back.'
The applause which followed this outspoken statement brought a flush to Maitland's pale face. 'Have you the money to pay off the mortgage?' he asked.
'You know thunderin' well I ain't,' the foreman replied. 'Dan went to git it, an' may be here any of time.'
Beth Trenton rose. 'Mister Maitland, the Wagon-wheel will advance the necessary sum to the Circle Dot,' she said.
Garstone's expression became one of fury. Gripping the girl's arm, he forced her to sit down, whispering savagely, 'Don't be a fool, Beth.' Turning to the banker, he went on, 'The Wagon-wheel will do nothing of the kind, Miss Trenton is allowing her heart to overrule her head; we expect that from her sex, but it is not business. What is the amount owing to you?'
'Forty thousand dollars.'
'I will buy the Circle Dot for that figure if there is no better offer.'
None came, and Maitland smiled his satisfaction; that the bank should not lose was his sole concern. He had risen to terminate the meeting when the Easterner again whispered.
'Mister Garstone has something to say to you,' he stated.
Standing there, big-framed, carefully-dressed, a genial look on his fleshy face, the man made an imposing figure. He dispensed with any preamble.
'I am going to tell you why Zeb Trenton is not here to do this job himself, and it's quite a story. Most of you have heard of Red Rufe's Cache. Well, some weeks ago, Trenton, his niece, myself, and some of our men went in search of it.' Several in the audience sniggered. 'Yes, I know others have tried and failed, but we succeeded, and there it is'--he pointed to the satchel--'somewhere about seventy thousand dollars.'
There were no sniggers this time, but envious eyes rested on the container of so much wealth. It had been for anyone to find.
'Unfortunately, a gang of ruffians from the Circle Dot--'
'You better lay off that kind o' talk,' Burke warned, and was supported by a growl from his men.
'Were also after it,' Garstone went on. 'They attacked us, but we fought them off. Two of our men, Rattray and Flint, were killed, and Mister Trenton so severely wounded that I had to leave him in the charge of Bundy and another, since it was urgent I should be here to-day. So Miss Trenton and I came on, and though it was a terribly arduous journey, I could not wish for a more plucky fellow-traveller.'
Beth received the compliment with stony indifference, but the speaker was too full of his own success to notice. As owner of two ranches, Rainbow must learn to recognize his importance. These hucksters and the like had to be told that he was no mere servant, and Beth brought to heel.
'It may interest you to know that I own one-third of the Wagon-wheel; should Trenton not recover, it becomes two-thirds, the rest going to his niece. The will, which I have here, substantiates this. It is in accordance with his desire, often expressed to me, that we should wed, and the lady, I am happy to say, has consented.'
If the spectators expected blushes and confusion they were woefully disappointed. Red of cheek she certainly was as she sprang to her feet, and her eyes were flaming.
'That, like some of your other statements, is a lie,' she said, in a clear, ringing tone. 'Nothing in this world would induce me to marry you. As regards the two men who died, Rattray perished by accident, and Flint was shot by Bundy, as you well know. My uncle--'
'Is here to speak for himself,' a weak but stern voice interrupted.
Through the door leading to the living part of the establish ment, near the platform, Trenton, supported by Dover and the doctor, followed by Tiny and Yorky, entered, Garstone's features underwent a swift transformation from rage to joy, and he was the first to reach the rancher's side.
'My dear Zeb, so those two fellows have got you here at last. I never was so pleased to see anyone,' he cried, and in a whisper, as he dragged forward a chair, 'All is fixed; we have the Circle Dot. I can explain everything.'
