by Rex Beach
XIX
RANGERS
Longorio stared first at the huddled, perspiring man beside thetelephone and then at the frightened woman. "Is that the truth?" hedemanded, harshly.
"Yes," Austin answered. "They are bringing the body to this side. Youknow what that means."
"Did you know this?" The general turned upon Alaire. Of the four he wasthe least excited.
From the background Paloma quavered: "You told us Ricardo was not dead,so--it is all right. There is no--harm done."
A brief silence ensued, then Longorio shrugged. "Who knows? Let us hopethat he suffered no harm on Mexican soil. That would be serious,indeed; yes, very serious, for I have given my word to your government.This--David Law--" he pronounced the name carefully, but with astrange, foreign accent--"he is a reckless person to defy the borderregulations. It is a grave matter to invade foreign territory on such amission." Longorio again bent his brilliant eyes upon Alaire. "I seethat you are concerned for his safety. You would not desire him to cometo trouble, eh? He has done you favors; he is your friend, as I am.Well"--a mirthless smile exposed his splendid white teeth--"we mustthink of that. Now I will bid you good night."
"Where are you going?" demanded Miss Jones.
"To the river, and then to Romero. I may be needed, for those men ofmine are stupid fellows and there is danger of a misunderstanding. Inthe dark anything may happen. I should like to meet this David Law; heis a man of my own kind." Turning to "Young Ed," he said: "There isreason for haste, and a horse moves slowly. Would you do me the favor,if you have an automobile--"
"No! I won't!" Ed declared. "I don't want to see the Rio Grandeto-night. I won't be involved--"
"But you are already involved. Come! There is no time to waste, and Ihave something to say to you. You will drive me to the river, and myhorse will remain here until I return for him."
There was no mistaking the command in Longorio's tone; the master ofLas Palmas rose as if under compulsion. He took his hat, and the twomen left the room.
"Oh, my God!" Paloma gasped. "They'll be in time, and so will the Lewisgang."
"Quick! Ed will take his runabout--we'll follow in my car." Alaire fledto make herself ready. A few moments later she looked out from herwindow and saw the headlights of Ed's runabout flash down the drivewayto the road; then she and Paloma rushed to the garage where thetouring-car stood.
"They'll never expect us to follow them"--Alaire tried to speakhopefully--"and we'll drive without lights. Maybe we'll get there intime, after all." As the machine rolled out through the gate sheelaborated the half-formed plan that had come to her: "The brush isthick along the river; we can leave the car hidden and steal up to thepump-house. When we hear the boat coming maybe we can call out in timeto warn your father."
"The moon is rising," Paloma half sobbed. "They'll be sure to see us.Do you think we're ahead of Tad Lewis?"
"Oh yes. He hasn't had time to get here yet, but--he'll come fast whenhe starts. This is the only plan I can think of."
Alaire drove as swiftly as she dared, following the blurred streak ofgray that was the road, and taking the bumps with utter recklessness.Already the yellow rim of the moon was peering over the horizon to herright, and by its light she found the road that turned abruptly towardthe Rio Grande, a mile or more distant. The black mud from the lastheavy rain had hardened; the ruts in this side road were deep, and thecar leaped and plunged, flinging its occupants from side to side. Aheadloomed the dark ridge of the river thickets, a dense rampart ofmesquite, ebony, and coma, with here and there a taller alamo orhackberry thrusting itself skyward. But even before they were shelteredfrom the moonlight Paloma saw the lights of another automobileapproaching along the main-traveled highway behind them--the lights,evidently, of Tad Lewis's machine. A moment later Alaire's car droveinto the black shadows, but, fearing to switch on her headlights, shefelt her way cautiously between the walls of foliage until at her rightanother opening showed, like a narrow arroyo, diverging from the onethey followed. Into this she swerved, regardless of the fact that itwas half grown up with brush. Thorny branches swept the sides of themachine; rank, dew-soaked grass rose to the height of the tonneau. Thecar came to a jolting pause, then the motor ceased its purring, and thetwo women sat motionless, listening for the rattle of the on-comingmachine. It had been a short, swift, exciting ride. "Young Ed's"runabout could not be many minutes ahead of them.
Alaire knew the Tad Lewis car, an old-style, cheap affair, whichadvertised its mechanical imperfections by a loud clashing of gears anda noisy complaint of loose parts; therefore, when the leafy canon wallsbehind her hiding-place were brilliantly illuminated and a car stolesilently past at low speed, she seized Paloma by the arm and whispered:
"That's not Lewis."
