They believe the mine is in the mountains.'
'Who were the men?'
'One is named Tuthill. . . they call him Meester. Another is called Boyd.'
Cap looked over at me. 'The banker and that gambler from Las Vegas.'
'How about the others?'
He shrugged. 'I do not know. But I think they plan to follow you into the mountains if you go again.'
'Thanks, 'Steban. Thanks very much.'
After he left I gave it some thought. It was important to make one more trip up there. I not only wanted to get enough gold to start buying my ranch, but I wanted to cover up the work I'd done at the mine in case somebody found the way up to the valley. The trip was a risk I would have to take.
Cap was getting around pretty good now, better than before, and Esteban would look in on him from time to time. He was well enough to care for himself, and he had friends in the town.
'You going down to see Ange?' Cap asked suddenly. 'It's getting late.'
I got into my saddle and started for town. The lights seemed brighter than before, and there was excitement in me.
Ange....
A shadow stirred in the brush and I waited a moment before riding on. It was a man all right, and he was watching our camp.
Esteban had been right.
Chapter XII
Late as it was, the store was crowded. Joe waved 'a hand to me from where he stood waiting on a customer, and I glanced toward the other counter where Ange was. If she had noticed me, she gave no sign of it.
Most of the people in the store seemed like newcomers, although there were a couple of familiar faces.
'Mr. Sackett, I believe.'
Turning around, I faced Tuthill. He was a handsome man, no question of it, tall and well-dressed in storebought clothes.
'How are your I asked. 'I wasn't expecting to see you this far from home. What happened to the bank?
'I left it in good hands.'
Glancing toward Ange, I saw she was no longer busy, so I excused myself and walked over to her. 'Ange,' I said, 'I want to buy some clothes.'
Her eyes met mine for the merest instant. 'All (sectin missing)
So I gave her my order, aware that Tuthill was watching from a short distance away. She brought me some shirts, jeans, socks, and a sheepskin coat.
'... And two boxes of .44's,' I said.
Her eyes lifted to mine and her face stiffened. Abruptly, she turned and walked to the ammunition shelf and took down two boxes and came back, placing them on the counter before me.
'Ange,' I said, 'I've got to talk to you.'
'You brought me out of the mountains and I'm very grateful,'' she said, 'but I don't think--'
'Ange, part of that gold belongs to you. Your grandpa was hunting it, and it was probably some ancestor of his who found it first. So you should have a share.'
'Whatever you think is right. There's no need for talk.'
She turned away from me with my money and made change.
'Ange,' I said, 'I had to shoot those men.'
'Did you? It was the most brutal, the most callous thing I ever saw! And I thought you were so gentle, so nice--'
She broke off and walked away from me. A moment I stood there. When I turned around, Tuthill was beside me. 'I didn't know you knew Ange Kerry,' he said.
'You make a habit of listening in when folks are talking?' I was mad. 'Look, Tuthill, I think you're no gentleman. I also think you're a thief, and that you travel with thieves. You keep that Boyd out of my sight--do you hear? If I see him, I'll come looking for you both.'
Brushing past him, I started for the door. Rugger was there. 'Something wrong, Tell?'
Ange was looking at me with something mighty close to horror in her eyes. She could not know about Will Boyd following me down that street in Las Vegas, or about his connection with Tuthill, or what Esteban had overheard. All she knew was what she heard now -- that I had made what looked like an unprovoked attack on an innocent and respectable man.
'Nothing, Joe.' My voice lowered. 'Only Tuthill's curious about me and that claim of mine. So are the people with him. He followed me here from Las Vegas.'
Getting back to the claim, I made up my mind. I would head for the high hills now, before day-Break, get a lead on anybody who might try to follow me, and keep it. Once I came down with the gold, I would head south to Mora or somewhere and buy myself a ranch. Ange could do what she had a mind to.
Every time I came to be near her something happened to make me look worse than I had before.
