A FRIEND IN NEED
From one of the huts at the upper end of the miniature valley an odd
figure emerged. It was garbed in a blue blouse and loose trousers
of the same color. Embroidered slippers without heels caused a
curious shuffling gait in the newcomer. As he drew closer Peggy and
Roy perceived that he was a Chinaman. His queue was coiled upon the
top of his skull, giving a queer expression to his stolid features,
over which the yellow skin was stretched as tightly as parchment on
a drum.
"Here you, Ah Sing, hurry muchee quick and cook us a meal," roared
Red Bill as he perceived the newcomer.
"Alee litee," was the easy-going response, "me catchum plentee
quick."
The Oriental, who was by this time quite close, allowed his slant
eyes to rest curiously on the two young prisoners. His mask-like
face, however, betrayed no emotion of any kind, and with a guttural
grunt he was off; apparently to set about his preparations for
obeying the orders of the outlaw leader.
Red Bill turned to Peggy and Roy, who had dismounted.
"I'll speak to you two after we've eaten," he said; "in the meantime
the young lady kin take that hut thar." He indicated a tumble-down
structure near at hand.
"It ain't a Fift' Avenoo mansion," he grinned, "but I reckon it'll
hev ter do."
Then he switched on Roy.
"You boy," he growled, "you kin hev thet other shack. If you want
ter wash up thar's a bucket. We've hot and cold water in these
diggin's, too, so take yer choice. Hot's above, cold's below. An'
one thing. You ain't goin' ter be closely watched. It ain't
needful. You rec'lect that red-hot basin we come through?"
As the questioner seemed to pause for an answer Roy nodded.
"Wall the country all around hyar's jes' like that, so thet if yer
moseyed you wouldn't stand a Chinaman's chance of gittin' away
alive."
Red Bill, with a vindictive grin, turned on his heel abruptly and
stalked off, followed by the others. Peggy and Roy were left alone.
Seemingly no restraint was to be put upon them. In fact, it
appeared, as Red Bill had pointed out, that an attempted escape
could only result fatally for them.
"Whatever will Aunt Sally and the rest be thinking?" exclaimed Peggy
as the rough looking group, talking and gesticulating among
themselves, made toward the upper end of the valley.
"Poor aunt! She must be in a terrible state of mind," rejoined Roy
dejectedly. "If only we could have got word to her or Mr. Bell--"
"In that case we could have taken it ourselves," wisely remarked
Peggy; "well, brother mine, there is no use in borrowing trouble.
Let's make the best of it. I've an idea that that redheaded man
means to offer us some sort of a proposition after dinner."
"Wish he'd offer us some dinner first; I'm ravenous."
"Well, I couldn't eat a thing till I've got some of this dust off
me, so please get me a bucket of water."
"Say, look at that Chinaman eyeing us," broke off Roy suddenly;
"wonder what's the matter with him?"
"Guess he isn't used to visitors," suggested Peggy. "So this is
where this gang, we heard talked about in Blue Creek, have been
hiding themselves. No wonder the sheriff couldn't find them."
"It's an ideal hiding place," agreed Roy, "far too ideal to suit us.
I don't see how we'd ever get out of here without help."
"Oh, as for that, I kept careful track of the way we came. I noted
all the landmarks, and I really believe I could pick up the
trail--is that the way you say it?--again."
"Good for you. I hope we have a chance to try out your sense of
observation. But I'm off to get that water. Say, that Chinaman's
staring harder than ever. What do you suppose he wants?"
"I haven't an idea. Opium perhaps. Don't they eat it or do
something with it and then have beautiful dreams? I've heard--oh,
Roy," the girl broke off breathlessly, "I've got it! You know that
little jade god that Clara Cummings brought back from China with her
when her father resigned as consul there?"
"Yes. But what--"
"Well, look here, you silly boy, I've got it on now. Look on my
watch chain. I wonder if that could be what--what that Mongolian
was regarding so closely?"
"Maybe," responded Roy carelessly, "but now I'm really off to get
that water. Hot or cold?"
"Both!" cried Peggy.
The spirits of youth are elastic, and even in their predicament
Peggy found her heart almost singing within her at the beauty of the
green little valley after their long, dusty journey over the alkali
barrens.
"After all," she assured herself, "I don't believe they mean us any
real harm and--oh, what an adventure to tell about when we get home
again."
A refreshing wash and a hasty adjustment of her hair before a mirror
in a tiny "vanity box," which shared the watch charm snap with the
little jade god, served to still further raise Peggy's spirits.
