The raiders were gathered in a small alcove of the quarry, sheltered on
three sides by walls of rough-faced limestone, jagged and broken as the
quarrymen had left them years before, and this secluded spot made a
counsel chamber little liable to intrusion, and well-suited to its
present use.
Milton Derr was standing nearest the fire in an angle made by the walls,
while others of the band were ranged in a semi-circle across the wider
space opening into the larger part of the quarry, the captain standing
at the end of the line furthest from the prisoner.
Above them the girl crouched in hiding, screened by the overhanging
darkness and the fringe of cedar bushes along the edge, yet from her
vantage ground she could clearly see what was taking place below, and
easily overhear all that was said.
Steve Judson was called to testify. She heard him coolly bear witness
to having seen the accused stop at the New Pike Gate, and hold earnest
converse with "that Brown gal" as he designated Sally. Steve claimed to
have come up in the darkness and recognized the two at the gate as he
passed through.
He wove quite a plausible story out of whole cloth, saying that on
recognizing Milt, and knowing his fondness for the girl at the
toll-house, he, Steve, at once suspected that the plans of the raiders
for that night were being discussed.
To satisfy himself on this point, after riding along the road a little
distance, he dismounted, climbed the stone wall and crept back quietly,
keeping in the shadow of it, until he was near enough to hear a part of
the conversation that took place at the gate, and then he overheard the
prisoner tell of the raid that was to be made a few hours later.
At the conclusion of Steve's story, the captain called attention to the
fact that on this same night, before the hour of attack, Milton Derr had
been boasting among his comrades at the place of rendezvous that the
pole of the New Pike Gate would not be cut down on that night. He,
alone of all the raiders, seemed to know that the plans for an attack
were known, and the gate would be under guard. Twice had the captain
asked, in the presence of the members of the band, to be given the name
of Milt's informant, and twice had Milt refused to answer.
More than once during Steve's false testimony the listening girl, with
eyes blazing forth something of the fierce indignation she felt,
nervously sought the pistol at her belt, in a stern resolve to use it on
the accomplished liar, who was thus deliberately swearing her lover's
life away.
She remembered, however, that this man was but the frightened tool of
another. At heart, the witness did not wish to do Milt an injury. Steve
had admitted as much that afternoon in the ravine, while talking to the
captain. Jade Beddow was really the one who was at the bottom of this
piece of villainy. His hatred of Milt, coupled with a desire to be
revenged on the girl who had scorned him, was prompting Jade to this
present step.
"This fellow is a liar and an ingrate!" cried Milt fearlessly at the
conclusion of Steve's testimony. "The story just told is false in every
particular."
"Yet the man who declares these charges false is the only one amongst us
who knew that the gate would be guarded," said the captain, turning to
his men.
"I gave you all warning of the fact," answered Milt.
"The warning was likely given more to shield yourself than us," retorted
the leader with a sneer. "If you went, you would be as liable to injury
as the rest of us; if you prevented us from goin' it would serve your
purpose; if you sneaked out of the affair, it would fasten the guilt of
a traitor on you. This is the sum an' substance of it all."
The captain turned once more to his men. "If it was known that the gate
was to be attacked on this night, it is proof we have a traitor in our
midst. If this man is the only one who knew the gate would be guarded,
it stands to reason he is the only one who told it was to be attacked.
Who else but the prisoner had an interest in protecting the New Pike
Gate? The case is as plain as day."
"I was told under a pledge of secrecy the gate would be guarded. I gave
you the benefit of that warning!" protested Derr.
"If there had been no traitor there would be no need of any warning,"
answered the captain, then his words took on a greater force of
meaning--
"Brothers! comrades! there is a traitor in our midst. The repulse we met
with the other night proves beyond a doubt that our most secret plans
are made known to our enemies. Who, then, is this traitor? Cain't you
pick him out? I know of only one person among us who would like to see
the New Pike Gate still stand after all others had gone down. I think
you also know who this man is, for the testimony just now given has made
it clear.
