In picking up a bunch of keys on the desk, the visitor observed a paper. It read : `I have the girl. Rush the trial and carry out verdict pronto.'
It was signed with a sprawling `C,' and went into the finder's pocket. On a shelf, a dusty, little-used volume attracted him; it was a copy of the State laws. He took it down, read a certain section, and replaced it thoughtfully. Then he turned to a door on the left, which he knew must lead into the prison. Opening it softly, he saw a wide, dimly-lighted passage. At one end was the main entrance, heavily-barred, and at the other, the cell where the nester was confined. A thin line of light, almost opposite where he stood, indicated a room from which came the murmur of voices--deputies on guard, no doubt.
Silent as a shadow he stole to the cell, took out the bunch of keys, and at the third attempt found the right one. The prisoner was deep in dreamland; he must be awakened without noise. Sudden tried the old hunter device--pressure below the left ear, and in a few moments the sleeper quietly came back to consciousness.
`It's Jim,' Sudden whispered. `Follow me, and not a sound.'
Drait obeyed, without argument. Stealthily they crept back to the sheriff's office, and the nester smiled widely when he saw the helpless, muffled figure. The puncher extinguished the light and they slid outside. Yorky was waiting for them; his task had been to procure the prisoner's horse and saddle from the sheriff's corral. In five minutes, keeping behind the buildings, they were clear of the town. Then the released man put a question.
`Tell yu all about it at the Valley,' Sudden promised. `For now, we gotta ride.'
It was not until they entered the bunkhouse, and the cheers which greeted their appearance had subsided, that Nick got his answer.
`An' you figured I'd like to help find her?' he said. `I'm thankin' you.'
`Solitude has dulled yore wits some,' the puncher smiled. `Ain't it plain they want the girl out o' the way till yu've been disposed of, an' to leave yu in the calaboose would be handin' 'em the pot?'
`You think that's why she's been taken?'
`Yeah, they're scared she'd plead for yu. There'll be mostly men in the court, an' Miss Darrell is a mighty attractive person--though mebbe yu ain't noticed it.'
The mild irony reddened the nester's cheeks. `That's one time yo're wrong, Jim,' he said quietly. `What else?'
`This,' Sudden replied, and showed the message he had found on the sheriff's desk.
`Cullin?' Drait exclaimed. `If he's harmed her I'll cut his heart out.'
`If yu can find it,' Sudden said. `That can wait; we gotta get Miss Darrell.'
`She wouldn't be at the Big C?'
`No, that'd be too raw; someone is workin' for him. We can be at the S P by daylight an' mebbe pick up a trail.'
`Line yore bellies, boys, it looks like bein' a long day,' Drait warned. `I shall want all o' you, an' fetch yore rifles. The Valley must take care of itself.'
The eastern sky was lightening when they arrived at the S P. No one was about. Sudden sent the others into hiding, and proceeded on foot to the ranch-house. At the end of the building he found a spot where two horses had stood. Tracks of two people came to the place from the veranda, and the narrow sole and high heel of one set pointed to a woman. They had mounted there and moved away in a westerly direction. Occasional indentations led him to an opening in the brush where hoof-pitted ground and cigarette butts proclaimed that a party of riders had waited; one print showed a cross in the off hind shoe.
`Pretty much as I guessed,' Sudden reported, when he rejoined the others. `If we can keep on their trail ...'
Keeping on the trail proved to be a trying and slow affair, for much of it passed over coarse grass; often they completely lost it, and all of them had to dismount, circle, and search on foot. Time after time, however, patience and perseverance prevailed, and in due course they reached the Big Quake. No one of them had seen the place before, but the tracks, showing plainly in the softer ground, led straight to the morass. Drait, who was getting impatient, quickened pace, but Sudden caught his arm.
`I don't like the look of it,' he cried. `Why's the grass green there an' burned up here?'
`But they went,' Nick argued.
`Yeah, a couple of 'em rode past here an' backed their hosses mighty brisk. Look at Nig; he knows.'
In fact, the black, with a snort of fear, had commenced to sift its feet uneasily. Nick looked down and found his own animal had sunk to the fetlocks. Hurriedly they retreated. Sudden, swinging down in his saddle, picked up a chunk of wood and slung it on the line they would have taken. For a moment, they saw it, and then it was gone.`Nice place--on a dark night,' he said.
Retracing their steps, they found where the quarry had jumped aside on to firm footing. Circling the morass involved another wearisome ride, but at length they got to the pine-clothed slope, and saw, about halfway up, a tiny ribbon of smoke spiralling out of the tops of the trees. As they paced up the narrow pathway, rifles were examined in readiness. Soon they heard someone whistling, and could see the cabin through the trees.
`We'll leave the hosses in that bunch o' bush off the trail,' Sudden suggested. `Quilt, Shorty, an' Smoky can sneak round back o' the buildin', case they try to vamoose. We'll give yu fifteen minutes to get into position. The firin' will tell yu when the dance is on; then use yore judgment.'
The three men melted away into the undergrowth, and the others waited, silently. The quarter of an hour seemed endless, but presently Drait gave the word, and they moved forward, spread out, and using the tree-trunks as cover. When the cleared space in front of the cabin was reached, the nester shouted, `Hello, the house.'
At once the door opened and Bardoe appeared, rifle in hand. `Who's there?' he called. `Come ahead, with yore paws up.' Nick stepped out. `You know me, Bardoe,' he said.
`So you got away?' he said, amazement evident in his tone, and damned himself for the slip. `What you want?'
`Miss Darrell, an' you needn't lie; I know she's here--Cullin has given the game away.'
`Then I play my own hand,' Bull replied, and with a sneering laugh, `Go to hell.'
With the last word he fired, sprang back, and slammed the door. His bullet whined past the other's ear. An instant later came darts of flame from the two windows and several loopholes; no damage was done.
`Me an' Yorky'il deal with the windows, Nick,' Sudden called out. `Yu an' Long take the loopholes.'
For some moments the stream of lead continued, but beyond trimming the trees and bringing down showers of twigs and leaves, it accomplished nothing. In both directions, lead threaded the air, chipping bark from the trunks sheltering the assailants, and zooming through the now glassless windows beneath which the defenders crouched. The latter had not been lucky; two would never fight again, and several were hurt. Bardoe strode up and down the room; things were going ill. Frayle, his left arm useless, had an idea.
`Why not git away, an' take the gal with us? If they foller, we can wait for 'em--under cover. Shall I see if the back's clear?'
Bull nodded; it seemed the only chance. He was wondering if indeed Cullin had weakened? `He would, curse him, to save his hide,' he muttered. `Where in hell is Frayle?'
That individual was having troubles of his own. Incautiously poking his head out of the rear door, he received a rap with a revolver butt which dropped him senseless.
`Tally one,' Smoky chuckled. `Next please.' No more victims offered. `What do we do now?'
The spiteful crack of the rifles had ceased again when Quilt answered : `If they won't come out, we just naturally gotta go in. I'll give Nick the signal.'
He sent three rapid shots skyward, and they dashed into the building, guns out and spitting lead. The foreman's first objective was the big door, which he unbolted and flung wide. He caught a glimpse of his friends racing for it, and twisted only just in time to dodge a rifle-butt which would have split his skull.