The afternoon wore away slowly, the two men realising more and more
clearly the nature of the siege. Their only safety lay in the
protection of the rocks, as they were now entirely surrounded, and
fired upon from either bank the moment either raised a head. No
attempt was made, however, to assault their position, nor did they
often return the fire, desiring to preserve for future use their small
supply of ammunition. Brennan remained watchful, but silent, brooding
over his plans for the night, but Westcott became overpowered by
fatigue and slept quietly for several hours.
The sun was already sinking behind the range of mountains when he
finally aroused himself, and sat up. There was no apparent change in
the situation; the running water murmured musically against the rocks,
the distant banks, already in shadow, exhibited no sign of human
presence. Below in the distance was the deserted street of the town,
and farther away a few of the shacks were visible. The scene was
peaceable enough, and the awakened sleeper could scarcely comprehend
that he was in truth a fugitive being hunted for his life, that all
about him were men eager to kill, watchful of the slightest movement.
It was rather the sight of Brennan which restored his faculties, and
yielded clear memory. The latter greeted him with a good-humoured grin.
"Well, do you feel better, Jim?" he asked pleasantly. "Thought I'd let
you sleep as long as I could, for we've got some job ahead of us.
Sorry thar ain't no breakfast waitin', fer I wouldn't object ter a bit
o' ham bone myself. I reckon if Lacy coops me up yere much longer,
he's liable ter win his bet; I'm plumb near starved out already."
"I'm afraid they've got us, Dan."
"Oh, I don't know; leastwise I ain't put up no white flag yet. You're
game fer a try at gettin' out o' yere, ain't yer, old man? I've sorter
been reckonin' on yer."
"I'll take any chance there is," returned Westcott heartily, staring
into the other's face. "Have you some plan?"
"Maybe 'tain't that exactly, but I've been doin' a powerful lot o'
thinkin' since you was asleep, Jim, an' I reckon we might beat these
fellers with a fair show o' luck. This is how I figure it out. Thar
won't be no attack; that's a cinch. Lacy knows we can shoot, an' he
also knows we're marooned yere without food. The easiest thing is ter
starve us out."
"But there are good men in this camp, law abiding men," interrupted the
miner. "What about them? Won't they take a hand?"
"Maybe they might if I was free ter get 'em together; but I ain't.
Most o' 'em are out in the mines anyway; they don't know which party is
right in this rumpus, an' they ain't got no leader. Lacy runs the
town, an' he's got a big gang o' toughs behind him. There ain't nobody
wants to buck up against his game. Of course the boys might get mad
after a while, but I reckon we'd be starved plumb ter death long afore
that happened. An' that ain't the worst ov it, Jim--the sheriff is
Lacy's man. I wouldn't never dare turn you over ter him--not by a
jugful."
"Then we are blocked at every turn."
"We sure are, unless we can dig out ourselves," gravely. "My notion is
to get a fair start, drift out into Shoshone, whar we'll leave no
trail, an' then hit for over the line. Sam Watts is sheriff of
Coconino, an' he'd give us a square deal."
"On foot?"
"Hell, no! I ain't no such walker as all that. Come over yere; keep
yer head down; now look out between these two rocks. Do yer see them
cow-ponies hitched ter the rack alongside o' the Red Dog? Well,
they've been thar fer a matter o' three hours, I reckon, an' their
riders ain't liable ter leave as long as thar's any excitement in town.
They're XL men, and mostly drunk by this time. It's my aim ter get a
leg over one o' them animals. How does that notion strike you?"
Westcott shook his head doubtfully, his eyes still on those distant
specks. The prospect looked practically hopeless.
"You don't think it can be done? Well now listen. Here's my scheme,
an' I reckon it'll work. Naturally Lacy will think we'll try to get
away--make a break for it in the dark. He'll have both them banks
guarded, an' ther fellers will have orders ter shoot. He'd rather have
us dead than alive. But, to my notion, he won't expect us ter try any
getaway before midnight. Anyhow, that's how I'd figure if I was in his
place. But my idea is to pull one off on him, an' start the minute it
gets dark enough, so them lads can't see what's goin' on out yere."
"We'll fight our way through?"
"Not a fight, my son; we'll make it so softly that not a son-of-a-gun
will ever know how it happened. When they wake up we'll be twenty
miles out in the desert, an' still a goin'. Thar's a big log clinging
ter the upper end o' the rock. I saw it when I fust come over; an'
'bout an hour ago I crept back through that gully an' took a good look.
A shove will send it floatin'. An' with a good pair o' legs to steer
with, thar ain't nuthin' to stop it this side the curve, an' I don't
calculate any o' the rifle brigade will be down as fur as that--do you?"
