by Lon Williams
“That,” said Steepledore, “is a fair question. But, first, you’d better help yourself to supper. If you don’t pitch in, this food will vanish right before your eyes.”
* * * *
Steepledore and his companions pitched in, grabbed hunks of meat and sank their teeth into them. Winters forked a cut and placed it carefully on his plate. He lifted his fork again to spear a baked potato.
At that instant something brushed under his elbow. He looked down, saw a big hound swipe its jaws across his plate; his meat disappeared.
Rufus Hiloe wiggled his piggy nose. “Winters, you’ll have to watch that dog.”
“That’s right,” said Guy Fawkes. “You should kick him if he does that again.”
Winters frowned at their canine robber. “What’s his name?”
Fawkes said emphatically, “His name is Shep!” Winters drew down his lips. Fawkes seemed to have a chip on his shoulder; Winters didn’t like chips on shoulders. “That dog’s an awful tight-hide to be called Shep; should have a hound-dog name.” Steepledore angered. “Winters, you wouldn’t find fault with our dog’s name, would you?”
Winters counted hostile noses. “Oh, no,” he said quickly. “Shep’s a nice name.”
“All right then,” said Steepledore. “Have some more food.”
Winters speared a potato. “You didn’t tell what you’re doing here, Steepie.”
“That’s because you got interested in dogs. But I’ll tell you, Winters: we’re here for a mighty good reason.” He paused for emphasis, then said, “Winters, we’ve found it.”
Winters felt something strike his right arm. His baked potato disappeared. He turned in time to see Shep swallow it. “Be-confounded!”
One-ear Jenkins gave Winters a leathery look. “Winters, you ought to kick that dog; there’s no need to put up with such aggravation.”
“That’s my opinion, too,” said Marco Polo. “Why don’t you kick him?”
Winters would have liked to blow Shep’s brains out, but he figured he hadn’t better. “I never liked to kick a dog,” he said.
Sir Craggie Hornsworth nodded gravely. “Winters is right. I never liked to kick a dog myself, but there are times when a dog ought to be kicked.”
“Right,” declared Fawkes. “And there’ll never be a better time than now. Winters, you ought to kick that dog; if he stole my food like that, I’d sure kick him.”
Steepledore looked on expectantly, but was disappointed. “Winters, first thing you know, this food will be gone. Eat while you can.”
It was true enough, Winters discovered. Already hardly anything was left. But maybe it was just as well; he wouldn’t have trusted these monkeys and their food an inch anyhow. Yet he was hungry; he was sure he’d die if he didn’t eat. He reached for a shank of what he thought was antelope. Instantly their eyes bored into him, as if they begrudged him even one morsel.
“You said you’d found it,” he reminded Steepledore. “But you didn’t say what you’d found.”
At that juncture Shep lunged, snatched Winters’ shank of meat and gobbled it down, bone and all.
Diners all around laid down their knives and forks. Looks they beamed upon Winters were immeasurably belittling. Fawkes and Hiloe sighed like disgusted old women.
“Winters,” said Steepledore, “why don’t you kick that dog?”
“Sure,” said Fawkes. “Give him a kick he’ll remember.”
Jenkins said dryly, “Winters, any man who’s a man at all wouldn’t let a dog impose on him like you’re doing. You ought to kick his thundering guts out; that’s what I’d do. No dog could treat me like that.”
Sir Craggie said, “A dog tried something like that on me once. I kicked him clean over Finncastle Mountain.”
Winters said tartly, “Shep’s your dog; why don’t you kick him?” He faced Steepledore. “You said you’d found something, Dorie. What was it?”
“Winters, something is right.”
“Well, what was it?”
“We’ve found one of them golden cities.” Winters’ chin dropped. “You don’t say!”
They all wanted to talk then.
“One of Coronado’s cities,” said Hiloe.
“A city of Cibola,” said Fawkes.
“Gran Quivira,” shouted Polo.
“One of them that Spaniards looked for and never found,” avowed Sir Craggie.
Steepledore swelled proudly. “Yes, sir, Winters, we’ve sure found it. Gold enough to make your eyes pop. Not quartz; not nuggets. Pure gold!”
