THE WELCOME
The afternoon wore on as Rathburn followed the road at an easy jog. He
quickened his pace somewhat when he passed through aisles in thick
timber, and, despite his careless attitude in the saddle, he kept a
sharp lookout at all times. For Rathburn was carrying some gold and
bills in a belt under his shirt--which had been examined and returned
to him at the order of the deputy--and he had no intention of being
waylaid. Moreover, the man's natural bearing was one of constant
alertness. He rode for more than two hours without seeing any one.
"Strange," he observed aloud. "This road is used a lot, too. Maybe the
morning's ceremonies has scared all the travelers into the brush."
But, as he turned the next bend in the road, he saw a small cabin in a
little clearing to the right.
Spurred by a desire to obtain some much-needed information, he turned
from the road into the clearing and rode up to the cabin. He doffed
his broad-brimmed hat in haste as he saw a girl.
"Ma'am, I'm a stranger in these woods an' I'm looking for an honest
man or woman to guide me on my way," he said with a flashing smile.
Instead of returning his smile with a gracious word of greeting, the
girl regarded him gravely out of glowing, dark eyes.
"Pretty!" he thought to himself. "Limping lizards, but she's pretty!"
"Where are you from?" the girl asked soberly.
"From yonder mountains, an' then some," he answered with a sweeping
gesture.
"You rode down this morning?"
"I rode down this morning. Down from the toppermost top of the divide
with the wind singing in my whiskers an' the birds warbling in my
ears." He laughed gayly, for he appreciated her puzzled look. "I was
wondering two things," he continued solemnly.
"What might they be?" she asked doubtfully.
"First: Why isn't there more travel on this good road?" he said. "I
haven't seen a soul except yourself and a--a party in an automobile.
Now on a road like this----"
"Where did you meet the automobile?" she asked in a voice which he
interpreted as eager.
"Two hours an' some minutes back--and up. Near a truck which had had
some trouble in the road. Perhaps you heard about it? Turned over on
its side in collapse after some free-thinking gents turned their smoke
wagons toward it."
It was plain she was interested.
"Did--is the automobile still there?" she inquired with a breathless
catch in her voice.
"Oh, no. After some of the passengers had had a little disrespectful
conversation with me, it went on up the road. Are they scarce around
here, ma'am--automobiles?"
"Not exactly," she replied with a frown. "They truck ore and men and
supplies to and from the mine every day. The reason you've seen so few
people to-day is because it's Sunday."
"Thank you," he said gallantly. "That answers my first question. You
remember, I was wondering _two_ things?"
Her lips trembled with a smile, but her eyes flashed with suspicion.
"You will observe, ma'am, that I am not followed by any pack horses or
heavily-laden burros," he went on gravely, although his eyes sparkled
with good humor. "Nor is there anything much to speak of in this
slicker pack on my saddle. I need some new smoking tobacco, some new
shaving soap, some new hair cut, a bath, a dinner, and a bed--after
I've put up my hoss."
This time the girl laughed, and Rathburn was rewarded by the flashing
gleam of two rows of pearls and eyes merry with mirth. But her
reciprocating mood of cheerfulness was quickly spent.
"You are only a mile and a half from High Point," she said hurriedly.
"You can get what you want there."
She retreated into the doorway, and Rathburn saw that the chance
interview was at an end.
"_Gracias_, as they say in the desert country," he said, saluting as
he turned away. "It means thanks, ma'am."
He looked back as he touched the mustang with his steel and saw her
looking after him with a strange look in her eyes.
"That gal looks half like she was scared, hoss," he reflected. "I
wonder, now, if she got me wrong. Dang it! Maybe she thought I was
trying to flirt with her. Well, maybe I was."
He thrust a hand in a pocket and fingered the two objects he had
picked up in the road at the scene of the holdup. Then he pulled his
hat a bit forward over his eyes and increased his pace. The town, as
he had half expected, came suddenly into sight around a sharp bend in
the road.
High Point consisted of some two-score structures, and only a cursory
glance was needed to ascertain that it was the source of supplies and
rendez-vous for entertainment of the several mines and all the miners
and prospectors in the neighboring hills. Several fairly good roads
and many trails led into it, and from it there was a main road of
travel to the railroad on the edge of the desert in the east.
Before he entered the dusty, single street, lined with small buildings
flaunting false fronts, Rathburn recognized the signs of a foothill
town where the hand of authority rested but lightly.
He rode directly to the first hotel, the only two-story structure in
town, and around to the rear where he put up his horse and left his
saddle, chaps and slicker pack in the care of the barn man.
He received instructions as to the location of the best barber shop
and speedily wended his way there. He found Sunday was not observed in
the barber shop, nor in the resort which adjoined it.
"Any chance to get a bath here?" he asked one of the two barbers with
a twinkle in his gray eyes.
He expected a snort of astonishment and a sarcastic reply.
"Sure. Want it first or after?"
Rathburn eyed the barber suspiciously. Was the man poking fun at him?
Well, he was not a stranger to repartee.
"First or after what?" he asked, scowling.
"Your shave and hair cut."
Rathburn laughed. "I'll take it first--if you have it. An' if you
have, I'll say this is a first-class barber shop."
The barber led the way to a room in the rear of the place with a
pleased grin.
