, for, as has been ingeniously pointed out,the ostrich does not fly." --_The Devil's Dictionary._
"Fare you well: Hereafter, in a better world than this, I shall desire more love and knowledge of you." --_As You Like It._
Mr. Benjamin Attlebury Wade paced a narrow beat on the matted floor.Johnny Dines, shirt-sleeved, in the prisoners' box, leaned forward inhis chair to watch, delighted. Mr. Benjamin Attlebury Wade wasprosecuting attorney, and the mat was within the inclosure of thecourt room, marked off by a wooden rail to separate the law'smachinery from the materi--That has an unpleasant sound. To separatethe taxpayer from--No, that won't do. To separate the performers fromthe spectators--that is much better. But even that has an offensivesound. Unintentionally so; groping, we near the heart of the mystery;the rail was to keep back the crowd and prevent confusion. That it hasnow become a sacramental barrier, a symbol and a sign of esotericmystery, is not the rail's fault; it is the fault of the people oneach side of the rail. Mr. Wade had been all the long forenoonexamining Caney and Weir, and was now searching the deeps of his mindfor a last question to put to Mr. Hales, his last witness. Mr. Wade'sbrow was furrowed with thought; his hands were deep in his ownpockets. Mr. Wade's walk was leisurely important and fascinating tobehold. His foot raised slowly and very high, very much as thoughthose pocketed hands had been the lifting agency. When he reached thehighest point of each step his toe turned up, his foot paused, andthen felt furtively for the floor--quite as if he were walking a rope,or as if the floor might not be there at all. The toe found the floor,the heel followed cautiously, they planted themselves on the floor andtook a firm grip there; after which the other foot ventured forward.With such stealthy tread the wild beast of prey creeps quivering topounce upon his victim. But Mr. Wade never leaped. And he was notwild.
The court viewed Mr. Wade's constitutional with some impatience, butJohnny Dines was charmed by it; he felt a real regret when Mr. Wadeturned to him with a ferocious frown and snapped: "Take the witness!"
Mr. Wade parted his coat tails and sat down, performing that duty withthe air of a sacrament. Johnny did not rise. He settled backcomfortably in his chair and looked benevolently at the witness.
"Now, Mr. Hales, about that yearling I branded in Redgate canyon--whatcolor was it?"
Mr. Wade rose, indignant.
"Your honor, I object! The question is irrelevant, incompetent andimmaterial. Aside from its legal status, such a question is foolishand absurd, and an insult to the court."
"Why, now, I didn't object to any of your foolish and absurd questionsall morning." Johnny's eyes widened with gentle reproach. "I let youask all the questions you wanted."
Mr. Wade's nose twisted to a triumphant sneer.
"'He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client!'"
"I didn't want to take any unfair advantage," explained Johnny.
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen!" expostulated the court.
"You gallows meat!" snarled Wade. "You dirty--"
Johnny shook his head in a friendly warning. "He means you, too," hewhispered.
The gavel fell heavily. The court rose up and the court's eyesnarrowed.
"This bickering has got to stop! It is disgraceful. I don't want tosee any more of it. Mr. Wade, for that last remark of yours you oughtto pay a heavy fine, and you know it very well. This prisoner is beingtried for murder. That does not make him a murderer. Your words wereunmanly, sir."
"May it please the court," said Wade, white faced and trembling withrage, "I acknowledge myself entirely wrong, and I beg the court'spardon. I own that I was exasperated. The prisoner insulted megrossly."
"You insulted him first. You have been doing it right along. Youlawyers are always browbeating witnesses and prisoners. You get 'emwhere they can't talk back and then you pelt 'em with slurs and hintsand sneers and insults. You take a mean advantage of your privilegedposition to be overbearing and arrogant. I've watched you at it. Idon't think it is very sporting to say in the court room what youwouldn't dare say on the street. But when someone takes a whack atyou--wow! that's different! Then you want the court to protect you."He paused to consider.
The justice of the peace--Judge Hinkle, Andy Hinkle--was a slim,wizened man, brown handed, brown faced, lean and wrinkled, withthin gray hair and a thin gray beard and faded blue eyes, which couldblaze blue fire on occasion. Such fire, though a mild one, now diedaway from those old eyes, and into them crept a slightly puzzledexpression. He looked hard at Mr. Wade and he looked hard at Mr.Dines. Then he proceeded.
"Mr. Wade, this court--Oh, let's cut out the court--that makes metired! 'This court fines you twenty-five dollars for contempt ofcourt.' How would that sound?"
Wade managed a smile, and bowed, not ungracefully. "It would soundunpleasant--perhaps a little severe, sir."
