"Why--"
The girl did not wait for him to finish his sentence, but quickly placed
a bottle and glass before him.
"My compliments," she whispered, smiling.
"You're very kind--thanks," returned the road agent, and proceeded to
pour out a drink.
Meanwhile, little of what was taking place had been lost on Jack Rance.
As the whispered conversation continued, he grew more and more jealous,
and at the moment that Johnson was on the point of putting the glass to
his lips, Rance, rising quickly, went over to him and deliberately
knocked the glass out of his hand.
With a crash it fell to the floor.
"Look here, Mr. Johnson, your ways are offensive to me!" he cried;
"damned offensive! My name is Rance--Jack Rance. Your business
here--your business?" And without waiting for the other's reply he
called out huskily: "Boys! Boys! Come in here!"
At this sudden and unexpected summons in the Sheriff's well-known voice
there was a rush from the dance-hall; in an instant the good-natured,
roistering crowd, nosing a fight, crowded to the bar, where the two men
stood glaring at each other in suppressed excitement.
"Boys," declared the Sheriff, his eye never leaving Johnson's face,
"there's a man here who won't explain his business. He won't tell--"
"Won't he?" cut in Sonora, blusteringly. "Well, we'll see--we'll make
'im!"
There was a howl of execration from the bar. It moved the Girl to
instant action. Quick as thought she turned and strode to where the
cries were the most menacing--towards the boys who knew her best and
ever obeyed her unquestioningly.
"Wait a minute!" she cried, holding up her hand authoritatively. "I know
the gent!"
The men exchanged incredulous glances; from all sides came the explosive
cries:
"What's that? You know him?"
"Yes," she affirmed dramatically; and turning now to Rance with a swift
change of manner, she confessed: "I didn't tell you--but I know 'im."
The Sheriff started as if struck.
"The Sacramento shrimp by all that is holy!" he muttered between his
teeth as the truth slowly dawned upon him.
"Yes, boys, this is Mr. Johnson o' Sacramento," announced the Girl with
a simple and unconscious dignity that did not fail to impress all
present. "I vouch to Cloudy for Mr. Johnson!"
Consternation!
And then the situation vaguely dawning upon them there ensued an
outburst of cheering compared to which the previous howl of execration
was silence.
Johnson smiled pleasantly at the Girl in acknowledgment of her
confirmation of him, then shot a half-curious, half-amused look at the
crowd surrounding him and regarding him with a new interest. Apparently
what he saw was to his liking, for his manner was most friendly when
bowing politely, he said:
"How are you, boys?"
At once the miners returned his salutation in true western fashion:
every man in the place, save Rance, taking off his hat and sweeping it
before him in an arc as they cried out in chorus:
"Hello, Johnson!"
"Boys, Rance ain't a-runnin' The Polka yet!" observed Sonora with a
mocking smile on his lips, and gloating over the opportunity to give the
Sheriff a dig.
The men shouted their approval of this jibe. Indeed, they might have
gone just a little too far with their badgering of the Sheriff,
considering the mood that he was in; so, perhaps, it was fortunate that
Nick should break in upon them at this time with:
"Gents, the boys from The Ridge invites you to dance with them."
No great amount of enthusiasm was evinced at this. Nevertheless, it was
a distinct declaration of peace; and, taking advantage of it, Johnson
advanced toward the Girl, bowed low, and asked with elaborate formality:
"May I have the honour of a waltz?"
Flabbergasted and awed to silence by what they termed Johnson's "style,"
Happy and Handsome stood staring helplessly at one another; at length
Happy broke out with:
"Say, Handsome, ain't he got a purty action? An' ornamental sort o'
cuss, ain't he? But say, kind o' presumin' like, ain't it, for a fellow
breathin' the obscurity o' The Crossin' to learn gents like us how to
ketch the ladies pronto?"
"Which same," allowed Handsome, "shorely's a most painful, not to say
humiliatin' state o' things." And then to the Girl he whispered: "It's
up to you--make a holy show of 'im."
The Girl laughed.
"Me waltz? Me?" she cried, answering Johnson at last. "Oh, I can't waltz
but I can polky."
Once more Johnson bent his tall figure to the ground, and said:
"Then may I have the pleasure of the next polka?"
By this time Sonora had recovered from his astonishment. After giving
vent to a grunt expressive of his contempt, he blurted out:
"That fellow's too flip!"
But the idea had taken hold of the Girl, though she temporised shyly:
"Oh, I dunno! Makes me feel kind o' foolish, you know, kind o' retirin'
like a elk in summer."
Johnson smiled in spite of himself.
"Elks are retiring," was his comment as he again advanced and offered
his arm in an impressive and ceremonious manner.
