DEAD OR LIVING.
Frank's feelings on listening to this talk, the greater part of which he
was able to hear very well, may be imagined far more easily than
described. At last he was in full possession of the facts relating to
the abduction of June Arlington, and a greater piece of villainy had
never come to his knowledge. From the first he had regarded Eliot Dodge
as a scoundrel of the worst type; but he had not gaged the man as one
who would enter into such a desperate scheme as this.
Merry had also learned that Ben File was dead, and, therefore, he was
released from his promise to bring back Cimarron Bill.
Immediately his one thought turned to June and to the devising of some
method of discovering her whereabouts and going to her rescue. Later he
could think of other things; but not until this great object had been
accomplished.
The voices of the men ran on in the little room, though words grew
fewer, and Merry knew the demand for the ransom money was being written.
For a moment he thought of the satisfaction it would give him to expose
the rascally lawyer and bring him to the end of his tether. Then he saw
Handsome Charley speaking quietly in the ear of a man, afterward
passing on to another and yet another. There was something in Charley's
manner that seemed very significant.
"There's trouble brewing for Bill," Frank decided. "It's coming as sure
as fate."
He felt for his own weapons, making sure they were where he could draw
them and use them without delay; but Frank did not propose to become
involved in the affair unless circumstances made it impossible to keep
out.
Again he listened at the crack in the partition, hoping that some word
passed between Dodge and Bill would tell him where June was hidden. In
this Merry was disappointed. True, Dodge asked about the girl and Bill
assured him that she was perfectly safe and unharmed, but that was all.
The dance was over and another was in progress when Bill and Eliot Dodge
came from that back room. Handsome Charley and his satellites were
watching these two men. But they were permitted to pass to the door,
where Bill shook hands with Dodge, who hurried forth into the night.
"How is that, Bill?" demanded Charley, hastily approaching. "I opine you
agreed that you an' your friend would sure drink with me arter your
business was over. I notices that he has hiked."
Bill turned.
"Count me in, Charley," he said easily. "Mr.--ah--Lewis, he didn't hev
time. My neck is again a whole lot dry, and I'll be pleased to irrigate
with you."
So they stood up to the bar, and Frank saw a number of men drawing near
from different directions, all coming forward quietly.
Charley openly expressed his disapproval of the conduct of Eliot Dodge.
"He certain was most onmannerly, Bill," he declared.
"Forget it," advised Bill curtly.
And this was not at all agreeable to the other.
"Mebbe I can't do that none," said Charley; "but I'll tell ye, Bill,
what will help a whole lot."
"Go ahead," said Bill.
"You has right up-stairs in this same ranch a young lady what is
handsome enough to make any gent fergit a wrong, an' her I most mightily
wants to bring down yere."
Frank heard the words distinctly, and they gave him a start. Handsome
Charley was speaking of June Arlington; there could be no doubt of that.
He said June was "up-stairs in that same ranch." At last Frank had
received the clue he was seeking.
More than Merry saw trouble was brewing between Charley and Bill, and
now the attention of almost every person in the room was directed toward
them.
Bill's face grew grim, and again his eyes narrowed and glittered.
"See yere," he said harshly, "I allows we has settled the p'int in
regard to her, an' so you lets it drop, Charley."
Frank knew that pistols would be out in a few seconds more. He did not
wait for the men to draw and begin to shoot.
There was no flight of stairs in the room where the dance was taking
place, and, therefore, he immediately decided that the stairs might be
found in the back room, where the interview between Bill and Eliot Dodge
had taken place. The door leading into that room was closed, but Frank
slipped quickly to it, and it readily opened before his hand.
He found himself in a bare room, having but little furniture, a table, a
bed, some chairs, and, as Frank had believed likely, a steep flight of
stairs ran railless up one side of the room, disappearing at a dark
landing above.
In a twinkling Merry was bounding lightly up those stairs, the sounds of
loud and angry voices coming from the dance-room, where the music and
dancing had now stopped.
Frank knew that whatever he did must be done in a hurry, for, allowing
that in the trouble in the dance-room, Handsome Charley should come
forth triumphant it was likely that June would be sought by some of
those ruffians.
The thought of this spurred Merry on. He pictured to himself the terror
of the poor girl seized by those men and dragged into the presence of
the mob below.
"They shall not touch her!" he muttered. "If I can reach her, they shall
not touch her!"
Then he found himself, in the gloom of the landing, against a heavy
door. He sought to open it, but it was locked.
From below came the sound of a shot. Then there were shouts and other
shots.
"The devils have broken loose!" exclaimed Merry, and he wondered how it
fared with Bill.
