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Show B IkeithI H OF THE BORDER B A TALE OF THE PLAINS PrJ - fer liANDALL PARRISH L- l Author of "MY tApY OF THE SOUTH," ML "WHEN WILDERNESS WAS KING," tc. lyflf Clurrtlon. by DEARBORN MU.VU.L K (Ooprrliht, A. C. JlcClurg A Co., 1610 ) H CHAPTER III H An Arrett K The Santa Fe trail wag far too x- K posed to be safely traveled alono and H In broad daylight, but Keith conald- j wed It better to put sufficient space m between himself and those whom ha m felt confident were still watching his B movements from across the river. B How much they might already suspl- H don his discoveries he possessed no B means of knowing, yet, conscious of HB their own guilt, they might easily feel H safer if be were also put out of tb B way. Ho had no anticipation of open B attack, but must guard against treach- BV cry. As he rode, his eyes never left Bs thoso far-away sand dunes, although HBa be perceived no movoment, no black HBV dot even which ho could conceive to HBs be a possible enemy. Now that he B possessed ample time for thought, the HJH situation became more puzzling. This H tragedy which he had accidentally HH stumbled upon must have had a cause K other than blind chance. It was the HH culmination of a plot, with some rea- HE son behind more 'important than ordl- HB nary robbery. Apparently tho wagons Kf contained nothing of value, merely the KV clothing, provisions, and ordinary Hr utensils of an emigrant party. Nor Ks bad the victims' pockets been care- fully searched. Only the mules had H been taken by the raiders, and they would be small booty for such a crime. The trail, continually skirting the high bluff and bearing farther away from the river, turned sharply Into a narrow ravlno. Thero was a considerable consid-erable break In the rocky barrier hero, leading back for perhaps a hundred hun-dred yards, and tho plainsman turned his horse that way, dismounting when out of sight among the boulders. He could rest here until night with little danger of discovery. He lay down on the rocks, pillowing his head on the saddle, but his brain was too active to permit sleeping Finally he drew the letters from out his pocket, and began examining them. They yielded yield-ed very little Information, those taken tak-en from the older man having no envelopes en-velopes to show to whom they had been addressed. The single, document found In the pocket of the other was a memorandum of account at the Pioneer Store at Topeka. charged to John Sibley, and marked paid. This then must have been the younger man's name, as the letters to the other oth-er began occasionally "Dear Will." They were missives such as a wife might write to a husband long absent, ab-sent, yet upon a mission of deep Interest In-terest to both. Keith could not fully determlno what this mission might be, as the persons evidently understood A Bullet Chugged Into the Ground at His Feet. each other so thoroughly that mere allusion took the place ot detail. Twice the name Phyllis was mentioned, mention-ed, and once a "Fred" was also, referred re-ferred to, but In neither Instance clearly enough to reveal the relationship, relation-ship, although the latter appeared to be pleaded for. Certain references caused the belief that the Be letters had been mailed from somo small Missouri Mis-souri town, but no name wob mentioned. men-tioned. They were Invariably signed "Mury." The only other paper Keith discovered was a brief Itinerary of the Santa Fe trail extending as far west as the Katon Mountains, giving the usual camping spots and places where water was accessible. Ho slipped the papers back Into his pocket with a distinct feeling of disappointment, and lay back staring up at the little strip of blue sky The silence was profound, even his horse standing motionless, mo-tionless, and Anally he fell asleep. Tho sun had'dlsappeared, and even the gray of twilight was fading out of the sky, when Keith returned again to consciousness, aroused by his horse rolling on the soft turf. Ha anoko thoroughly refreshed, and eager to get away on his long night's rldo. A cold lunch, hastily eaten, for a fire would have been dangerous, and lie saddled up and was off, trotting trot-ting out of the narrow ravine and Into the broad trail, which could bo followed fol-lowed without difficulty