by Bret Harte
made it seem so oddto you. I forgot."
In half an hour they reached the buckeyes. During the walk she had takenrapid recognizance of everything in her path. When they crossed the roadand Cass had pointed out the scene of the murder, she looked anxiouslyaround. "You are sure we are not seen?"
"Quite."
"You will not think me foolish if I ask you to wait here while I go inthere"--she pointed to the ominous thicket near them--"alone?"
She was quite white.
Cass's heart, which had grown somewhat cold since his interview withMiss Porter, melted at once.
"Go; I will stay here."
He waited five minutes. She did not return.
What if the poor creature had determined upon suicide on the spot whereher faithless lover had fallen? He was reassured in another moment bythe rustle of skirts in the undergrowth.
"I was becoming quite alarmed," he said, aloud.
"You have reason to be," returned a hurried voice. He started. It wasMiss Porter, who stepped swiftly out of the cover. "Look," she said,"look at that man down the road. He has been tracking you two ever sinceyou left the cabin. Do you know who he is?"
"No!"
"Then listen. It is three-fingered Dick, one of the escaped road agents.I know him!"
"Let us go and warn her," said Cass, eagerly.
Miss Porter laid her hand upon his shoulder.
"I don't think she'll thank you," she said, dryly. "Perhaps you'd bettersee what she's doing, first."
Utterly bewildered, yet with a strong sense of the masterfulness of hiscompanion, he followed her. She crept like a cat through the thicket.Suddenly she paused. "Look!" she whispered, viciously, "look at thetender vigils of your heart-broken May!"
Cass saw the woman who had left him a moment before on her knees on thegrass, with long thin fingers digging like a ghoul in the earth. He hadscarce time to notice her eager face and eyes, cast now and then backtoward the spot where she had left him, before there was a crash inthe bushes, and a man,--the stranger of the road,--leaped to her side."Run," he said; "run for it now. You're watched!"
"Oh! that man, Beard!" she said, contemptuously.
"No, another in a wagon. Quick. Fool, you know the place now,--youcan come later; run!" And half-dragging, half-lifting her, he bore herthrough the bushes. Scarcely had they closed behind the pair thanMiss Porter ran to the spot vacated by the woman. "Look!" she cried,triumphantly, "look!"
Cass looked, and sank on his knees beside her.
"It WAS worth a thousand dollars, wasn't it?" she repeated, maliciously,"wasn't it? But you ought to return it! REALLY you ought."
Cass could scarcely articulate. "But how did YOU know it?" he finallygasped.
"Oh, I suspected something; there was a woman, and you know you're SUCHa fool!"
Cass rose, stiffly.
"Don't be a greater fool now, but go and bring my horse and wagon fromthe hill, and don't say anything to the driver."
"Then you did not come alone?"
"No; it would have been bold and improper."
"Please!"
"And to think it WAS the ring, after all, that pointed to this," shesaid.
"The ring that YOU returned to me."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Don't, please, the wagon is coming."
*****
In the next morning's edition of the "Red Chief Chronicle" appeared thefollowing startling intelligence:--
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY
FINDING OF THE STOLEN TREASURE OF WELLS, FARGO & CO.
OVER $800,000 RECOVERED
Our readers will remember the notorious robbery of Wells, Fargo & Co.'streasure from the Sacramento and Red Chief Pioneer Coach on the night ofSeptember 1. Although most of the gang were arrested, it is known thattwo escaped, who, it was presumed, cached the treasure, amountingto nearly $500,000 in gold, drafts, and jewelry, as no trace of theproperty was found. Yesterday our esteemed fellow citizen, Mr. CassBeard, long and favorably known in this county, succeeded in exhumingthe treasure in a copse of hazel near the Red Chief turnpike,--adjacentto the spot where an unknown body was lately discovered. This body isnow strongly suspected to be that of one Henry Cass, a disreputablecharacter, who has since been ascertained to have been one of the roadagents who escaped. The matter is now under legal investigation. Thesuccessful result of the search is due to a systematic plan evolved fromthe genius of Mr. Beard, who has devoted over a year to this labor.It was first suggested to him by the finding of a ring, now definitelyidentified as part of the treasure which was supposed to have beendropped from Wells, Fargo & Co's boxes by the robbers in their midnightflight through Blazing Star.
In the same journal appeared the no less important intelligence, whichexplains, while it completes this veracious chronicle:--
"It is rumored that a marriage is shortly to take place between thehero of the late treasure discovery and a young lady of Red Chief, whosedevoted aid and assistance to this important work is well known to thiscommunity."