by Al Lacy
While Tag and the others were being handcuffed with their hands behind their backs, and John Brockman was questioning Tag about the two women running away, Dr. Dane and Doke drew up.
“Did I hear right, Chief?” asked Dane. “Tharyn and another woman have run away?”
John nodded. “Yes. Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
Tag looked at Doke. His eyes were fiery, and his cheeks were locked in a flushed state of anger. “You dirty traitor! You led ’em here! Some friend you are!”
Doke met his fiery gaze. “I’m still your friend, Tag, but when I found out you told those two women at the church that you were going to kill Tharyn, I had to try to stop you before you did it. I’m glad to hear that she and Kathryn have escaped.”
Lucinda stood at the open door, tears in her eyes, as she looked at her handcuffed husband. Bart looked at her for a few seconds, then looked at his feet.
Chief Brockman said to his deputies, “Take these guys to Judge Yeager in Rawlins. I want him to know they are once again in custody. The judge can see to it that they are taken back to the prison. Dr. Logan and Doke will go with me. We’ll trail Tharyn and the other woman and find them.”
Having said thus, Brockman set his gaze on Lucinda. “We’ll leave you here, ma’am. No reason to take you to Rawlins.”
Lucinda’s lips were quivering, her face pinched. She avoided his gaze.
Brockman said to his deputies, “When you’ve seen to it that the gang has been put back in the prison, go on home. Once Dr. Logan, Doke, and I have found the women, we’ll bring them to Denver.”
The lawmen saddled and bridled the outlaws’ horses and hoisted them into their saddles. Bart gave his wife a despairing look as the lawmen led the gang away. Tag looked back and looked accusingly at Doke.
In his saddle, Tag didn’t show it, but he knew this time he would hang. He was terrorized at the thought of dying. As a youth, he had heard an evangelist preach twice. In both sermons, the evangelist warned of a burning hell for those who died without Christ. Chills slithered down his back.
Lucinda stood on the porch and wept as she watched the deputies and the gang members ride down the steep slope into the forest and vanish from sight.
Being an experienced tracker, John Brockman soon found tracks left by Tharyn and Kathryn in the woods, descending down the mountain to the southeast. Leading their own horses on foot, John, Dane, and Doke followed the tracks through the forest.
As they moved slowly among the trees, Dane looked at John with a smile. “I’m so relieved to know that Tharyn is alive. Praise the Lord!”
“Amen!” John said.
“Amen!” Doke echoed.
John grinned at Doke. “Not saved much more than a day, and you’re already learning how to talk right, Doke.”
Dane laughed. “He’s learning fast, Chief.”
As they continued down through the forest, following the tracks left by Tharyn and Kathryn, Doke’s conscience was bothering him about his guilt in making it possible for Tag and the others to escape from prison. He finally confessed it to Dane and Chief Brockman.
John said, “Well, Doke, as an officer of the law, I must arrest you for what you did. But since you confessed it on your own and are truly sorry, I will take you to Judge Yeager in Rawlins and ask him for clemency on your behalf.”
Dane said, “Doke, you’re a child of God now. I’m sure that because you confessed this to Chief Brockman, the Lord will have mercy and make it so Judge Yeager doesn’t have you put in prison.”
“I feel the same way, Doke,” said Brockman. “Don’t worry about it.”
It was almost noon when they found the women’s tracks leading to a log cabin beside a stream.
Dane’s heart leaped in his chest. Tharyn and Kathryn made it to safety! He ran ahead of the other two, jumped up on the porch, and knocked on the door.
John and Doke quickly followed and stepped up on the porch just as the door came open and an elderly woman appeared.
“Ma’am,” said an excited Dane, “are Tharyn and Kathryn here?”
Her wrinkled brow furrowed. She glanced at the other two—noting the badge on the tall man’s vest. “Well, just who might you be, young man?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am. My name is Dr. Dane Logan.”
She looked at Brockman. “I don’t have my spectacles on, but I think that badge says you are a United States marshal.”
John smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Chief U.S. Marshal John Brockman from Denver. Dr. Logan was to marry Miss Tharyn last week, but—”
“I know all about that.” She chuckled. “Well, that’s good enough for me. I jist didn’t want to be passin’ any information on about them two young ladies without knowin’ for sure who was askin’. I’m Martha Darby. I live here with my son, Will, and his wife, Nora. Please come in.”
“Are Tharyn and Kathryn here?” asked Dane, as she widened the door and they stepped inside.
“No, they’re not,” said Martha, closing the door behind them.
“Tharyn and Kathryn knocked on this door at four o’clock this mornin’. My son was already awake, though he was still in bed. He put on his robe and went to the door. Seein’ how frightened the young ladies looked, Will invited ’em in. After he had dressed and awakened Nora and me, we went into the parlor together. Tharyn and Kathryn told us the story—about Tharyn’s weddin’, the abduction at the weddin’ by those bad guys, and Tharyn bein’ kept a captive at the cabin.”
Martha looked at Brockman. “You’re gonna go arrest them bad guys, ain’tcha?”
“Already did, ma’am. My deputies are taking them to prison right now.”
“Good! Well let me explain now. Will and Nora have taken those two young ladies to the Larimer County sheriff’s office in Fort Collins. They left about eight-thirty this mornin’.”
Dane’s eyes lit up. “Praise the Lord! Chief, let’s head for Fort Collins!”
“We’ll just do that,” said John.
The three men thanked Martha Darby for the information. Elated to know that Tharyn and Kathryn were all right, they mounted up and rode for Fort Collins.
When Dane Logan, John Brockman, and Doke Veatch arrived at the sheriff’s office in Fort Collins and asked him about Tharyn Tabor and Kathryn Tully, Sheriff James Hoffman sat them down in front of his desk and said, “Well, gentlemen, I’ll tell you what. Those two young ladies are now on the train that left here for Denver just over an hour ago.”
John turned to Dane. “Looks like we missed them again.”
Dane smiled. “That’s all right, Chief. At least we know they’re safe, and soon Tharyn will be home with her parents. Thank the dear Lord for His loving mercy.”
“Amen!” said Doke.
“That’s right,” John said, nodding.
Hoffman grinned and leaned forward with his elbows on the desktop. “I took the young ladies to the depot myself. Tharyn asked me to send a wire to you at Central City, Dr. Logan. She wanted to let you know that she had escaped the clutches of the gang, was all right, and what time the train would arrive in Denver. She also asked me to wire the same message to her parents, and to add that she had a friend with her who would need to stay at the Tabor home for a while. I sent the telegrams immediately after the train pulled out.”
“Thank you for doing this for Tharyn, Sheriff,” said Dr. Dane. “I really appreciate it.”
The three men returned to their horses at the hitch rail in front of the office.
“Well, Doke,” said Brockman, “let’s ride for Rawlins. We’ve got to see Judge Yeager.”
While Doke was untying the reins from the rail, John turned to Dr. Dane. “When you and Tharyn set the new wedding date, Breanna, the kids, and I will be ready to do our part.”
Dane smiled. “It’ll be soon, I can tell you that.”
Dane started to say something else, but Doke spoke to Brockman: “Chief, do you think you can get me in to see Tag at the prison before he is hanged? I want to tell him about
my getting saved and try to lead him to the Lord.”
John smiled broadly. “As chief U.S. marshal, I’m sure I can arrange that for you.”
John then turned to Dane. “You were going to say something a moment ago.”
Dane grinned. “I was about to tell you that Tag is heavy on my heart, and that since I know Tharyn is safe now, I would ride with you and Doke to Rawlins, go to the prison, and ask to see Tag so I could try to lead him to the Lord before he is hanged.”
Doke’s eyes lit up. “Hey, that’s great!”
“Let’s go!” said John.
Before riding out of Fort Collins, they stopped at the Western Union office so both Dane and John could send telegrams.
