CHAPTER XXV.
THE LAST STAND.--CONCLUSION.
As the cow-puncher spoke, there came a sound from the direction of thegate which was filled with sinister significance.
Thud! Thud!
It echoed hollowly within the stockade. Buck Bradley was quick to readits meaning.
"They've got a big log or suthin, and are busting in the gate!" hecried.
A shout of dismay went up from them all. As it so happened, there hadbeen no time to bore any holes near the gate, and the only way to delaythe work of battering it down would be to clamber to the fence top andfire down into the insurrectos handling the battering ram.
But it needed no second thought to show that this would be madness. Atthe first appearance of a head above the stockade, they knew that halfa hundred rifles from without would pour a volley at it. It would nottake more than ten minutes to wipe out the whole garrison in this way.
"Nope. We'll have to think of some other plan," decided Buck. It isworthy of remark here that not one of the defenders of the mine hadever even hinted at a surrender. This was not due so much to the fact,as they knew, that it would only mean exchanging one form of death foranother, as it was to their grim determination to defend the mine atwhatever cost to themselves. It was the dogged American spirit thatprevailed at the Alamo.
"Aha! I haf idt!" burst out Geisler suddenly, after a few minutes ofdeep thought. "Dere is no hope uv safing dot gate?"
"Not the least," Buck assured him. "They'll have it through in a fewminutes now."
He pointed to the timbers which were already showing jagged cracks upand down their entire length.
"Veil," said the German, "der office uv der mine is made strong--ohvery strong, for behindt idt is der specie room. Ve can gedt by derinside in dere and fire through der vindows. And as a last resort veecan----"
He paused.
"We can what?" demanded Jack.
"Nefer mindt. I dell you later. Now is dot agreed upon?"
"It's about all we can do, I guess," grunted Pete, "unless we stay hereto be shot down."
"Den come mit me."
The German rapidly led the way across the yard to the office building.As he closed and barred the door, they noted that it was lined insidewith steel, strongly riveted to the oak. The windows also had steelshutters, cleverly concealed, in cases into which they slid, fromcasual view. In the windows, as well as in the door, were smallapertures for firing through.
"Why, it's a regular fort!" exclaimed Ralph, as the shutters clanged towith a harsh, grating sound.
"You bet my life idt's a fort," agreed Herr Geisler, "undt ledt me tellyou dot you needt a fort ven you have a specie room by dis country."
"Then the specie room is near us?"
"In there."
The German pointed over his shoulder at a door in the rear of theoffice.
"Idt is steel walled, undt dere is a combination lock on der door.Even if dey should kill us all, dey still have a tough nut to crack."
The German spoke calmly, and his blond features were absolutelyunruffled. No emotion appeared either on the weathered countenances ofCoyote Pete or Buck Bradley. The professor's face, though, was ashen,but he uttered never a word. As for the boys, who shall blame them ifit is said that their hearts were beating wildly, their mouths feltdry, and their brains throbbed.
It was the last stand, and they all realized it.
Unless help should come from an unforeseen source, they were bound toperish miserably at the hands of the insurrectos.
Suddenly, there was a great crashing, rending sound from without.Instantly a chorus of wild yells arose on the air, and shots were firedas if in exultation.
"They've busted the gate!" exclaimed Buck.
Peering through the apertures in the door and windows, they could seethe hoard come pouring into the yard of the mine. At first they camecautiously. They evidently recollected the steam, and feared anotherambush. In a few minutes, however, their confidence returned. Thewatchers could see a little man dart out from among the crowd and pointtoward the specie room and the office structure.
"The gold is within, my brothers!" he shouted in Spanish.
"Bodderation tage dot feller," sputtered Geisler, "a veek ago he vosder best vorkman ve hadt by der mine, undt now look at him."
With a howl, the insurrectos charged on the hut. The lust of gold wasin their veins, and they minded the volley poured into them by thedefenders no more than if it had been so much rain. Several of themfell, but it seemed to make no difference to the others. They chargedright up to the very doors of the place. Some of them even tore at thewalls as if they imagined they could demolish them and get at thegringo gold.
"Dot is vot goldt does for mens," philosophically remarked the German,as he gazed at the onrush, firing methodically at the same time.
Jack, Ralph, and Walt were at one of the windows, while the professorand Coyote Pete defended the other. During the mad rush for theoffice, they all did considerable execution, without, of course, anycost to themselves. The Mexicans, to be sure, returned the firefuriously, but their bullets "pinged" harmlessly against the steelshutters, or buried themselves in the thick, wooden walls.
Suddenly there came an angry shout from some one evidently in authorityamong the insurrectos. Instantly the attack melted away, theretreating men dragging their wounded with them. It was Jack's firstsight of real warfare, and it made his blood, as well as that of theothers, run cold.
"Now what are they up to?" wondered Buck, as this sudden cessation ofactivities came.
"Search me," rejoined Coyote Pete, "but it's some deviltry, you can beton that--that voice was Ramon's. He's got a plan in his head to get usout of here."
"Well, he'll have a man's-sized job on his hands," rejoined Buck,calmly reloading the magazine of his rifle and running a cleaning rodthrough the foul barrel.
