by Hal Dunning
CHAPTER X
A ROMAN BATTERING-RAM
It was noon. A molten sun looked down from a copper sky. The rocksreflected the terrific glare. What little shade there was brought noease from the furnacelike heat. As one man expressed it: "You roast inthe sun and stew in the shade." The water was gone, and there would beno more until evening; the men's suffering from thirst was intense. Allthought themselves beaten.
"Reckon the judge is due to get his neck stretched," Toothpick Jarrickconfided dolorously to Silent Moore.
The two were sprawled behind a boulder in the thin shade cast by acactus. The taciturn deputy thrust out his jaw and growled:
"We sticks just the same."
Sam Hogg wormed his way between the blistering rocks and joined them.He nudged Toothpick and pointed up toward the valley wall behind them.
"What's the Wolf doin' up there? He's been lookin' through thoseglasses of his for an hour and shiftin' his position constant. Yuhreckon he's figurin' up somethin'?" the cattleman asked eagerly.
Allen was lying flat on a high shelf of rock. They watched him for atime. Now he vanished. A little later they saw him again, fifty yardsfarther along the shelf. From the shelter of some brush he focused hisglasses on the long adobe building. Toothpick was puzzled as to whatAllen was studying. He decided that it must be the lone window thatbroke the surface of the western wall in the outlaws' fortress. Thewindow was little more than a porthole, about three feet by two.Toothpick knew that a real purpose lay behind all of Allen's actions;that many of his surprising victories were the result of carefullythought-out plans. But what did the little outlaw hope to gain bystudying that window? Allen closed his glasses and looked down at thethree watching him. He waved his hand and wiggled out of sight.
"What's he aimin' to do?" Sam Hogg addressed Toothpick.
The lanky cow-puncher considered a moment and shook his head.
"I dunno. But the little hellion has sure got somethin' in his head,"he said thoughtfully.
"If he's aimin' to go through that window, the gents in there willshoot him in two," the cattleman protested.
"Sure would," Silent agreed.
"I don't know what he's aimin' to do, but I'm sayin' positive, whateverit is, I'm backin' his play," Toothpick stated emphatically.
"Hey, Toothpick, come over here," Allen called from his hidden perch.
Toothpick, followed by Sam Hogg, wiggled toward the depression fromwhich he knew the voice came. A rifle cracked from within the adobebuilding, and Toothpick's hat flew from his head. He flattened out andwiggled the faster. A few seconds later he slid down the side of thesmall basin to Allen. He was closely followed by Sam Hogg, who hadretrieved the hat. Toothpick looked at it ruefully for a moment andpoked his finger through the hole in the crown.
"Huh! That gent sure parted my hair."
"Jim, yuh figured out a way we can get at them hombres?" Sam Hoggdemanded.
"I ain't sure she works," Allen replied. "Yuh gather Tom Powers andyuhr brother over the hill by that ore wagon--if she works, I'll comeand tell yuh about it."
The cattleman told himself that Allen deliberately tried to bemysterious. However, he went to collect his brother and Tom Powers.
Allen and Toothpick sought out Tad Hicks. The three passed along a deepgully to a ledge some ten feet high. Here Allen explained to them thefirst part of his plan and the part they were to play in it. A halfhour later, when they approached the ore wagon, all three were grinninglike schoolboys.
"Yuh two is sure baseball players--yuh tossed me at that mark and hitit every time," Allen said to them.
Tad Hicks halted to explain to his bosom friends, Windy Sam and Kansas.
"The Wolf is goin' to have us toss him through that window, an' hemakes us practice tossin' him at a rock an' keeps us doin' it, until wehit it three time runnin' with his head."
Sheriff Tom Powers, the Hogg brothers, and several men of the posselistened in silence until Allen had finished telling his plan. For amoment its sheer audacity held them silent, then they shook theirheads. The thing was impossible. Sam Hogg glanced wonderingly atAllen's freckled, youthful face. He could discern nothing but thespirit of youthful adventure there, like that of a schoolboy planningto rob an orchard. He sighed and again shook his head. Courage such asAllen's was too precious to be wasted. There wasn't a chance in athousand of success.