Polo declared gustily, “So much gold it would take a thousand ox-teams to haul it.”
“Gold that shines,” exulted Hiloe.
“So bright it gives its own light,” said Fawkes. Winters said, “I don’t believe it.”
“Now, see here, Winters!” stormed Steepledore. “Easy! Easy!” said Polo.
Steepledore remembered his manners. “Sorry, Winters; I forgot you’re our guest. But it’s right there—in that cave, Winters. Right under that mountain.”
Steepledore’s angry flare had irritated Winters. He said sarcastically, “Why don’t you brave men go in and get that gold? In my book, you ain’t found it until you’ve got it in your mitts.”
Steepledore tossed an arched glance at his companions. “Did you hear that, men? He says why don’t we go in and get that gold?”
Winters said crustily, “Well, why don’t you?” Steepledore winked at Sir Craggie. “Winters, Injuns are in there, that’s why.”
Winters continued sarcastic. “I reckon you’ve got ’em hemmed up in there.”
Steepledore eyed him severely. “That’s a way of putting it, sir. It happens we don’t know whether we’ve got them Injuns hemmed in, or they’ve got us hemmed out. One thing is certain, though; every time we try to get in there for that gold, they give us trouble.”
Winters scoffed, “Trouble is a two-handed game.”
Their dog Shep darted up and licked Winters’ face.
Steepledore sighed. “Winters, why don’t you kick that dog off of you?”
Winters thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea; he didn’t like having his face licked. Yet he was averse to kicking dogs, this one in particular. He said, “What kind of trouble do those Injuns give you?”
“They chase us out, Winters.”
Winters felt a hunger-gnaw, but when he looked for food, nothing was left except one small rib-bone wrapped in lean meat. He reached for that, but before he could get his teeth into it Shep lunged and grabbed it out of his hand.
Sir Craggie said impatiently, “Winters, we thought when you rode up that you might be a real man, but from how you let that dog run over you I’d say our first impression was wrong. Why in thunder don’t you kick him?”
“What is more,” said Fawkes, “he lets that nasty dog lick his face.”
Hiloe said, “A dog would never lick my face but once.”
Winters said, “Why don’t them Injuns come out and chase you fellers away?”
“Yeah, why don’t they?” sneered Polo.
One-ear stuck his leathery lips out. “They’ve tried it, Winters, but every time a redskin sticks his head out, we give it a whack; they give us trouble, and we give them trouble.”
Steepledore said, “But we aim to get that gold, Winters; someday we’ll catch them Injuns napping, and before they know what’s up, we’ll be heaving out of these mountains, loaded down with gold pots and pans. We thought we’d starve ’em, but we’ve been camped here forty-odd years, and they’re as hefty as ever. Must’ve had a million tons of jerky stowed away in that cave. There’s water, too; it spouts up just outside their first big room. May be water farther back, as well. We wouldn’t know, because we’re never in there far enough to find out.”
Polo poured himself coffee.
Winters picked up his own mug. “Pour me some of that.”
He reached for a bread-crumb just as his mug brimmed full. Shep lunged for Winters’ crumb and splashed hot coffee onto Winters.
There had to be a last straw, and that was it.
* * * *
Winters put down his mug. He swung his legs around and stood up. There was tense silence until Winters sank a boot-toe into Shep’s midriff.
Shep flew backward into a mountainside roll. He landed in a gulch, where he raced back and forth, turned, leaped, and went around and around. Meantime he yelped and howled, at last sounded downright human. Ow! Ow! Oh! Oh! Ow-oh! Exhausted, he lay down and moaned.
Orion Steepledore scowled at Winters. “You oughtn’t to done that, Winters.”
Hiloe snorted, “That was a mean trick, if ever was such.”
Fawkes arose. “I’m sorry I sat at table with a dog-kicker.”
One-ear got up, lifted his chin haughtily. “I’ve no respect for a man who’d kick a dog.”
Polo said nastily, “It violates hospitality; a man who’d eat at another man’s table, then get up and kick his dog, is an ingrate.”
