hidden; they have failed to find it. You will admit that they should not benefit by this dastardly deed.'
'I will do anything to prevent that,' she replied, her face cold and set.
'Good. Zeb had set his heart on securing this money and so saving the Wagon-wheel. We must try to carry out his wishes. Listen: he may become feverish and talk, or recover consciousness long enough- to confide in you. Keep everyone away from him, except the doctor, of course, and if you learn anything, let me know at once.'
'How can I do that?'
'You know the place where we sheltered? I will come there every evening soon after dark in the hope of seeing you. Is it agreed?'
'Yes,' she replied. 'I care little about the money, but I want to see this gang of murderers defeated.'
By this time the wounded man had been bandaged and laid on a blanket. 'Two of you take him to our camp,' Dan directed, and when Bundy and Flint at once stepped forward, added brusquely, 'Not you.'
The scowling pair fell back; Tiny and Hunch raised the burden and carried it carefully away. The doctor and the girl went with them. Dan turned to Garstone.
'You an' yore pack o' curs can scratch gravel, an' if you got any regard for yore skins, you'll keep clear o' here,' he warned.
'You're taking a high hand, Dover,' the other replied. 'Miss Trenton is my promised wife, and I shall certainly come to see her.'
'At yore own risk; if I catch you near my camp, I'll shoot you, an' that goes for yore thievin' bunch too. Now, roll yore tails; the play's over.'
Garstone's face became ugly. 'That's where you're wrong,' he snarled. 'This is just the first act--there's a second to come.'
His four followers were behind him, waiting for a word. But Dover's men were back now; Sudden, thumbs hooked in his belt, watching sardonically, Hunch, indifferently swinging his great axe in one hand so that the sun flashed on the gleaming blade; Dan and the big cowboy, alert and ready, and Yorky, his new gun gripped in both fists, eyes alive for the least movement. Garstone did not give the word--the odds were not sufficiently in his favour. So he sneered and went in search of his horse. The others tailed in after him, but presently Bundy spurred alongside.
'We could 'a' cleaned 'em up,' he said regretfully. 'But where's the use? Zeb didn't have it on him.'
'Didn't have what?'
'The paper, o' course, tellin' where the dollars is cached. Why'n hell d'you s'pose I downed him?'
For an instant Garstone gazed at him, petrified, unable to credit his ears, and then, 'You--shot-- Trenton?'
'Shore, I'd never git a better chance,' came the callous reply. 'He was just in front o' me, an' with all that firin' ...'
He paused, aghast at the fury in the other's face. 'You clumsy bungler,' the big man rasped. 'Why don't you leave the planning to those whose heads are not solid bone throughout? Did you imagine that Trenton would carry a secret like that on his person for rogues like you to steal?'
'Where else?' Bundy asked sullenly.
'In his brain, you dolt, after destroying the paper,' Gar-stone told him harshly. 'So you've probably slain the only man who can tell us where the treasure is, damn you.'
The foreman was too appalled by the magnitude of his mistake to resent the abuse showered upon him; it seemed to be the end of their hopes, and if the other men got to know ... 'Mebbe Zeb'll come round enough to talk,' he faltered.
'Yes, to them,' Garstone snapped.
'There's the gal.' Hopefully.
'You're a little late with that idea,' came the sneer. 'What do you think I was speaking to her about? She's our one chance, and until I get news from her, we can make no move. Understand?'
Bundy nodded. He did not like the tongue-lashing, but he liked still less the prospect of losing his share in the contents of the Cache, so he endured the first in the hope of getting the second. Which did not mean he forgave. A cowboy once described the foreman as having been 'raised on vinegar,' and the only comment from the company was, 'an' the meanest vinegar, at that.'
Chapter XVIII
The Circle Dot men watched the discomfited band leave the gorge, and then returned to the cave. Dover walked to a small recess near the entrance, where a second fire had been lighted, and the wounded cattleman made comfortable on a pile of blankets. Miss Trenton was seated on a chunk of stone at his side, and the doctor was standing near.
'How is he?' Dan asked.
'Pretty bad,' Malachi replied. 'Bullet through the chest, but he's physically fit an' has a chance--a slim one. I've done all that is possible.'
Dover nodded, and the doctor went, leaving the young man staring moodily at the helpless form of his enemy. He was recalling the stark, outstretched figure of his father. What part had Trenton played in that tragedy? Was this retribution, or ... His reverie was broken by a cold, scornful voice:
'Admiring your work?'
'This is no work of mine,' he returned quietly.
'Why quibble? You or your men--it is the same thing,' she said passionately.
'Trenton fired the first shot, direct at me, without warnin',' he reminded.---
'You had insulted him,' was all she could find to say.
Dan's laugh was bitter. 'So, a Trenton may lie, steal, or murder, but he must not be insulted. Oh, yo're one o' the breed, all right.'
'I'm glad of it.'
'An' so am I, otherwise He did not finish, but her woman's intuition told her what was is his mind--that he might have cared for her. She bit her lip, conscious of an intense desire to hurt this man who showed his scorn so plainly.
'You would have been too late,' she said. 'I am already--'
'Promised to Garstone,' he ended. 'He bragged about it just now, this brave fella who cowered with you behind a bush while his friends fought.'
He had seen that. The hot blood in her cheeks was partly due to the taunt, but also to the fact that the Easterner had taken her consent for granted, 'He was asked to look after me and did so.'
'An' his own skin at the same time. Well, let's drop an unpleasant subject. I want to know whether you'd ruther feed with us, or over there?'
'I am not used to the company of ruffians,' she said loftily. 'You oughta be, by this time,' he retorted. 'One thing more: you are not to go more'n twenty yards from this camp without my permission.''And if I do?'
She saw his jaw harden. 'I'll put you across my knee an' spank you good an' plenty,' he said.
Before she could reply to this amazing threat, he had joined the others at the fire. Tiny was chaffing with yorky. 'How'd it feel to be loosin' off yore gun at a human bein'?' he wanted to know.
'I warn't--I was aimin' at Bundy,' the boy grinned.
The chuckle this produced reached the girl's ears, and she shivered; she found herself unable to fathom these men, who slew or attempted to, and in the same hour, could be amused by trivialities. She looked at her charge; only the faintest rise and fall of his breast showed that he still lived. He, too, was of the same type, hard, relentless, violent, in keeping with the savage character of the country. She gazed round the gloomy cavern, rendered even more eerie by the dancing flames of the fires, and it all seemed like an evil dream. The low, clear voice of Dover came to her during a lull in the chatter.
'What you say don't surprise me none, Doc,' he said. 'All the more reason why we gotta pull him through.'
Beth had not heard Malachi's remark, but it was evident they were speaking of her uncle. It set her wondering. Why should Dover be anxious to save the life he or his had tried to take? Then she remembered what Garstone had told her.
'They shan't know,' she murmured, through shut teeth. 'I'll beat them, the brutes.'