"Yuh can't do it," the sheriff objected.
"Hell, there's thirteen men in there," the little cattleman added.
"A darned unlucky number for them," remarked Allen.
"And five of the best gun fighters on the border," Toothpick pointedout.
"I ain't aimin' to wipe out all them gents. I'm aimin' to sorta keep'em busy, while you bust the door down," Allen explained.
"You're loco! Bust that door down? It would take an hour to do it," JimHogg protested.
"Yuh ever see a Roman batterin'-ram?" Allen asked.
"Roman batterin'-ram?" the sheriff queried in return.
"He's funnin' us," the storekeeper insisted.
But one glance at the little outlaw's face convinced him Allen wasserious.
"Waggle yuhr ears, gents, and I'll learn yuh what erudition, asToothpick calls it, does for an hombre." Allen grinned at the tallcow-puncher, then told them of his scheme to break in the door.
"She sure works!" Sam Hogg cried, a few minutes later. He gave a whoopand sent his Stetson sailing into the air. Then all at once he grewsilent and stared at Allen. A sinister thought had come to him.
"I figure we'll get in, but they'll shoot yuh to bits," he said.
"Not any. I'm so darn small I ain't easy to hit, an' I'll keep movingconstantly," Allen said cheerfully.
He stepped up to the ore wagon, which was just over the crest of thehill, and out of sight of those in the fortress.
"Yuh take the box off, take that boom off the derrick by the mouth ofthe mine and rig her up, and yuh'll have a Roman batterin'-ram that'llbust that there door to splinters," he said.
Sam Hogg dashed off to bring in some of his men. Tom Powers went to theroofless tool house to see what he could find. He returned a littlelater with a couple of rusty picks, a battered saw, and an ax that hadseen better days.
When the Frying Pan punchers arrived, they fell to work with a will.The box on the freight wagon was dumped off, and on the frame theylashed two cross bars. They had no nails, but plenty of rope whichserved the same purpose. After much cursing, sweating, and heaving, thearm of the derrick was pushed in between the crossbars. It then hung insuch a way that it would swing back and forth. It was a little wabblywhen finished, but, after an examination, both Tom Powers and Sam Hoggadmitted it would serve its purpose.
It was close to five o'clock before the battering-ram was finished. Themen scattered to seek rest in the shade. The deputation which had beensent for water and provisions arrived. Fires were built, andpreparations made for the evening meal. The cow-punchers cast curiousglances at Allen, as he sat and talked to Sam Hogg, Toothpick, andSnippets. They shook their heads, wonderingly.
"He ain't got no chance of comin' out of that place, unless he'scarried, yet look at him over there. The others who ain't riskin'nothin' a-tall is plumb gloomy and gravelike, while he is happy as akid," pronounced one admirer.
The sun hung low over the western hills; then went down with a rush,and its farewell painted the sky in a thousand brilliant colors. Dusksoftened the flaming canvas to soft pastels, and then darkness fellover them swiftly, like a velvet, all-concealing mantle.
The men talked in hushed whispers, cleaned and oiled their guns andpaced up and down nervously.
It had been decided to make the attack at midnight; the men wereimpatient. Hogg and Toothpick wandered away, and Snippets and Allenwere left alone before the fire. They chattered and laughed. He toldher of that valley of his in the Painted Desert where he had other andyounger gray horses.
"I got two colts up there--twins. Yuh ne
ver see their like. They ain'tnothin' but legs and nerve. Do yuh know what they do--them littlejaspers? Walk right into my house an' help theirselves. I can't cook mea dinner, they don't eat it up. Huh, if I didn't chase 'em out, they'dget in bed with me."
He went on, painting that valley of his as a veritable paradise.
