The Holdup
Connie's first impulse was to spur Silvertail into a gallop and try to
ride by the holdup man. But an instant's reflection convinced her that
such a course would be sheer folly. He might coolly shoot her down.
"Hurry up and hand over that money!" the man commanded again.
Connie was certain she had heard the voice somewhere before. From the
strained manner in which the man spoke she believed that he was
disguising his normal tone.
"What money?" she asked, stalling for time.
"Don't try to bluff," retorted the man curtly. "I know you have it
pinned inside your shirt pocket. Will you give it up or shall I take
it?"
He urged his horse a pace closer. Connie slowly reached up as if to
unpin the roll of money. But the thought of handing over her earnings
was more than she could bear.
Suddenly, throwing caution to the wind, she spurred her horse.
Silvertail lunged forward.
The holdup man laughed harshly as he seized the horse's bridle bringing
him up so sharply that Connie was nearly unseated.
"Oh, no you don't!" he said.
Connie felt the cold muzzle of a revolver press against her side. Her
determination to save the money at all cost ebbed quickly away. She
reached up and unpinned the roll of money.
The holdup man jerked it from her hand.
"Now dismount!" he commanded.
Connie hesitated and then slowly obeyed.
The masked man gave Silvertail a sharp clip with his quirt which sent
the horse racing down the road. Then with a mock bow to Connie, he
wheeled his own pony, and disappeared into the brush. For several
minutes the girl could hear the thud of hoofs and then all was quiet.
Connie stood in the middle of the road, too stunned to move. Every penny
of the money she had won at the rodeo was gone! And likewise lost was
the hundred dollars given her by Mr. Postil as an advance on his board
and room.
After a moment Connie started on down the road. She had a long,
discouraging walk ahead of her for the nearest habitation was Slocer's
Ranch, a full mile away.
"This is the cruelest thing that ever happened," Connie told herself
bitterly as she trudged along. "All my hopes ended!"
A half hour later she pounded on the door of the Slocer ranch house.
Connie knew the owners well although she had not seen them since her
return from the East. They were two bachelor brothers who worked the
ranch in partnership.
George Slocer, a man with a bushy red beard, opened the door. For a
moment he did not recognize Connie.
"May I use your telephone?" she asked quickly. "It's terribly
important."
"Why, if it isn't Connie Carl!" exclaimed the rancher. "Come right in.
You didn't walk all the way here?"
"Yes, from Eagle Pass! I was held up."
Connie related what had occurred. Then she telephoned the sheriff's
office in Red Gulch, asking him to send a posse at once to search for
the man.
"We'll saddle up and do a little huntin' ourselves," George Slocer
promised. "That's the lowest trick I ever heard tell about. Stealing a
gal's money!"
"I don't believe there's a chance of catching the man now," Connie said
glumly. "He's had a good half hour's start."
"Did you get a look at him?" the rancher asked.
"Not really. It was so dark and he kept the handkerchief over his face."
"Didn't recognize the hoss?"
"No, it was a dark pony about Silvertail's size. I'm sure it must have
been some man who knew me because he disguised his voice."
"Likely someone who knew you were carrying the money on your person. Do
you remember tellin' anyone you were cashin' the check?"
"Why, no--" Connie said, and then recalled that she had spoken to Jim
Barrows. He had warned her that she was acting unwisely, but she had
taken his advice lightly.
"Several persons were standing near when I cashed the check at the rodeo
office," she ended, "but I don't remember anyone in particular."
"I reckon your money is gone, Connie," the rancher admitted, buckling on
his gun belt. "But there's a chance the sheriff may catch the fellow."
The Slocer brothers loaned the girl a horse so that she might ride on to
Rainbow Ranch while they went to join the sheriff's posse.
When Connie finally rode into the courtyard Marie came running out to
meet her. The Mexican girl was relieved to see her young mistress, for
some minutes before Silvertail had galloped up to the gate without a
rider.
"Oh, I'm glad Silvertail came home," Connie said in relief. "But I
thought he would."
She told Marie what had happened and asked if the cowboys had returned
from Red Gulch. No one was back.
Connie took the borrowed horse to the barn and unsaddled him. Then,
feeling discouraged and fairly ill, she went to her own room. Marie
rapped a few minutes later and brought in a tray of food and a hot
drink.
"You are so kind, Marie," Connie said gratefully. "Perhaps food will
make me feel better."