The court twinkled. "I was only meaning how silly it seemed to a plainman for him to have to refer to himself as the court. I'm not going tofine you, Mr. Wade--not this time. I could, of course, but I won't. Itwould be unfair to lecture you first and then fine you. Besides, thereis something else. You have had great provocation and I feel compelledto take that into consideration. Your apology is accepted. I don'tknow who began it--but if you have been insulting the prisoner it isno less true that the prisoner has been aggravating you. I don't knowas I ever saw a more provoking man. I been keepin' an eye on him--hiseyebrows, the corners of his eyes, the corners of his mouth, hisshoulder-shrugging, and his elbows, and his teeth and his toes. Mr.Wade, your moldy old saw about a fool for a client was never moremisplaced. This man can out talk you and never open his mouth. I'dleave him alone if I was you--he might make a fool of you."
Johnny half opened his mouth. The judge regarded him sternly. Themouth closed hastily. Johnny dimpled. The judge's hammer fell with acrash.
"I give you both fair notice right now," said Judge Hinkle, "if youstart any more of this quarreling I'm goin' to slap on a fine that'llbring a blister."
Johnny rose timidly and addressed the court.
"Your Honor, I'm aimin' to 'tend strictly to my knittin' from nowon. But if I should make a slip, and you do have to fine me--couldn'tyou make it a jail sentence instead? I'm awful short of money, YourHonor."
He reached behind him and hitched up the tail of his vest with bothhands, delicately; this accomplished, he sank into his chair, raisedhis trousers gently at the knee and gazed about him innocently.
"My Honor will be--"
The judge bit the sentence in two, leaving the end in doubt; heregarded the prisoner with baleful attention. The prisoner gazedthrough a window. The judge beckoned to Mr. Gwinne, who sat on thefront seat between See and Hobby Lull. Mr. Gwinne came forward. Thejudge leaned across the desk.
"Mr. Gwinne, do you feed this prisoner well?"
"Yes, sir."
"About what, now, for instance?"
"Oh--beefsteak, ham and eggs, _enchilados_, canned stuff--mostanything."
"Mr. Gwinne, if I told you to put this prisoner on a strict ration,would you obey orders?"
"I certainly would."
"That's all," said the judge. "Thank you. Mr. Dines, you may go onwith the case. The witness may answer the question. Objectionoverruled. State your question again, Mr. Dines."
"Mr. Hales, will you tell His Honor what color was the calf I brandedin Redgate Canyon, day before yesterday, about two o'clock in theafternoon?"
"I don't know," answered Hales sulkily.
"Oh! You didn't see it, then?"
"No."
"Then you are not able to state that it was a calf belonging to AdamForbes?"
"No."
Johnny's eyes sought the window. "Nor whether it was a calf or ayearling?"
"Of course not."
"Did you see me brand the calf?"
"I did not!" Ha
les spat out the words with venomous emphasis. Johnnywas unmoved.
"Will you tell the court if the brand I put on this heifer calf orbull yearling was my brand or Adam Forbes' brand?"
The gavel fell.
"Objection!" barked Wade.
"Sustained. The question is improperly put. The witness need notanswer it. The counsel for the defense need not continue along theselines. I am quite able to distinguish between evidence and surmise,between a stated fact and unfair suggestion."
"Does Your Honor mean to insinuate--"
"Sit down, Mr. Wade! Sit down! My Honor does not mean to insinuateanything. My Honor means to state that you have been trying to throwdust in my eyes. My Honor wishes to state that you should never havebeen allowed to present your evidence in any such shape, and if theprisoner had been represented by a competent lawyer you would not havebeen allowed--"
The judge checked himself; his face fell; he wheeled his chair slowlyand glared at the prisoner with awful solemnity. "Dines! Is that whyyou made no objections? So the prosecuting attorney would queerhimself with this court by attempting unfair tactics? Answer me, sir!"
"But is it likely, Your Honor, that I could see ahead as far as that?"
"Humph!" snorted His Honor. He turned back to the prosecutingattorney. "Mr. Wade, I am keeping cases on you. Your questions havebeen artfully framed to lead a simple old man astray--to bewilder himuntil he is ready to accept theory, surmise and suggestion asidentical with a statement of facts or statements purporting to befacts. I'm simple and old, all right--but I never did learn to lead."
Mr. Benjamin Attlebury Wade sprang to his feet.
"Your Honor, I protest! You have been openly hostile to theprosecution from the first."
"Ah!" said the judge mildly. "You fear my remarks may unduly influencemy decision--is that it? Calm yourself, Mr. Wade. I cannot say that Iblame you much, however. You see, I think United States, and when Ihave to translate into the customary idiomcies of the law I do a bumjob." He turned his head and spoke confidentially to the delightedcourt room. "Boys, it's gettin' me!" he said. "Did you hear thatchatter I put out, when all I wanted to say was that I still knewsugar from salt and sawdust from cornmeal--also, in any case ofextreme importance, as hereinbefore mentioned, and taking inconsideration the fine and subtle nuisances of delicate thought, asit were, whereas, being then and there loaded with shot and slugs, Ican still tell a hawk from a handsaw. Why, I'm getting so I talkthat jargon to my jackass when I wallop him over the place made andprovided on him, the said jackass, with a _curajo_ pole! I'll tell youwhat--the first man I catch voting for me next year I'm going to pathim over the head with a pickhandle. You may proceed with the case,Mr. Dines."
