Skeleton Lode

by Ralph Compton

  “Jubal,” said Dallas, “thanks to them two dead hombres, Sheriff Wheaton will be looking for us to answer some tough questions. We’ll be out at Hoss Logan’s cabin for a while till we can scratch up some money for wagons and mules.”

  “Back to the freightin’ business, then?” Jubal asked.

  “Hell of a lot more secure than runnin’ a saloon,” replied Arlo. “Nobody’s ever burnt our wagons down.”

  The partners saddled up and rode out, Dallas astride a black stallion and Arlo on a sturdy gray. They had taken their gun rigs out of their saddlebags, and each of them now wore a tied-down Colt on his right hip. Arlo stood six four without hat or boots, and weighed near two hundred pounds, none of it fat. Dallas matched him so nearly the difference wasn’t worth arguing. Dallas’s broad brimmed, flat-crowned gray Stetson was tilted low over his smoke-gray eyes. His hair was crow-black, curling down to his ears. Arlo’s Stetson was the deep tan of desert sand, its three-cornered brim roll pointed to the front, with a pinch crease in the high crown. His hair was mahogany, and his dark brown eyes were flecked with green. Both men wore brown Levi’s, flannel shirts, and scuffed rough-out high-heeled boots. Arlo would be twenty-three his next birthday, while Dallas was a year younger.

  Henry Logan, known far and wide as “Hoss,” had a cabin near Saguaro Lake, a few miles north of Tortilla Flat. For twenty years Logan, accompanied by a mute Indian called Paiute, had prospected the Superstitions, confident that one day he would find the gold for which the Spanish had searched in vain. He was often away for weeks or months at a time, returning only when starvation nipped at his heels. When Arlo and Dallas had first ridden into the territory, they had stopped at Hoss Logan’s cook fire for a meal. A friendship developed, and the old prospector invited Arlo and Dallas to bunk at his cabin whenever their travels took them through his land. Once Arlo and Dallas had begun to earn a little money, they had often grubstaked the old man in his futile search for gold.

  “Hoss has been out since before Christmas,” said Dallas. “I hope nothing’s happened to him.”

  “He’s spent so many years in the Superstitions,” Arlo replied, “I don’t believe even the Apaches would bother him.”

  They found the three-room cabin neat and undisturbed. There was wood for a fire and a tin half full of coffee beans, but little else.

  “My God, it’s quiet out here,” said Arlo. “It’s some-thin’ a man don’t appreciate until he’s killed two years listenin’ to drunks cussin’ one another, bottles and shot glasses rattlin’ and cards slappin’ on the table.”

  “You talk like an hombre whose gamblin’ days are behind him,” Dallas said.

  “We rode out of Texas five years ago,” Arlo reminded him, “and we been livin’ hand to mouth ever since. Don’t you ever hanker for somethin’ better?”

  “Yeah,” Dallas replied, “but what choices have we got? Fence-ridin’ cowboys at thirty and found? Our own ten-cow rawhide spread, sixteen-hour days, and not even enough money to buy a sack of Durham? We been starved out of the freight business and burnt out of the saloon business. Pard, there ain’t a hell of a lot left.”

  “Maybe old Hoss has the right idea,” said Arlo. “You look for gold, and even if you never find it, there’s always that hope. We don’t even have that.”

  Arlo and Dallas rose at dawn, had their coffee, and by midmorning were thoroughly bored. But it didn’t last long. Shortly before noon, to the surprise of neither of them, Gila County sheriff Harley Wheaton rode in.

  “Step down, Harley,” said Dallas, “and come in.”

  Clearly. Harley Wheaton didn’t relish the times when duty demanded he straddle a horse. A big man, he weighed more than he could comfortably carry. He was gruff and outspoken, but friendly enough, for a lawman. He followed Dallas into the cabin, and eased himself down on a three-legged stool with a sigh. Dallas and Arlo sat on the bunks.

  “I reckon you gents know why I’m here,” said Wheaton. “I got nineteen different versions of what happened last night, and I got to add yours to the pile.”

  “It ain’t complicated,” Arlo said. “Gambler shot a man, the dead man’s pards bashed in the gambler’s head, and then the varmints burnt down our saloon. End of story.”

