IN THE HANDS OF CIMARRON BILL.
A shout quickly brought an answer.
"Gentlemen," said Frank, "I'm for a parley. What say you?"
"We're willing. Parley away."
"If you were to get those papers I suppose you would feel yourselves
perfectly well satisfied?"
"I reckon you've hit it good an' fair."
"Such being the case, if I come forth with hands up and empty, I take it
you won't take the trouble to shoot me up any?"
"None at all," was the assurance promptly given. "If you comes out like
that, you has our promise not to do any shooting whatever."
"And how about the gentlemen below?"
"They'll do no shootin' unless you goes that way."
"Is this all on the square?"
"You bet! Bring out that old redskin with ye, an' let him keep his hands
up, too."
"I think you've made a mistake, gentlemen; there is no redskin with me.
I am quite alone."
"We knows better! Ye can't play any tricks on us!"
"I am willing to convince you. Just keep your fingers off your
triggers. Watch me as close as you like. I'm coming!"
Having said this, he left his rifle lying on the ground and rose to his
feet with his hands held open above his head.
It must be confessed that he did not do this without some doubt
concerning the result, for he knew those ruffians were very treacherous;
but somehow he was satisfied that they had been instructed to obtain the
papers, if possible, without killing him, and that belief led him to run
the risk that he now faced.
He was ready to drop instantly if they fired as he arose into view. A
moment he stood quite still, and then, as no shot rang out, he stepped
through amid the boulders and walked boldly up the ravine.
In this manner, Frank walked straight into the midst of a party of nine
thoroughbred frontier desperadoes, who were waiting for him, with their
weapons in their hands.
The leader was a thin, dark-faced, fierce-looking man, who covered Merry
with a revolver.
"I rather 'lowed you'd come to it," he said, in satisfaction. "But I
told ye to bring that old Injun along."
"And I told you there was no Indian with me. I spoke the truth."
"Say, youngster, did you ever hear of Cimarron Bill?"
Frank looked the fellow over with his calm eyes. He saw a cruel,
straight slit of a mouth, a thin black mustache, with traces of gray,
and sharp, cruel eyes, set altogether too near together. He had heard
of Cimarron Bill as the most dangerous "man-killer" in all the
Southwest.
"Yes," he said quietly, "I have heard of him."
"Well, you're lookin' at him. I'm Cimarron Bill. The butts of my guns
have seventeen notches in 'em. You may make the eighteenth."
Merriwell knew what the ruffian meant, yet he showed no signs of fear.
"I have heard," he said, "that Cimarron Bill has never yet shot a man in
cold blood or one who was unarmed."
"I opine that's right, young man; but this case is a leetle different.
It's not healthy to irk me up under any conditions, and so I advise you
to go slow."
Frank smiled.
"I have no desire or intention of irking you up, sir," he said. "I am
giving you straight goods. There is no Indian with me."
"There was last night."
"Yes."
"Well, I don't opine he's melted into the air or sunk into the ground,
an' tharfore he has to be yander behind them rocks."
"I give you my word, sir, that he is not there, and has not been there
since last night."
The ruffians had gathered about and were listening to this talk.
Picturesque scoundrels they were, armed to the teeth and looking fit for
any job of bloodshed or murder. They glared at the cool youth standing
so quietly in their midst; but he seemed perfectly at his ease.
"Sam," said the leader, turning to one of them, "go out yander to them
thar rocks an' look round for that redskin."
Sam, a squat, red-headed desperado, seemed to hesitate.
"What ef the Injun is waitin' thar to shoot me up some as I comes
amblin' along?" he asked.
"Go!" said Cimarron Bill, in a tone cold as ice. "If the Injun shoots
you, we'll riddle this here young gent with bullets."
"Which won't do me good none whatever," muttered Sam; but he knew better
than to disobey or hesitate longer, and so, dropping his rifle into the
hollow of his left arm, he stepped out and advanced toward the spot
where Merriwell had been ensconced behind the boulders.
The brutal band watched and waited. Cimarron Bill surveyed the face of
Frank Merriwell, more than half-expecting the youth would call for Sam
to come back, knowing the fate that would befall him in case the Indian
began to shoot.
But Sam walked straight up to the boulders, clambered onto them, and
looked over into the hiding-place that had served Frank so well.
"Derned ef thar's ary livin' critter hyer!" he shouted back.
"Make sure," called the leader, in that metallic voice of his, which
was so hard on the nerves. "Don't make no mistake."
Sam sprang down behind the boulders. They saw his head moving about,
but, very soon, he clambered back over them and came walking rapidly
away.
"The varmint is sartin gone," he averred.
Immediately Cimarron Bill thrust his cocked revolver against Frank
Merriwell's temple.
"Tell us where the Injun is!" he commanded. "Speak quick and straight,
or I'll blow the top of your head off!"
"I am unable to tell you just where he is at present," said Frank, with
that perfect coolness that so astonished the desperadoes. "He left me
last night."
"Left you?"