Trenton did not reply. Sinking into the seat, he looked round the room, and then darted a finger at Garstone. 'That man is a liar and a cheat,' he said. Heads craned forward, and no one now thought of leaving. 'His story of what happened in the mountains is as false as his own black heart. We attacked the Circle Dot, an' I was shot by Bundy, my own foreman. When the money was found, this skunk cleared out an' left me, dyin' an' helpless, alone in the wilds, to be the prey of any savage beast. Later, he sent Bundy an' Lake back to finish me. They thought I was dead a'ready, an' I heard them talkin'. They quarrelled about buryin' me, an' Bundy shot Lake, threw him down beside me, an' put a pistol by my hand to make it look I'd done it. The Circle Dot found an' fetched me home. On the way, Bundy saw us, an' tried again to get me, but Green got him.'
He paused, breathing heavily, Garstone, who had listened to this terrible indictment with well-simulated incredulity but a very pallid face, addressed the doctor:
'He's mad, raving; illness has turned his brain.'
'No,' Malachi said sharply. 'He is saner than you are.' Trenton spoke again. 'One thing more. That rascal has no share in my ranch, an' the so-called will of which he is boastin' is another lie.'
Garstone whirled on him. 'Lost your memory too, eh?' he sneered. 'That document was dictated to me by you a few days before we started for the hills, and the signature was witnessed by two of your men, Flint and Rattray.'
'Who are conveniently dead,' the rancher retorted.
'I shall hold you to it, and claim one-third the value of the ranch, and the same proportion of this,' Garstone replied, striking the bag beside him on the table.
'That is mine,' Dover put in quietly. 'We were camped on the spot where it lay when the Wagon-wheel took us by surprise. Moreover, it was put there by my father's brother, an' therefore--'
'It belongs to me,' another voice broke in.
All eyes went to this new actor in the drama, a man who had been sitting unnoticed at the side of the room, chin on chest, had slouched over his brow, and apparently taking little count of the proceedings. Now he rose, leant forward, and pushed his hat back.
'Do you know me, Zeb Trenton?' he asked vibrantly.
The rancher might have been looking at an apparition. Others, too, stared in speechless amazement, for despite the absence of the unkempt white beard and long hair, they recognized the gaunt, stooping frame of Hunch, the silent woodsman of the Circle Dot. But this fierce-eyed old man was very different to the one they had known as a semi-witless vagrant.
It was a full minute before the answer came. 'Rufus Dover, by God!'
'Yes, Rufus Dover, the man you drove out o' Rainbow.'
'You killed my father.'
'True, but not as he killed mine--by shootin' him from ambush,' was the stern reply. 'I met Tom Trenton the night he died; boastin' of his deed, he dared me to draw; I beat him to it--he was dead before he could pull trigger. There was no witness. You called it murder, raised the town against me, an' I had to fade. In California I was knowed as Red Rufe, made my pile, an' runnin' with a rough gang, cached it, an' sent two messages to my brother. Then a tree fell on me, an' when I recovered my mind was a blank. Years later, I drifted in to the Circle Dot, blind instinct, I reckon, for I didn't even recognize Dave. But he knew an' took care o' me. He showed me the first message I'd sent, but it recalled nothin'; the second did not reach him.' He bent his piercing gaze on the sheriff, who was sitting near Maitland. 'An' you know why, Foxwell.'
The officer seemed to shrink into his clothes; he read danger in those accusing eyes. 'He was dead when I found him,' he quavered. 'I on'y--'
'Stole the letter an' sold it to Trenton for that badge you disgrace,' the old man finished. 'Who murdered my brother Dave?'
The sheriff shivered. 'I--I dunno,' he said hoarsely. Sudden stepped forward. 'Trenton, where did yu get that thirty-eight we found on yore saddle?'
The rancher's reply came promptly. 'Bundy gave it me, just before we left for the hills; my forty-four was out of order.' The puncher looked at Foxwell. 'An' Bundy had it from yu; don't trouble to lie. Scratched on the stock are the letters, L.P., the initials of Lafe Potter, the Circle Dot rider whose belongings yu sold, mebbe. Dave Dover was drilled by a thirty-eight, an' the empty shell was left in plain sight, with a dottle o' baccy beside it. yu smoke a pipe,
