'You needn't worry, it would take an earthquake, and a big one at that, to shift it,' Garstone assured him.
The man swung the tool, brought it down, and dropped it; the resounding clang of metal upon rock was followed by an oath from the striker, whose arms were jarred to numbness. Lake took up the pick and tapped all over the spot indicated; in no place did it penetrate more than an inch or so, and he threw it aside in disgust.
'That ain't no use--giant powder's what we need,' he said.
'Shore you got the right location?' Bundy asked.
'Certain,' Garstone replied, with a confidence he was far from feeling, and not unmindful of the doubtful looks directed at him. 'Clear the muck away and let's have a view of this rock.'
This was done, exposing an uneven stone floor which promised little. Garstone was puzzled. Was there a further clue which Trenton had not mentioned? He did not know, but the demeanour of his companions was beginning to disturb him. Flint flung down the spade he had been using and commenced to roll a smoke.
'Wonder how long it took the fella to dig a hole here?' he speculated.
'Mebbe he found one ready,' Lake suggested. 'Then he'd just have to plant the dinero an' ask the rock to kindly grow over it.'
Bundy laughed sneeringly, but the sarcasm brought a 'glint into Garstone's eyes. 'Even the bray of an ass may be useful,' he snapped, and, snatching off his hat began slapping the cleared space vigorously, sending the dust flying in clouds. The others watched his antics in amazement, fully convinced that ,he had suddenly gone mad. On his knees, he studied the ground closely, and then rose.
'I was right,' he said exultingly, and pointed to a crack which the displaced dust had revealed. 'There's a loose piece, and I'm betting it's the lid of the treasure-chest.'
This magically renewed their activity. Bundy seized the pick, drove the point into the crack, and threw his weight on it. A small, roughly rectangular section of the floor moved. Flint went to the foreman's assistance, and they managed to lever up one side. Garstone bent, got his fingers under the raised portion, and with a mighty heave overturned what proved to be a flattish slab of stone. Beneath was a shallow hole, and in it a stout rawhide satchel. At the sight Flint let out a whoop and made a grab, but the big man pushed him back.
'Hands off,' he said. 'The first thing is to find out what the contents are, and it is for me to do that.'
He lifted the satchel, and undid the two straps by which it was secured.
'It's heavy, but not so large as I expected,' he said, but went no further with the opening; his gaze was on the place from which he had taken it. 'You were right, Lake, that's a natural hollow. All he had to do was find a lid to more or less fit; the dust would do the rest. A perfect hiding-place--it mi ght have remained undiscovered for a thousand years.'
'Seein' it ain't, s'posin' we git on with the business,' Bundy suggested impatiently.
Garstone had to comply. Squatting round, their avid gaze following his every movement, the others waited. He might have been a conjurer, about to perform an intricate trick, and perhaps the fear that he would was at the back of their minds; honour among thieves is only proverbially prevalent. Their attention entirely occupied, they failed to see Malachi creep round the wall of the cavern, glance at his principal charge, and slip out.
Garstone's hand came from the bag holding a short roll of paper which, unwrapped, revealed, a row of golden coins. Hecounted them, and the musical chink as they dropped from one hand to the other, set the eyes of his audience aflame. 'Fifty yellow boys--double eagles--a good start,' he announced. He rolled them up again, and reached out a second, so obviously a replica of the first in size and weight that he did not trouble to open it. One by one, similar packages appeared until a score were stacked beside him on the ground. The men were breathing hard, so absorbed by the fascination of a visible fortune as to render them an easy prey had the prisoners been free. The lure of the gold held them; they could not wrench their eyes from it.
'Twenty thousand bucks,' Bundy said thickly. 'That bag ain't empty yet.'
'I'm aware of the fact,' Garstone replied, 'But the dollars should more than satisfy our claim, and the rest belongs to Trenton.'
'To hell with Trenton,' the foreman growled. 'We found, an' we keep it.'
'That goes,' Lake added. 'Out with it--Boss.'
The last word was a palpable jeer, and Garstone knew it. He looked at Flint, but saw no support in that quarter. There was nothing for it but to continue. A thick wad of paper currency came next, bills of large denomination mostly, all of which had to be duly counted; they amounted to forty thousand dollars. Then, two at a time, Garstone handed out small buckskin bags, heavy, and tightly tied. He opened one, and gloated over the yellow dust within. Gold! His lips curled into a sneer as he reflected that men had sweated under a blistering sun to fill those bags, only to throw them away on the turn of a card. The men passed them round, hefting them, and grinning widely; they were in high good humour.
'Can't tell what they're worth without scales, but I'd guess all o' ten thousand,' Bundy remarked. 'We can take three apiece.'
Garstone began to replace the treasure in the satchel. 'It will be handier to carry in this,' he said. 'We can divide later, after cleaning up here.'
Rather to his surprise, they made no protest, and the fact caused him some inquietude. Had they a secret understanding to obtain his share? Well, that was a game at which more than one could play. He looked round. 'Any suggestions for dealing with our friends yonder?'
'Send 'em to look for Rattray,' Bundy proposed.
Garstone, who saw at once that such an infamous act would leave him at the mercy of his companions, promptly objected. 'I am opposed to violent measures unless they are necessary, and safe,' he said. 'This would be dangerous--very dangerous. No, when wee go, they will remain--alive. Of course, they will free themselves, but with no weapons or horses, and three sick people to tend, it will be -a long time before they return to Rainbow, and then it will be too late--our story will have been told, and we shall be in possession.'
'You don't suggest we should burden ourselves with a dying man?'
'Shore not, but we gotta do some explainin'.'
'Quite simple,' was the reply. 'We came in search of the Cache, and found it. The Circle Dot--of whose presence in the mountains we were, of course, ignorant--attacked and tried to rob us. They killed Trenton, his niece, and Rattray. We beat them off.'
'Straight as a string,' Flint grinned.
'How come they wiped out the gal?' Bundy wanted to know.
'She tried to escape in the fight, Green pursued her, and they ran into trouble.'
'Which fits the facts,' Lake put in. 'Yo're a pretty neat liar, Garstone; I gotta hand it to you.'
The Easterner forgot to thank him for the compliment, but did not fail to note that the fellow had regained his air of insolent familiarity; it was another danger-signal.
'What's come o' that damn doctor?' Bundy asked. Garstone strode over to the prisoners. 'Where's Malachi?'
'Haven't a notion, an' if I had, I shouldn't tell you,' Dan replied.
'Sore, eh?' the big man gibed. 'So would I be, after sitting on the top of seventy thousand dollars for over a week, and losing it.' His contemptuous gaze went to the trussed-up form of Yorky. 'Makes you hunger for your open road again, doesn't it, hobo?'
The boy did not reply--he had no desire to be booted--but as the bully turned away, he muttered, 'Aw, go an' swalleryoreself an' be sick, ye . . .' He trailed off into a brief biography of Garstone, whose origin, appearance, habits, and future were luridly described.
'If cussin' would help, you'd be a whole team an' a spare hoss,' was Dover's dry comment, when the tirade ended.
'It eases a fella some,' Yorky excused. 'Do you figure th' Doc has skipped, Boss?'
'He's no quitter,' Dan told him.
'What they goin' to do with us?'
'Can't say. Scared, son?'
'I dunno,' Yorky admitted. 'Couple o' months back I wouldn't 'a' cared, but now ...' He was silent for a moment. 'A man must take his medicine, Jim allus said.'
The disappearance of the doctor caused some consternation, to Bundy in particular. Flint and Lake were despatched to find him, and Garstone seized the opportunity for a quiet word with the foreman.
