"Good, a well man dies the harder," Jake replied.
Dave looked round. "I allus wanted to pass out in the sunshine," he replied coolly.
Jake's expression was that of a devil. "You'll shore git yore wish--an' regret it. Fetch him along, hoys." Four others appeared, leading horses. Dave was dragged to his feet, hoisted into the saddle of his own pony, and securely tied. The four mounted, and with their leader, closed in on him.
"So long, Beautiful," Dave said. "Pity yu gotta herd with the jackals--yu might 'a' been a reg'lar fella." The gaoler watched them disappear into the woods. "He's got grit, that boy," he muttered. "Too bad, but I can't do nothin'." Dave rode in silence, his face set and unreadable. Theywere following a faint trail, sun-splashed where a break in the overhead foliage permitted the rays to penetrate, but for the most, darkened and dismal.
Presently they arrived at a small level clearing of sand and short grass hemmed in by low bushes, and here the leader dismounted.
"This'll do fine," he said. "Plenty o' sun--as I promised." Dave stared about him curiously; there were no trees of any size adjacent. Mullins read his thought.
"We ain't goin' to stretch yore neck--that would be too easy, an' wouldn't near pay what I owe you," he said, and to his men, "Git busy." Hauled from the saddle and flung to the ground in the middle of the clearing--an operation which resulted in sundry bruises for those who performed it--the prisoner was still undaunted. Hands and feet were fettered, but his tongue was free. He knew that he was about to die a lingering death; if he could provoke a swift one .. .
"Yo're a cowardly cur, Mullins," he taunted. "If yu had the pluck of a rabbit, yu'd deal with me yoreself, but yu get four other white-livered houn's to do the job yo're afeard to handle." For an instant he thought he had succeeded, for Jake stepped towards him, gun gripped, stark murder in his eyes. Then he laughed, and motioned to his minions.
Their procedure was singular. Two of them held the victim down while the others attached strong cords to his wrists and ankles, and drove four stout pegs into the earth. His other bonds were then removed, each cord pulled tight and secured to a peg, leaving him spreadeagled on his back, arms and legs at full stretch. Jake, having inspected the knots, stood looking down with sadistic satisfaction at the man he was about to leave to a dreadful fate.
"Take yore fill o' sunshine yo're so fond of," he said, and with a loathsome leer, "While you frizzle here, I shall be with--Mary."
"Jim Green'll send yu to hell for this," Dave promised.
"I think you'll beat me to it. In two days I shall come an' look at yore scattered bones, picked clean by wolves, coyotes, buzzards or--somethin'." Dave could not see that his glance had gone to a little mound of sand at one side of the clearing. He shot his last arrow.
"Two days? yore own bones will be moulderin' by then --yu got the death sign on yu a'ready." The shaft went home. With a savage curse, the bandit climbed into his saddle. When one of the band asked a question, he shook his head.
"They'll happen on him, sooner or later," he said. "An' I hope it'll be later." They departed, and for some time, Dave made no attempt to move; it was possible they were watching, and he had no desire to afford amusement. Presently he raised his head the few inches he was able, but no cackle of mirth greeted him, only the chattering of the birds. Desperately he strained at the cords, but the pegs were immovable, and the men who had tied the knots had done their work thoroughly. Moreover, his position prevented him obtaining any purchase. Repeated efforts failed to loosen the tie-ropes even a fraction, and at length he gave it up as hopeless, and lay there, gazing into the blue dome in which the sun hung, a polished brazen disc, with no vestige of cloud to dim its radiance. In a few hours it would be directly above him, the vertical rays like jets of flame, sucking the moisture from his body.
"A couple o' days," he mused. "Fella can last that long without grub, but water . . ." The sun had climbed higher, scorching his bared skin, and his limbs, held in that one posture, were becoming numb and cramped. Wearily he closed his eyes, but the rays seemed to pierce the lids, causing a dull ache.
But however dire his extremity, a young, healthy man instinctively clings to life, and Dave was no quitter. Well-nigh blinded by the incessant glare, his flesh blistered,and his whole frame crying for water, he lay, supine, listless.
A tiny bite, followed by another, aroused him. Twisting his head, he could just see his right hand; several insects were crawling upon it, and more were coming. Ants ! The significance of Jake's last words was clear enough now. They had found him, these terrible little scavengers, who in tens of thousands would invade every inch of his carcase, and leave it only when nothing remained save bones to bleach in the burning sun. In that one bitter moment of realization Jake had his revenge, and then Dave steeled himself to meet the agony to come.
Chapter XVIII
WHEN the marshal set out to search for his assistant, he rode straight to the Dumb-bell ranch-house. Sark, he argued, would be the first to fall under Dave's suspicion, and he hoped to pick up the missing man's trail there. To his surprise, he found the place deserted, but for the black cook, who eyed his badge of office with evident trepidation.
"Where's yore master?" Sudden inquired.
"I dunno, sah," was the reply. "He's out--deys all out." The marshal took out a coin, spun it in the air; and caught it; the darkie's eyes gleamed at the glint of the gold. "It usually pays to tell the truth, Juba--that's yore name, ain't it?" he said, and when the negro nodded, "Right. Mebbe yu can help. Sark had a visitor yestiddy, a young fella named Masters. What happened?" Juba hesitated, glancing right and left fearfully. The coin flashed into the air again, and seemed to act as a spur.
"Neber see him come," he began. "I hear high voices in de front room. Dey's fightin' wid dere han's. Dey slam one anoder all ober de place, an' den de young one t'row de boss clean ober his shoulder an' he lit 'mong de brekfuss t'ings; I neber did see a table cleared so quick. De boss is out, lyin' pow'ful still on de flo'. De young fella takes one look at him, grabs his gun, an' goes off whistlin' a chune."
"He'd walk into hell doin' that," Sudden smiled. "Where'd he head for?"
"I neber see, sah; de boss come to life right after." Sudden flipped the coin into the air again, this time towards Juba. "Put that some place yore boss can't steal it," he said. "An' yu needn't to mention I called." Cutting short the cook's protestation of gratitude and obedience with a wave of the hand, he rode away. What would be Dave's next move? Obviously, he would seek Mullins. Cutting across the straight line between that and the hills, he presently came upon hoof-marks, and, at intervals, traces of some white substance.
For a while the white "sign" was plentiful, enabling him to travel quickly, but then it became infrequent--evidently the supply was running out in more than one sense. However, it led him across an area of hard ground where a horse would leave no tracks, and so to the fringe of the black mantle of timber masking the mountain-side, and a cleverly-concealed opening in what appeared to be an impenetrable wall of undergrowth. This was the other approach Dave had guessed at, and was much more direct than the one he had been at such pains to discover.
Leaving the sunlight behind, Sudden paced steadily along a path which swung right and left to lessen the gradient. For an hour the climb continued, and then came the scrape of a slipping hoof, followed by an oath. Sudden swerved behind a convenient bush, got down, and drew a gun. Round a bend, sitting his horse slackly, a rider appeared.
"Git 'em up, friend." The unexpected command made the fellow start, but he did not hesitate to obey. The marshal stepped out of the shadow, his own weapon levelled. "Hand her over, buttfirst," he said, and when this had been done, "Now talk, straight an' fast. Where's Mullins' hang-out?"