"This is an outrage!" bawled the furious and red-faced prosecutor."This is an outrage! An outrage! These proceedings are a mockery! Thiswhole trial is a travesty on justice!"
The gavel banged down.
"This court is now adjourned," announced Judge Hinkle.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed luxuriously. He took out a pairof steel-rimmed spectacles and polished them; he held them poiseddelicately in one hand and beamed benevolently on the crowded courtroom.
"We have had a very trying forenoon," observed Mr. Hinkle blandly."Perhaps some of us are ruffled a little. But I trust that nothingwhich has happened in this court room will cause any hard feeling of alasting character. And I strongly advise that under no circumstanceswill any of you feel impelled to take any man and put his head under apump, and pump on his head." The gavel rapped smartly. "This courtwill now come to order! Mr. Dines, as I remarked before recess, youwill now proceed with the case."
"I'll not detain you long, Mr. Hales," said Johnny. "I didn't botherto cross-examine the previous witnesses"--he smiled upon Caney andWeir--"because they are suffering from the results of an accident. Inthe mines, as I hear. Mining is a dangerous business. Very. Sometimesa man is just one-sixteenth of a second slow--and it gets him trouble.I understand, Mr. Hales, that you three gentlemen were together whenyou found the murdered man?"
"Yes."
"You had been prospecting together?"
"Prospecting, and looking for saddle thieves."
"Did you find the saddle thieves?"
"No; I told you once."
"No," said Johnny; "you told Mr. Wade. Find any mines?"
"Yes."
"Good prospect?"
"I think so."
"Um--yes." Johnny hesitated, and fell silent. Hales fidgeted. "And themurdered man," began Johnny slowly, and stopped. Hales heaved a sighof relief. Johnny darted a swift glance at the judge. "And themurdered man had been shot three times?"
"Three times. In the back."
"The shots were close together?"
"Yes. My hand would have covered all three."
"Sure of that?"
"Positive."
"In your opinion, these shots had been fired at close range?"
An interruption came. Four men trooped into the door, booted andspurred; three of the John Cross men--Tom Ross, Frank Bojarquez, WillFoster; with Hiram Yoast, of the Bar Cross: four fit to stand byCaesar. A stir ran through the court room. They raised their hands toJohnny in grave salute; they filed to a bench together.
Johnny repeated the question: "You say, Mr. Hales, that these threeshots had been fired at close range?"
"The dead man's shirt was burned. The gun must have been almostbetween his shoulder blades."
"Was there any blood on Forbes' saddle?"
"I didn't see Forbes' saddle," growled Hales; "or Forbes' horse."
"Oh, yes. But in your opinion, Forbes was riding when he was killed?"
"In my opinion, he was."
"What makes you think so?"
"We found the tracks where Forbes was dragged, twenty feet or so,before his foot come loose from the stirrup, and blood in the trackall the way. I told all this before."
"So you did, so you did. Now about these wounds. Did the path of thebullets range up or down from where they entered the body?"
"Down."
"Sure of that?"
"Yes."
"Did you examine the body?"
"How else would I know? Of course I did."
"Show the court, on your own body, about where the wounds werelocated."
"They went in about here"--indicating--"and come out about here."
"Thank you. Then the shots passed obliquely through the body, enteringbehind, somewhere near the left shoulder blade, and coming out at apoint slightly lower, and under the right breast?"
"About that, yes."
"All indicating that the murderer rode at his victim's left hand, anda little behind him, when these shots were fired?"
"I think so, yes."
"And that the gun muzzle must have been a little higher than thewounds made by the entering bullets, because the bullets passedthrough the body with a slightly downward trend?"
"That is right."
"How big was the murdered man?"
"He was a very large man."
"Very heavy or very tall?"
"Both, I should say. It is hard to judge a dead man's height. He wasvery heavily built."
"You lifted him?"
"I turned him over."
"How tall was he, would you say?"
"I tell you, I don't know." Hales was visibly more impatient with eachquestion.
"Of course you don't know. But you can make a guess. Come, give thecourt your estimate."
"Not less than six feet, I should say. Probably more."
"Did you see Adam Forbes' horse--no, you told us that. But you saw myhorse when you arrested me?"
"Yes."
"Was my horse a small horse or a large one?"
"A small one."
Johnny rose and strolled to the window.
"Well, about how high?"
"About fourteen hands. Possibly an inch more."
"Would you know my horse again?"
"Certainly."
"So you could swear t
o him?"
"Yes."
"What color was he?"
"A _grullo_--a very peculiar shade of _grullo_--a sleek glossy,velvety blue."
"Was he thin or fat?"
"Neither. Smooth--not fat."
"Did you notice his brand?"