"Who is it? It can't be Ed."
"No, he and Longorio are ahead of us. It's another motor entirely."
The women got out, then breasted the high grass and brambles betweentheir hiding-place and the pump-house road. As soon as they were backin the trail they made all possible speed, speculating meanwhile uponthe mystery of the unknown car. Emerging into the clearing whichsurrounded the power-plant, they discovered the machine in questionstanding dark and deserted in the shadows. Evidently the driver,whoever he was, well knew what he was about, and had not blundered uponthis place by accident. A hundred yards away they could now see theghostly Rio Grande, its saffron surface faintly silvered by the lowmoon; lights gleamed from the windows of Morales's house. In thedistance the vague outlines of the Mexican shore were resolvingthemselves, and far beyond winked the evidence that some belatedcitizens of Romero were still awake.
Paloma had brought with her the long-barreled Winchester rifle, andthis she clutched nervously as she and Alaire stood whispering.Conditions were favorable for an approach to the pump-house itself, fortwo ridges of earth, perhaps eight feet high, thrown up like parallelfurrows from a giant plow, marked the beginning of the irrigationditch, and in the shadow of these the women worked their way forward,unobserved. They had nearly reached their goal when out into theclearing behind them, with metallic rattle and clang, burst anotherautomobile, and Paloma whispered, excitedly:
"There's the Lewis outfit at last."
In the Lewis car were several men. They descended hurriedly, and whenone of them ran around the front of the car to turn off its lights bothwomen saw that he carried a rifle. Evidently Tad Lewis had comeprepared for desperate measures.
A small door gave entrance to the boiler-room, and into the lock ofthis Mrs. Austin fitted a key; the next moment she and Paloma weresafely inside. They found themselves in utter darkness now, with asmooth brick floor beneath their feet and a strong odor of oil andburnt fuel in their nostrils.
Alaire was agreeably surprised in Paloma Jones, for, although the girlwas wrought to a pitch of hysterical excitement, she had, nevertheless,retained her wits; nor had she faltered in the slightest. It wasevident that the fighting blood of her father was aroused in her, forshe said, calmly:
"When it gets light enough to shoot, I'm going to get Tad Lewis."
"Don't act too quickly," cautioned Alaire. "Perhaps your father andDave have come and gone. Anyhow, we can warn them just as well byfiring into the air."
In reply to this suggestion Paloma merely muttered something under herbreath.
The brief night ride had given Alaire time in which to recover from herfirst apprehensions, and now she was surprised at her own coolness.Ed's behavior had shocked and horrified her; she was still halfparalyzed at his treachery; nevertheless, her mind was clear, and shewas determined to avert a tragedy if possible. She knew only too wellwhat would happen when Blaze Jones and Dave Law encountered the Lewisgang; the presence of Longorio's soldiers merely made more certain theoutcome of that meeting. The general was furious; it was plain that hewould not tolerate this expedition, the avowed purpose of which was toprove him a liar. It would make but little difference, therefore,whether the quest for Ricardo Guzman's body had been successful o
r not:even the fact that this was American soil would not deter Longorio fromviolent action, for the Rio Grande was no real boundary, and this partof Texas was as truly Mexican as that other river-bank which lay twohundred yards distant.
A confusion of such thoughts were racing through Alaire's mind as shefelt her way out of the boiler-room and into that part of the buildingwhere the pumping machinery stood. Dusty, cobwebbed windows let in afaint ghost-glow of moonlight, but prevented clear observation ofanything outside; Alaire's fumbling fingers found the latch of thefront door and began to lift it, when some one spoke, just outside thebuilding.
"What did you discover?" inquired a voice which neither womanrecognized. Paloma clutched blindly for her companion; the twoeavesdroppers stood rooted in their tracks. The pounding of theirhearts sounded loudly. Since the building was little more than a woodenshell, they could plainly hear the answer:
"The house is full of Greasers. I can't tell who they are."
A third man spoke, this time in Spanish. "That was Tad Lewis who justcame, senor."
There followed some whispered words indistinguishable to the listeners,then a rustle of bodies moving through the tall grass and weeds.
Paloma placed her lips close to Alaire's ear. "Who are those people?"she breathed.
"I don't know. They must be the ones who came in that strangeautomobile."
Paloma chattered viciously: "Everybody in Texas is here. I wish we'dthought to scatter tacks behind us."
Cautiously they swung the door back and looked out. The open spacealong the river-bank was leveled by the moonlight; from Morales'shouse, to their right, came the sound of voices. The women waited.
