“They’re after me,” said Rathburn bitterly. “They think I stole the pay-rolls. They can’t get me, Sautee––not alive. An’ if they get me the other way I’m goin’ to see to it somehow that I don’t get blamed for these jobs up here. Now, do you begin to see daylight?”
Sautee wet his dry lips. The figure on the floor stirred. The shouts from below sounded more distinct.
Rathburn’s gun leaped into his hand. “You better start hoping the shootin’ don’t begin till we understand each other, Sautee,” he said grimly. “We’ve come to the show-down!”
* * *
CHAPTER XXIII
QUICK FACTS
Disregarding the sounds which continued to come from below, Rathburn stood, gun in hand, regarding Sautee with a grim countenance and a cold look in his keen, gray eyes.
“I saw that truck driver held up, Sautee. I was on a ridge below the divide. I saw the tall man in the black slicker, his pardner, an’ the boy. I didn’t figure it would do any good to tell Mannix I’d taken in the show, an’ I was on my way to the desert. I’d be there now if Carlisle hadn’t overstepped the mark in that Red Feather place.”
Sautee pricked up his ears. “You let them arrest you,” he said. “Why–––”
“Because I knew Mannix didn’t know who I was an’ didn’t have anything on me,” said Rathburn quickly. “An’ I got peevish at Carlisle an’ plumb suspicious when he tried to make things look bad for me right there at the start. I began to wise up to the whole lay when you got me out of jail.”
Sautee’s face went white again.
“Your fine explanations of why you couldn’t get that money up to the mine were thin as water, Sautee. You could get that money up there if you wanted to, an’ when you asked me to carry the package to the mine it was a dead out-an’-out give-away. I reckon you didn’t play me to have any sense, an’ I don’t think you gave Carlisle credit for havin’ the brains of a jack rabbit, either.”
Rathburn laughed as the mine manager stared at mention of Carlisle’s name again.
“Don’t worry,” he said contemptuously. “I know it was Carlisle who held me up. I take it he figured that you’d actually put money in that package. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was him that you got to try that stunt. An’ he started away with the package as soon as he got it instead of sneakin’ back home to split with you. He double crossed you an’ you double crossed him an’ me. Now I’m double crossing the two of you.”
Sautee’s look had changed to one of anger. He glared at Rathburn, forgetting his predicament.
“You’d have a fine time proving any of this nonsense,” he found the courage to say.
“I’m not only goin’ to prove what I’ve said so far, but I’m goin’ to prove that these robberies were a put-up job between you an’ Carlisle, with somebody helping you,” said Rathburn. “I’ve been in the mining game myself, Sautee, but in our country men spend their lives hunting metal to make some bunch of stockholders rich. Maybe they get something out of it themselves, an’ maybe they don’t; but they’re square, an’ the men that run the mines are square ’most always. Anyway they develop properties, an’ that’s more’n you’re doing. You’re not doing this camp any good. You’re bleeding the mine an’ the company, too.”
“And I suppose you––The Coyote––are taking a hand in this business as a matter of principle,” sneeringly replied Sautee.
“I didn’t take a hand,” Rathburn pointed out sternly. “You an’ Carlisle forced a hand on me, an’ I’m goin’ to play it out. I’ve another reason, too,” he added mysteriously.
“Did you say you had Carlisle?” Sautee asked in feigned anxiety.
“I’ve got him dead to rights,” replied Rathburn shortly, taking some paper and a pencil from a pocket.
Sautee looked at him curiously as he started to write on the paper. “Going to write it all out and leave it?” he asked sneeringly.
“I’m going to put it outside the powder house in a place where Mannix or some of the others will be sure to find it,” was the puzzling answer.
“I suppose they’ll believe it quicker if it’s in writing,” said Sautee bravely.
Rathburn finished writing, folded the paper, and placed it in the left-hand pocket of his coat. He carefully put away the pencil. His next act caused Sautee real concern.