"Of course."
"Describe it to the court."
"He was branded K I M on the left hip."
"On which side did his mane hang?"
"On the left."
"Thank you. Now, Mr. Hales, would you describe me as a large man or asmall one?"
Hales looked an appeal to the prosecutor.
"I object to that question--improper, irrelevant, incompetent andimmaterial. And that is not all. This man, this man Dines, is arguingthe case as he goes along, contrary to all rule."
"I like it that way," observed the judge placidly. "If he makes hispoint as the evidence is given, I'm not likely to miss any bets, as Imight do if he waited for the summing up."
"I objected to the question," snapped the prosecutor. "I demand yourruling."
"Has the defense anything to offer? That question would certainly seemto be superfluous on the face of it," said the court, mildly.
"Your Honor," said Johnny, "I want to get this down on the record inblack and white. Someone who has never seen me may have to pass onthis evidence before we get done. I want that person to be sure of mysize."
"Objection overruled."
"Please describe me--as to size--Mr. Hales."
"A very small man," answered Hales sulkily.
"In your opinion, when I shot Adam Forbes did I stand on my saddle? Orcould I have inflicted a wound such as you have described by simplykneeling on my saddle--"
"I object!"
"--if Adam Forbes rode a horse big enough to carry his weight, and Irode a horse fourteen hands high?"
Wade leaped to his feet and flung out his hands. "I object!" heshrilled.
"Objection sustained. The question is most improper. I shall instructmyself to disregard it in making my decision."
"That's all," said Johnny Dines; and sat down.
"Any more witnesses for the prosecution, Mr. Wade?"
"No, sir. The prosecution rests."
The judge turned back to Johnny. "Witnesses for the defense?"
"Call my horse," said Johnny Dines.
"Your Honor, I object! This is preposterous--unheard of! We will admitthe height of this accursed horse as being approximately fourteenhands, if that is what he wants to prove. I ask that you keep thisbuffoon in order. The trial has degenerated into farce-comedy."
"Do you know, Mr. Wade, I seem to observe some tragic elements in thistrial," observed Hinkle. "I am curious to hear Mr. Dines state hismotive in making so extraordinary a request from the court."
"He's trying to be funny!"
"No," said the judge; "I do not think Mr. Dines is trying to be funny.If such is his idea, I shall find means to make him regret it. Willyou explain, Mr. Dines? You are entitled to make a statement of whatyou expect to prove."
Johnny rose.
"Certainly. Let me outline my plan of defense. I could not callwitnesses until I heard the evidence against me. Now that I have heardthe evidence, it becomes plain that, except for a flat denial bymyself, no living man can speak for me. I was alone. When I take thestand presently, I shall state under oath precisely what I shall nowoutline to you briefly.
"On the day in question I was sent by Cole Ralston to Hillsboro toexecute his orders, as I will explain in full, later. I came throughMacCleod's Park, started up a Bar Cross cow and her unbrandedyearling, and I caught the yearling at the head of Redgate. While Iwas branding it, a big man--I have every reason to believe that thisman was Adam Forbes--came down the canyon. He rode up where I wasbranding the yearling, talked to me, smoked a cigarette, gave me aletter to mail, and went back the way he came. I went to Garfield. Myhorse had lost a shoe, as the witnesses have stated. I nailed on afresh shoe in Garfield, and came on. I was arrested about dark thatnight while on the road to Hillsboro. That is all my story. True orfalse, I shall not vary from it for any cross-examination.
"I shall ask Your Honor to consider that my story may be true. I shallask Your Honor to consider that if my story is true no man may speakfor me. I saw no other man between Upham and the Garfieldditch--twenty-five miles.
"You have heard the prosecution's theory. It is that I was stealing acalf belonging to the dead man--branding it; that he caught me in theact, and that I foully murdered him. If I can prove the first part ofthat theory to be entirely false; if I can demonstrate that even if Ikilled Adam Forbes I certainly did not kill him in the manner or forthe motive set forth by the theory of the prosecution--then you mayperhaps believe my unsupported statement as to the rest of it. Andthat is what I can do, if allowed the opportunity. I cannot, bymyself, now or at any other time, absolutely prove my statement to betrue. I can and will prove the theory of the prosecution to beabsolutely false. To do that I rely upon myself--not upon mystatement, but upon myself, my body, so much flesh and blood and bone,considered as an exhibit in this case, taken in connection with allknown or alleged facts; on myself and my horse; on Adam Forbes' deadbody and on the horse Adam Forbes rode that day; on the Bar Crossyearling I branded day before yesterday, a yearling that I candescribe in detail, a yearling that can be found and must be found, ayearling that will be found following a Bar Cross cow. I have nofancy to be hanged by a theory. I demand to test that theory by facts.I demand that my horse be called to testify to the facts."
"Mr. Gwinne, you may call the prisoner's horse," said the justice."Spinal, you may act as the court's officer while Gwinne is gone."
