For an hour the Comet had been toiling upward by a circuitous and
intricate way. But he had not lost in speed. Billie had made up her mind
not to linger. If they must see these men into a safe hiding place it
was well to get it over with as soon as possible.
They had not been permitted to light the Comet's one illuminating eye,
but had gone silently and swiftly along. It was now eight o'clock by the
motor timepiece, but it was still light enough to see the road winding
in front of them like a white ribbon in the blue gray atmosphere.
"We are most there now, young Miss," Jim Bowles observed respectfully.
He admired intensely this intrepid young woman who drove a car better
than most men.
"Most where?" she asked calmly, but with inward quaking. "It's better,"
she thought, "to let him think I'm not frightened, but I am just the
same."
"Most to the place we're goin' to," he remarked mysteriously.
"It's very inconvenient for us," she replied, gathering courage as she
noted his respectful manner. "We had expected to reach Salt Lake City
the day after to-morrow."
"Salt Lake City," he exclaimed. "Young lady, it's lucky you spoke. I
know a short cut through the mountains and I've got a friend as'll show
you the way."
"But it's just a pass, isn't it? Not a road for automobiling."
"Many a prairie schooner has passed that way, Miss, an' wasn't none the
worse for it, neither. The road ain't known to everybody, but it'll save
you half a day's travel, an' I'll be glad to make you acquainted with it
and protect you on the journey, too."
"Only a few hours ago we were wishing to find a short cut to Salt Lake
City," she thought. "Wishes do come true in such an unpleasant manner
sometimes."
The Comet slowed down. The road became very steep and rugged, and
straight above them loomed a precipice, like an immeasurable black wall.
As they turned a curve a blast of cold air blew straight into their
faces, and they began to feel strangely light, as if they had no bodies
and were floating in space. Presently in the dim light they perceived
three silent figures standing across the road, each with a shotgun.
"Draw in, men, it's friends," called Jim Bowles. "Take this road, Miss,"
he added, pointing to a broad trail that appeared to have been cut
through the rocks.
The motorists gave a start of surprise when the Comet presently slipped
into what proved to be later a sort of cup in the side of the mountain,
well hidden by the rocky walls surrounding it.
In the dim light they saw a group of log huts huddled close together, as
if for companionship. There were lights in the windows, and framed in
the doorway of the nearest hut was the figure of a woman whose face was
turned anxiously in their direction.
Jim Bowles crawled slowly out of the motor car and began a whispered
conference with his confederates.
"Mr. Moore," said Miss Campbell, as she clutched his arm, "we are in a
nest of robbers. Do you think we shall ever get out alive? Tell me the
worst before they come back."
"Don't let them know you are frightened. These men admire courage more
than anything else in the world. I will keep with you every moment. The
man named Bowles owes his life to me, and even with all their
lawlessness, these poor souls are not ungrateful. Don't protest about
anything, and don't make any demands. Try to be perfectly calm and,
above all, pretend to be pleased. I believe they'll do the best they can
for you tonight. They may even show us out of the gulch, although I
doubt it."
Miss Campbell lapsed into silence. She considered that Daniel Moore had
a very optimistic turn of mind, considering the circumstances.
"You can't git out of the gulch to-night, Miss," said Jim Bowles,
returning to the side of the car. "It's too dark, and the roads ain't
good enough for night travel in that there machine. You'll have to stay
here tonight, but before we admit you into our happy homes you've got to
take an oath, an' if you break it it'll be the worse for you. We don't
take no half measures."
"What do you want us to promise, Jim?" asked Mr. Moore.
"You've got to promise before we let you leave this place that you never
will tell to nobody what you know about it, and that the one that shows
you the trail to-morrow morning won't git pinched through you."
Jim Bowles was not satisfied until he made each occupant of the motor
car say solemnly: "I promise," from Mary, with her high, sweet voice, to
Daniel Moore in his deeper tones.
And now there came that crucial moment when the Motor Maids and Miss
Helen Campbell were obliged to leave the protecting interior of the
Comet and mingle with a band of mountain brigands.
"I can't do it, Mr. Moore. I tell you, I shall simply die of fright,"
Miss Campbell whimpered into the ear of Daniel Moore, who seemed like an
old and intimate friend in this dangerous situation.
