HOME AGAIN.
Claus had been expecting something of this kind. It is true he had a
revolver, but by the time he could reach back to his hip pocket and
draw it he could be covered by Jake, whose weapon lay close at hand.
There was but one thing to be done--he had to surrender. Instead of
getting three thousand dollars for his share in the robbery, he would
be turned loose in that country, two hundred miles from anybody,
without a cent left in his pockets--that is, if Bob searched him.
"Well," said Claus, "I suppose you want all the money I have around
me. I should think you might leave me a little."
"How much have you?" asked Bob.
Without saying a word, Claus unbuttoned his vest, worked at something
on the inside, and presently hauled out a belt, which he handed over
to Bob. It did not stick out as though there was much money in it, and
when Bob began to investigate it, all he drew forth was twenty-five
dollars.
"You are a wealthy millionaire, I understood you to say," exclaimed
Bob, in great disgust. "This looks like it!"
"I told you, when I had purchased the pack-mule, provisions and tools,
that I should not have much left," answered Claus. "That's all I have,
and if you take it from me I shall starve."
"Stand up!" commanded Jake, who was as disgusted as Bob was. "You are
sure you haven't got any about your clothes? But, first, I'll take
possession of that revolver."
The revolver having been disposed of, Jake then turned his attention
to feeling in all Claus's pockets, but he found nothing more
there--Claus had evidently given them the last cent he had.
"Take your little bills," said Bob, throwing Claus's belt back to him.
"If you are careful of them, they will serve you till you get back to
Denver."
"And when you get there, you can go to one of those men who own that
block of buildings and borrow another thousand or two. Now, get out of
here!" put in Jake.
"I thank you for this much," returned Claus. "But I should thank you a
good deal more if you would give me my revolver. I may want it before
I reach Denver."
"Give it to him, Jake. He hasn't pluck enough to shoot at us or
anybody else. Make yourself scarce about here!"
"They think they are awful smart!" thought Claus, when he had placed
some bushes between him and the robbers. "Why didn't they think to
look in my shoe? I have three hundred dollars that they don't know
anything about. Now I guess I'll go back to St. Louis; and if anybody
ever says anything to me about an 'old horse,' I'll knock him down."
We are now in a position to take a final leave of Claus, and we do it
with perfect readiness. Did he get back to St. Louis in safety? Yes,
he got there in due course, but he had some fearful sufferings on the
way. In the first place, he was nearly a week in finding his way out
of the mountains; and by the time he reached a miner's cabin he was so
weak from want of food that he fell prone upon the floor, and stayed
there until the miner came from his work and found him there. Of
course he was taken in and cared for, and when he was able to resume
his journey he offered to present the miner with every cent he
had,--twenty-five dollars,--to pay him for his kindness; but the miner
would not take it.
"You will need every cent of that before you get to Denver," said he.
"The food and care I have given you don't amount to anything.
Good-bye, and good luck to you."
He was nearly three times as long in finding his way back to Denver.
He tried to buy a horse on the way, but no one had any to sell. He now
and then found a chance to ride when he was overtaken by a teamster
who was going somewhere for a load, but the most of his journey was
accomplished on foot. His long tramp never cost him a cent, for
everybody pitied his forlorn condition.
"I tell you, if I had been treated this way by those robbers I
wouldn't look as bad as I do now," Claus often said to himself; "I
would have seen California before I went home."
All this while, Claus was on nettles for fear he would see some of the
men from Dutch Flat who were in pursuit of him; but the trouble was,
the miners all went the other way. They never dreamed that Claus was
going home, but saddled their horses at Mr. Banta's command, and,
making no attempt to follow the devious course of the robbers through
the mountains, took the "upper trail," and did their best to shut them
off from the towns toward which they knew the men were hastening to
buy some more provisions. What luck they met with we shall presently
see.
No man ever drew a longer breath than Claus did when he came within
sight of Denver. He went at once to the hotel where he had left his
clothes, but the landlord did not recognize him and ordered him out of
the house; but he finally succeeded in making himself known; and, now
that he was safely out of reach of the miners at Dutch Flat, he had
some fearful stories to tell of his experience.
"You know I left my clothes with you on condition that you would keep
them for me for a year," said Claus, who thought that was the wisest
thing that he ever did. "Well, I want them now. I have the key to my
trunk, so everything is all right."
Claus was not long in recovering from the effects of his journey, for
he could not help thinking that Mr. Banta, or some other man who
belonged to the Flat, would find out that he had gone to Denver and
come after him; so he remained there but two days before he took the
cars for home.
"Now I am safe," said he, settling down in his seat and pulling his
hat over his eyes; "I would like to see them catch me. But what shall
I do when I get back to St. Louis? I must settle down into the same
old life I have always led, and that will be a big come-down for me."
Claus is there now, spending his time at the pool-rooms, where he
makes the most of his living, and ready at any time to talk about the
mines and the terrible experience he had there.
And where were Julian and Jack all this while? To begin with, they
were in the ravine, making all the haste they could to leave the
robbers behind and reach the haunted mine before their provisions gave
out. That troubled them worse than anything.
"If our grub stops, where are we going to get more?" asked Jack. "I
don't believe there is a house any nearer than Dutch Flat."
"And we can't get there any too soon," returned Julian. "At any rate,
we are better off than Claus is. What do you suppose they intend to do
with him?"
"I suppose they intend to divide the money with him. What makes you
think they would do anything else?"
"From the way they treated him. If we could learn the whole upshot of
the matter, you would find that they don't intend to give him a
dollar."