"His name is Twilight," added Johnny, "and he is over at the Gansstables."
"I protest! Your Honor, I protest against such unmitigated folly,"stormed Mr. Benjamin Attlebury Wade, in a hot fury of exasperation."You are making a mockery of the law! There is no precedent on recordfor anything like this."
"Here's where we make a new precedent, then," observed the courtcheerfully. "I have given my instructions, and I'd be willing to placea small bet on going through with my folly. I don't know much aboutthe law, but the people who put me here knew I didn't know much aboutthe law when they elected me--so I guess they aimed to have me get atthe rights of things in my own way." He twisted his scanty beard for amoment; his faded blue eyes peered over the rims of his glasses. "Notthat it would make any great difference," he added.
A little wearied from the strain of focalized effort, Johnny lookedout across the blur of faces. Hobby Lull smiled at him, and CharlieSee looked hardihood like his own. There were other friendly faces,many of them; and beyond and above them all shone the faces of hisstraining mates, Hiram and the three John Cross men.
"Judge, may I speak to the prisoner?" asked Hiram Yoast. He tugged ata grizzled foretop.
"You may."
"Old-timer," said Hiram, "we didn't hear of you till late last night.We had moved on from Hermosa. That's all, Your Honor. Thank you."
"Will the learned counsel for the defense outline the rest of hisprogram?" inquired the judge, with respectful gentleness.
"He will," said Johnny. "I'll have to ask you to continue the caseuntil to-morrow, or maybe later--till I can get some of the Garfieldmen who can swear to the size of the horse Adam Forbes rode. Then Iwant--"
Charlie See rose.
"I offer my evidence. I slept with Adam Forbes the night before he waskilled; and I saw him start. He rode a big horse."
"Thank you," said Johnny. "I'll call you after a while. Get yourself areserved seat inside here. I knew Adam Forbes rode a big horse, and Ican describe that horse--if Adam Forbes was the man I met in Redgate,which I've never doubted. A big blaze-faced bay with a Heart-Diamondbrand. This way." He traced on the wall a heart with an inscribeddiamond. "But I want to call the men who brought in Adam Forbes. Iwant to question them about all the tracks they saw, before it rained.So you see, Your Honor, I'll have to ask for a continuation. I can'
tafford to be hanged to save the county a little money."
"You'll get your continuation."
"But that isn't all. That yearling I branded--he was from the river_bosques_, for he had his tail full of sand burs, and the bunch hewas with was sure snaky. His mammy's a Bar Cross cow and he's a BarCross bull--and so branded by me. He'll be back with her by thistime. He had all the Hereford markings, just about perfect. His mammywasn't marked so good. She had a bald face and a line back, all right,and white feet and a white belly. But one of her stockings wasoutsize--run clear up her thigh--and she had two big white spots onher ribs on the nigh side. I didn't see the other side. And one ofher horns drooped a little--the right one. I would like to have youappoint a commission to bring them into court, or at any rate tointerview them and get a statement of facts."
"That's reasonable," said the judge. "Application granted." He calledto Tom Ross. "Tom, that's your job. You and your three peelers findthat Bar Cross cow--objection overruled--and that bull yearling. Mr.Clerk, you may so enter it, at the charge of Sierra County."
Wade was on his feet again.
"But, Your Honor," he gasped, "those men are the prisoner's especialfriends!"
"Exactly. That's why they'll find that calf. Results are what I'mafter, and I don't care a hang about methods." He frowned. "Look here,Mr. Wade--am I to understand that you want this prisoner convictedwhether he's guilty or not?"
"No, no, certainly not. But why appoint those four men in particular?There is always the possibility of collusion."
Judge Hinkle's face became bleak and gray. He rose slowly. The courtroom grew suddenly still. Hinkle walked across the little interveningspace and faced the prosecutor.
"Collision, perhaps you mean," he said. His quiet, even voice wascutting in its contempt. "What do you think this is--a town full ofthugs? I want you to know that those four men stand a damn sighthigher in this community than you do. Sit down--you're making anindecent exposure of your soul!"
As he went back to his desk, an oldish man came to the door and caughtHobby Lull's eye. He beckoned. Hobby rose and went to the door. Theyheld a whispered council in the anteroom.
Judge Hinkle busied himself with the papers on his desk for a moment.When he looked up his face had regained its wonted color.
"Here comes Gwinne with the horse," announced Hobby Lull from theanteroom.
"Mr. Dines, how does your client propose to question that horse, if Imay ask?" inquired the judge.
"I propose to prove by my horse," said Johnny, "that though I may havemurdered this man I certainly did not shoot him while I was ridingthis horse. And I depend on the evidence of the prosecution'switnesses"--he smiled at the prosecution's witnesses--"to establishthat no one rode in Redgate that day except me--and them! If the courtwill appoint some man known to be a rider and a marksman, and willinstruct him to ride my horse by the courthouse windows, we can getthis testimony over at once. It has been shown here that I carried a.45. Set up a box out there where we can see from the windows; giveyour man a gun and tell him to ride as close as he likes and put threeshots in that box. If he hits that box more than once--"
"Gun-shy?" said Judge Hinkle.