"You must," he said, giving her his arm. "Keep up and don't show you are
frightened. If you trust them, they'll do their best for you, as they
have promised."
Then followed Jim Bowles into the first cabin, where the woman had been
waiting. She was not in sight now.
"Minnie!" called Jim, but there was no answer, and he left the house
with an exclamation of annoyance.
The girls looked about them timidly. The strangeness and danger of their
dilemma had made them silent. Mary clung to Elinor and Elinor pressed
closely to Miss Campbell's side, while Billie and Nancy kept their hands
clasped together with that intimate grasp of two friends who need no
words in which to express their feelings.
There were two rooms in the cabin. The first, a bedroom, and the back
room a kitchen; and they were astonishingly clean and neat, considering
the wildness of their occupants. No doubt this was due to Minnie, who
now appeared, dark-eyed, handsome and defiant. She stood in the doorway,
looking at them, half boldly and half timidly.
Then Miss Helen Campbell made what she considered afterward the effort
of her life.
She walked straight up to Minnie and held out her hand.
"How do you do, my dear?" she said. "It's very kind of you to take us
into your nice little home. Shall we not be friends? I must introduce
you to my four girls."
She raised her heavenly blue eyes and gazed blandly into the girl's
fierce dark ones, taking Minnie's limp hand into hers. Perhaps it had
been many a day since a lady had spoken kindly to Minnie and treated her
as an equal. At any rate, she melted completely.
"I'm glad you come," she said, smiling broadly and showing two rows of
even white teeth. "It's awful lonely here sometimes when Jim's away."
She looked across at Jim tenderly, and they all of them understood at
once what it was that kept Minnie on this lonely mountain side.
It was not long before they were comfortably installed in Jim's cabin.
On the little stove in the back room bacon was sending out a pleasing
aroma. Nancy was engaged in making an omelette. Elinor had charge of the
tea, while Mary and Billie brought from the store of provisions in the
Comet the best that it afforded in the way of jam, cheese and mixed
pickles.
Minnie helped them when she could, but she was very shy and afraid of
being in the way. Daniel Moore and Miss Campbell sat near the stove
talking in low voices. Miss Campbell had related to him the story of
their chance meeting with Evelyn Stone. Occasionally Jim Bowles came and
stood in the doorway. There was an expression in his eyes half wistful
and half amused as he regarded these unusual activities in his home.
"Invite Jim and Minnie to supper," whispered Daniel Moore, "if you want
to bind them to you with hoops of steel."
It was never very difficult for the little lady to be charming, and
having won over Minnie she had somewhat overcome her fears.
"Mr. Bowles," she said with a graciousness that fairly captivated the
brigand, "we cannot take possession of your house unless you promise to
join us at supper. Will you sit here by me, and Minnie, you would rather
sit with the girls, that is quite plain? Come, Mr. Moore."
There was not room for all the party at the table, however, and Minnie
ate her supper with Billie and Nancy on a bench by the stove.
With a sheepish smile on his face Jim Bowles sat down obediently at the
table and for the first time in his life engaged in an agreeable
conversation on terms of equality with a real lady.
"If everybody was as nice as you, ma'am," he said, "I think I would be
willing to--to--well, give all this up. It's excitin' but it's
dangerous, and it ain't respectable."
"Mr. Bowles," said Miss Helen, "I believe you are an honest man at
heart. No man could have such a devoted wife and not have some good in
him. The moment you decide to give up this--this wild life and are
looking for honest employment, I shall be glad to help you. There is my
card. I have only one thing to ask in return: that you see us safely
through the mountains to-morrow."
"Granted!" cried Jim, taking the card she offered.
Minnie, who had left the bench and was standing near Miss Campbell's
chair, with a rapt expression on her face, cried out fiercely:
"If you only would, Jim! If you only would!"
Suddenly Jim stood up and stretched out his hand for silence.
"Listen!" he whispered.
In the distance came the sound of horses' hoofs ringing out on the hard
mountain road.
The door opened and one of the desperadoes thrust in his head.
"Beat it, Jim! Git to the cave! They're comin'."
"Ladies, remember your promise!" cried Jim, and with one bound he was
out of the house and gone.