under the dull gleam of tho stars Horse and rider were soon at their best, the animal swinging unurged Into the long, easy lope of prairie travel, tho fresh air fanning the man's face us ho leaned, forward Once they halted to drink from a narrow stream and then pushed push-ed on, hour after hour, through the deserted night, Keith had little fear of Indian raiders In that darkness, and every stride of his horse brought blm closer to tho settlements and further removed from danger Yet eyes and ears were alert to every shadow and sound. Once, It must havo been after midnight, be drew his pony sharply back Into a rock shadow at the nolso of something approach-log approach-log from the east The stage to Santa Fe rattled past, the four mules trotting trot-ting swiftly, a squad of troopers riding rid-ing hard behind. It was merely a lumping shadow sweeping swiftly past; be could perceive the dim outlines out-lines of driver and guard, the Boldlers swaying In tbetr saddles, heard ,tha pounding of hoofs, tho creak of axles, and then tho apparition disappeared Into the black void, Ho had not called call-ed out what was the use? Those people peo-ple would never pause to hunt down prairie outlaws, and their guard was sufficient to prevent attack. They acknowledged ac-knowledged but one dutyto got the mall through on time, Tho dust of their passing still In the air, Kolth rode on, the nolso dying away In his rear. As the hours passed, pass-ed, his horso wearied and had to bo spurred Into the swlftor stride, but the man seemed tireless The sun was an hour high when they climbed the long hill, and loped Into Carson City. The cantonment was to the right, but Keith, having no report to make, rode directly ahead down the one long street to a livery corral, leaving his horse there, and sought the nearest restaurant. Exhausted by a night of high play and doop drinking, the border town was sleeping off Its debauob, saloons and gambling dens silent, tho streets almost deserted. To Kolth, whose former for-mer acquaintance with the place bad been entirely after nightfall, the -View of It now was almost a Bhock the miserable shacks, the gaudy saloon fronts, the littered streets, tho dingy, unpalutcd hotel, the dirty flap of canvas, can-vas, tho unoccupied road, the dull prairie sweeping away to tho horizon, all cdmposed a hideous picture beneath be-neath tho sun glare. He could scarcely scarce-ly find a man to attend his horse, and at the restaurant a drowsy Chinaman bad to be shaken awake, and frightened fright-ened Into serving him. He sat down to the miserable meal oppressed with disgust never before had his life seemed so mean, useless, utterly without with-out excuse. He possessed the appetite of the open, of the normal man In perfect physical health, and he ate heartily, his ejes wandering out of the open window down tjie long, dismal street A drunken man lay In front of the "lied Light" saloon sleeping undisturbed; undis-turbed; two cur dogs were snarling at each other Just beyond over a bono; a movers' wagon was slowly coming In across the open through a cloud of yellow dust. That was all within the radius of vision. For the first time In years the East called him tho old life ot cleanliness and respectability. He swore to himself as he tossed tho Chinaman pay for his breakfast, and strode out onto the steps. Two men were coming up tho street together from the opposite direction ono lean, dark-skinned, with black goatee, tho other heavily set with closely trimmed trim-med gray beard. Keith knqw the latter, lat-ter, and waited, leaning against tho door, one hand on his hip. "Hullo, Bob," he said genially; "they must have routed you out pretty pret-ty early today." "They shore did, Jack," was the response. re-sponse. He came up the steps somewhat some-what heavily, hla, companion stopping below. "The boys raise hell all night, an' then come ter me ter straighten It out In the mawnln'. When did ye git In?" "An hour ago; had to wake the 'chink' up to get any chuck. Town looks dead." "Taln't over lively at this time o' day," permitting his blue eyes to wander wan-der up the silent street, but Instantly bringing them back to Keith's face, "but I reckon It'll wake up later on." He stood squarely on both feet, and one hand rested on the butt of a revolver. re-volver. Keith