"Watch him!" said Johnny rapturously.
The judge's eye rested on Mr. Wade with frank distaste.
"We will now have another gross instance of collusion," he announced."I will call on Frank Bojarquez to assist the court."
Francisco Bojarquez upreared his straight length at the back of thehall.
"Excuse, please, if I seem to tell the judge what he is to do.But what Mistair Wade says, it is true a little--or it might seemtrue to estrangers. For us in Hillsboro, frien's togethair, eetdoes not mattair; we know. But because the worl' ees full ofestrangers--theenk, Judge Hinkle, eef it is not bes' that it ees not agreat frien' of the preesoner who is to examine that horse--what? Thatno estranger may have some doubts? There are so many estrangers."
"Humph! There is something in that." The justice scratched his ear."Very well. George Scarboro, stand up. Are you acquainted with thisprisoner?"
"No, sir."
"You are one of the Arizona Rangers?"
"I am."
"Slip your saddle on that blue horse. You know what you have to do?"
"Yes, sir."
Scarboro departed, and half the court room went with him. Five minuteslater he rode the Twilight horse, prancing daintily, under thecourthouse windows. The windows were lined with faces. Johnny, thejudge and Wade had a window to themselves, within the sacred railing.But Spinal Maginnis did not look from any window. Spinal was lookingelsewhere--at Caney, Weir and Hales.
The ranger wore a loose and sagging belt; his gun swung low on histhigh, just at the reach of his extended arm. As he came abreast ofthe destined box Scarboro's arm flashed down and up. So did Twilight.
A pistol shot, a long blue streak, and a squeal of anguish ascendedtogether, hopelessly mingled and indiscriminate, spurning the spinningearth. It launched toward outer space in a complex of motion upward,sidewise, forward and inside out, shaming the orbit of the moon,nodes, perturbations, apsides, syzygies and other symptoms tooluminous to mention; but perhaps apogee and acceleration were the mostprominent. A clatter, a pitch, an agonized bawl, a sailing hat, a dustcloud, a desperate face above it, with streaming hair; the marvel fellaway down the hill and left a stunned silence behind. And presently agun came down.
"Do you want to cross-examine the witness?" inquired Johnny.
Wade threw up his hands.
"Well!" he said. "Well!" His jaw dropped. He drew Johnny aside andwhispered, "See here, damn you--did you kill that man?"
"No, I didn't," whispered Johnny. "But you keep it dark. It's a deadsecret."
The roaring crowd came in with laughter and shouts. As they foundseats and the tumult quieted Johnny addressed the judge.
"Shall I take the stand now, Your Honor, or wait till after dinner?It's late, I know--but you'd believe me better right now--"
"Wait a minute, Andy!"
A man rose in the crowd--a tall old man with a melancholy face--thesame who had summoned Hobby Lull to the door.
"Why, hello, Pete! I didn't see you come!" said the judge.
"That's funny, too. I have been here half an hour. You're getting old,Andy--getting old!"
"Oh, you go to thunder! Say, can you straighten up this mess?"
"I can help, at least--or so I believe. I was with the search party."
"Well, who calls this witness--the defense or the prosecution?"inquired the court.
"Oh, let me call myself--as the friend of the court, _amicus curiae_,just as they used to do in England--do yet, for all I know. I've notheard your evidence--though I saw some just now, outside. But I've gota few facts which you may be able to fit in somewhere. I don't knowthe defendant, and am not for or against the prosecutor or for anybodyor anything except justice. So I'll take it kindly if you'd let metell my story in my own way--as the friend of justice. I'll get overthe ground quicker and tell it straighter. If anyone is not satisfiedthey can cross-examine me afterwards, just as if I had been called byone side or the other."
Judge Hinkle turned to Wade. "Any objections?"
"No," said Wade. "I guess justice is what we all want--results, as yousaid yourself."
He was a subdued man. His three witnesses stirred uneasily, withsidelong glances. Spinal Maginnis kept a corner of his eye on thosewitnesses.
"Suits me," said Johnny.
"I got to get me a drink," whispered Caney, and rose, tiptoeing. ButMaginnis rose with him.
"Sit down, Mr. Caney," he said. "You look poorly. I'll fetch you somewater."
Pete Harkey took the stand and was duly sworn. He crossed his legs andaddressed the judge.
"Well, we went up in Redgate, Dan Fenderson and I and a bunch. Wethought there was no use of more than one coming here to-day, becausewe all saw just the same things."
Hinkle nodded. "All right, Pete. Tell us about it."
