THE FIRST BLOW STRUCK.
The caller had suddenly torn the beard from his face and flung it to
the floor.
It was the face of Deadwood Dick, handsome, grim, and he looked the
quailing banker in the eyes as he stood before him.
"Do you know me, Joaquin Escala?" he demanded.
"N--no, I do not know you. And you call me by a name not my own. Leave
my office."
"You fail to recognize me, Captain Joaquin? Then I must show you a
proof of identity that you cannot fail to recognize. Behold!"
Deadwood Dick tore open his shirt and exposed the brand of a horseshoe.
There it was, never to be effaced, the brand of a horseshoe that had
seared itself into the living flesh.
The man at the desk started to rise, but could not do so; he was like
one partly paralyzed and partly bereft of reason. He could only stare.
"Well, I see you recognize me now," said Dick.
"I deny it," was the gasped response. "You are a crazy man. You are a
lunatic. Leave my office, or I will not be responsible for your life--"
"Hold! If you reach for a gun, or attempt to call assistance, it will
signal your instant death, Red Rover. You and I have a little account
to settle and we must have a chat."
"I tell you you are mistaken."
"I know that I am not. Let us not dwell upon that, but come right to
the point. You cannot hope to make me doubt what I know to be a fact.
Now, what vengeance do you suppose I will take upon you for this?"
"I tell you you are making a mis--"
"I made one mistake once with you, but will not make another. You left
me for dead, but Providence was not done with me yet--nor with you."
Perspiration was standing out upon the man's forehead.
"How can I convince you--"
"That you are not Captain Joaquin?"
"Yes, yes."
"Bare your right arm, and if it contains no scar, around from the
shoulder and diagonally to the elbow, then you are not Captain Joaquin."
"Curse her! it was Susana told you that!"
"Now, perhaps we can come to business. I will sit down, and you will
observe silence and keep your hands in plain sight on your desk."
Dick had a gun in hand, and was ready to use it instantly.
"We must come to terms," said the banker.
"And those terms will be mine," said Dick.
"Name them, then."
"Give me, in funds, the amount that was taken from the express train
that day."
"Good heavens! it is more than I have got at my command on short notice
like this. I could not do it if my life depended on it."
"Your life does depend on it."
"I must have time."
"You have just time to produce it, no more."
There was a steely glitter in Deadwood Dick's eyes.
This ex-outlaw quailed before him, and Dick saw that he would yield to
the demand.
"I must speak to my cashier," he said.
"Not necessary," said Dick.
"Otherwise I cannot procure the funds--"
"It will not go down, sir. I will step with you into the other room,
and there you will open the safe and hand out the amount."
A look of relief came suddenly into the entrapped outlaw's eyes.
Deadwood Dick read his thought. A smile curled his lips as he thought
of the further surprise in store for the rascal if he acted upon the
idea that had come into his mind.
"I will do that," said the outlaw.
"Very well, get up and precede me."
The man rose from his chair, taking care not to let it appear that he
had any thought of reaching for a weapon.
He believed--he knew that would signal his instant death, after the
treacherous manner in which he had dealt with Deadwood Dick on the
former occasion, and he could not risk it.
Going to the door, he opened it, and the instant it was opened he
leaped out, shouting:
"A robber! Shoot him!"
A woman was before him.
Strange men were in possession of the bank. Each of them had a badge on
his breast.
Captain Joaquin looked around him in dismay, and his face turned even
more deathly pale than ever, if possible.
The woman was Susana.
She was pale, but her face was determined.
With a quick movement the rascal reached for a pistol, but Deadwood
Dick was upon him instantly.
"No you don't," he cried. "Whether you meant to shoot her or yourself,
is all the same. Neither life can be spared just yet. Johnson, disarm
him."
One of the deputies stepped forward and did so.
The clerks in the bank looked on with open-mouthed amazement. And as
each of them had a man over him with a gun, they believed it to be a
robbery.
As soon as relieved of his weapons, the fellow was allowed to go, and
Dick again ordered him to produce the money from the safe, or order his
cashier to do so in his stead.
He refused to obey.
"Then we must help ourselves," said Dick. "Bryce, you were
express-agent at that time, and know the sum that was sent from the
Castleville bank that day. Take the same sum from this safe now."
Another of the deputies stepped forward and entered the safe for the
purpose.
He brought forth bundle after bundle of the funds, until he had the
required amount in a pile on the nearest table.
"Is that right?" asked Dick.
"Yes, according to the markings."
"And that is no doubt correct. Pack it up for transportation."
This the man proceeded to do, with the utmost care and security, and at
last it was done and they were ready to depart.
"Now, Mr. Brown," said Deadwood Dick, then, "we will take our leave.
You know the justice of this visit, and why we have withdrawn by force
a certain deposit that was in your hands."
"Curse you!"
"We can go further, but the time is not ripe. This is only the
beginning of your retribution."
"You are robbers! This is only a trick to serve your purpose! I will
have a posse after you within ten minutes after your departure!"
"Will you?"
"I swear it!"
"Then perhaps we had better end the business now. Shall I arrest you,
make known your true name here, and let the citizens of this camp deal
with you as you deserve?"
"Go, and make the best of what you have got. We will meet again some
day, and then--"
"And then," said Dick, grimly.
He gave his men a signal and they left the room, then Susana, and last
of all, Dick.
At the door he stopped for a last word with the outlaw, upon whom had
fallen the first blow of a just vengeance.
"This is but the beginning," Dick said. "You know what to expect at my
hands. I have drawn a cordon around you that you cannot hope to escape,
and it is only a matter of time."
"Ha! I know you now!" was the last desperate ruse. "You are Captain
Joaquin, the outlaw!"
"Perhaps I am," said Dick.
He withdrew, and went down the street. Susana was with him.
The others, somehow, had disappeared already, and after these two
turned a corner, they, too, were seen no more.
It was as if the very earth had opened and taken them in. And when, a
little later, the hue and cry of a daylight robbery was raised, not a
vestige of the robbers could be found.