Winters cast cold eyes upon them. “There’s this about it,” he said scornfully. “I’ve never set at another man’s table and et less in my life. Nor have I ever seen anybody with such ill-mannered dogs. Like dog, like master, I’ve always heard.”
He turned to leave, but at sound of sharp clickings he faced about. Six cocked guns were pointed at his stomach.
“You’re not leaving,” announced Steepledore; “we’ve decided to use you.”
Winters was calm, but sweaty. “How do you mean?”
Steepledore nodded toward a cave-opening just beyond their dogtrot porch. “We’ve heard you’re right handy with your gun, Winters; here’s your chance to prove it. Of course we’ll go with you, but you’ll lead. That’s what kicking our dog is costing you. If a blazing arrow gets anybody, it will be you. Anyhow, it will get you first.”
Winters knew now that he’d been tricked by these egging scoundrels. They’d urged him to kick their dog so they’d have a pretext to set him up against Indians. Both mad and scared, he drew a hand across his sweating forehead and considered whether he should go for his gun. He’d never had odds like this against him before. Considering what tough and unscrupulous rascals surrounded him he hesitated, then lifted his right hand away from temptation.
He said quietly, “I reckon you’ve got a lantern?”
“Fetch it, Marco,” said Steepledore, “and let me have it. You others keep your guns ready; we don’t aim to be tricked by no fast gunslinger like Lee Winters.”
They collected behind Winters, guns cocked and aimed. “Get going,” said One-ear.
Winters stepped ahead.
What they first entered was a gloomy anteroom about thirty feet wide, one hundred long. At one point its floor funneled smoothly downward into a pit of undetermined depth. A narrow trail passed around this hazard to where sidewalls and ceiling squeezed into a narrow, arched doorway.
Winters stopped there, stared at an oddly shaped wooden post about four feet high that stood nearby. “What’s that?”
“Not so loud, Winters,” Steepledore cautioned. “That’s a totem post. Look at that loose band of gold dangling round its base. But don’t try to get it; that post is a trap.”
Winters looked more closely. This was tricky, sure enough. Its top supported rock that needed no support. Its bottom rested upon a circular stone as big as a washtub and set like a cork in a round hole. At one side a stream of water sprayed upward. “Looks like that rock might be a stopper,” said Winters. “It’s my guess a real stream used to come through that hole.”
“I told you not to touch it,” snarled Steepledore. He jabbed Winters with his gun. “Get into that next room.”
“And don’t talk,” said Hiloe.
Winters contained his anger, pending a time when he’d get even with these ruffians. They moved single-file, Winters in front.
* * * *
What they entered next was a cavern with towering stalagmites and long, tapering stalactites. It did not seem possible that one small lantern could illuminate so large a room as this, for it spread away hundreds of feet, a labyrinth of columns and inverted spires. Yet upon their entrance it was filled with light as bright as noonday sun.
Steepledore whispered, “Everything’s covered with gold leaf, but don’t waste time with that; plenty of heavy stuff ahead.”
Urged by gun-pressure, Winters advanced, but cautiously. Suddenly he stopped. “I hear something.”
From a great distance came sound of hammering, not a ringing kind, but one muffled and dead.
Sir Craggie moved up beside Winters. “They’re hammering out more leaf, using up their precious gold to beautify this horrid cave. We ought to have stopped it long ago; if we hang around here another forty-odd years, that gold will be gone.”
“That’s right,” Steepledore agreed. “Move, Winters.”
Others crowded close. To Winters this indicated cowardice. When they approached what looked perilous on his right, they eased around to his left, then around to his right when his left seemed dangerously exposed.
Winters led on to a second arched doorway. There he stopped, nerves strained close to their limit of endurance.
“Move,” snarled Steepledore.
Winters tried vainly to swallow. He stepped through, paused, open-mouthed, breathless. Here was a vast forest of golden pillars. Long avenues led to remote, shining palaces. Arranged upon shelves along walls and around countless columns were vessels of gold, images, and ornaments without number. Red, green, and crystal-clear jewels sparkled from a million points. Wealth of ages! Gran Quivira! This was it.
No Indians could be seen, and now no sound could be heard. To Winters this meant presence of himself and of his rascally companions had become known. They looked at one another, fearful, uncertain what to do.