noticed this, wondering wonder-ing vaguely. "1 reckon yer know. Jack, as how I glnerally git what I goes after," said the slow, drawling voice, "an' that I draw 'bout as quick' as any o' the boys. They tell me yo're a gun-fighter, but It won't do ye no good ter make a play yere, fer one o' us Is sure to glt yer do yer sabe?" "Get me?" Keith's voice and face V "Are You Goln' to Raise a Row, or Come Along Quietly?" expressed astonishment, but not a muscle of his body moved, "What do you mean, Hob are you fellows after me?" I "Sure thing; got the warrant here," and he tapped the breast of his shirt with his left hand. The color mounted Into tho cheeks of the other, his lips grew set and white, and his gray eyes darkened. "Let It all out, Marshal," he said sternly, "jou've got me roped and tied. Now what's the charge?" Neither man moved, but the one be-low be-low swung about so as to face them, one hand thrust out of sight beneath 1 tho tall of his long coat. I "Make him throw up his hands, Bob," he said sharply. "Oh, I reckon thar ain't goln' ter be no trouble," returned the marshal 1 genially, yet with no relaxation of at tcntlon, "Keith knows "me, an' ex ' pects a fair deal. S.1I1. maybe 1 better bet-ter ask, yer to unhitch yer bolt, Jack." I A moment Krlth seemed to hesitate, ' plainly puzzled by tho situation and , endeavoring to boo some way of escape; es-cape; then his lips smiled, and he silently unhooked the belt, banding It I over. I "Suro, I know you're square. Hicks," I ho said, coolly. "And now I've unllm- Ibered, kindly Inform me M'hat this Is all about." "1 reckon yer don't know." I "No moro than an unborn babe, I have been here but an hour." , "That's It: If yer had been longer thar wouldn't bo no trouble. Yo're wanted for klllln' a couple o' men out ,at Clmmnron Crossln' early yesterday mornlnV Keith stared nt him too completely astounded for tho Instant to even speak, Then he gasped, 1 "For God's sake. Hicks, do you believe be-lieve that?" "I'm damned If I know," returned tho marshal, doubtfully. "Don't seem like yo'd do It, but tho evidence 1b straight 'nough, an' thor ain't nothln' for mo ter do but take ye in. I ain't no Jcdge an' jury." "No, but you ought to havo ordinary sense, an' you'vo known mo for threo years." "Sure 1 have, Jack, but If yee've gone wrong, you won't be tho first good man 1'vo seen do It. Anyhow, the evidence Is dead agin you, an' I'd arrest ar-rest my own grand dad If they give me a warrant agin blm." "What evidence Is there?" "Five men swear they saw ye haul-In' haul-In' the bodies about, and lootlu' the pockets." Then Keith understood, his heart beating rapidly, bis teeth clenched to keep back an outburst of paBslon. 8o that was their game, was It? Bomo act of his had awakened tho cowardly suspicions of those watching him across the river They wero afraid that he knew them as white men. And they had found a way to safely muzzle him, They must havo ridden hard ovor those sand dunes to havo reached Carnon City and sworn out this warrant It was a good trick, likely enough to hang him, If tho fellows fel-lows onl stuck to their story. All this flashed through his brain, yet somehow he could not clenrly comprehend compre-hend tho full meaning, his mind confused con-fused Bnd dazed by this sudden realization real-ization of danger. His eyes wandered from the stoady gaze of the marshal, who hail half drawn his gun foarlng resistance, to the man nt the bottom of the steps, Suddenly It dawned upon him where he had seen that dark-skinned face, with the black goatee, goa-tee, before at the faro table of the "Red Light." He gripped his hands together, InBtantly connecUng that sneering, slnUter face with the plot. "Who swore out that warrant?" , "I did, If you need to know," a sarcastic sar-castic smile revealing n gleam of white teeth, "on the affidavit of others, friends of mine." "Why are you?" "I'm mostly called 'Black Bart.'" That was it; he had the name now "Black nait.1 He straightened up so quickly, his eyes blazing, that the marshal Jerked his gun clear. "See here, Jack," shortly, "are yer goln' to raise a row, or come along quiet?" As though the words hail aroused him from n bad dream, Keith turned to front the stern, bearded face. "There'll be no row, Bob." he said, quietly. "I'll go .with you." To Be Continued. |