In vain he felt for the fastenings of the door. His heart smote him with
the fear that it would withstand any attack he might direct upon it.
Then he found a match and struck it. The light showed him something that
made his heart leap with satisfaction.
Across the face of the door, lying in iron slots, was an iron bar that
held it fast.
The match was dropped in a twinkling, and Frank's fingers lifted the bar
from the slots and its socket. Then he easily opened the door.
At that instant it seemed as if pandemonium broke loose below. There was
a perfect fusillade of shots, hoarse shouts from men and wild shrieks
from women. There was likewise a terrible crash, as if some part of the
building had been ripped down.
"June!" called Frank. "June! June!"
The room in which he found himself was dark and silent.
"June! June! I am a friend! Answer me!"
Still silence.
Again he brought forth and struck a match. It flared up in his fingers,
and he lifted it above his head, looking all around.
Stretched on the floor in a huddled heap in one corner was the body of a
girl. The glance he had obtained convinced him that it was June beyond
question.
Frank sprang forward, again speaking her name and assuring her that he
was a friend.
In the darkness he found her with his hands. She did not move when he
touched her, and his fingers ran to her face. It was cold as marble to
the touch, and a great horror filled his soul.
"Merciful God!" he groaned, starting back a little. "They have killed
her. The devils!"
The shock was so great that he remained quite still on his knees for a
few moments.
He was aroused by the sound of heavy feet upon the stairs.
Frank sprang up and dashed across the room to the door.
The door leading into the dance-room had been left wide open below. He
saw that a number of men had entered the back room, and already two or
three were on the stairs. Handsome Charley was at their head.
Frank was trapped!
At once he realized that Cimarron Bill was, beyond a doubt, lying in a
pool of his own blood in the dance-room. At last the most desperate and
dangerous man-killer of the Southwest had met his master.
Merry had little time, however, to think of anything like this. His own
life was in the utmost peril. He drew his revolver, and, with the utmost
coolness, put a bullet through Handsome Charley's right shoulder.
With a cry, the man fell back into the arms of the one directly behind
him, and that fellow was upset, so that all were swept in a great crash
to the foot of the stairs.
"Perhaps that will hold you for a while!" muttered Frank, as he picked
up the iron bar and promptly closed the door at the head of the stairs.
He had seized the bar because he thought it might be a good weapon of
defense in case his revolvers should be emptied and he remained in
condition to fight. Now he thought of something else, and decided that
the bar might do for a prop at the door.
"There ought to be some other way out of this room," he muttered. "Isn't
there even a window?"
Again he struck a match, looking around with the aid of its light.
At the end of the long room in which he found himself he fancied he must
find a window. Toward this end of the room he hurried, and another match
disclosed to him a window that was hidden by heavy planking. Plainly the
planks had been spiked over the window after it was decided to hold June
a prisoner in that room.
Down dropped the match, and instantly Frank attacked the planks with the
iron bar.
Fortune must have favored him, for had it been light he could not have
been more successful. Every stroke was effective, and he began ripping
off the planks.
There was wild excitement below, and Merry prayed for a little time. His
heart was filled with a hope that Handsome Charley's fate would be a
warning to others, so they would not be eager to rush up the stairs to
the door.
In just about one minute he had torn the planks from the window.
Once more he heard men ascending the stairs. Instantly he dashed across
the floor, finding the door in the darkness.
"Halt!" he cried savagely, from behind the closed door. "Halt, or I
fire!"
Then he sought to prop the door with the iron bar, pressing it down in
such a position that it might hold for some moments against an ordinary
attack upon it.
"I'll shoot the first man who tries to open this door!" he shouted.
But he did not remain there to await an effort to open the door. Instead
he quickly found the girl in the corner, lifted her limp body, and
sought the window once more.
Reaching the window, Frank promptly kicked out sash and glass with two
movements of his foot.
Bang! bang! bang!--sounded heavy blows on the door behind him, but the
iron bar was holding well.
Merry swung his leg over the window-ledge. Desperate as he was, he meant
to venture a leap from the window to the ground with the girl in his
arms.
But just then, pausing to look down, he was amazed and delighted to see
below him his four friends, who were on the point of entering the
building, led by Bart Hodge. Instantly Frank hailed them.
"Catch her!" he cried, swinging the girl out over the window-ledge, so
that they could see her below.
Immediately Bart and Ephraim extended their arms and stood ready.
"Let her come!" shouted Hodge.
Frank dropped the girl, and the two young men clutched at her as she
fell directly into their arms.
At that moment the door behind Merry flew open with a slam and the
ruffians came bursting into the room.
One of them held a lighted lamp.
The fellow in advance saw Frank in the window and flung up his hand.
