Westcott straightened the body out, crossing the dead hands, and
covered the face with a blanket stripped from a bunk. The brief burst
of flame died down, leaving the room in semi-darkness. The miner was
conscious only of a feeling of dull rage, a desire for revenge. The
shot had been clearly intended for himself. The killing of José had
been a mere accident. In all probability the murderer had crept away
believing he had succeeded in his purpose. If he had lingered long
enough to see any one emerge from the hut, he would naturally imagine
the survivor to be the Mexican. Good! This very confidence would tend
to throw the fellow off his guard; he would have no fear of José.
Westcott's heart rose in his throat as he stood hesitating. The dead
man was only a Mexican, a servant, but he had been faithful, had proven
himself an honest soul; and he had died in his service, as his
substitute. All right, the affair was not going to end now; this was
war, and, while he might not know who had fired the fatal shot, he
already felt abundantly satisfied as to who had suggested its efficacy.
There was only one outfit to be benefited by his being put out of the
way--Bill Lacy's gang. If they already had Fred Cavendish killed, or
held prisoner in their power, it would greatly simplify matters if he
should meet death accidentally, or at the hands of parties unknown.
Why not? Did he not stand alone between them and fortune? Once his
lips were sealed, who else could combat their claims? No one; not a
human being knew his secret--except the little he had confided that
afternoon to Stella Donovan.
The thought of the girl served to break his reflections. This was all
a part of that tragedy in New York. Both were in some way connected
together, the assassination in the Waldron apartments, and the shooting
of José here in this mountain shack. They seemed far apart, yet they
were but steps in the same scheme.
He could not figure it all out, yet no doubt this was true--the
struggle for the Cavendish millions had come to include the gold he had
discovered here in the hills. Bill Lacy was merely the agent of those
others, of Ned Beaton, of Celeste La Rue, of Patrick Enright. Aye,
that was it--Enright! Instinctively, from the very first moment when
he had listened to the girl's story, his mind had settled on Enright as
the real leader. The lawyer's arrival in Haskell with the La Rue woman
only served to strengthen that conviction. For certainly a man playing
for potential stakes as big as those Enright was gaming for, would
intrust no cunning moves to a mere Broadway chorus-girl. No, Enright
was on the ground in person because the matter in prospect needed a
director, an excessively shrewd trickster, and the others were with him
to do his bidding. If Cavendish really lived, all their plans depended
on his being kept out of sight, disposed of, at least until they had
the money safe in their grasp.
He reached beneath the blanket and drew forth the dead Mexican's
revolver, slipped the weapon into his own belt, opened the door and
went out, closing it tightly behind him. José could lie there until
morning. While the darkness lasted he had work to do. His purpose
settled, there was no hesitancy in his movements. His was the code of
the West; his methods those of the desert and the mountains, the code
and method of a fighting man.
A dim trail, rock strewn, led to the spring, where it connected with an
ore road extending down the valley to Haskell. Another trail across
the spur shortened the distance to the La Rosita shaft-house. But
Westcott chose to follow none of these, lest he run into some
ambuscade. The fellow who had fired into the shack was,
unquestionably, hiding somewhere in the darkness, probably along one of
these trails in the hope of completing his work.
To avoid encountering him the miner crept along the far side of the
cabin through the dense shadow, and then struck directly across the
hill crest, guided by the distant gleam of light. It was a rough
climb, dangerous in places, but not unfamiliar. Slowly and silently,
cautious to dislodge no rolling stone, and keeping well concealed among
the rocks, he finally descended to the level of the shaft feeling
confident that his presence was not discovered. He was near enough now
to hear the noise of the hoisting-engine, and to mark the figure of the
engineer in the dim light of a lantern.
Rock was being brought up the shaft, and cast onto the dump, but was
evidently of small value, proof to the mind of the watcher that the
gang below were merely engaged in tunnel work, and had not yet struck
ore in any paying quantity.
He lay there watching operations for several minutes, carefully
studying out the situation. He had no clearly defined plan, only a
desire to learn exactly what was being done. The office beyond the
shaft was lighted, although the faint gleam was only dimly revealed
along the edge of lowered curtains concealing the interior. However,
this evidence that some one was within served to attract Westcott's
attention, and he crept around, under the shadow of the dump, and
approached the farther corner. He could perceive now two men on the
hoisting platform, and hear the growl of their voices, but without
being able to distinguish speech. Every few moments there sounded the
crash of falling rock as the buckets were emptied. Revolver in hand he
made the round of the building to assure himself that no guard had been
posted there, then chose the window farthest away from the shaft, and
endeavoured to look in.