She had eaten no lunch or supper, yet she did not feel hungry. But
rather than disappoint the Mexican girl, she made a pretense of enjoying
the food.
"What am I to do now?" Connie thought when she was alone once more. "Mr.
Postil arrives Monday and nothing will be ready for him. I've accepted
his money so I can't turn him away, yet for two weeks he'll be a
financial liability rather than an asset."
After tossing for more than an hour on her pillow the girl at last fell
asleep. She was so exhausted that she did not awaken until morning.
Connie went downstairs to learn that news of her misfortune had preceded
her. The cowboys came to offer their sympathy. Later in the morning
George Slocer rode in to report that the sheriff's posse had been unable
to find a trace of the holdup man.
"Oh, the money is gone all right," Connie said gloomily. "Perhaps it
served me right for carrying so much on my person."
She was leaning dejectedly against the corral bars when Lefty came to
talk with her.
"I wish there was somethin' we could do to help you," he said.
Connie hesitated and then without looking directly at Lefty replied
quickly:
"I hate to ask this, Lefty, but I know you picked up a tidy bit of money
yesterday at the rodeo. Would you lend it to me for a few weeks?"
"I sure would, Connie, if I had any left," the cowboy answered. "I'm
plumb ashamed to tell you but me and Alkali did a little celebratin'.
We're both busted flat."
"That seems to be a common ailment around Rainbow Ranch," Connie said
ruefully.
"Why don't you ask Jim Barrows?"
"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Connie replied quickly. "Besides, he hasn't
any money."
"You're wrong there, Connie. I saw him countin' a big roll this morning
in the bunk house."
"I don't know where he'd get it," Connie said, frowning thoughtfully.
"He was stony broke when he came here, and he's not even received his
wages since then. What do you think of Jim, Lefty?"
"Oh, I guess he's all right. He minds his own business and that's
somethin'."
"I like him too," said Connie. "Lefty, I'm thinking of giving you and
Jim new jobs. I suppose you've heard about my idea to turn this place
into a dude ranch?"
"Yeh, I did hear somethin' about it, but I figgered you wouldn't do
anything rash like that."
"I don't believe it's a rash idea at all," Connie said, smiling. "If I
hadn't been held up everything would have worked out beautifully. But
now I'm in the business whether I like it or not. My first prize dude
arrives Monday, and there may be others."
"What's this new job?" Lefty asked uneasily.
"You and Jim are to wrangle the dudes--if we snare any. I thought you
could take Mr. Postil riding and fishing. And we'll plan special little
over-night camping trips--anything to keep folks entertained."
"Look here, Connie," Lefty began to protest, but his voice trailed off
as Forest Blakeman swung into view.
The foreman, still smarting from his recent humiliation at the rodeo,
was in a bad mood.
"You might do a little work, Lefty, instead of loafing around all
morning," he said curtly. "Get those calves watered."
"They're already watered," Lefty muttered but he moved away from the
corral.
The foreman turned to Connie, making no attempt to disguise his
annoyance.
"A nice mess we're in now, Miss Connie! It seems to me you might have
consulted me before you decided to turn this place into a dude ranch!
Just how do you think we'll be able to feed and entertain a house full
of guests when we can't even pay our regular help?"
"Everything would have turned out all right if only I hadn't been
robbed."
"Aren't you forgetting that the sixteenth of the month isn't far away?"
"Oh, I'm beaten," Connie acknowledged. "I realize that. There's no
chance my money will ever be recovered."
The foreman was silent for a moment. Then he said in a lowered tone:
"I don't suppose it ever occurred to you to question Jim Barrows?"
"To question him? About his personal affairs?"
"They'd bear investigation all right," Blakeman replied grimly. "But I
wasn't referring to that. I meant about what he was doing yesterday and
where he got that big roll of money."
"I suppose at the rodeo----"
"That's what he claims," Blakeman said shortly. "I have a different
opinion."
"Just what are you trying to suggest?" Connie asked. "I know you've
never liked Jim Barrows."
"That has nothing to do with it. But there's no use trying to convince
you he's bad medicine."
"If you have the slightest evidence against him I'll certainly listen to
it," Connie replied coldly. "What do you think the man has done?"
The foreman looked quickly about to make certain no one was within
hearing distance. Then he said tersely:
"Jim Barrows is a sneak and a crook! He was the masked man who held you
up at Eagle Pass!"