Using a drill which was there for the purpose, evidently, Rathburn broke open a box of dynamite caps and a box of dynamite. A single coil of fuse was lying on a box. He quickly affixed the cap to a stick of the dynamite and crimped on a two-foot length of fuse. Then he moved the opened box of dynamite to the doorway and struck the stick with cap and fuse attached into it.
“There,” he said, evidently greatly satisfied with his work. “That fuse will burn about two minutes–––” He paused. “That’s too long,” he concluded.
Perspiration again stood out on Sautee’s forehead as he watched Rathburn cut off a foot of the fuse.
“That’s better,” said Rathburn with a queer smile. “That’ll burn about a minute. Time enough.”
Sautee stared in horrified fascination at the foot of fuse which stuck straight out from the box of dynamite in the doorway. “What––what are you going to do?” he gasped out.
“Listen, Sautee,” said Rathburn coolly. “When that stick of powder explodes it’ll set off the box an’ the other boxes, an’ instead of a powder house here there’ll be a big hole in the side of the mountain.”
“Man––man––you’re not going to do––that!” Sautee’s words came in a hoarse whisper.
“I reckon that’s what I’m goin’ to have to do,” said Rathburn as he bent over the form on the floor of the powder house.
The boy’s eyes were open and were staring into Rathburn’s.
Rathburn lifted him to his feet, where he stood unsteadily. Again the gun was in Rathburn’s hand.
“This party is goin’ to leave us,” he said to the frightened mine manager. “I’m goin’ to step just outside for a minute. It’s your chance to make a break, Sautee; but if you try it I’ll send a bullet into that cap. Maybe you heard somewhere that I can shoot tolerably well,” he concluded in his drawl.
Sautee gripped the sides of the boxes piled behind him.
Rathburn led the boy outside and said quickly: “Just what is this man Carlisle to you?”
A look of fear, remorse, dejection––all commingled and pleading––came into the dark eyes that looked up into his.
Rathburn didn’t wait for a verbal answer.
“Your horse is just up the trail a piece,” he said hurriedly. “Get up there––go up behind the powder house, so the men below can’t see you. Swing off into the timber to the left and get down out of here. I’ll keep their attention. Go home.”
He waited a moment until he saw that his instructions were being carried out, then he leaped again to the doorway of the powder house.
Sautee’s face was livid, and his teeth were chattering. Rathburn took a match from his shirt pocket.
“Stop!” screamed Sautee. “I’ll talk. You were right. It was a frame-up. I’ll tell everything––everything!”
The perspiration was streaming from his face, and his voice shook with terror.
“You’ll have a chance to talk in less than a minute,” said Rathburn calmly.
A chorus of shouts came from the trail just below the powder house as a number of men came into view.
Rathburn stepped in front of the door with the match in his left hand and his gun in his right.
* * *
CHAPTER XXIV
THE SHOW-DOWN
A wild chorus of yells greeted him. He had surmised that the men had seen him coming back down the trail to the powder house with his human burden. Now he called Sautee into view. They would most naturally assume that it was the mine manager he had been carrying.
“Come to the door where they can see you,” he called to Sautee.
The ring in his voice brought Sautee, white-faced and shivering, t
o the doorway beside Rathburn.
Another round of yells followed the mine manager’s appearance. Then there was a sudden stillness. Rathburn saw that the crowd was made up mostly of miners. They paused in the wide place in the trail just below the powder house, and Mannix pushed to the fore.
“I want you, Coyote,” he called sternly.
“Now, don’t you think I know it?” replied Rathburn in a voice which carried to all the members of the mob. “You don’t want me for robbing this mine, Mannix; you want me for something you don’t know anything about––because I’ve got a record. Wait a minute!”
He shot out the words as the mob pushed a step forward.
“If you fellows take a couple more steps in this direction I’ll put a bullet into this box of dynamite!”
The movement stopped instantly. Men stared up at him breathlessly, for they realized that he meant what he said.
Mannix’s face was pale, but his eyes glowed with determination.
“Do you think it’s worth it, Coyote?” he asked.
