THE DEPARTURE.
The reply of the outlaw officer, telling what the third demand to be
made upon Celeste Seldon would be, caused her face to pale and her lips
quiver, while her eyes burned brightly with indignation. She stood for a
moment in silence, and then asked:
"Do you mean that he will make this demand upon me?"
"I mean that the demand will be made upon you by one who will enforce
it."
"Who?"
"That I cannot tell you, more I cannot say to you, yet I will relieve
your anxiety by saying that I will protect you, cost whose life it may."
"You?"
"Yes, if you are again captured, though, if I can prevent it, I will."
"But if I am?"
"It will end there, for then I will prove my reformation: I will
protect you, and that poor fellow for whom you will have to pay ransom.
When I do, I believe I will be able to return your gold, paid in ransom,
to you again.
"But, whether I do or not, you will go your way free, and Brandon also,
and I will prove that you have reformed me, that my loving you has made
me a different man. Now I cannot, will not say more; but remember that
through all I will secretly be your friend, though openly appearing as
your guard and enemy."
"I thank you, and I will trust you," and stepping forward, Celeste
Seldon held forth her hand.
The man put forth his own, as though to grasp it, then hesitated, and
said:
"No, I will prove my reformation, my friendship, before I touch you with
my crime-stained hand. I will call you at an early hour," and turning
abruptly, the outlaw lover of Celeste Seldon walked away.
Resuming her seat, the young girl became lost in thought, while Andrew
Seldon, as we shall still call him, after gazing at her for a few
moments in silence, turned away from his hiding-place, and crept
cautiously back to where he had left his game and rifle.
He knew that his comrade would be most anxious about him, yet he
determined to remain there for the night, and see the departure in the
morning. He would then know just how many outlaws went with Celeste
Seldon as a guard, and how many remained.
So he made himself as comfortable as possible, and sank to sleep, to
awake an hour before dawn and see the camp-fires burning brightly.
Creeping to the safest point of observation, from which he could retreat
unseen after daylight, should any of the outlaws remain in their camp,
he waited for developments.
He had not long to wait before he saw a party approaching on horseback.
There was one in the lead, and as he came within a few yards of where he
lay, Andrew Seldon recognized the outlaw officer, Wolf.
He held a lariat in his hand that was attached to the bit of the horse
following, and upon which was mounted Celeste Seldon.
In the dim gray of early dawn, Seldon saw that the eyes of Celeste were
blindfolded, and her hands rested in her lap, as though bound.
Behind her came, in single file, five outlaws, and like their leader,
they were masked.
Bringing up the rear were a couple of packhorses well laden.
The party passed on, and then Andrew Seldon turned his attention to the
outlaw camp, in which several of the men had been left.
Having discovered this, Seldon then crept cautiously back, picked up his
rifle and game, and started off at a double-quick for his own camp,
anxious to relieve his pard's anxiety regarding him, and to tell him all
that he had discovered.
A man of great endurance, he made a rapid run to his home, and did not
feel it in the least. He found Lucas Langley just starting off on a
search for him, and the welcome he received was a sincere one.
"How glad I am to see you, Pard Seldon. Surely you were not lost?" he
said.
"No, indeed; but have you any breakfast, for I am as ravenous as a wolf,
as I went without dinner and supper yesterday, and did not delay to
cook anything this morning."
"You shall have something in a few minutes, so wash up, and I'll get it
for you."
"And then we must have a talk," said Seldon, as he went down toward the
little stream for a refreshing plunge-bath.
"He has had an adventure of some kind, I am sure," muttered Lucas
Langley, as he threw a fine steak upon the coals and put some fresh
coffee in the pot.
Andrew Seldon's bath greatly refreshed him, and he ate his breakfast
quietly, after which he said:
"We'll not go gold-hunting to-day, pard, for I have something to tell
you."
"I feel that you have seen some one in the Grand Canyon."
"You are right. I have."
"Are they here to stay?"
"Yes, they think so."
"Who are they?"
"They are masked men, outlaws, belonging, I feel sure, to the
road-agent band I heard of when at W----."
"They go masked in camp?"
"They do."
"How many?"
"There are, I think, nearly a dozen of them."
"Tell me of them, and where they are."
"They are camped in the blue-cliff canyon, near our old home, and are
working the mine we marked as number two on our map."
"They are here for gold, then?"
"Yes, gold-diggers in their idle moments, and at other times
road-agents, making their retreat here, where they deem themselves
safe."
"They did not see you?"
"No, indeed; but I got within fifty feet of one of their camp-fires, and
where they had a captive."
"Ah! a prisoner?"
"Yes."
"Did you know him?"
"It was a young girl."
"The devils!"
"That is what they are, indeed; but let me tell you just what I
discovered, overheard, and saw."
Then Andrew Seldon told the story, and in Lucas Langley he found a most
ready listener.
"Oh, that we could rescue that girl!" said Langley, when he had heard
all.
"To make the attempt would be but to meet with signal failure now,
Lucas."
"I fear so."
"Still, I will see that they are not left long to carry on their work of
deviltry."
"I am with you heart and soul."
"I know that well, pard. But they will return the girl for the ransom
demanded, and then they will get the amount they claim for the young man
they spoke of."
"Yes."
"This will take some days, and in that time I shall act."
"You?"
"Yes, they will lay their plans to kidnap the girl from Last Chance, to
carry out this scheme of the chief to have his third demand come in,
and right there I shall thwart them."
"But how can you?"
"I will start to-night for Fort Faraway."
"Will you go there?"
"Yes."
"You told me that there were reasons why you would not go anywhere among
those who might recognize you."
"It is different now, and necessity demands that I take the risk. I have
changed greatly, for my long hair and beard, my glasses and other
changes completely disguise me from what I was, and so I will go to Fort
Faraway."
"For what purpose?"
"I wish to see Buffalo Bill, and place these facts before him, for we
can tell him where to find the outlaws' secret retreat, and I believe
that the girl and the young man can be saved and every member of the
robber band captured."
"It would be a grand thing for you to do."
"Yes, it is just what I wish to do, to render some valuable service to
the Government."
"When shall we start?"
"I will start to-night, but you, pard, must remain here in possession of
our mines."
"As you wish, pard; but will you be gone long?"
"Not a day longer than is necessary, pard."
"Well, success go with you," was Lucas Langley's response, and the two
men began to make preparations for the start of the one with information
of where the retreat of the outlaw band could be found.
Andrew Seldon did not care to take a packhorse, for he wished to make
all the time possible, and when the sun went down he was ready for the
trail, and, with Lucas Langley accompanying him, he started down the
canyon to steal by the robbers' camp.