The others employed their time in the same manner. Thus they waitedfor what seemed an interminable age. Still there was no sign of theMexicans. The yard without was empty of life.
"If they don't show up in a few minutes, what say if we open the doorand make a rush for it?" asked Jack.
"As good an idea as any," rejoined Buck, "but what I would like to knowright now is what they can be doing."
"Queer, ain't it?" said Pete.
They all agreed that it was, but not one could hit upon an explanationthat seemed plausible.
Suddenly, Buck, who had been sniffing suspiciously for a few seconds,gave a sharp exclamation.
"Do you fellows smell anything?"
"No----" began Jack, and then:
"Good heavens, yes! Something's on fire!"
"That's right," agreed Pete, without a quaver in his voice. "Thevarmints hev set fire to the building from the rear."
"That's what!" rejoined Buck, "and we can't get within a mile of them.I don't suppose there are any rifle holes in the specie room are there,Mr. Geisler?"
"Nodt a vun," rejoined the German, in a peculiar voice, and then theynoticed, in the gloomy light of the closed-up place, that his face wasashen white.
It was clear that the German was badly frightened. His knees seemed tobe knocking together, in fact. Small wonder, too. The sharp, acridsmell of blazing wood was in the air now. They could hear the crackleof the flames as they devoured the wooden outer walls of the specieroom.
"Come, cheer up, my man," Buck admonished the quaking German. "Whyyou've stood it all through like a major, and----"
"Idt ain't dot. Idt ain't dose mis-er-able creasers dot I'm afraidof," rejoined the German in a quavering voice.
"What then?"
"Dot room behindt us contains, besides der specie, almost a ton ofdynamite!"
"Great jumping wildcats!"
The exclamation dropped from Buck's lips. The others were toothunderstruck to utter a word.
"There's only one thing to do," spoke up Pete, his words fairlytumbling out of his mouth in his haste. "We must open t
he door and, ata signal, make a rush for it. We may never get through, but it'sbetter than being blown up as we shall be if we remain here. Theinsurrectos must have left their horses somewhere near at hand. Maybewe can find them and escape."
"It's one chance in a thousand!" exclaimed Jack. "But perhaps thiswill be the thousandth time."
"Let us pray so!" exclaimed the professor fervently.
Buck had sprung to the door. His hand was on the bar. He knew, as didthey all, that there was not an instant to lose. Their lives hung by ahair. At any moment the flames might reach the dynamite andthen--annihilation, swift and terrible.
"Now!" he cried, dropping the bar. A strange light, not of fear but ofdetermination, gleamed in his eyes.
Clang!
The bar fell to the ground, and the besieged party dashed forth, firingas they emerged.
Suddenly, from without, and just as the insurrectos espied the daringsortie, there came the shrill notes of a bugle. At the same instant aringing cheer came over the top of the stockade.
What could it all mean? As if in a dream, the boys saw the insurrectospicking up their rifles and rushing toward the gate. But before theycould reach it, a glorious sight greeted them.
A regiment of regular Mexican cavalry, the men with their carbinesunslung, pouring a disastrous hail into the swarming insurrectos,suddenly swung through the shattered gateway.
Shouts and cries responded everywhere within the stockade. Theterrified insurrectos dropped their rifles and ran hither and thitherin mad, frenzied panic. It was every one for himself. Over thestockade they clambered, many paying toll with their lives before thecarbines of Diaz's troopers.
But in the midst of the turmoil a clear, boyish voice arose.
"Back! Get back, for heaven's sake!"
The officer of the Mexican regulars heard, and wheeled his men. Herecognized the thrill of warning in Jack Merrill's tones.
Stumbling forward, the suddenly relieved party of Americans dartedtoward the gate for their lives. On down the hillside they fled, withthe cavalry surging behind and about them.
"What is it? What is the matter?" gasped the officer in English, asJack stumbled along at his side.
The lad gasped out one word:
"Dynamite!"
Hardly had it fallen from his lips before the ground shook as ifconvulsed with an earthquake. A red flame shot skyward behind them,and a mighty, reverberating roar went rumbling and echoing over thecountryside.
The flames had reached the explosive.
Almost at the same instant a shower of embers, debris, and odds andends of all descriptions came showering about the retreating force.Several were cut and bruised by the shower, but none seriously.
Fortunately, also, beyond causing several of the cavalry horses to boltin mad terror, no damage was done to the troops or our friends. Thesituation was rapidly explained to the wondering officer whose name wasCaptain Dominguez, in command of the force detailed to guard therailroad.
"We learned at Rosario that you had come to the mine," he said, inexplanation of the troops' opportune arrival, "and, knowing that Maderowas in the habit of raiding mines and was in the neighborhood, we madetop speed to the rescue."
"And we're all mighty happy to meet you, you kin bet, captain," chimedin Buck, "but ef yer hadn't arrived when you did, we would not have hadthe pleasure."
"No, I can see that," rejoined the young officer, gazing off down thehillside.
In every direction could be seen Mexican troopers pursuing rebels,shooting them down, without mercy when fight was shown, in other cases,making prisoners. The rout of the insurrectos was complete and final.