“Step up here, Mannix, an’ listen to what this fellow has to say,” was Rathburn’s reply. “Men,” he called in a loud voice, “I’m lookin’ to you to give your mine boss an’ your deputy sheriff a fair deal.”
There was a murmur among the men. Mannix, after a moment of hesitation, stepped forward.
Rathburn swung on Sautee. “Tell him!” he commanded in a voice which stung like the crack of a whip on still air.
“I––I had a hand in the business,” said Sautee frantically. “It was Carlisle and me. We––we framed the robberies.”
Mannix’s eyes narrowed.
“Tell him where I got that money last night,” Rathburn thundered. “Tell him, Sautee, or, so help me, I’ll drill a hole through you!”
Sautee cowered before the deadly ferocity in Rathburn’s voice. “I had it in the––office––downtown,” he stammered. “There was blank paper in that package, Mannix. Let him go––let him go, Mannix, or we’ll all be killed!” Sautee cried.
Rathburn was looking steadily at the deputy. “Carlisle is roped an’ tied up the trail by the big rocks,” he said. “Send up there for him an’ bring him down here.”
Several of the men who were mounted spurred their horses up the steep trail. There was utter silence now among the men. Mannix, too, was cool and collected. He had not drawn his gun. He surveyed the quaking Sautee with a look of extreme contempt. The mine manager’s nerves had gone to pieces before Rathburn’s menacing personality. All he cared for now was his life. The black reputation he had given to Rathburn led him to believe that the man could not be depended upon, and that he was liable to carry out his threat and blow them all to bits. He wet his lips with a feverish tongue.
“Where’s the money you an’ Carlisle got away with?” demanded Mannix.
“I’ve got all I took,” whined Sautee. “I’ll give it back. I don’t know what Carlisle’s done with his. It was his scheme, anyway; he proposed it when he hit this country a year ago.”
“And the other man–––” suggested Mannix.
“Mike Reynolds,” cried Sautee. “But he was only in on the truck driver deal and––last night. Let The Coyote go, Mannix–––”
Then Sautee, in a frenzy of fear, an easy prey to the seriousness of the situation and his shattered nerves, told everything. He explained how it had been Carlisle who proposed getting Rathburn out of jail and making him the goat. He told of the worthless contents of the package he had given Rathburn to carry to the mine, how they had planned to rob him on the way and thus put him in a situation where he would have to get out of the country. He explained how Carlisle had pointed out that they had a club over Rathburn’s head in their knowledge of his real identity. He complained that Carlisle had intended to double cross him, and how he had double crossed Carlisle in turn. He ended with a whining plea for consideration at the hands of Mannix.
The men with Carlisle came down the trail. Carlisle was astride his own horse. His gun was in his holster.
“We’ve got you, you outlaw!” he cried as he flung himself from the saddle and strode up to Rathburn, Mannix, and Sautee.
Rathburn’s eyes had narrowed until they were slits through which his cold, hard gaze centered upon Carlisle. His attitude had changed. Even his posture was suddenly different. There was a long breath from the men behind Mannix. It was a tense moment. They could see the menace in Rathburn’s manner, and they could see that Carlisle was fighting mad.
“Ain’t you a little free with your language, Carlisle?” drawled Rathburn.
“You know who he is?” Carlisle cried to Mannix. “He’s The Coyote––an outlaw an’ a killer with a price a mile long on his head–––”
“But I ain’t never sneaked any miners’ pay-rolls, Carlisle,” Rathburn broke in with a sneering inflection in his voice. “What’d you do with Mike Reynolds? He was with you last night, wasn’t he?”
Carlisle’s jaw snapped shut. He swung on Rathburn with eyes darting red. Then his gaze flashed to the cringing Sautee.
“You––you rat–––”
Rathburn stepped before Sautee. “You haven’t any quarrel with him, Carlisle,” he said evenly; “your quarrel, if you’ve got one, is with me. I outguessed you, that’s all. You ain’t plumb clever, Carlisle. You ought to be in a more genteel business. I just naturally figured out the play an’ made Sautee talk, that’s all. I ain’t the only gent Mannix is wanting––there’s three of us here!”