  “I don’t reckon you knowed the gambler, then?” asked the sheriff.

  “If you’re suggesting he might have been a house dealer,” Arlo said, “the answer is a definite no.”

  “Me and Arlo dealt for the house.” said Dallas, “and in all the months we had the Gila, nobody ever caught us slick-dealing.”

  Arlo cast him a warning look, and the sheriff laughed.

  “I reckon,” said Wheaton, with a sigh that might have been regret, “you ain’t plannin’ to rebuild the Gila.”

  “With what?” Arlo asked. “We put everything we had back into the place. You ain’t aimin’ to make it hard on us because of the killings, are you?”

  “No,” said the sheriff. “I’m takin’ your word that you had nothin’ to do with the gambler’s death. He started it, and far as I’m concerned, he got what was comin’ to him. While I’m here, though, there’s somethin’ else I need to know. When did you last see Hoss Logan?”

  “Last fall,” Arlo said. “October, I think. Why?”

  “He left some ore at the assayer’s office,” said the sheriff. “Almighty rich ore, too. The California gold rush started over less. The assayer claims this ore sample didn’t come from any of the known mines in Arizona Territory.”

  “Damn considerate of him to get the word out,” Dallas said. “Every owl-hoot from New Orleans to San Diego will be lookin’ for Hoss, wantin’ his claim.”

  “Don’t be so quick to blame the assayer,” replied Wheaton. “Peterson only mentioned it to me because Hoss has been gone more’n six months. Why would he leave evidence of a big strike like that and make no move to register the claim? Peterson thinks something may have happened to Hoss, and I think he may be right. You gents are closer to him than anybody else, and that’s why I’m tellin’ you this. Has he ever said anything to you about a strike, or about leavin’ some rich ore with the assayer?”

  “No to both questions,” Dallas said. “We staked him as usual, and we haven’t seen him since.”

  “You’re leadin’ up to something, Sheriff,” said Arlo. “What?”

  “This,” Wheaton said. “Sure as hell, something’s happened to Henry Logan, and but for you gents, I can’t think of a soul who’d ride off into the Superstitions to look for him.”

  Arlo and Dallas looked at one another. With the saloon gone, and without the necessary money for wagons and teams, what else did they have to do? Even if old age or Apaches had caught up with Hoss Logan, they could at least find the old man’s bones and bury him proper. As friends, they owed him that.

  “All right,” Arlo said. “We’ll have to round up some grub, but come mornin’, we’ll ride out and look around some.”

  With the dawn, however, circumstances changed. Arlo and Dallas were awakened by the braying of a mule—Hoss Logan’s mule. Astride the gaunt little beast sat Paiute, the mute Indian. Without so much as looking at Arlo and Dallas, Paiute slid off the poor mule. He wore moccasins, out-at-the-knees Levi’s, a dirty red flannel shirt, and a black, uncreased high-crowned hat over his gray braids. When Paiute finally did look at them, it was without expression. From the front pocket of his Levi’s, he took a soft pouch of leather, closed with a drawstring and presented it to Arlo. The bag was small but heavy, and Arlo removed a chunk of ore the size of his hand.

  “My God!” said Dallas. “I’ve seen gold ore before, but nothin’ like that.”

  “There’s something else in here,” Arlo said, extracting a paper that had been folded many times to fit into the pouch. It proved to be two sheets of rough tablet paper. The first page was a letter, printed in pencil. Dallas crowded close, and they both began to read.