"Well, now, Andy--Your Hon
or--if it's just the same to everybody,I'll skip the part about the tracks and finding Adam untilcross-examination. It's just going over the same old ground again.I've been talking to Hobby, and we found everything just about as youheard it from these boys." His eye shifted toward the witness bench."All except one little thing about the tracks, and that was done afterthe murder, and might have been happen-so. And I was wanting to hurryup and get back to Garfield to-night. We're going to bury Adam atsundown."
"All right, Pete. But we'll cross-examine you--if not to-day, thento-morrow. It pays to work tailings, sometimes."
"That's queer, too. I was just coming to that--in a way. Mining. Adamwent up there to prospect for gold--placer gold. When the big raincame, the night he was killed, all tracks were washed out, of course.We hadn't got far when dark came--and then the rain. But yesterday Iwent combing out the country to look for Adam's outfit of camp stuff,and also to see if perhaps he had found any claims before he waskilled. And I found this."
He handed to the judge a small paper packet, folded and refolded, andwrapped round with a buckskin string. The judge opened it.
"Coarse gold!" he said. "Like the Apache gold in the seventies! Pete,you've got a rich mine if there's much of this."
"It is rich dirt," said Pete. "I got that from less than a dozen pans.But it is not my mine."
"How so?"
"I got home late last night. This morning I looked in all the pocketsin the clothes Adam was wearing. Here is what I found in his vest." Hehanded to Hinkle a small tobacco sack, rolled to a tiny cylinder.
"The same kind of gold--big as rice!" said Hinkle. "So Adam Forbesfound this?"
Caney's hand crept under his coat.
"Judge for yourself. I found three claims located. Three. But no nameof Adam Forbes to any notice. One claim was called the 'GoblinGold--'"
Charlie See rose up as if he were lifted by the hair of his head. "Theother names, Pete! Not the locators. The claims--give me the names ofthe other two claims!"
"'Nine Bucks' was one--and the 'Please Hush.'"
Charlie turned and took one step, his tensed weight resting on theballs of his feet, his left arm lashed out to point. All eyes turnedto the witness bench--and two witnesses looked at one.
"_Caney!_" thundered Charlie See.
Leaping, Caney's arm came from his coat. See's hand was swifter,unseen. In flashes of fire and smoke, Caney, even as he leaped up,pitched forward on his face. His arm reached out on the floor, holdinga smoking gun, and See's foot was on the gun.
A dozen men had pulled down Toad Hales and Jody Weir. Gwinne's gun wasout.
"Stand back! The next man over the rails gets it!" Maginnis jumpedbeside him. The shouting crowd recoiled.
"Sit down! Sit down, everybody!" shouted the judge. He pounded on hisdesk. "Bojarquez! Ross! Foster! Come up here. I make you deputies. Getthis crowd out or get order."
The deafening turmoil stopped as suddenly as it had begun.
"Gwinne, arrest those two men for the murder of Adam Forbes," orderedHinkle.
"Well, gee-whiz, I'd say they was under arrest now. Here, gimme them."He reached down and handcuffed Weir and Hales together. "How's Caney,Dines? Dead?"
Johnny knelt by the fallen man. "Dead as a door nail. Three shots. Didhe get you anywhere, See?"
"No. He was just one-sixteenth of a second too late." Charlie Seelooked hard at the cylinder of his gun. He had fired only two shots."Pete, it's a wonder he didn't hit you. You was right in line."
"I wasn't there," said Pete dryly. "Not when the bullets got there.Not good enough."
Gwinne and Maginnis took the two prisoners to jail, by the back door.
"Now for a clearing up," said Judge Hinkle. "You seem to have insideinformation, Mr. See. Suppose you tell us about it?"
"No chance for a mistake, judge. I had a long talk with Adam the nightbefore, about a lost gold mine at Mescalero. And three of the phrasesthat we used back and forth--it seems he picked them out to name hisfind. 'Goblin Gold.' I used the word 'gobbling' gold--joking, youknow. And the story was about 'nine bucks'; and it wound up with anold Mescalero saying 'Won't you please hush?' It wasn't possible thatthose three names had reached the papers Pete found, except throughthe dead man's mind. Adam called these three men to witness for him,likely. Then they killed him for his mines. They destroyed hislocation papers, but they kept the names. Easier than to make up newones. That'll hang 'em."
"Sounds good. But how are you going to prove it? Suppose they get agood lawyer and stick to their story? They found a mine, and you gotin a shooting match with Caney. That don't prove anything."
"Well, I'll bet I can prove it," said Johnny Dines. "Ten to one, thatletter Forbes gave me to mail was his location papers. He seemed keenabout it."
"Did he say anything about location papers? Was the letter addressedto the recorder?" demanded Pete.
"Look now!" said Johnny. "If this theory of See's is correct, and ifthat really was location papers in the letter I mailed--why, thatletter won't get here till two o'clock this afternoon, whether it isthe location papers or what. And the postmaster and the recorder areboth here in this court room, judge. Gwinne was pointing out everybodyto me, before you called court. So they can mosey along down to thepost office together--the postmaster and the recorder. And when thatletter comes you'll know all about it."
