'em, we'd on'y run into an ambush; they ain't overlookin' that bet.' She stared at him, storm in her eyes.
'I call it cowardly,' she said. 'If you won't lead the men, I will.'
Severn did not reply and, looking at the others, she knew that they would not follow her. It was Darby who answered. 'The foreman's right, Miss Phil,' he said. 'No good buttin' yore head agin a rock. S'pose we did find 'em, an' it ain't likelyin that pile o' up-ended country, they might hang Larry pronto. They got us out on a limb, shore enough.'
With a glance of contempt which made the men squirm in their saddles, the angry girl swung her horse round on the home trail. She rode in silent disdain, trying to reconcile the smiling face of the boy who had squired her so joyously in the morning with the grim-faced man who had so roughly told her to 'ride like hell for the boys', and who had cheerfully sacrificed, perhaps his life, for her sake.
When, after a troubled night, she came down on the following morning, she found the foreman waiting to see her. Handing her a roll of bills, he said :
'That's the money for the herd, less what I've paid for expenses; yu had better put it in a safe place.'
'Why are you giving it to me?' she asked.
'Yu are forgettin' that I've got an engagement,' he pointed out.
'You are going to Skull Canyon?' she cried. 'But then you will want the money.'
'Of course I'm goin', but I'm not takin' any cash,' he said. 'I ain't a kid.'
'But what do you intend to do?'
'I dunno; I'll have to see what cards I get before I an play 'em.'
His tone was light, and there was even a quirk of amusement in the corners of his eyes. Yet he was taking a desperate chance. But was he? Despite her better feelings the old suspicion recurred.
'Perhaps it isn't so dangerous after all,' she said coldly. 'You may have friends there.'
For a single instant the man lost his iron control and she quailed before the savage anger in his eyes.
'Listen to me, girl,' he said. 'God Almighty placed a pretty head on yore shoulders an' it seems impossible that He shouldn't have put some brains in it. Use them.'
Without another word he strode from the room, sprang into the saddle of his waiting horse, and rode off. The girl, aghast at the sudden spate of passion she had aroused, saw him wave a farewell to the watching outfit and vanish. Then she dropped into the nearest chair and stared with hard, unseeing eyes, at the wall. She had encountered a novel experience and she did not like it. Men in anger she had often seen enough, but never had that anger been directed at her. Little demons of doubt pursued her all day; she found herself watching the northern trail anxiously, and knew she was looking for Larry.
Chapter XI
BY the time he had covered a mile Severn had recovered his customary calm, and was taking himself to task for having lost it.
He had told the truth when he admitted that he did not know how the rescue of the prisoner was to be effected; he had made no plans. He figured that the bandits did not want Larry, and the fact that he had been named as the bringer of the ransom made him pretty certain that he was the one they wished to lay hands on; it was a trap and the cowboy was the bait. He smiled grimly; he was willing to be caught.
'What with the girl, Bart, an' these fly-by-nights, I'm 'bout as welcome as a wet dawg in this neck o' the woods,' he soliloquised.
It was nearing noon when he reached the entrance to Skull Canyon, pulled up and sat waiting, a smile of contempt on his lips. He would not have been surprised to see a spurt of flame from the brush and to feel hot lead tearing through his body, but instead, a hidden voice hailed him.
'Drop yore belt an' rifle an' put up yore hands, Severn; we got yu dead to rights.'
The foreman obeyed the order, and a masked man, leading his horse, emerged from a clump of undergrowth twenty yards away. Picking up the discarded weapons he climbed into his saddle and said gruffly :
'Foller my tracks, an' if you feel like makin' a break, just remember there's a coupla chaps behind yu with orders to shoot.'
'I didn't come here to play the fool,' Severn said acidly. 'Where yu takin' me?'
'Wait an' see,' was the laconic answer.
'The wisdom o' the ages in three words,' commented the captive lightly.