There was a loud report and a burst of smoke. When the smoke cleared the
window was empty, Frank having disappeared.
"Nailed him!" shouted the ruffian who had fired. "Nailed him for sure!"
He rushed forward to the window and looked down, expecting to discover
the body of his victim stretched on the ground. But in this he was
disappointed, for neither Frank nor his friends were beneath the
window. Into the darkness of the crooked street some dusky figures were
vanishing.
Frank had leaped from the window, being untouched by the bullet that
fanned his cheek in passing. He struck on his feet, but plunged forward
on his hands and knees. In a moment he was jerked erect by some one who
observed:
"Methinks your parachute must be out of order. You descended with
exceeding great violence. What think you if we make haste to depart?"
"Jack!" exclaimed Frank.
"The same," was the assurance, as Ready clutched his arm and started him
on the run. "Dear me! I know this strenuous life will yet bring me to my
death!"
Ahead of them Frank saw some figures moving hastily away.
"The girl----"
"They've got her," assured Jack. "Old Joe is with them. We'll talk it
over later."
So they ran, well knowing the whole of Sunk Hole would be looking for
them within thirty minutes. It did not take them long to come up with
Bart, Ephraim, and old Joe.
Behind them there sounded shouts and commands, and it was well the whole
of Sunk Hole had been at the dance, else the place must have been
aroused so that they would have run into some of its inhabitants. Here
and there amid the buildings they dodged until they arrived at the edge
of the collection and struck out for the side of the valley, Crowfoot
leading.
It was necessary to trust everything to the old Indian. Without him they
could not have known with any certainty that they were taking the proper
course to enable them to get out of the valley.
The girl was passed from one to another as they ran. They did not waste
their breath in words.
The old Indian ran with an ease that was astonishing, considering his
years.
Looking back, they could see torches moving swiftly here and there
through the town, telling that the search for them was being carried on.
Soon they came to a steep gully that led upward, and the ascent was very
difficult, even at first. It grew more and more difficult as they
ascended, and it became necessary for them to work slowly in the
darkness, the girl being passed upward from time to time, as one after
another took turns at creeping ahead.
Joe did not seem to have much trouble, but he did not bother with the
girl. Finally he said:
"Here come bad palefaces! Make some big hurry!"
It was true that a party of men were running toward the gully. Their
torches danced and flared, showing them with some distinctness.
To the right and left in other parts of the valley were clusters of
torches.
"Heap try to stop us," exclaimed Crowfoot. "One way to go up there,
'nother way down there, this be 'nother way. They know all. That how um
come here so fast."
By the time the men with the torches reached the foot of the gully Frank
and his comrades were so far above that they were not betrayed by the
torchlight. But one of the ruffians bade the others listen, and at that
very moment Ephraim Gallup dislodged a stone that went clattering and
rattling downward with a great racket.
Instantly a wild yell broke from the lips of the ruffians below.
"Here they are!" they shouted. "They're up here!"
Then one of them began to blaze away with his pistols, and the bullets
whistled and zipped unpleasantly close to the party above.
Bart Hodge stooped and found some rocks as large as ducks' eggs in the
hollow of the gully. He knew it would expose their position if he should
answer the fire with his revolvers, and so he simply hurled those rocks
with all the accuracy and skill that had made him noted on the baseball
diamond as a wonderful thrower to second base.
The first rock struck a fellow on the wrist and broke it. The third hit
another man on the shoulder, and not many of the six Bart threw failed
to take effect.
Astonishing though it seemed, this method of retorting to the shooting
proved most effective, and the ruffians scattered to get out of the way,
swearing horribly.
The fugitives continued till the top of the gully was reached and they
struck something like a natural path that soon took them where they
could no longer see the valley nor hear their enemies.
Knowing they would be followed still farther, they halted not for a
moment until their horses were reached. Then they paused only to make
ready and swing into the saddle.
Even as June was passed up to Frank she sighed and seemed to come a
little to herself. And as they rode into the dusk of the night she
recovered consciousness, the cool breeze fanning her face. She wondered
and shuddered until she heard the voice of Frank Merriwell reassuring
her, and then she was certain that it was all a dream. In her prison
room she had listened with shaking soul to the sounds from below, she
had crept to the barred door and heard Cimarron Bill and Eliot Dodge
talking below, and the horror of knowing the rascally lawyer was in the
plot that had brought about her abduction and detention in that den had
been a fearful shock to her. When the quarreling and the shooting began,
she was filled with mortal dread. She heard some one on the stairs and
fumbling at her door, and then, kneeling in a corner of the room, all
the world slipped away from her, and she remembered nothing more until
she awoke in the arms of her brave rescuer, Frank Merriwell.