Dane sent a wire to Dr. Robert Fraser in Central City, advising him that Tharyn was all right and on her way to Denver, and that he would be arriving home within three or four days. He also sent a wire to Tharyn in care of her parents, explaining that Chief Brockman and his deputies had arrested the gang at the hideout, and the deputies were escorting them back to the prison. He explained that he and the chief tracked her and Kathryn to the Darby cabin, and that Sheriff Hoffman explained that he had put both of them on the train to Denver this morning. Dane also wrote that he and the chief had to go to Rawlins, but they would be in Denver within two or three days. Dane added in the telegram that he loved her more than ever, and the wedding would be very soon.
John also wired Breanna and his office, explaining briefly about the capture of the gang, Tharyn being safely on her way to Denver, and he would be home soon.
While they were riding toward Rawlins, Doke said, “Dr. Logan, if Chief Brockman can get me permission, will you let me go to the prison with you so I can see Tag too?”
“Sure. I’d be glad to have you with me.”
John then told Doke of a good church in Fort Collins he should go to and gave him the pastor’s name. Doke said, “I most certainly will do that, sir.”
The next day, after spending the night in Rawlins’s only hotel, the three men went to the courthouse, and after a forty-five minute wait, were ushered into Judge George Yeager’s office.
The judge told them that Tag Moran was scheduled to be hanged at sunrise the next morning, then sat quietly and listened as Chief Brockman told him Doke Veatch’s story.
When Yeager had heard about Doke’s having planted the Derringer at the prison’s stockade fence, which resulted in the Tag Moran gang’s escape, then heard Doke humbly ask for clemency, admitting how wrong he had been, he thought on it for a long moment.
Before the judge opened his mouth to comment, John Brockman spoke a good word for Doke.
Yeager then said, “Mr. Veatch, it tells me a lot about your character, that you owned up to your wrongdoing to Chief Brockman when you didn’t have to. No one would have ever known. I’m going to mark your admission to this crime as forgiven. It will be sealed and locked away. However, should you ever commit another crime, this confession can be brought up and used against you. Do I make myself clear?”
“Oh yes, sir—I mean—your honor, sir. I just got saved a few days ago. I’m a born-again child of God. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll never disobey the law again.”
Yeager smiled. “Well, what do you know? I’m a born-again Christian myself, son. Tell you what, I’ll say as the Lord Jesus did to that repentant woman in John 8 who was taken in adultery: ‘Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’ ”
While John and Dane looked on, Doke bowed his head for a moment, then looked up at the judge, a smile of deep gratitude on his face. Rising from his chair, Doke extended his hand and grasped the hand of the judge. “Thank you, your honor, from the bottom of this saved sinner’s heart.”
The three men headed immediately for the prison, and based on Chief Brockman’s request, Doke was given permission by Warden Harold Quinn to go into a private room with Dr. Dane Logan to talk to Tag.
John Brockman waited in the warden’s office.
In his cell, Tag Moran was pacing the floor, terrified of dying and going to hell. He thought of the sermons he had heard that evangelist preach so many years ago, but could not recall what he had to do to be saved.
Wringing his hands as he paced, he shook his head. “Even if I could remember, what good would it do? As wicked as I’ve been, God wouldn’t forgive me anyhow. I’m doomed. There’s no hope for me. I—”
“Moran,” came the voice of a guard at the barred door, “you’ve got visitors.”
Tag stopped pacing, turned, and looked at him. “Visitors?”
“That’s right.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know them, but you do.” He inserted the key into the lock. “Let’s go.”
The guard ushered Tag down the corridor to a small, private room and opened the door. Tag was shocked to see Dr. Dane Logan and Doke Veatch already seated at a table in the room. As he stepped through the door, the guard said, “Since you’re gonna hang tomorrow, I’ll give you an hour, Moran.”
The door closed and a key turned in the lock.
As Tag sat on the third chair at the table, he noted that Dr. Logan had a Bible. Tag ran his gaze between the two men. “I—I’m, well I’m quite shocked to see you.”
Dr. Dane smiled. “We thought you might be.”
Tag blinked. “I’m glad you’re both here because I can make my apologies to you before I die.”
Dane and Doke looked at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking: Tag is not his old self.