The guide only grunted and led the way through a thicket of spruce and aspen to the right of the canyon, after which they plunged into some of the wildest country Severn had ever seen. The trail, a mere pathway, had been little used, and the prisoner guessed that this was not the direct route to the robbers' roost.
Throughout the journey they had been gradually climbing, and presently they reached the lower slopes of the mountains and rode amidst the serried ranks of a pine forest. The air was cooler, for the sunlight only penetrated the thick foliage overhead in shafts; on the soft carpet of pine needles the hoofs of the horses made no sound. Glancing back, Severn saw two masked riders, rifles in readiness across their knees. Evidently they hadclosed up, for although he had heard, this was the first time he had caught sight of them. Gradually the trees grew scantier and more stunted until presently they left the pine-belt behind and headed along the side of the rnountain. Above them loomed one of the giant teeth of the Pinnacles, towering in solemn majesty. A long, slight descent brought them to the edge of a cup-like depression in the side of the range. It was perhaps a mile in length and half as wide, and the whole expanse, save the rock-rimmed, brush-cluttered walls, was covered with luxuriant grass. In the centre was a small lake, fed by numerous streamlets from the heights above. Cattle and horses were dotted about, grazing.
At first sight there appeared to be no entrance to the valley, but the guide did not hesitate. Sliding his horse down a sharp incline, he circled some bushes, and came to where a break in the rock formation afforded a natural gateway. Passing through this they came to a rude corral./
'Turn yore hoss in there, we gotta walk some,' the captor commanded, setting the example himself.
Severn complied, and then followed the other up a narrow, stony path which climbed up and along the steep face of the mountain. At a height of about a hundred feet above the floor of the valley the path broadened out into a ledge, and here were several openings in the rock face. Severn knew it for an old Hopi Indian haunt, and smiled sarcastically at the thought that the present inhabitants were probably considerably more savage than the first of the cave-dwellers. Several of the caves had rude doors fitted, and into one of these the prisoner was directed.
'Stay there till yo're wanted,' his captor said. 'Hungry?'
'Well, breakfast shore seems a long time back,' the Lazy M man replied, and then, fishing out a five-dollar bill, 'D'yu reckon yu could find a bottle o' whisky? I'm feelin' sorta shaky.'
'Dutch courage, eh?' chuckled the other. 'See what I can do.'
He went away, padlocking the door first, and presently returned with meat, bread and a flask of spirit.
'Go light on that hooch,' he warned. 'It's wuss'n dynamite if yu ain't used to it.'
Severn nodded; he knew the stuff. When the man had gone he examined his place of confinement. It was a mere hole in the rock, entirely dependent for light and air upon the filtrations through the ill-fitting door. He made his meal, took a mouthful of spirit and spat it out, poured two-thirds of the remainder on the ground and placed the bottle beside him.
Squatting with his back against the wall and a cigarette between his lips he calmly awaited the next development. That he had been brought there with his eyes unoandaged and his handsat liberty was an ominous sign; they were sure of him and did not mean that he should leave the place alive. He wondered where Larry was. His first task was to find him.
Two hours passed and then a step outside sent his head slumping down, hat pushed back, figure sprawled as though in a drunken stupor. The man who had brought him swore when he looked at the bottle.
'Yu damn fool--I told yu to be careful,' he said.
'I'm aw ri',' Severn mumbled. 'Whadye wan'?'
Helped by the bandit, he got to his feet. Still gripping his arm, his conductor led him, not without difficulty, to a larger cave with a high, domed roof. Numerous other caves apparently opened upon this, and into one of these near the entrance he was thrust. It was a biggish place, lighted by a hole in the rock face, and in it seven men were lolling in rough chairs; all were masked, only their eyes showing through slits in the dirty whine kerchiefs.
'Why for didn't yu tie him up?' asked one, whose figure seemed somehow familiar to Severn.
'Huh! Look at him--he's tied hisself up,' replied the other.