And then, as if this were not enough to shatter their nervous system
into little bits, Minnie flung herself on the floor in front of Miss
Campbell in a perfect passion of tears.
"You won't give him up!" she cried, beating her hands together in
misery. "You ain't goin' fer to give him up?"
Miss Campbell looked at Daniel Moore, but he refused to advise even by a
glance.
Billie kneeled down beside Minnie and put her arm around the poor girl's
neck, while she looked appealingly at her cousin.
"My poor child," said Miss Campbell, after a very perceptible pause, "we
won't tell on your husband. He is certainly a very lawless character,
but maybe he'll reform if he has a chance."
"Thank you! Thank you!" cried Minnie, kissing Miss Campbell's small hand
with all the fervor of her warm nature.
"Now, Minnie, go about your work as if nothing had happened. The girls
will help you, and leave the rest to me. Well," she observed in a low
voice to Daniel Moore, who was standing by the window, looking anxiously
out, "if any one had told me this morning that this evening I should be
protecting a train robber from the law, I should never have believed
them in the world. But things seem to happen out in the West that never
could happen in the East."
At that moment fully half a dozen horsemen dashed up to the door.
"Go and sit down," whispered Daniel Moore. "I think we might protect
this poor girl if we can, wrong as it would seem to the law."
The door was flung open and several pistols were pointed into the room.
"Don't move! Keep still, everybody, or you know where you're at!"
"Nobody has any intention of moving. Come in," said Daniel Moore.
A big man in a black slouch hat strode in.
"Come out, Jim Bowles. Don't try to escape. The house is surrounded.
You'll git shot for your pains if you do."
"Jim Bowles is not in this house," said Daniel Moore.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Moore. I come from Iowa."
"And who might these be?" demanded the sheriff, pointing to Miss Helen
and the girls.
"These ladies are taking a motor trip."
"Let the women answer for themselves. Who are you?" demanded the sheriff
roughly.
Miss Campbell drew herself up.
"Would you mind taking off your hat?" she said. "It is easier for me to
reply to a man when he is not wearing a hat."
The sheriff removed his hat quickly.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he said. "We don't often see ladies in this wild
country."
"We are a party of motorists." said Miss Campbell. "We took the wrong
road, and this very kind woman gave us shelter. To-morrow we hope to
resume our journey."
"Do you know you are probably in the cabin of one of the worst outlaws
in the State?"
"Are you sure, sir? It is very difficult to believe, and where one is
treated with so much hospitality one does not look for such things."
The sheriff turned to Minnie:
"Where is your husband, girl?"
"I don't know."
"Is he hiding in this house? Tell me the truth."
"Look for yourself!" cried Minnie, flinging wide the door into the
bedroom.
"I believe there's a mistake, Sheriff," said one of the men. "The
chief's nest is farther up the mountain. These people could never have
found it in a motor car."
Presently the men left the house. There was a long, long interval when
they sat listening with strained ears for sounds in the darkness. Once
there were shots in the distance. At last, as their heads were drooping
with fatigue and they yearned to lie down anywhere and sleep, the door
opened and Jim Bowles crept cautiously in.
"Minnie will guide you to the Gap," he said. "I will meet you there, and
show you the short cut through the mountains. Good night. And, Miss
Campbell, I'll accept your proposition. I've been bad, I suppose,
because I thought there wasn't nobody good, even the people that claimed
to be--an' there wasn't no use of me bein', neither. But I was mistaken,
by a long shot. You kin have back the money, too. I reckon I've got
enough on hand to give the boys their share and still make it out. I was
savin' up to buy a ranch in Idyho. But there's more ways than this of
gittin' on. Minnie, I reckon you'll be glad. Ain't you, gal?"
"Glad?" whispered Minnie, moving to his side and resting her cheek
against his shoulder.
He kissed her shyly.
"I don't want to git caught--understand?" he said. "But I've done with
this old life forever, so help me."
He raised his hand to heaven in token of his solemn oath.
"We'll all help you, Jim," said Daniel Moore.
But Miss Helen Campbell considered Jim and Minnie her private discovery
and particular property, and that night, reposing on a steamer rug
spread over their bed, she dreamed golden dreams of their future.