But greed for treasure overcame fear. Marco Polo moved past Winters to a nearby column and reached up for a two-eared vase of gold set with rubies.
Unaccountably he slipped and fell.
Pandemonium let loose. This strangely fascinating world became an inferno of savage yells and blazing, hissing arrows.
Hiloe, instantly afire, turned and fled.
One-ear Jenkins screamed, “I’m hit.” He, too, retreated.
Jenkins was followed by Fawkes, who burned furiously.
Steepledore alone remained calm. “Winters, they’re “giving us trouble again. We’d better back up”
Sir Craggie fled, a blazing arrow in his back.
Polo got to his feet and streaked away.
“Come, Winters,” said Steepledore. “You’ve failed us, as I feared you would.”
Winters gave him little mind. He saw redskins coming, thousands of them, their eyes a-gleam. He backed up, dodged behind pillars of gold. Everywhere now were streaks of flying arrows. Steepledore had departed.
Crowded closer and closer, Winters whipped up his six-gun. There followed rumble and roar like mountains falling; in an instant not a redskin could be seen.
Winters made tracks, escaped to that gloomy anteroom and near-safety.
* * * *
Here was that totem post again. He stared at it, and its carved, painted faces leered at him. Behind him, Indians peered from behind shining columns, but none ventured further pursuit.
Winters turned then to make his way out, exalted in spirit by a sense of victory. But he halted before he had completed a step.
“Stay put, Winters.”
That was from Steepledore. He was not alone. His five companions, badly scorched but determined, sided him. Winters’ exit was blocked. Dogs were there, too, Shep among them, his eyes malignant.
“What’s going on here?” demanded Winters, his voice distorted by a fresh attack of dry swallows.
“We aim to keep you, Winters,” said Steepledore.
“Sure,” said Polo. “With a fighter like you to help us, we’ll clean up on them redskins.”
They began to close in, men, guns, dogs.
“Don’t try any tricks, Winters,” Steepledore war
ned him. “We’ve seen how fast you are with a gun, but you don’t have enough loads left to do much harm. You’ll oblige us by lifting your hands. If you show fight, I’ll sic Shep on you; he’d tear you apart in two seconds.”
Winters backed up. For moments fright was uppermost, then anger assumed ascendency. He was cool when angry.
His right heel struck an upthrust. He glanced down. It was that round rock which served as stopper to an underground stream. His right hand touched wood. That totem post again! He closed his right arm around it, flung back his right leg for a brace.
“No, Winters,” Steepledore shouted.
“No, no,” screamed Hiloe. “It’s a trap; you’ll flood us out.”
Shep crept close and growled.
“We didn’t mean it, Winters,” shouted Fawkes. “We’ll let you go; turn loose of that post.”
Winters tested his strength, felt something give. He had only contempt for these scoundrels now. But Shep was close, his teeth snapping. If Steepledore gave a signal, Shep would tear at his throat. Already he felt Shep’s breath on his face.
Winters heaved. That queer post jumped in his arms; its rock stopper banged against ceiling and walls as a torrent shot upward. Lantern, yelps of terror, human screams, all were swallowed in a roaring deluge.
Winters, too, was engulfed. He was carried downward into cold, compressing darkness. In pulling, he had filled his lungs to near bursting. He now kept them filled as he funneled downward, through swirling,” pressing cold darkness, down into such watery depths that it seemed his life would be crushed out.
After ages he surfaced, felt warm air, saw stars and fragments of dark, silver-lined clouds. He was swept along on a turbulent stream, to what end he knew not. Indeed, he was not sure that he wasn’t dreaming.
* * * *
In Forlorn Gap, midnight quiet was near. Streets were deserted, except for a departing stagecoach.
Only one spot indicated that life willed to stay awake. That was Doc Bogannon’s saloon. There, Doc, friend of Deputy Marshal Lee Winters, gathered up glasses, washed and polished them. He looked at his watch nervously, for he’d had an uneasy day.
“Sorry, gentlemen, but it’s closing time.”
There was a crisp authoritativeness in his voice. His few remaining guests got up promptly and left.