An hour or so later Rathburn, with the lower part of his face a shade
paler than the upper half, his dark hair showing neatly under his
broad-brimmed hat, his black riding boots glistening, and a satisfied
smile on his face, sauntered out of the barber shop into the resort
next door.
A man was lighting the hanging lamps, and Rathburn looked about
through a haze of tobacco smoke at a cluster of crowded gaming tables,
a short bar, cigar counter, and at the motley throng which jammed the
small room.
He grinned as he read the sign over the cash register:
FREE DRINKS TO-MORROW
"Swiped in broad daylight from the grand old State of Texas," he
murmured aloud to himself.
Then he noticed a small restaurant in the rear of the place, separated
from the main room by a partition, the upper part of which was glass.
He made his way back, passed through the door, and took a seat at the
counter which afforded him a view of the resort through the glass. He
ordered a substantial meal and, while waiting for it to be served,
studied with calculating eyes the scene in the next room.
The men were mostly of the hills--miners constituting the majority. Of
professional gamblers there were many, and there was also a plentiful
sprinkling of that despicable species known as "boosters" whose
business it is to sit in at the games in the interest of "the house;"
to fleece the victims who occupy the few remaining seats.
But now he saw a man who apparently was not a miner, or a prospector,
nor yet a member of the professional gambling tribe. This was a tall
man, very dark, sinewy. He wore a gun.
At first Rathburn thought he might be a cow-puncher, for he wore
riding boots, and had something of the air and bearing of a cowman;
but he finally decided that this classification was inaccurate. An
officer at one of the mines, perhaps; a forest ranger--no, he didn't
wear the regalia of a ranger--Rathburn gave it up as his dinner was
put before him on the counter.
He fell to his meal eagerly, for he had had nothing to eat since early
morning when he had broken camp high in the mountains to westward.
Steak and French "fries" began quickly to disappear, along with many
slices of bread and two cups of steaming coffee. Then Rathburn looked
up, and to his surprise saw that the tall, dark man was standing near
the glass, studying him intently out of scowling, black eyes.
Rathburn looked at him coolly and steadily for a few moments and
resumed his meal. But the other was inquisitive and Rathburn sensed,
without again looking up, that he was being watched. Was this man,
then, an aide of Mannix, the deputy? He doubted it.
He finished his meal, paid his score with an added cheery word for the
counter jumper, rose, entered the main room of the resort, and walked
directly up to the dark man who still was observing him.
"Was you thinking I was an old acquaintance of yours?" he asked
pleasantly.
The other's eyes narrowed, and Rathburn thought he detected a glow of
recognition and satisfaction.
"Did you have your bath?" sneeringly inquired the man.
Rathburn's brows lifted. Then he smiled queerly. "I sure did. Why? Did
I maybe keep you waiting? Was you next?"
The other's eyes blazed with wrath. "Let me give you a tip, my friend;
you ain't right well acquainted in this here locality, are you?"
Rathburn now noted that they had attracted immediate attention. The
tall, dark man, then, was a personage of importance. He noted another
thing, too--rather, he realized it by instinct as well as by certain
mannerisms. The man before him knew how to use the weapon which hung
low on his right thigh.
"If you mean was I born here, or do I live here, I'd say no," Rathburn
drawled; "but I happen to be here at this precise time so I'd say I'm
right well acquainted with it."
A hush had come over the place. Interested faces were turned in their
direction, and Rathburn sensed an ominous tremor of keen expectancy.
The fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes tightened a bit.
"This is a poor time for strangers to be hanging around," said the
dark man in a loud voice. "The Dixie Queen pay-roll has been taking
wings too often."
The implication and the murmur from the spectators was not lost upon
Rathburn. His lips tightened into a fine, white line.
"Whoever you are, you've got more mouth than brains!" he said crisply
in a voice which carried over the room.
The effect of his words was electric. There was a sharp intaking of
breath from the spectators. The dark man's face froze, and his eyes
darted red. His right hand seemed to hang on the instant for the swoop
to his gun. Rathburn appeared to be smiling queerly out of his eyes.
Then came a sharp interruption.
"Just a minute, Carlisle!"
Rathburn recognized the voice of Mannix, and a moment later the deputy
stepped between them.
"What's the idea?" he asked coolly.
"This gentleman you just called Carlisle seems to have appointed
himself a reception committee to welcome me into the enterprising town
of High Point," drawled Rathburn, with a laugh.
Mannix turned on Carlisle with a scowl, and Carlisle shrugged
impatiently, his eyes still glaring balefully at Rathburn.
The deputy again confronted Rathburn. "Had your supper?" he asked.
"Best steak I've had in two months," Rathburn replied cheerfully.
"Horse taken care of?"
"First thing." There was a note of derision in Rathburn's tone.
"Service at the hotel barn is high grade."
Mannix's eyes hardened before he spoke again. He hesitated, but when
his words came they were clear-cut and stern.
"Then come with me an' I'll show you where to sleep."
"You mean in jail?" queried Rathburn.
Mannix nodded coldly.
"Sheriff," said Rathburn, in a peculiar tone, addressing the deputy
but looking over his shoulder directly into Carlisle's eyes; "if
there's one thing I'm noted for, it's for being a good guesser!"