Suddenly a figure on horseback was seen coming at a hard gallop towardthe little group surrounding Captain Dominguez.
"It's Harding!" gasped Jack, as the figure drew closer, and indeed itwas the former West Pointer. But he was in sad case. His shirt wastorn almost from his back, his features blackened and seared, and a redstain showed upon his chest.
"He was in that explosion, the precious scoundrel!" grated out Buck, ashis eye took in these details. "He was one of the fellers that setthat fire."
Straight for the little party Harding rode. But before he reached themtwo Mexican troopers interposed. They raised their carbines and thenext moment would have been Harding's last, but for Jack.
"Don't let them fire!" he begged.
The captain shouted an order and the troopers lowered their weapons.Straight on for the party rode Harding, toppling out of his saddle ashe reached them. The fellow was badly wounded. He had been struck bya flying splinter in the explosion of the dynamite.
"Ah, a countryman of yours," remarked the captain, with a tinge ofsarcasm. "You should be proud of him, senors."
But Jack was on his knees beside Harding.
"Where is my father, Harding? Tell me quick!"
"I will," gasped out the wounded man. "Madero had him tied in thatgrove yonder. He wished him to see the destruction of his mine, hesaid, and----"
The man fainted. Rascal as they knew him to be, the boys were soonapplying such remedies as they could--all but Jack, that is. The boy,on Harding's pony, was off at lightning speed for the grove Harding hadindicated. As he entered it, he spied Mr. Merrill tied, as Harding hadsaid, to a tree. Of the meeting between father and son we prefer tolet each reader draw his own mental picture.
"Merrill, forgive me!" breathed Harding, who had recovered from hisswoon a few moments after as Jack and his father came up from the grove.
"I may forgive you, Harding," rejoined Jack, "but I can never forget."
And forgive Jack did, as he showed by interceding for the man andhaving him removed to a hospital near Rosario. Harding ultimatelyrecovered and of his further movements we have no knowledge. He faredbetter, however, than Hickey, Divver and Rafter, who were captured bythe government forces and sentenced to death by a summary court-martial.
Mr. Merrill rapidly explained that he had ridden ten miles or more fromthe mine with Harding before he became suspicious. He then askedHarding point blank where his son was, and the fellow's reply had beento give a peculiar whistle. Thereupon several insurrectos had leapedfrom the bushes and made the mine owner captive. As Harding had toldJack, Madero, with fiendish cruelty, had tied him in the grove towitness the annihilation of his own mine.
After a short pause, during which restoratives were administered to thealmost exhausted Americans from the Mexican officers' field kit, theyheaded for the mine to ascertain what damage had been done by theexplosion. Almost the first object that met their eyes as they nearedthe stockade was a jagged break in the structure caused by a largeobject that had come crashing down upon it. On closer view this provedto be the steel safe in which the gold had been placed. On opening thereceptacle, everything was found intact, a fact which the makers of thesafe are now using as a testimonial, as you may have noticed as youpassed their Broadway store. The testimonial is signed by ConradGeisler, who is now Mr. Merrill's partner.
Well, there is not much more to tell of this part of the Border Boys'adventures. As it may be of interest, however, to relate the furtherhistory of the underground river and the Haunted Mesa, we shall set itdown here. Ramon escaped from the general disaster to the insurrectosat the Esmeralda Mine, and apparently rode straight from there to themouth of the underground river he had long used to such good advantage.At any rate, when the boys visited it later, they found that acunningly set explosion had completely blocked the passage fornavigation, and the secret route of the forgotten race was foreverclosed to man. As for the Mesa, you can read all about itscientifically described in Professor Wintergreen's monograph on thesubject.
The ponies and the redoubtable One Spot, Two Spot, and Three Spot werelocated at the Mesa, where they had been left in charge of Ramon's men.All were fat and in good condition, and Firewater was very glad to seehis young master again.
By the way, Bill Whiting is now stationed in charge at the importantrailroa
d center of El Paso.
* * * * * *
"Wall," remarked Pete, as they rode toward the ranch one evening, "Iguess things 'ull be quiet now fer a while."
"Hope so," rejoined Buck Bradley. "I wired Stow ter bring my show terMaguez and you can all have free passes."
Jack thanked the genial showman on behalf of his companions, and thenreminded him that Ramon was still at large, although the insurrectoswere almost subjugated.
"Yes, consarn that pesky critter with the finest horse I ever set eyeson,--and while he's alive ther'll be no peace along the border."
"That's right," agreed Pete. "He's a natural born trouble-maker. ButI guess so far as we are concerned we are through with him."
But Coyote Pete, accurate as were his usual judgments, was wrong inthis. Black Ramon and his horse will figure again in these stories,and it will then be seen how the boys finally brought him to book forhis misdeeds.
* * * * * *
The shadows are falling over the plains and the foothills are purplingin the clear twilight of the southwest. In the sunset sky the brightlone star of evening glimmers. Let us now say good night and good luckto the Border Boys till we meet them again in a new volume of theiradventures to be called: "THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS."
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