While they listened, Tag told Doke he understood why he led the lawmen to the hideout, and that he did the right thing. He was only trying to save Tharyn’s life.
Doke nodded. “I’m glad you understand, Tag.”
Moran then set his gaze on the physician and apologized for the accusations he had made about his letting Darryl and Gib die because they were outlaws. “I was wrong, Doctor. I’m asking your forgiveness.”
“You’re forgiven, Tag,” said Dane.
Tag cleared his throat. “And … uh … Doctor, I’m sorry for abducting your bride. Did—did you find her?”
“No, but she and Kathryn made it to Fort Collins. The sheriff told us he put them on a train to Denver.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad.” Tag shook his head. “I’ve been so wicked! I’m so sorry that I killed those people when we were robbing the banks.”
“We’re both glad to hear that you’re sorry, Tag,” said Doke.
Moran wiped tears from the corners of his eyes and looked at the Bible that lay on the table in front of Dane. He raised his eyes to the doctor. “I’m scared, Doctor. I’m scared of dying tomorrow morning and going to hell. I haven’t been in church much in my life, but when I was young, someone took me to a revival meeting. I heard an evangelist preach about dying in your sins and going to hell. They took me to two services in that revival meeting, and the evangelist preached about hell both nights. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately.”
“I can see why,” said Dr. Dane.
Doke leaned close. “Tag, let me tell you a story.”
Tag nodded. “All right.”
Doke told him of Dr. Dane Logan leading him to the Lord and the peace he now had in his heart.
Tag was looking at him dumbfounded.
Doke grinned. “It’s true, Tag. And because I am still your friend, I want you to be saved. If you will listen, Dr. Logan will show you from the Bible how to be saved, miss hell, and go to heaven.”
Tag said eagerly, “Yes, I will listen!” His brow furrowed. “But—”
“But what?” asked Dr. Dane.
Tag’s eyes were now filled with tears. “I’m a murderer, Doctor. God can’t forgive me for that. Jesus doesn’t save murderers.”
Dane opened his Bible. “Let’s see what the Bible says about this, Tag.” He turned to 1 Timothy 1, then angled the Bible so Tag could see it. “Did you know that the apostle Paul had his hand in killing Christians before he got saved?”
Tag looked
stunned. “No.”
“Well, he did. Now I want you to see what the Spirit of God had the apostle Paul write here in verse 15. Read it to me.”
Tag focused on the verse. “ ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.’ ”
Dane looked at Tag. “Paul called himself the chief of sinners because of the wicked life he had lived before he was saved, Tag. Now, what did he say Jesus came into the world to do?”
Tag swallowed hard. “To save sinners.”
“Right. Are you a sinner?”
“Am I ever.”
“Then did Jesus come into the world so he could save you?”
“Well, I—uh—but I’m a murderer.”
“Jesus came into the world to save all kinds of sinners except murderers. Is that what it says?”
“Well, no.”
“All murderers are sinners, aren’t they?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does it say that Jesus came into the world to save sinners?”
“Yes.”
“Then are you going to say that He can’t save you and cleanse you of all your sins?”
Tag shook his head. “I can’t say that, Doctor. Since Jesus came into the world to save sinners, then He can save me too.”
Dane smiled at Doke, and Doke smiled back.
“Okay, Tag,” said Dane, “let me show you about Jesus dying on the cross and shedding His precious blood for our sins.”
Dane carefully took Tag through the Scriptures, showing him the gospel and God’s plan of salvation clearly. With tears flowing, Tag called on the Lord to save him, and great peace flooded his heart and soul.
When Tag had dried his tears, Dr. Dane said, “Tag, let me tell you what Tharyn said to me on the night before we were supposed to get married. She said, “ ‘Just think, darling. One more sunrise and I’ll be Mrs. Dane Logan!’ ”
Tag was watching the expression on the doctor’s face.
“Tag, you prevented that from happening by abducting my bride. But listen to me. You will indeed hang tomorrow at sunrise. One more sunrise and you will be in heaven. But nothing can prevent that!”