Snippets laughed. "Jim, I never know when you stop tellin' the truthand start lying."
Toothpick, Sam Hogg, and Tom Powers watched the two by the fire.
"Look at that runt," Sam Hogg said. "Laughin' his head off, an' in anhour he's goin' to pull a stunt that he ain't got a Chinaman's chancein."
"He's sure got nerve," Tom Powers agreed.
"He's darned sure to cash in, an' he's laughin'." Sam Hogg shook hishead.
"That's why he's laughin'," Toothpick said heavily.
"Yuh mean----"
"I know the little cuss. He tole me once, if yuh sit in a game and isdealt two-spots, yuh can't quit until the Lord cashes yuh in."
"I dunno," Tom Powers said thoughtfully. "If I'd been on the dodge forten years, maybe I'd feel the same."
"And the gal?" Sam Hogg asked.
"She knows," Toothpick said. "She knows everything. She's plumb bright.That day he gets throwed off the train she knows him pronto, and he hasme fooled complete."
"She's in love with him an'----" Tom Powers left his sentenceunfinished.
"Knows he's goin' to cash pronto an' keeps laughin'," Sam Hogg finishedfor him.
"She's got nerve, even if she is only a gal," Toothpick stated.
"It's a shame. Ain't there a chance of gettin' the little cuss apardon?" Tom Powers asked.
"Not any, an' that's positive. The United States wants him, an' everyState west of Mississippi has a price on him," Toothpick replied.
"I'm tellin' yuh he'll get a pardon in Texas if he comes out of this,"Sam Hogg cried.
"Yea, _if_----" Tom Powers said softly.
The two they watched continued their laughter.
"Tell me where this valley of yours is," Snippets pleaded.
"Yuh start from Wilton in Arizona. Yuh follow the sun until yuh come tothe Three Widows. They is Black Buttes what looks sorrowful. The trailgoes up Paintbox Canyon. An' when yuh can't go no farther, yuh startclimbing to the moon, and pretty soon yuh see it. It ain't very big,but there's surprising trees an' grass an' plumb gorgeous flowers, an'there's a house an' hosses--regular man-eaters. An' there's a galcooking pies fer 'em an'----Shucks!" Allen interrupted his dreaming."They's everything yuh want, when yuh get to the moon."
He leaped to his feet and looked down at her. Suddenly she seemed tohave grown very small and childish. Her dark eyes glistened with unshedtears.
"Shucks, kid. I was usin' plumb-loose language," he said, with aneffort at lightness. He turned abruptly and walked to the men besidethe other fire. Snippets watched him; his shoulders sagged, as if theywere drawn down by the weight of the two big guns he wore. But a fewminutes later he was laughing again and making the others laugh withhim.
The men examined their weapons and gathered about the battering-ram. Itwas pushed to the top of the crest. There, only a slight shove would beneeded to send it rolling toward the fortress. Ropes were attached tothe front axle, and mounted men held their ends.
"Yuh stays put, until I lights the match. Then yuh comes a-hoppin'straight for the light. An' Toothpick an' Tad tosses Allen in throughthe window," Sam Hogg explained.
The ex-Ranger had insisted that it was his right to give the signal. Hewas to creep down to the fortress, and his lighted match would mark theposition of the door as well as give a signal.
He removed his boots and crept through the darkness toward the blackblotch which was the fortress.
Allen, followed by Toothpick and Tad Hicks, walked past the fire besidewhich Snippets was sitting. The little outlaw did not speak to her, butas the firelight caught his eyes, she saw they glinted with yellow, andshe knew the boy who had talked to her a short time before was gone. Hehad given way to the Wolf.
"Yuh remember, if yuh gents don't toss me straight, the judge will sureenough stretch rope," Allen warned.
Tad and Toothpick nodded. They knew that, not only would the judge belost, but that, if Allen failed to clear the window at the firstattempt, the gunmen within would make a sieve of him before he couldstruggle clear.