"Ah, that reminds me," said the judge--"the case of the Territory ofNew Mexico vs. John Dines is now dismissed. This court is nowadjourned. John Dines, I want to be the first to congratulate you."
"Thanks, Judge.--Hiram," said Johnny, "Cole told me to report to you.He said I was to go to the John Cross pasture and pick me a mount fromthe runaways there."
"But, Johnny, you can't ride those horses," said Bojarquez.
Johnny flushed. "Don't you believe it, old hand. You're not the onlyone that can ride."
Bojarquez spread out his hands. "But bareback? Where ees your saddle?And the Twilight horse? The bridle, he ees broke. Scarb'ro's inChihuahua by now."
"Dinner's on me," said Johnny.
Charlie See drew Johnny aside and spoke to him in confidence.
"How does it happen you know so pat just when a letter gets toHillsboro when it is posted in Garfield?"
"A letter? Oh--Hobby Lull, he told me."
"Yes, yes. And what was the big idea for keeping still about thatletter while they wove a rope to your neck?"
"Why, my dear man," said Johnny, "I can't read through a sealedenvelope."
Charlie sniffed. "You saw a good many things mighty clear, I notice,but you overlooked the one big bet--like fun you did! Caney and Weirand Hales--don't you suppose they knew that letter was on the way? Andthat it was never to reach the recorder?"
"Since you are so very shrewd," said Johnny, "I sometimes wonder thatyou are not shrewder still."
"And keep my mouth shut? That's how I shall keep it. But I just wantedyou to know. You may be deceiving me, but you're not fooling me any.Keep your secret."
"Thank you," said Johnny, "I will."
"Good boy. All the same, Hobby and I will be up at the post office.And I know now what we'll find in that letter you mailed. We'll findAdam's location papers, with them three murderers for witness."
And they did. They found something else too; a message from beyond thegrave that in his hour of fortune their friend did not forget hisfriends.
They buried Adam Forbes at sundown of that day. No thing was lacking;his friends and neighbors gathered together to bid him Godspeed; therewere love and tears for him. And of those friends, three were all roadstained and weary; they had ridden hard from Hillsboro for thatparting; Lull and Charlie See and old Pete. It was to one of thesethat all eyes were turned when the rude coffin was lowered into thegrave.
"Pete?" said Jim-Ike-Jones.
And old Pete Harkey stepped forth and spoke slowly, while his fadedold eyes looked past the open grave and rested on the hills beyond.
"More than at any other time we strive to center and steady our
thoughts, when we stand by the loved and dead. It is an effort as vainas to look full and steadily at the blinding sun. I can tell you nothing here which you do not know.
"You all knew Adam Forbes. He was a simple and kindly man. He broughta good courage to living, he was all help and laughter, he joyed inthe sting and relish of rushing life. Those of you here who were mostunfriends to him will not soon forget that gay, reckless,tender-hearted creature.
"You know his faults. He was given to hasty wrath, to stubbornness andviolence. His hand was heavy. If there are any here who have beenwronged by this dead man--as I think most like--let the memory of itbe buried in this grave. It was never his way to walk blameless. Hedid many things amiss; he took wrong turnings. But he was never tooproud to turn back, to admit a mistake or to right his wrongdoing. Hepaid for what he broke.
"For the rest--he fed the hungry, helped the weak, he nursed the sickand dug graves for the dead. Now, in his turn, it is fitting and justthat no bought hand dug this grave, but that his friends and his foesdid him this last service, and called pleasant dreams to his longsleep.
"We have our dear dreams, too. It can do no harm to dream thatsomewhere down the skies that brightness and fire and light stillflames--but not for us.
"It is written that upon Mars Hill the men of Athens built an altar'to the Unknown God.' It was well builded; and with no misgiving weleave our friend to the care--and to the honor--of the Unknown God."
He stood back; and from the women who wept came one who did not weep,dry-eyed and pale; whose pitying hand dropped the first earth into thegrave.
"Stardust to Stardust," said Edith Harkey.
* * * * *
That night Pete Harkey stood by the big fireplace of the big lonesomehouse.
"Shall I light the fire, Edith?"
"Not to-night, father."
In the dimness he groped for a chair; he took her on his knee, herarms clung fast.
"Is it well with you, Edith?"
Then, in the clinging dusk she dared the truth at last; to ears thatdid not hear. For his thought was with the dead man. She knew it well;yet once to tell her story--only once! Her voice rang steady, prouderthan any pride: "I have loved Greatheart. It is well with me."
"Poor little girl," he said. "Poor little girl!" The proud head soughthis breast and now her tears fell fast.
* * * * *
And far away, Charlie See rode south through the wizard twilight.There was no singing now. For at the world's edge some must farealone; through all their dreams one unforgotten face--laughing, anddear, and lost.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise,every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words andintent.
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