  Arlo and Dallas:

  The doc says there’s somethin’ eatin’ away at my insides, a
n’ I got maybe six months. I ain’t wantin’ to be a bother to nobody. When Paiute brings this to you, the six months will be gone, an’ so will I. There’s gold in the Superstitions, an’ I’m sendin’ you this ore as proof. You gents always treated me fair, stakin’ me an’ standin’ by me, and I ain’t forgot. Half of the strike is yours, an’ all I’m askin’ is that you be sure my only blood kin gets the other half. Kelly and Kelsey Logan is my brother Jed’s girls, back in Cape Girardeau. Jed was killed a year ago, an’ the girls ain’t of age, so I’m trustin’ you to see they ain’t cheated. That fool woman Jed left behind went an’ married a no-account skunk I’ve knowed all my life, name of Gary Davis. Me an’ him was pards once, until he took a girl I aimed to marry an’ ruint her. I don’t like the way he was so quick to move in after Jed was killed. He’ll try to steal the gold I aim for Jed’s girls to have, and he’ll kill you for your share if he can. He’ll have the piece of map I’m sendin’ the girls, but he’ll never find the gold without your part of the map an’ your help. Look for the skeletons of the Spaniards who died for the gold, and when the full moon looks down on the dark slopes of the Superstitions, remember your old pard,

  Hoss

  “Damn!” said Arlo. “He expects us to go lookin’ for a mine littered with bones, takin’ with us a pair of underage females and their sidewinder of a stepdaddy.”

  “Hoss didn’t say how his brother died,” Dallas said, “but I get the feelin’ this Gary Davis might have had something to do with it. You reckon Paiute knows where Hoss is?”

  “Hell,” said Arlo. “I ain’t sure Paiute knows where he is himself.”

  The object of their conversation sat with his back against a pine tree, staring vacantly ahead.

  “Well,” Dallas finally said, “we’re old Hoss’s last hope where those poor girls are concerned. Let’s look at our half of the map.”

  The map seemed pitifully inadequate. There was a jagged line with a half circle above it, with an arrow pointing away from the half circle. At the barb of the arrow there was an inverted V, and above that a crude death’s head. There was nothing more.

  “Does that tell you anything?” Arlo asked.

  “Yeah,” said Dallas. “Hoss is givin’ us credit for bein’ a hell of a lot smarter than we are. What do you make of it?”

  “I think this is the map. AH of it. As Hoss figured, this scheming Gary Davis will have to work with us.”

  “Or kill us,” Dallas said. “Hoss mentioned that, too. What he didn’t say is whether or not he sent an ore sample to Missouri.”

  “You can be sure he didn’t,” said Arlo. “That accounts for the ore sample he left with the assayer. Hoss wanted to be dead sure this Gary Davis rides into the Superstitions. By the time he gets to us, he’ll have a bur under his tail as big as Texas.”

  “I reckon we’ll end up shootin’ the varmint,” Dallas said. “Maybe that’s the price we’re payin’ for half a gold mine. Where do we go from here?”

  “As much as I hate to,” said Arlo, “we’ll have to ride to Phoenix and tell the sheriff about this. Otherwise, he’ll be expecting us to begin a search for Hoss. If we take this letter from Hoss as gospel—and there’s no reason not to—then we’ve eliminated the need for a search. Instead of lookin’ for Hoss, we’ll be lookin’ for the gold.”

  “Damn the luck,” Dallas spat. “We let the sheriff read this letter, and we’re lettin’ him in on the gold.”

  “Forget about the sheriff,” replied Arlo. “Even if we could keep him in the dark, there’s no way we can keep a lid on this. Next thing you know, them underage Logan females and their coyote of a stepdaddy will be here, and God knows what kind of stink they’ll stir up.”

  “Well,” Dallas sighed, “long as we got to, let’s ride in and talk to the sheriff. We can stock up on grub while we’re there.”

  After ensuring that Paiute had enough sustenance, the pair saddled their horses and rode out, leaving the mute Indian seated with his back to the pine. Reaching Phoenix, Arlo and Dallas went straight to the sheriff’s office and found Wheaton alone. Without a word, Arlo handed the sheriff the hand-printed letter from Hoss Logan.

  “He mentions gold ore and half a map,” said Wheaton, after reading the letter.

  “All right,” Arlo sighed, producing the leather poke with the ore and the strange map. “I reckon you might as well know as much as we do, because I got a gut feeling this thing may blow up into one hell of a mess.”

  “I expect you’re right,” said the sheriff, “and before it’s done, you may be almighty glad you leveled with me. From what Hoss has written, this Gary Davis is a lifelong enemy. Why did Hoss send half the map to these Logan girls, knowin’ their stepdaddy would get his hands on it? That part don’t make sense.”