Red Bill Summers and his followers ate at the upper end of the
valley, but the Chinaman brought food on an improvised board tray to
the captives. Having set down two dishes of a steaming stew of some
kind, flanked with coffee, sweetened and flavored with condensed
milk, and real bread, the Oriental glanced swiftly about him. Red
Bill and his companions were noisily convivial, and paying no
attention to what was transpiring at the lower end of the valley.
Like a flash the Chinaman slid to his knees and extending his hands
above his head touched his forehead to the ground three times in
front of Peggy.
Then rising he exclaimed:
"Melican girl, gleat joss, mighty joss. Ah Sing he come bymby.
Goo'bye."
He turned swiftly and silently in his silken slippers and glided off
without a backward look.
"Well, what do you make of that?" wondered Roy.
"Oh, Roy, don't you see. He was worshiping this joss, as he calls
Clara's little jade god. Just think, this may be a way out of it.
If we can make him believe that--that--"
"That we stand in with his josh--joss--what do you call it?--you
mean that we can scare him into letting us have horses to-night and
escaping.
"How you do run ahead, Roy. I hadn't thought of that yet. But it
might be done. He said he was coming back by and by. I wonder what
he wants?"
"Maybe your blessing," grinned Roy. "But come on. Let's tackle
this stew while it's hot. It looks great to me after that
jack-rabbit supper."
"And this is bread--real bread, too!" cried Peggy, following Roy's
example of "tackling the stew."
It was ten minutes after the last mouthful had disappeared that the
tall, red-sashed young outlaw came toward the shack in front of
which brother and sister were seated.
"The boss wants to see you," he said briefly, and signed to them to
follow him.
Red Bill Summers sat alone before the remains of the Chinese cook's
dinner. The other outlaws were busied staking out their ponies and
removing the dust and perspiration from the little animals' coats.
Far off, like a lost spirit, the treacherous Juan with his burro,
could be seen.
From time to time he cast a covert glance toward Peggy and Roy. In
his own country treachery such as he had shown would have been
visited with death even if the avenger had to die for it himself the
next minute.
The outlaw chief looked up as his dapper follower came up with the
young Easterners.
"Grub all right?" he asked.
"Not bad at all," responded Roy non-committally. He didn't want to
show this red-headed law-breaker that he was afraid of him.
"Wa-al, thet's jes' a sample of ther way I'm willin' ter treat yer
as long ez you're here. I've got a hard name around ther alkali,
but I ain't ez black ez I'm painted."
To this the two young prisoners made no reply, and Red Bill looked
at them searchingly, but if he expected to read anything from their
faces he was speedily undeceived.
"Now, then," he went on, "as you'll have guessed, I didn't kidnap
you two fer fun. I did it fer infermation. I reckin' you know
pretty well the location of Jim Bell's mine.'
"No better than you do," responded Roy boldly; "I guess that
scoundrel Juan told you all you wanted to know."
"Oh, as fur as thet goes," rejoined Red Bill easily, "I could ride
right frum hyar to yer camp. But what I'm gittin' at is this:
You've seen the papers Jim Bell is goin' ter file. You know ther
exact location. Thet's what I want. Give it to me an' I'll hev my
men take yer as close ter yer camp as it's safe ter go without
kickin' up a rumpus."
"In other words, you wish me to betray Mr. Bell's plans to you
before he--"
Roy stopped. He had been on the verge of saying, "Before he's filed
the claim himself." just in time, however, he recollected that this
might be news to the outlaw, and he stopped short. But Red Bill was
as astute as a desert fox.
"Before he files the claim himself, you wuz goin' ter say, I
be-lieve," he drawled, purposely accentuating his words so that they
fell like drops of ice water from his cold lips.
Roy could have bitten his tongue out. Quite unmeaningly he had
betrayed a secret which might prove of tremendous import in the
desperate game Red Bill seemed bent on playing.
"I said nothing about the filing or not filing of a claim," parried
Roy, after a pause.
"Yer don't hev ter say everything ter make yerself understood,
younker," snarled Red Bill, facing the boy and blinking his little
red-rimmed orbs into Roy's honest open countenance.
"Thet's somethin' you've foun' out anyhow, Bill," drawled the
red-sashed young outlaw, drawing his thin lips back in a sarcastic
smile.
Roy felt himself turning red with chagrin. He had intended to play
a cunning game with Red Bill, but the outlaw seemed to be capable of
reading his mind. Steeling himself to be more careful in the future
he awaited the further questions of his inquisitor. Upon the manner
in which he answered them he felt that not alone his safety and
Peggy's depended, but also the security and possibly the lives of
the party in the distant arroyo.