"Yes."
"How? We had this side guarded, an' ther boys below kept close watch."
"All the same, I think Joe Crowfoot passed you. How he did it I do not
know. He told me he could."
The leader of the ruffians looked as if he was not yet willing to
believe such a thing had happened; but there no longer seemed much
chance for doubt.
"Then it must have been that red whelp who stole one of our hosses!" he
said.
"I think it was," nodded Merry. "Something like two hours after he left
me I heard a commotion this way, followed by some shooting and the sound
of a galloping horse, which died out in the distance."
Some of the men began to swear, but Bill silenced them with one swift
look from his evil eyes.
"Well, that sure is the limit!" he observed, trying to hide some of his
disgust. "We didn't opine a kitten could sneak past us without being
seen an' shot up."
"A kitten might not," said Frank. "But old Joe Crowfoot should be
compared with a serpent. He has all the wisdom and craft of one. I
depended on him, and he did not fail me."
"Where has he gone? State it--state it almighty sudden!"
"If he followed instructions, he has gone to Holbrook."
"For what?"
"To send a message for me to my brother."
"A message? What sort of a message?"
"A letter and some papers."
"Papers?" said Cimarron Bill, in a low, threatening tone. "What papers?"
"Certain papers referring to the Queen Mystery and San Pablo Mines,
which I own."
A look of disappointed rage contorted the cruel face of the murderous
ruffian. The lips were pressed together until they appeared to make one
straight line no wider than the thin blade of a knife. The eyelids
closed to narrow slits, while that dark face turned to a bluish tinge.
Many times had Frank Merriwell stood in deadly peril of his life; but,
looking at that man then, he well knew that never had his danger been
greater. Still, if he regretted his act in walking forth and
surrendering himself into the hands of such a creature he effectually
concealed it. He betrayed not a whit of trepidation or alarm, which was
a masterly display of nerve.
The ruffians began to murmur fiercely, like the growling of so many
wolves. Perhaps it was to this outbreak that Merry owed his life, for
the leader suddenly bade them be silent, and the sounds ceased.
"So you sent those papers off by that old redskin, did you?" asked Bill.
"I did."
"And you have the nerve to come out here and tell me that! If you had
known me better, you would have stayed, and choked and starved, or even
shot yourself behind those rocks, before doing such a thing!"
Merriwell made no retort, for he felt that too many words would be
indiscreet. This man was capable of any atrocity, and another straw
might break the camel's back.
"Mr. Merriwell," said the ruffian, "I came here for them papers, and I'm
goin' to have them!"
"You may take my life," said Merry; "but that will not give you the
papers. In fact, it will utterly defeat the object of those men who have
employed you to obtain them."
"How do you figger that out? With you out of the way, they'll have less
trouble in takin' your mines."
"On the contrary, if I am murdered, the fact will react against them. I
have written a full account of the facts concerning my position and
fight with the syndicate to my brother, to be used in case anything
serious happens to me. With that, and with the papers I have sent him, I
fancy he can so arouse public indignation against the syndicate that the
men who are pushing this thing will be glad enough to pull in their
horns and quit the battle. So you can see that by killing me you will
defeat the object of the syndicate and disgust it with your method of
procedure."
Frank spoke those words convincingly, and certain it is that he made an
impression on Cimarron Bill. The other ruffians, however, who failed to
reason clearly, were fierce enough to shoot the captive where he stood.
Bill stood still and looked the young man over, beginning to realize
that he was dealing with a youth of more than ordinary courage, resource
and sagacity. His respect for Merriwell was beginning to develop
amazingly.
Frank could read the man well enough to feel that the danger-point had
been successfully passed, and he breathed more freely, although there
was no outward change in his manner.
"I'm not yet satisfied that you're not lying to me," said the chief of
the ruffians; whereupon he ordered his satellites to search the captive.
The closest search, which was supervised by Bill, failed to bring to
light the package of coveted papers.
Bill seemed to pass a few moments in thought. Then he said:
"We'll all go over yander and have a look round among the boulders."
With Frank in their midst, they proceeded to the spot where he had
successfully held them off. As they went forward, they called to the men
down the ravine, and soon those ruffians came hastening to join them.
"Have ye got the papers?" demanded one called Big Monte, a strapping
ruffian, who was the leader of the party.
When he learned what had happened the giant swore in angry
disappointment.
"However did you all happen to let the Injun slip ye that way?" he
demanded scornfully.
Bill looked him over.
"I opines you're not castin' reflections any whatever?" he said, in a
deadly manner.
Big Monte looked large enough to eat the thin, dark-faced chap, but he
hastened to disclaim any intention of "casting reflections," whereupon
Bill gave him no further heed.
The chief set them to searching amid the boulders, overseeing it all and
taking care that no possible place of concealment was neglected. But all
this search came to nothing, and the baffled wretches were finally
forced to confess that they were outwitted.
But Merriwell was a captive in their hands, and in their disappointment
they might be led to revenging themselves upon him.