"Well, I don't like everybody's hand on the back o' my waist," said the
Girl, running her hands up and down her dress skirt. "But, somehow--"
She stopped, and fixing her eyes recklessly on Rance, made a movement as
if about to accept; but another look at Johnson's proffered arm so
embarrassed her that she sent a look of appeal to the rough fellows, who
stood watching her with grinning faces.
"Oh, Lord, must I?" she asked; then, hanging back no longer, she
suddenly flung herself into his arms with the cry: "Oh, come along!"
Promptly Johnson put his arm around the Girl's waist, and breaking into
a polka he swung her off to the dance-hall where their appearance was
greeted with a succession of wild whoops from the men there, as well as
from the hilarious boys, who had rushed pell-mell after them.
Left to himself and in a rage Rance began to pace the floor.
"Cleaned out--cleaned out for fair by a high-toned, fine-haired dog
named Johnson! Well, I'll be--" The sentence was never finished, his
attention being caught and held by something which Nick was carrying in
from the dance-hall.
"What's that?" he demanded brusquely.
Nick's eyes were twinkling when he answered:
"Johnson's saddle."
Rance could control himself no longer; with a sweep of his long arm he
knocked the saddle out of the other's hand, saying:
"Nick, I've a great notion to walk out of this door and never step my
foot in here again."
Nick did not answer at once. While he did not especially care for Rance
he did not propose to let his patronage, which was not inconsiderable,
go elsewhere without making an effort to hold it. Therefore, he thought
a moment before picking up the saddle and placing it in the corner of
the room.
"Aw, what you givin' us, Rance! She's only a-kiddin' 'im," at last he
said consolingly.
The Sheriff was about to question this when a loud cry from outside
arrested him.
"What's that?" he asked with his eyes upon the door.
"Why that's--that's Ashby's voice," the barkeeper informed him; and
going to the door, followed by Rance, as well as the men who, on hearing
the cry, had rushed in from the dance-hall, he opened it, and they heard
again the voice that they all recognised now as that of the Wells Fargo
Agent.
"Come on!" he was saying gruffly.
"What the deuce is up?" inquired Trinidad simultaneously with the
Deputy's cry of "Bring him in!" And almost instantly the Deputy,
followed by Ashby and others, entered, dragging along with him the
unfortunate Jose Castro. The rough handling that he had received had not
improved his appearance. His clothing, half Mexican, the rest of odds
and ends, had been torn in several places. He looked oily, greasy and
unwashed, while the eyes that looked around in affright had lost none of
their habitual trickiness and sullenness.
And precisely as Castro appeared wholly different than when last seen in
the company of his master, so, too, was Ashby metamorphosed. His hat was
on the back of his head; his coat looked as if he had been engaged in
some kind of a struggle; his hair was ruffled and long locks straggled
down over his forehead; while his face wore a brutal, savage, pitiless,
nasty look.
By this time all the regular habitués of the saloon had come in and were
crowding around the greaser with scowling, angry faces.
"The greaser on the trail!" gurgled Ashby in his glass, having left his
prisoner for a moment to fortify himself with a drink of whisky.
Whereupon, the Sheriff advanced and, with rough hands, jerked the
prisoner's head brutally.
"Here you," he said, "give us a look at your face."
But the Sheriff had never seen him before. And in obedience to his
commands to "Tie him up!" the Deputy and Billy Jackrabbit took a lariat
from the wall and proceeded to bind their prisoner fast. When this was
done Ashby called to Nick to serve him another drink, adding:
"Come on, boys!"
Instantly there was an exclamatory lining up at the bar, only Sonora,
apparently, seeming disinclined to accept, which Ashby was quick to
note. Turning to him quickly, he inquired:
"Say, my friend, don't you drink?"
But no insult had been intended by Sonora's omission; it was merely most
inconsiderate on his part of the feelings of others; and, therefore,
there was a note of apology in the voice that presently said:
"Oh, yes, Mr. Ashby, I'm with you all right."
During this conversation the eyes of the greaser had been wandering all
over the room. But as the men moved away from him to take their drinks
he started violently and an expression of dismay crossed his features.
"Ramerrez' saddle!" he muttered to himself. "_The Maestro_--he is
taken!"
Just then there came a particularly loud burst of approval from the
spectators of the dancing going on in the adjoining room, and
instinctively the men at the bar half-turned towards the noise. The
prisoner's eyes followed their gaze and a fiendish grin replaced the
look of dismay on his face. "No, he is there dancing with a girl," he
said under his breath. A moment later Nick let down the bearskin
curtain, shutting off completely the Mexican's view of the dance-hall.
"Come, now, tell us what your name is?" The voice was Ashby's who,
together with the others, now surrounded the prisoner. "Speak up--who
are you?"