A few moments, then a number of men appeared. Paloma judged there wereat least a dozen, but she was too excited to count them. As they camestraggling toward the pump-house one of them called back:
"Morales! Put out your damned lights," Both women recognized Tad Lewisas the speaker.
Alaire had stubbornly refused to charge her husband with any activeshare in this evil business, but her faith in Ed suddenly vanished whenshe heard him say:
"Hush! You're making too much noise. You'd better scatter out, too, forthere's no telling where they'll land." Alaire leaned weakly againstthe door. "I'm going to leave, and let you-all attend to the rest," hewas saying. But Tad Lewis halted him as he turned from the group.
"Where are you going, Ed? You left your car back yonder by the road. Ialmost ran into it."
"Eh? What are you talking about? My car is over by Morales's house."
"Senor Austin is in a great hurry," sneered some one in Spanish. "Oncemore he leaves all of the fighting to his friends."
"That's Adolfo Urbina," panted Paloma. "I know him." Stung by this opencharge of cowardice, Austin began a voluble defense, but in the midstof it General Longorio addressed him, sharply:
"You will stay here, senor. Nobody leaves this place."
"I told you I wouldn't be a party to the business," Ed declared, hotly."You forced me to come in the first place--"
"Yes! And now I force you to stay."
Longorio's stand appeared to please Lewis, who chimed in with thewords: "That's right, Ed. You've got to stick, for once in your life."
"What do you mean, you nearly ran into my car back yonder?" Austinasked, after a moment.
"Ain't that your machine yonder by the thicket?" inquired Lewis. "If itain't, whose is it?" As no one answered, he started in the direction hehad indicated; but at that moment a man came running from theriverbank, crying, softly:
"Look out! They come."
"I'm going to shoot," Paloma Jones gasped, but Alaire, who once againheard the sound of whispering in the shadows just outside theirhiding-place, managed to restrain her companion. It was well that shesucceeded, for even as Paloma raised her weapon a man passed swiftly bythe crack of the half-open door and scarcely ten feet beyond the muzzleof the rifle. He was followed by three others.
The first of the new-comers, acting as spokesman for his party, steppedout into the moonlight and cried, loudly: "Hello, men! What's goin' onhere?" It was an American voice; it had a broad, slow, Texas drawl.
The group of plotters turned, there was a startled murmur, then TadLewis answered:
"Hello! Who are you? What do you want?"
"I reckon we must have got off the road," announced the stranger. Thenhe peered out across the river: "Say! Ain't that a skiff comingyonder?" he inquired.
"Well, it don't look like a steamboat." Lewis laughed, disagreeably."We're havin' a little party of our own. I reckon you fellows hadbetter beat it. Understand?"
The outposts that had been sent to cover the bank in both directionswere now coming in. Through the stillness of the night there soundedthe thump of oar-locks. Seeing that the stranger did not seem to takehis hint, Lewis raised his voice menacingly:
"That's your road back yonder. It's a right good road, and I'd adviseyou to travel it, fast."
But this suggestion was also ignored; in fact, it appeared to amuse theman addressed, for he, too, laughed. He turned, and the women noticedthat he carried a short saddle-gun. They saw, also, that at least oneof the men at his back was similarly armed.
"Now, what's the hurry?" The stranger was chuckling. Suddenly he raisedhis voice and called, loudly: "Hello, Dave! Is that you-all?"
The answer floated promptly back: "Hello, Cap! Sure it's us."
"Have you got him?"
It was Blaze Jones's voice which answered this time: "You bet!"
Paloma Jones was trembling now. She clung to Alaire, crying,thankfully: "It's the Rangers! The Rangers!" Then she broke away andran out into the moonlight, trailing her absurd firearm after her.
"Now, boys," the Ranger captain was saying, "I know 'most every one ofyou, and we ain't going to have the least bit of trouble over thisthing, are we? I reckon you-all are friends of Ricardo Guzman, and youjust couldn't wait to find out about him, eh?"
Alaire, who had followed Paloma, was close enough now to recognize thetwo Guzman boys as members of the Ranger party. Lewis and his men haddrawn together at the first alarm; Longorio's Mexicans had gatheredabout their leader. The entire situation had changed in a moment, andthe Ranger captain was in control of it.
Soon Dave Law and Blaze Jones came up over the river-bank; they paused,stricken with surprise at finding a score of people where they hadexpected no more than four.
Blaze was the first to speak. "What the hell?" he cried. He peerednear-sightedly from one to the other; then his huge bulk shook withlaughter: "Say, do my glasses magnify, or is this an Odd-Fellowsmeetin'?"