Carlisle’s face was purple and working in spasms of rage. He realized instantly that Rathburn had spoken the truth.
“It was his scheme from the start!” shrilled Sautee from the protection of Rathburn’s broad shoulders.
Then the mine manager, unable to longer stand the strain, collapsed on the ground, groaning.
“Underhanded!” Carlisle shot through his teeth as Mannix stepped back. “An’ I heard The Coyote was a go-getter. By guns, I believe you’re yellow!”
“You’ve got a chance to try an’ finish what you started in the Red Feather the day I got here, Carlisle,” said Rathburn in ringing tones. “If you think I’m yellow––draw!”
A second’s hesitation––two figures in identical postures under the morning sun––a vagrant breeze murmuring in the timber.
Then two movements, quick as lightning––too fast for the eye to follow––and the roar of guns.
Rathburn stepped back, his weapon smoking at his hip, as Carlisle swayed for a moment and then crumpled upon the ground. Rathburn quickly drew the piece of paper from his left pocket and the roll of bills from his right. He put the note with the bills and tossed the roll to Mannix. Then he stepped back to the doorway.
“Join your men, Mannix,” he said quietly.
Mannix thrust the money into a pocket and stood for several seconds looking directly into Rathburn’s eyes. A curious expression was on the deputy’s face, partly wonder, partly admiration, partly doubt. Then he turned abruptly upon his heel and walked back to the gaping men.
Sautee struggled to his feet. Rathburn motioned to him to join the others, and he staggered down to them.
Then Rathburn coolly lit a match and touched it to the fuse sticking out from the box of dynamite.
There was a wild yell of terror, and the mob tumbled down the trail as Rathburn ran for the trail above the powder house. The men had disappeared when he turned. His gun leaped into his hand and he fired––once, twice, three times––the fourth shot cut the burning fuse, and with a sharp intaking of breath, he ran for his horse, mounted, and rode into the timber along the trail.
* * *
CHAPTER XXV
FILED!
Rathburn picked his way slowly through the timber around to the southeast and then directly down toward the town. It was slow going, and the man seemed to relish this fact. His face was thoughtful, wistful, a bit grave. He occasionally patted his horse’s neck.
“We’re on our way home, old hoss,” he said sof
tly. “Seems like we just had to stop off here.”
He fingered two small objects in his coat pocket.
“I wonder,” he murmured. “I wonder if I could be mistaken.”
He turned west after a time and rode carefully until he gained a worn trail. This he followed down toward town, and in half an hour he dismounted in the timber behind a small cabin at the side of the road to the hogback.
Rathburn went to the rear door and knocked. He received no answer, but sounds came to him through an open window. He opened the door softly and stole inside. There was no one in the kitchen. The sounds came from another room. He passed on into a bedroom and turned into another bedroom where he saw a figure in overalls lying on the bed. A great mass of dark hair covered the pillow. The form shook with sobs.
Rathburn laid a gentle hand upon the shoulder, and the face, which was quickly turned to him, was the face of a girl––the girl he had first seen when coming into the town, the girl who had been sitting the horse listening to Carlisle’s tirade, the girl the barn man had said was supposed to be Carlisle’s sister.
“They don’t know you were up there,” said Rathburn softly. “Your boy’s clothes fooled them, if they saw you at all. They probably thought I was carrying Sautee down the trail, for they found Sautee up there in the powder house with me.”
The girl sobbed again. Her eyes were red with weeping.
“Listen, ma’am,” said Rathburn gently. “I picked these up from the road the day the truck driver was held up.” He brought out two hairpins from his coat pocket.
“It set me to thinking, ma’am, an’ was one reason why I stayed over here to find out what was goin’ on. Maybe I’ve done wrong, ma’am, but I was hoping I’d be doin’ you a favor. I saw the look in your eyes the day Carlisle was talkin’ to you when you was on the hoss. I know you helped him in his holdups, dressed like a boy, but I figured you didn’t do it because you wanted to.”
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