The heavy green curtain extended to the sill, but was slit in one
corner. With his eye close to this slight opening he gained a partial
glimpse of the interior. It was that of a rough office with a cot in
one corner as though occasionally utilised for a sleeping room, the
other furniture consisting of a small desk with roll-top, an unpainted
table, and a few chairs. In one corner stood a rusty-looking safe, the
door open, and a fat-bellied wood-stove occupied the centre of the
floor.
There were three men in the room, and Westcott drew a quick breath of
surprise as he recognised the two faces fronting him--Bill Lacy at the
desk, a pipe in his mouth, his feet elevated on a convenient chair, and
Beaton, leaning back against the wall, apparently half asleep with his
eyes closed. The third man was facing Lacy, but concealed by the
stove; he seemed to be doing the talking, and held a paper in his hand
resembling a map. Suddenly he arose to his feet, and bent over the
edge of the desk, and Westcott knew him--Enright!
The man spoke earnestly, evidently arguing a point with emphasis, but
the sound of his voice failed to penetrate to the ears of the listener
without. Desperately determined to learn what was being said, the
miner thrust the heavy blade of his jack-knife beneath the ill-fitting
window sash, and succeeded in noiselessly lifting it a scant half inch.
He bent lower, the speaker's voice clearly audible through the narrow
opening.
"That isn't the point, Lacy," the tone smooth enough, yet containing a
trace of anger. "You are paid to do these things the way I plan. This
mining proposition is all right, but our important job just now is at
the other end. A false move at this time will not only cost us a
fortune, but would send some of us to the pen. Don't you know that?"
"Sure I do; but I thought this was my end of it."
"So it is; but it can wait until later, until we have the money in
hand, and have decided about Cavendish. You say your tunnel is within
twenty feet of the lead, which it must be according to this map, and
you propose breaking through and holding on until the courts decide.
Now don't you know that will kick up a hell of a row? It will bring us
all in the limelight, and just at present we are better off
underground. That's why I came out here. I am no expert in mining
law, and am not prepared to say that your claim is not legal. It may
be, and it may not be--we'll waive that discussion. The point is
this--from all I can learn of Westcott, he is the kind who will fight
to the last ditch. Perhaps he hasn't any chance, but if he ever does
learn how we got hold of his letters and discovered the location of
that vein of ore, he's going to turn this whole affair inside out, and
catch us red-handed. You made a fool play to-night."
"That wasn't my fault," Lacy protested sullenly. "The fellow
misunderstood; however, there won't be no fuss made over a Mexican."
"I'm not so sure of that; Westcott will know it was meant for him and
be on his guard. Anyhow it was a fool's trick."
"Well, we do things different out here from what you do in New York.
It's my way to take no chances, and when a man's dead he can't talk."
"I'm not so sure of that; there's been many a lad hung on the testimony
of a dead man. Now see here, Lacy, this is my game, and I propose
playing it in my own way. You came in under those conditions, didn't
you?"
"I reckon so, still there wasn't much to it when I came in. This
mining stunt developed later out of those letters Westcott sent East.
This man Beaton here offered me so much to do a small job for him, and
I named my price without caring a whoop in hell what it was all about.
I don't now, but I've learned a few things since, and am beginning to
think my price was damn low. You never came way out here just to stop
me from tunnelling into Westcott's mine."
The other hesitated.
"No," he admitted at last, "I did not even learn what was being done
until after I got here."
"Beaton sent for you?"
"Not exactly. I never had any personal connection with him in the
case. I am not sure he ever heard of me, unless the woman told him.
He was working under her orders, and wired her when Cavendish got away
to come out at once. He didn't know what to do."
Lacy laughed, and began to refill his pipe.
"That was when I first began to smell a mouse," he said, more at ease.
"The fellow was so scared I caught on that this was no common
kidnapping outfit, like I had thought before. He wasn't easy pumped,
but I pumped him. I told him we'd have the guy safe enough inside of
twenty-four hours--hell! there wasn't no chance for him to get away,
for the blame fool headed East on foot straight across the desert--but
he sent off the wire just the same. That's what I thought brought you
along." He leaned over, and lowered his voice. "There was a dead man
back East, wasn't there?"
"What difference does that make?"
"None, particularly, except to naturally increase the worth of my
services. I'm not squeamish about stiffs, but I like to know what I am
doing. What are you holding on to this other fellow for?"
Enright walked nervously across the room, chewing at his cigar, only to
come back and face his questioner.
"Well, I suppose I might as well tell you," he said almost savagely.
"You know so damn much now, you better know it all. You're in too deep
already to wiggle out. We made rather a mess of it in New York, and
only a bit of luck helped us through. We had the plans ready for three
months, but nothing occurred to give us a chance. Then all at once
Cavendish got his first telegram from Westcott, and decided to pull
out, not telling any one where he was going. That would have been all
right, for we had a man shadowing him, but at the last moment he
quarrelled with the boy we had the woman slated up with."