  “Neither does leavin’ gold-rich ore with the assayer for six months and not registering the claim,” Arlo said.

  “Old Hoss planned all this,” said Dallas. “He must have had some reason.”

  “There’s a wild card somewhere in the deck,” agreed the sheriff, “and Hoss is countin’ on you boys findin’ it. Once this Gary Davis shows up, you’d best not let him shuffle the cards. Stick around the Logan cabin, and I’ll send word when your new partner from Missouri arrives. What are you goin’ to do with the old Indian?”

  “I don’t know,” Arlo said. “He’s no help to us.”

  “Let’s bring him to town,” Dallas said with a grin. “He can bunk in the juzgado.”

  “Like hell,” said Sheriff Wheaton. “I ain’t runnin’ a mission.”

  Arlo and Dallas went to a general store and bought supplies for two weeks.

  “We’ll have to do some serious buying before we ride into the Superstitions,” said Arlo, “but we might as well wait till these folks from Missouri show up with the rest of the map. They may not even want to ride with us.”

  “I hope they don’t show up broke, expectin’ us to supply horses and grub,” said Dallas.

  “I hope they do,” Arlo replied. “That will be reason enough to leave them in town and search for the gold on our own.”

  “You know better than that,” said Dallas. “This bunch will already have a good case of gold fever, and if they have to, they’ll crawl to the Superstitions on their knees.”

  Chapter 1

  When Arlo and Dallas reached the cabin, they found the mule cropping grass, but the aged Indian was nowhere in sight.

  “He couldn’t have gone too far on foot,” Dallas said.

  “Maybe he went down to Saguaro Lake to take a bath,” said Arlo. “He sure could use one.”

  Paiute had been to the lake, and when he returned an hour later, he had a dozen big trout strung on a rawhide thong.

  “Well,” Arlo sighed, “I reckon we got us an Indian. Thank God he’s not as worthless as he looks.”

  Two weeks after Paiute had brought the message from Hoss, Sheriff Wheaton sent a rider to the Logan cabin with a summons for Arlo and Dallas. What remained of Hoss’s blood kin had arrived. When Arlo and Dallas reached the sheriff’s office, they found the lawman looking grim.

  “You’re in for it, boys,” Wheaton said. “They’re at the Frontier Hotel, and there’s six of ’em. The Logan girls are beauties, but the rest—my God! This woman, mother to the Logan girls, is gussied up like the Queen of England. Her nose is heisted so high, in a hard rain she’d drown. Gary Davis, her new husband, ain’t no Missouri shorthorn. He’s a curly wolf if I ever seen one, totin’ a tied-down Colt. There’s a scrawny little varmint called Barry Rust, who’s a friend to Davis, and he’s carry in’ a hideout gun under his coat. Then there’s R. J. Bollinger, a gunslingin’ killer of some repute. I’ve heard of him. Seems the sidewinder was run out of Texas by the Rangers.”

  “You learned a mighty lot in a hurry,” said Dallas.

  “Routine,” Wheaton said. “I make it a point to meet the stage so’s I know who’s new in town. When strangers are lookin’ for somethin’ or somebody, an’ they see me standin’ there
, it ain’t unusual for ’em to ask questions of me. Sometimes I am the first in town to know who they are an’ why they’re here.”

  “Well, you know why this bunch is here,” Arlo said. “You’re in this deep enough that you’re entitled to set in on whatever happens at the hotel. Come on.”

  “This varmint Barry Rust done most of the talkin’,” said the sheriff. “Talks down to you, like he’s just a cut or two below God.”

  Gary Davis, his wife, and the Logan girls had taken a three-room suite, while Rust and Bollinger were sharing an adjoining room. It was Davis that answered the sheriff’s knock. His thick-muscled frame would have made a grizzly envious. He wore an expensive suit, with a gaudy red tie over a ruffled boiled shirt, and polished black boots that shone in the light from the lamp. The Colt at his hip looked well used. His thick black hair and chin whiskers showed some gray, and on his lips was a hint of a smile that failed to reach his dark eyes. He simply nodded when the sheriff introduced Arlo and Dallas.