"Dad! Oh, Dad!" Paloma scurried to him and flung herself into his arms.
"Lord of mercy, kid!" the father exclaimed. "Why, you'd ought to behome and abed, long ago. You'll catch your death of cold. Is that gunloaded."
Dave Law was even more amazed than his companion. His first glimpse ofthe waiting figures had warned him that something had gone wrong, and,therefore, he did not stop to ask himself how Tad Lewis and Longoriocould have learned of this affair, or what could have brought Alaireand Ed Austin to the scene. Recovering from his first surprise, he tooka position beside his superior officer.
Captain Evans did not seem at all troubled by the disparity in numbers.One Ranger, or two at the most, had always been sufficient to quell aTexan disturbance; now that there were three of them, he felt equal toan invasion of Mexican soil, if necessary. In consequence he relaxedhis watchful vigilance, and to Dave he drawled:
"We've got most of the leading citizens of the county, and I reckonsomebody in the outfit will be able to identify Guzman."
"There's no trouble about that, sir. We found him. Pedro and Raoul canmake sure." The sons of Ricardo Guzman stepped forward promptly, andLaw waved them toward the boat landing, where the two helpers werewaiting with Ricardo's remains.
Despite the Ranger captain's easy assumption of command, the strain ofthe situation had not subsided, and Longorio drew swift attention tohimself when he said:
"It is fortunate that I chanced to learn of this matter. You have doneme a great service, Senor Law, for I came to Romero purposely toexamine into the death of this unfortunate man. But I could learnnothing; nobody knew anything whatever about the matter, and so Ibecame convinced that it amounted to little. Now--behold! I discoverthat I was deceived. Or--perhaps there still may be a mistake."
Blaze Jones thrust his daughter aside and advanced toward the speaker."There's no mistake," he declared, belligerently. "I don't makemistakes when I go grave-robbin'. Don Ricardo was shot by your men. Hehad five thousand dollars on him, or he should have had, and he was anAmerican citizen. Your Colonel Blanco covered the body, but he'll havea hell of a job coverin' the facts. It's time we came to a showdownwith your murderin' outfit, and I aim to see if we've got a governmentin this country."
"Heaven guided my hand," devoutly breathed the general. "It isregrettable that you used this means when a word to me would haveserved the purpose, for--it is no trivial matter to desecrate a Mexicangraveyard. My country, too, has a government. An officer of the Stateof Texas, under arms, has crossed the Rio Grande. What does that mean?"
Captain Evans had a sense of humor; Longorio's ominous words amusedhim. "Say, general, it ain't the first time," he chortled. "And you'rean officer, too, ain't you? You're in Texas at this minute, and I'llbet if I frisked you I'd find that you was under arms." The Mexicanunderstood English sufficiently well to grasp the significance of thesewords. After a moment's consideration, therefore, he modified histhreatening tone.
"But my mission was friendly. I had no criminal purpose," he said,mildly. "However--perhaps one offense condones the other. At any rate,we must have no international complications. There is a more practicalside to the matter: if Don Ricardo Guzman met his death in Mexico therewill be a rigid investigation, I assure you."
Evans agreed. "That's fair! And I'll make a bargain with you: you keepstill and so'll we. We never aimed for this affair to get out, anyhow.I reckon these men"--he indicated Lewis and his followers--"ain'tliable to talk much."
The two Guzman boys, greatly moved, returned to announce that they hadindeed identified their father's body, and Longorio could not wellrefuse to accept their evidence.
"Very well," said he. "I am indebted to you. Since there is nothingmore to be said, apparently, I will return to Romero." With a bow toMrs. Austin, who had silently watched the play of these opposingmotives, he turned away, and Tad Lewis followed him.
But Dave Law had recognized Adolfo Urbina in the crowd, and, steppingforward, disarmed him, saying:
"Adolfo, there's a warrant for you, so I'll just take you in."
For a moment Adolfo was inclined to resist, but, thinking better of it,he yielded with bad grace, bitterly regretting the curiosity which hadprompted him to remain to the end of this interesting affair.
Tad Lewis gave him some comfort. "Never mind, Adolfo," he said. "Theycan't prove anything on you, and I'll go your bail. Ed Austin knowswhere you was the day that stock was stole." He and his two remainingmen moved toward their automobile, and a moment later the vehicle wentclattering away up the thicket road.
So ended the attempt to foil the return of Ricardo Guzman's body toTexas soil.
When Alaire came to look for her husband he was gone.