"Not likely," and Westcott measured the distance with eyes that had
lost their despondency. "Your idea is that we drift past under cover
of the log?"
"Sure. We'll tie our guns an' cartridges on top, where they'll be out
o' water, an' keep down below ourselves. Them fellers may glimpse the
log an' blaze away, but 'tain't likely they'll have luck enough to hit
either one o' us, an' the flare will show 'em it's only a log, an'
they'll likely quit an' pass the word along. It sounds blame good ter
me, Jim; what d'ye say?"
Westcott's hand went out, and the fingers of the two men clasped
silently. There was no need for more speech; they understood each
other.
The night closed down swiftly, as it does in the West, the purple of
the hills becoming black as though by some magic. There was a heavy
cloud hanging in the Western sky, constantly sweeping higher in pledge
of a dark night. The banks of the stream became obscured, and finally
vanished altogether; while the water ceased to glimmer and turned to an
inky blackness. Lights twinkled in the distant shacks, and the front
of the Red Dog burst into illumination. The saloon was too far away
for the watchers to pick out the moving figures of men, but Brennan
chuckled, and pointed his finger at the glare.
"Lacy ain't fergettin' the profit in all this," he whispered hoarsely.
"The boys are goin' ter be dry, an' he'll sell 'em all they
want--wouldn't mind if I had some myself. Is it dark enough, mate?"
"The sooner the better!"
"That's my ticket. Come on then, but don't make a sound; them lads are
more liable to hear than they are to see us. Let me go first."
The log was at the other end of the little island, but there was a
considerable rift in the rock surface, not deep, but of sufficient
width to permit the passage of a body. The jagged stone made the way
rough in the dark, and Westcott found himself at the upper extremity,
gashed and bruised by the contact.
Brennan had already lowered himself into the water, assisted in the
downward climb by some low, tough bushes whose tendrils clung
tenaciously to the smooth rock. Westcott followed silently, and found
footing in about three feet of water, where it swirled around the base
of the island. From this low point, their eyes close to the surface of
the stream, the men could dimly discern the shore lines silhouetted
against the slightly lighter sky. They crouched there in deep shadow,
but discovered no evidence that their effort at escape had been
observed. A dog was barking somewhere not far away, and once there was
a rustle along the nearer bank, as though a man wormed his way
cautiously through the thick chaparral. But this sound also ceased
after a moment, and all was still. Brennan put his lips close to his
companion's ear.
"Got yer cartridges tied up? That's all right; hand 'em over. Now
give me your belt. No; pass the end under the log an' buckle it; not
too tight. You hang on to the outside, an' I'll push off. If yer have
ter paddle ter keep in the current don't let yer hands er feet come to
the surface--understand?"
"Certainly."
"All right then; are you all set? Holy smoke, this is going to be some
yacht ride."
The log did not even grate as it loosened its slight hold on the rock,
and began the voyage down-stream. The current was swift enough to bear
it and its burden free from the island, although it moved slowly and
noiselessly on its way. The two men deeply emerged on either side,
with heads held rigid against the wet bark, were indistinguishable.
Out from the deeper shadow of the rock they drifted into the wider
stream below, Brennan gently controlling the unwieldy affair, and
keeping it as nearly as possible to the centre, by the noiseless
movement of a hand under water. The men scarcely ventured to breathe
and it seemed as though they were ages slowly sidling along, barely
able to perceive that they really moved. They must have gone a hundred
yards or more before there was any alarm. Then a voice spoke from the
bank to the right, followed almost instantly by the flash of a gun and
a sharp report. The flare lit up the stream, and the bullet thudded
into the log, without damage.
"What was it, Jack?" the voice unmistakably Lacy's. "Did you see
something?"
"Nothin' but a floatin' log," was the disgusted reply, "but I made a
bull's-eye."
"That's better than you did any time before to-day. Where is it? Oh,
yes, I see the blame thing now. You don't need ter be any quail-hunter
ter hit that. It's goin' 'bout a mile an hour. However, there is no
harm done; the shot will show those fellows that we are awake out here."
Slowly the log floated on, vanishing in the darkness. No other alarm
greeted its progress, and at last, confident that they were already
safely below the extent of the guard lines, the two men, clinging to
its wet sides, ventured to kick out quietly, and thus hasten its
progress. It came ashore at the extreme end of the curve, and, after a
moment of intent listening, the voyagers crept up the sand, and in
whispers discussed the next effort of their escape. The belts were
unstrapped from about the log, reloaded with cartridges, and buckled
around dripping waists before they clambered cautiously up the low
bank. The road was just beyond, but between them and it arose the
almost shapeless form of a small house, a mere darker shadow in the
gloom of the night.