"No one but Milt Derr seemed to know the gate would be guarded the other
night, no one but the girl at the gate knew it was to be attacked. It
was to the interest of each that the other should know the plans of
raider and officer,--a touching and mutual exchange of confidence," the
speaker suggested sneeringly.
"If the prisoner was warned, as he says he was, who but the girl at the
gate could have warned him? If this was the case, how did she know the
gate was to be raided unless told by her sweetheart? Who else but the
man in love with the toll-taker would run the risk of betraying his
comrades, knowing full well the penalty of the act?"
Then the captain broke into a fierce tirade as he shook his hand
menacingly at the prisoner. Jade possessed a certain rude power of
oratory that could at times be made strongly effective on his
followers--the peculiar magnetism of a fierce, headstrong nature that
over-powered and controlled weaker ones.
"There stands the traitor before you! Your liberty and lives are
threatened by a constant danger so long as it lies in this man's power
to betray you. He has already used that power--he will use it again if
he can. As you each and every one know, there never was, and never can
be but one sort of a safe traitor, an' that is--_a dead one_. It is your
liberty, or his--which shall it be? The hour to decide is at hand. There
is no time for delay. Choose!"
When the captain had ceased speaking, a deep silence fell upon the group
of waiting men, and so deep did it seem in the stillness of the night
and the great loneliness of the spot, that the listener, crouched in
the shadows above, was almost won to the belief that the loud beatings
of her heart, or her stifled breathing, would be heard by those gathered
below, and her hiding-place revealed.
The captain waited expectantly, looking closely from one face to
another, noting keenly and exultantly the dawning of distrust and fear
that slowly overspread each countenance, as troubled waters communicate
their motion until the whole silent pool is disturbed; then he spoke
again, slowly, deliberately:
"The case is in your hands, comrades! We have a common interest in the
protection of our liberty an' ourselves. Shall it be freedom for him, or
imprisonment for us? What shall be done?"
"Draw for the red bean!" a voice called out sharply and discordantly. It
was Steve Judson who spoke.
"Yes! yes! the red bean!" a chorus of voices clamored, quickly seizing
the suggestion as a solution of the problem confronting them. A look of
approval came to the captain's face, while his eyes flashed forth a
malignant triumph.
"You shall draw for it," he answers briefly, taking from his pocket a
small leathern pouch, which he shook vigorously, then untied and opened.
"Draw!" he commanded, holding out the pouch to the man nearest him. The
raider hesitated a moment, then put his thumb and forefinger into the
pouch and drew forth a bean, which he concealed within the palm of his
hand without a glance at it.
Stepping aside, the first man gave way to another member of the band,
and thus in succession the drawing continued until each raider, save the
prisoner, had drawn from out the leathern pouch a bean, and held it
within the hollow of his hand, while neither he nor his neighbor knew
whether it was a bean of white, or the fatal one of red that had been
drawn.
Steve was the last to draw. As he stepped forward, no one saw the
captain slightly relax the fingers of the hand holding the pouch, nor
suspected that the small object they had retained until this moment was
covertly released and dropped to the bottom of the pouch as it was held
out to Steve.
"Hands up! your oath!"
Each man obeyed, the last man to draw holding his left hand aloft as his
right was in a sling. Thus, with hand upraised, every man swore to a
strict performance of his duty, taking upon himself the oath that if he
held the red bean he would visit upon the traitor wherever found,
whoever he might be, the punishment that a traitor's act justly merited,
or that having failed in his oath, the same judgment he had withheld
might be visited on himself who had foresworn his oath.
Then each man came singly before the captain, and opened the palm of the
hand that both might know who held the fatal red bean.
The fire had been replenished and stirred into renewed brightness while
the drawing was taking place, and as Steve came forward and opened his
palm, a bright flame suddenly shot up from the fire, a slender, wavering
torch, shedding a momentary light on the group, and on the two standing
together.
As the captain and Steve looked downward into the latter's outstretched
palm, each saw a round, red object lying there like a great drop of
blood.
[Illustration: A TYPICAL NIGHT RIDER.]