"Hold on; what boy? Let me get this straight."
"His nephew, and only relative--John Cavendish."
"Oh, I see; he was his heir; and you had him fixed?"
"We had him where he couldn't squeal, and have yet. That was Miss La
Rue's part of the game. But, as I was saying, there was a quarrel and
the uncle suddenly decided to draw up a will, practically cutting John
out entirely."
"Hell! Some joke that!"
"There was where luck came to our help. He employed me to draw the
will, and told me he planned to leave the city for some time. As soon
as I could I told the others over the phone, and we got busy."
Lacy struck his knee with his hand, and burst into a laugh.
"So, he simply disappeared! Your idea was that an accident might
happen, and our friend Beaton here took the same train to render any
necessary assistance."
"No," said Enright frankly, "murder wasn't part of our plan; it's too
risky. We had other means for getting this money--legally."
Lacy stared incredulous.
"And there hasn't been no killin'?"
Enright shook his head.
"Not by any of us."
"Then how about that dead man in New York--the one that was buried for
Cavendish? Oh, I read about that. Beaton showed it to me in the
paper."
"That's the whole trouble," Enright answered gravely. "I do not know
who he was, or how he came there. All I know is, he was not Frederick
Cavendish. But his being found there dead in Cavendish's apartments,
and identified, puts us in an awful hole, if the rest of this affair
should ever become known. Do you see? The charge would be murder, and
how are we going to hold the real Cavendish alive, and not have it come
out?"
"The other one--the stiff--wasn't Cavendish?"
"Certainly not; you know where Cavendish is."
"I never saw Fred Cavendish; I wouldn't know him from Adam's off-ox.
I've got the fellow Beaton turned over to me."
"Well, he's the man; the dead one isn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because Frederick Cavendish bought and signed a round-trip ticket to
Los Angeles, and boarded the midnight train. My man reported that to
me, and Beaton just had time to catch the same train before it pulled
out. Isn't that true, Ned?"
"Yes, it is, and I never left him."
"But," insisted Lacy stubbornly, "did you see the dead one?"
"Yes. I kept away from the inquest, but attended the funeral to get a
glance at his face. It seemed too strange to be true. The fellow
wasn't Cavendish; I'd swear to that, but he did look enough like him to
fool anybody who had no suspicions aroused. You see no one so much as
questioned his identity--Cavendish had disappeared without a word even
to his valet; this fellow, despite the wounds on his face, looking
enough like him to be a twin, dressed like him, is found dead in his
apartments. Dammit, it's spooky, the very thought of it."
"But you saw a difference?"
"Because I looked for it; I never would have otherwise. Of course what
I looked at was a dead face in the coffin, a dead face that was seared
and burned. But anyway, I was already convinced that he was not the
man. I am not sure what I should have thought if I had met him alive
upon the street."
Lacy appeared amused, crossing the room, and expectorating into the
open stove.
"You fellows make me laugh," he said grimly. "I am hardly idiot enough
to be taken in by that sort of old wives' tale. However, if that is
your story stick to it--but if you were to ever tell it in court, it
would take a jury about five minutes to bring in their verdict. Still
I see what you're up against--the death of this fellow means that you
are afraid now to leave Cavendish alive. If he ever appears again in
the flesh this New York murder will have to be accounted for. Is that
it?"
"It leaves us in an awkward position."
"All right. We understand each other then. Let's get to business.
You want me to help out in a sort of accident, I presume--a fall over a
cliff, or the premature discharge of blasting powder; these things are
quite common out here."
Neither Enright nor Beaton answered, but Lacy was in no way embarrassed
by their silence. He knew now he had the whip-hand.
"And to prevent any stir at this end, before you fellows get hold of
the stuff, you want me to call off my working gang and let Westcott
alone. Come, now, speak up."
"Yes," acknowledged Enright. "I don't care so much for Westcott, but I
want things kept quiet. There's a newspaperwoman down at the hotel. I
haven't been able to discover yet what she is doing out here, but she's
one of the big writers on the New York _Star_. If she got an inkling
of this affair----"
"Who is she? Not the girl you had that row over, Beaton?"
The gunman nodded.
"She's the one."
"Do you suppose Jim Westcott knew her before? He brought her to the
hotel and was mighty touchy about her."
"Hell, no; she told me all about that--why she cut that fellow dead in
the dining-room when he tried to speak to her the next day."
Lacy whistled a few bars, his hands thrust deep into his
trouser-pockets. Then, after a few minutes' cogitation, he resumed:
"All right then; we'll take it as it lies. The only question
unsettled, Enright, is--what is all this worth to me?"