"Where are we?" questioned Westcott.
"Just back of old Beecher's shack. He's trucking down Benson way, but
is liable to have some grub stored inside. I was countin' on this for
our commissary department. Come on, Jim; time is money just now."
The door was unlocked, and they trusted wholly to the sense of touch to
locate the object of their search. However, as there were but two
rooms, not overly stocked with furniture, the gloom was not a serious
obstacle, so that in less than ten minutes they emerged once more into
the open bearing their spoils--Westcott, a slab of bacon and a small
frying-pan; Brennan, a paper sack of corn meal, with a couple of
specimens of canned goods. He had also resurrected a gunny sack
somewhere, in which their things were carefully wrapped, and made
secure for transportation.
"Didn't feel no terbacco, did yer, Jim?" the marshal questioned
solicitously. "I reckon not though; ol' Beecher never would leave
nuthin' like that lyin' round. Well, Lord! we ought ter be thankful
fer what we've got. Now if we can only get away with them hosses."
They wormed their way forward to the edge of the road through a fringe
of bushes, Westcott laden with the bundle. Except for the sound of
distant voices and an occasional loud laugh, the night was still. They
could almost hear their own breathing, and the crackle of a dry twig
underfoot sounded to strained nerves like the report of a gun.
Crouching at the edge of the road they could see fairly well what was
before them, as revealed by the lights shining forth through the dingy
windows of the saloon. The Red Dog was not more than a hundred yards
away, and seemingly well patronised in spite of the fact that its owner
and many of his parasites were busily engaged elsewhere. The wide-open
front gave view of much of the barroom including even a section of the
bar. Numerous figures moving about were easily discernible, while up
above in the gambling rooms, the outlines of men were reflected upon
the windows.
A hum of voices echoed out into the night, but the platform in front of
the door was deserted. Occasionally some wanderer either entered or
departed, merging into the crowd within or disappearing through the
darkness without. To the left of the building, largely within its
shadow, stretched the hitch rail to which were fastened fully a dozen
cow-ponies, most of them revealed only by their restless movements,
although the few nearest the door were plainly enough visible in the
reflection of light. A fellow, ungainly in "chaps," reeled drunkenly
down the steps, mounted one of these and spurred up the road, yelling
as he disappeared. The noise he made was re-echoed by the restless
crowd within. The two men, crouched in the bushes, surveyed the scene
anxiously, marking its every detail. Brennan's hand closed heavily on
the arm of the other.
"We better pick out the two critters farthest from the light," he
muttered, "an' trust ter luck. We'll have to lead 'em a ways afore we
mount. They're XL outfit mostly, an' that means fair stock. Shall we
try it, now?"
"The sooner the better."
"That's me. Blamed if ever I thought I'd be a hoss thief, but when a
feller associates with Bill Lacy there's no knowin' what he will come
to. Howsumever, the foreman an' I are good friends, an' I don't reckon
he'd ever let me be hung fer this job. We better try the other side o'
the road, Jim."
They were in the flicker of light for scarcely an instant, merely two
darting shadows, vanishing once more swiftly and silently into the
gloom. Nor were they much longer in releasing the two cow-ponies.
Westcott tied his bundle to the cantle of the saddle and then, bridle
reins in hand, the docile animals following their new masters without
resistance, the men led them over the smooth turf well back from the
range of light. They were a quarter of a mile from the Red Dog before
Brennan, slightly in advance, ventured to enter the road.
"It's safe enough now, Jim, an' we don't wanter lose no time. Got the
grub, haven't yer?"
"Tied it on the saddle; which way do we go?"
"Straight south at the bridge; that will bring us to the old trail in
about five miles, an' after that the devil himself couldn't find us.
Ever crossed Shoshone?"
"No."
"Well, it's a little bit o' hell after sunup, an' we'll have a twenty
mile ride before we strike water. We'll start slow."
They swung into saddle, the road before them a mere black ribbon
revealed only by the gleam of a few far-off stars peering through rifts
in the clouds. Brennan rode slightly in advance, trusting his mount
largely to pick out the way, yet leaning forward eagerly scanning every
shadow and listening for the slightest warning sound. They were upon
the grade leading to the bridge when his vigilance was rewarded. There
was some movement to the left, where the hotel trail led down the bank,
and instantly both men drew up their ponies and remained intent and
rigid. Brennan's hand rested on the butt of his revolver, but for the
moment neither could determine what was moving in the intense blackness
of the hillside. Then something spectral advanced into the starlight
of the road and confronted them.
"Is this you, Mr. Cassady?" asked a woman's voice softly.