"I wish we could see Mr. Banta for about five minutes," said Jack. "I
don't like to give up that money. It is the first we ever earned by
digging in the ground, and I was going to suggest to you that we keep
some of it."
Julian replied by lengthening his steps and going ahead at a faster
rate than ever. He, too, did not like to confess that the money was
lost,--that is, if they could only get word to Mr. Banta in time. He
did not know where the robbers were heading for; but, with two hundred
men at his back, Julian was certain he could come up with them before
they had left the country entirely.
"But I hope they will not hurt the robbers," said Julian. "If they
will just get the dust, that is all I shall ask of them."
About five o'clock in the afternoon, when it began to grow dark in the
ravine, Julian, who had been all the time leading the way, stopped and
pointed silently before him. Jack looked, and there was the camp they
had occupied two nights before.
"We are on the right road, so far," said he. "If we don't miss our
way to-morrow we are all right."
The boys had not stopped to eat any dinner, and for that reason they
were hungry. They spent a long time in cooking and eating their bacon,
and Julian said there was just enough for two more meals. He did not
like to think of what might happen when it was all gone, and, after
replenishing the fire, bade his companion good-night, wrapped his
blanket about him, and laid down to rest; but sleep was out of the
question. A dozen times he got up to see the time, and there was Jack,
snoring away as lustily as he had done at the haunted mine. Julian
wished that he, too, could forget his troubles in the same way, but
when morning came he had not closed his eyes.
Julian proved to be an invaluable guide, for that night they slept in
the first camp they had made after leaving the haunted mine. If he had
always known the path, he could not have brought his companion
straighter to it.
"Now keep your eyes open for the trail we made when we came down from
our mine, and then we are at home. But I say, Julian, I shall not be
in favor of staying here. All our money is gone, I don't feel in the
humor to work for any more, and we will go down to Dutch Flat."
"And we'll stay there just long enough to find somebody starting out
for Denver, and we'll go with him," replied Julian. "I don't want
anything more to do with the mines as long as I live."
The night passed away, and the next morning, without waiting to cook
breakfast, the two boys started to find the trail that led up the
bluff to the haunted mine. They were a long time in finding it--so
long, in fact, that Julian began to murmur discouraging words; but
finally Jack found it; and now began the hardest piece of work they
had undertaken since they left the robbers. The cliff was as steep as
it looked to be when they gazed down into its depths from the heights
above, and they did not see how they had managed to come down it in
the first place.
"Are you sure the mine is up here?" asked Julian, seating himself on a
fallen tree to rest. "I should not like to go up there and find
nothing."
"Didn't you see the trail we made in coming down?" inquired Jack. "Of
course we are on the right track; but if you spend all your time in
resting, we shall never be nearer the top than we are this minute."
Julian once more set to work to climb the hill, and in half an hour
more Jack pushed aside some branches that obstructed his way and found
himself in plain view of the mine. Julian was satisfied now, but
declared he could not go any farther until he had recovered all the
wind he had expended in going up the bluff; but Jack wanted to see
that everything in the camp was just as they left it. He walked on
toward the lean-to, and the first thing that attracted his attention
was that his goods had been disturbed. The skins were gone, some of
the blankets were missing, and there were hardly provisions enough to
get them a square meal. Julian came up in response to his call, and
was obliged to confess that there had been other robbers while they
were absent.
"Let us dish up the few provisions left, take those things we want to
save, and dig out for the Flat," said Julian. "I am sure there is
nothing here to keep us, now."
"And we'll leave the dirt-bucket here for somebody else to use," added
Jack. "If he thinks there is a lead down there, let him go and try it.
I did not send up enough dust the last time I was down there to pay
for the rope."
At the end of an hour the boys resumed their journey, each one loaded
with a few things they wanted to save, and in two hours more they
arrived within sight of Dutch Flat. Some few of the men had already
given up their workings and were sitting in front of the store,
smoking their pipes; but one of them speedily caught sight of the
boys, and the miners broke out into a cheer. In a few seconds more
they were surrounded, shaking hands with all of them, and trying in
vain to answer their questions all at once.
"This is no way to do it," declared Julian. "Let us put our things in
the cabin and get our breath, and I will tell you the story."
"In the first place," began Jack, as he deposited the things with
which his arms were filled and came out and seated himself on the
doorsteps of Mr. Banta's cabin, "let me ask a few questions. I won't
delay the story five minutes. Where is the man who owns this house?"
"Mr. Banta?" said one of the miners. "He took the upper trail two or
three days ago, and rode with all possible speed in the direction of
Mendota. He hopes in that way to cut off those villains."
"He will do it, too, for they have no horses," said Julian.
"No horses? What did they do with them?"
"I don't know, I am sure," answered Julian, in surprise. "They were on
foot when they came to rob us."
"Why, their mule came up here a few hours after they left, and made
the biggest kind of a fuss, and Banta suspected something at once. He
called for some men to go with him, and he went as straight as he
could to your mine. You were not there, and that proved that those
miners had paid you a visit."
"We are going to get our dust again!" said Julian, slapping Jack on
the shoulder. "But I hope they won't hurt the robbers after they catch
them."
"Well, that is rather a difficult thing to tell. A man who comes into
a mining-camp and watches his chance to steal money instead of working
for it, takes his life in his hand."
"Then they must have been the ones who disturbed our things," said
Jack.
"Probably they were. They brought the skins of the ghosts back, and
also some of your provisions. They are there in his cabin now. Now let
us have that story."