"My name ees Jose Castro;" and then he added with a show of pride:
"_Ex-padrona_ of the bull-fights."
"But the bull-fights are at Monterey! Why do you come to this place?"
All eyes instantly turned from the prisoner to Rance, who had asked the
question while seated at the table, and from him they returned to the
prisoner, most of the men giving vent to exclamations of anger in tones
that made the greaser squirm, while Trinidad expressed the prevailing
admiration of the Sheriff's poser by crying out:
"That's the talk--you bet! Why do you come here?"
Castro's face wore an air of candour as he replied:
"To tell the Señor Sheriff I know where ees Ramerrez."
Rance turned on the prisoner a grim look.
"You lie!" he vociferated, at the same time raising his hand to check
the angry mutterings of the men that boded ill for the greaser.
"Nay," denied Castro, strenuously, "pleanty Mexican _vaquero_--my friend
Peralta, Weelejos all weeth Ramerrez--so I know where ees."
Rance advanced and shot a finger in his face.
"You're one of his men yourself!" he cried hotly. But if he had hoped by
his accusation to take the man off his guard, it was eminently
unsuccessful, for the look on the greaser's face was innocence itself
when he declared:
"No, no, Señor Sheriff."
Rance reflected a moment; suddenly, then, he took another tack.
"You see that man there?" he queried, pointing to the Wells Fargo Agent.
"That is Ashby. He is the man that pays out that reward you've heard
of." Then after a pause to let his words sink in, he demanded gruffly:
"Where is Ramerrez' camp?"
At once the prisoner became voluble.
"Come with me one mile, Señor," he said, "and by the soul of my mother,
the blessed Maria Saltaja, we weel put a knife into hees back."
"One mile, eh?" repeated Rance, coolly.
The miners looked incredulous.
"If I tho't--" began Sonora, but Rance rudely cut in with:
"Where is this trail?"
"Up the Madrona Canyada," was the greaser's instant reply.
At this juncture a Ridge boy, who had pushed aside the bear-skin curtain
and was gazing with mouth wide open at the proceedings, suddenly cried
out:
"Why, hello, boys! What's the--" He got no further. In a twinkling and
with cries of "Shut up! Git!" the men made for the intruder and bodily
threw him out of the room. When quiet was restored Rance motioned to the
prisoner to proceed.
"Ramerrez can be taken--too well taken," declared the Mexican, gaining
confidence as he went on, "if many men come with me--in forty minutes
there--back."
Rance turned to Ashby and asked him what he thought about it.
"I don't know what to think," was the Wells Fargo Agent's reply. "But it
certainly is curious. This is the second warning--intimation that we
have had that he is somewhere in this vicinity."
"And this Nina Micheltoreña--you say she is coming here to-night?"
Ashby nodded assent.
"All the same, Rance," he maintained, "I wouldn't go. Better drop in to
The Palmetto later."
"What? Risk losin' 'im?" exclaimed Sonora, who had been listening
intently to their conversation.
"We'll take the chance, boys, in spite of Ashby's advice," Rance said
decisively. It was with not a little surprise that he heard the shouts
with which his words were approved by all save the Wells Fargo Agent.
Now the miners made a rush for their coats, hats and saddles, while from
all sides came the cries of, "Come on, boys! Careful--there!
Ready--Sheriff!"
Gladly, cheerfully, Nick, too, did what he could to get the men started
by setting up the drinks for all hands, though he remarked as he did so:
"It's goin' to snow, boys; I don't like the sniff in the air."
But even the probability of encountering a storm--which in that altitude
was something decidedly to be reckoned with--did not deter the men from
proceeding to make ready for the road agent's capture. In an incredibly
short space of time they had loaded up and got their horses together,
and from the harmony in their ranks while carrying out orders, it was
evident that not a man there doubted the success of their undertaking.
"We'll git this road agent!" sung out Trinidad, going out through the
door.
"Right you are, pard!" agreed Sonora; but at the door he called back to
the greaser: "Come on, you oily, garlic-eatin', red-peppery,
dog-trottin', sunbaked son of a skunk!"
"Come on, you . . .!" came simultaneously from the Deputy, now untying
the rope which bound the prisoner.
The greaser's teeth were chattering; he begged:
"One dreenk--I freeze . . ."
Turning to Nick the Deputy told him to give the man a drink, adding as
he left the room:
"Watch him--keep your eye on him a moment for me, will you?"
Nick nodded; and then regarding the Mexican with a contemptuous look, he
asked:
"What'll you have?"
The Mexican rose to his feet and began hesitatingly:
"Geeve me--" He paused; and then, starting with the thought that had
come to him, he shot a glance at the dance-hall and called out loudly,
rolling his r's even more pronouncedly than is the custom with his race:
"Aguardiente! Aguardiente!"
"Sit down!" ordered Nick, vaguely conscious that there was something in
the greaser's voice that was not there before.
The greaser obeyed, but not until he knew for a certainty that his voice
had been heard by his master.
"So you did bring in my saddle, eh, Nick?" asked the road agent, coming
quickly, but unconcernedly into the room and standing behind his man.
Up to this time, Nick's eyes had not left the prisoner, but with the
appearance on the scene of Johnson, he felt that his responsibility
ceased in a measure. He turned and gave his attention to matters
pertaining to the bar. As a consequence, he did not see the look of
recognition that passed between the two men, nor did he hear the
whispered dialogue in Spanish that followed.
"_Maestro! Ramerrez!_" came in whispered tones from Castro.
"Speak quickly--go on," came likewise in whispered tones from the road
agent.
"I let them take me according to your bidding," went on Castro.
"Careful, Jose, careful," warned his master while stooping to pick up
his saddle, which he afterwards laid on the faro table. It was while he
was thus engaged that Nick came over to the prisoner with a glass of
liquor, which he handed to him gruffly with:
"Here!"
At that moment several voices from the dance-hail called somewhat
impatiently: "Nick, Nick!"
"Oh, The Ridge boys are goin'!" he said, and seeming intuitively to know
what was wanted he made for the bar. But before acceding to their
wishes, he turned to Johnson, took out his gun and offered it to him
with the words: "Say, watch this greaser for a moment, will you?"
"Certainly," responded Johnson, quickly, declining the other's pistol by
touching his own holster significantly. "Tell the Girl you pressed me
into service," he concluded with a smile.
"Sure." But on the point of going, the little barkeeper turned to him
and confided: "Say, the Girl's taken an awful fancy to you."
"No?" deprecated the road agent.
"Yes," affirmed Nick. "Drop in often--great bar!"
Johnson smiled an assent as the other went out of the room leaving
master and man together.
"Now, then, Jose, go on," he said, when they were alone.
"_Bueno!_ Our men await the signal in the bushes close by. I will lead
the Sheriff far off--then I will slip away. You quietly rob the place
and fly--it is death for you to linger--Ashby is here."
"Ashby!" The road agent started in alarm.
"Ashby--" reiterated Castro and stopped on seeing that Nick had returned
to see that all was well.
"All right, Nick, everything's all right," Johnson reassured him.
The outlaw's position remained unchanged until Nick had withdrawn. From
where he stood he now saw for the first time the preparations that were
being made for his capture: the red torchlights and white candle-lighted
lanterns which were reflected through the windows; and a moment more he
heard the shouts of the miners calling to one another. Of a sudden he
was aroused to a consciousness, at least, of their danger by Castro's
warning:
"By to-morrow's twilight you must be safe in your rancho."
The road agent shook his head determinedly.
"No, we raid on."
Castro was visibly excited.
"There are a hundred men on your track."
Johnson smiled.
"Oh, one minute's start of the devil does me, Jose."
"Ah, but I fear the woman--Nina Micheltoreña--I fear her terribly. She
is close at hand--knowing all, angry with you, and jealous--and still
loving you."
"Loving me? Oh, no, Jose! Nina, like you, loves the spoils, not me. No,
I raid on . . ."
A silence fell upon the two men, which was broken by Sonora calling out:
"Bring along the greaser, Dep!"
"All right!" answered the loud voice of the Deputy.
"You hear--we start," whispered Castro to his master. "Give the signal."
And notwithstanding, the miners were coming through the door for him and
stood waiting, torches in hand, he contrived to finish: "Antonio awaits
for it. Only the woman and her servant will stay behind here."
"Adios!" whispered the master.
"Adios!" returned his man simultaneously with the approach of the Deputy
towards them.
It was then that the Girl's gay, happy voice floated in on them from the
dance-hall; she cried out:
"Good-night, boys, good-night! Remember me to The Ridge!"
"You bet we will! So long! Whoop! Whooppee!" chorussed the men, while
the Deputy, grabbing the Mexican by the collar, ordered him to, "Come
on!"
The situation was not without its humorous side to the road agent; he
could not resist following the crowd to the door where he stood and
watched his would-be captors silently mount; listened to the Sheriff
give the word, which was immediately followed by the sound of horses
grunting as they sprang forward into the darkness in a desperate effort
to escape the maddening pain of the descending quirts and cruel spurs.
It was a scene to set the blood racing through the veins, viewed in any
light; and not until the yells of the men had grown indistinct, and all
that could be heard was the ever-decreasing sound of rushing hoofs, did
the outlaw turn back into the saloon over which there hung a silence
which, by contrast, he found strangely depressing.