'Well, my friend,' he greeted. 'Was I dreaming, or did I hear voices?'
'You heard mine,' the prisoner replied. 'I talk aloud sometimes, just to convince myself that I am not dead, and buried in a tomb. I'd risk a lot to breathe God's good air again--one can't here.'
'Of course not, when you keep it out with a curtain,' the other retorted, and moved towards the window. 'It's a lovely night.'
'Leave the damned thing alone, I pulled it on purpose,' was the irritable response. 'It's cold, and I hate the sight of a world in which I have no part. There are days when I dream I am riding again, the wind slapping my face, the ground sliding beneath my horse's belly, birds singing, streams gurgling down the hillsides, and I wake to find myself in this cursed stone cage. It will send me mad.'
'I know it's tough, boy, but what can I do?' Satan replied. 'Only this morning I got news that Dealtry is still on the warpath, and offering a thousand dollars for word of the slayer of his son. He has spies all over the country, and my men--though they serve my purpose--are of the type who would sell a brother for a couple of gold pieces. This is the only place where you are safe; anyone who told you different would be no friend.'
'The old, old story,' the prisoner sneered, and then, 'Must you wear that mask when you visit me?'
'As I have many times told you, it is my unbreakable rule. I prefer to remain a man of mystery; it gives me power over the ignorant people I have to deal with, and not one of them, in later years, will be able to say he has known me.'
'Always the play-actor--you should have stuck to the stage,' came the scornful comment. 'How is the cattle business?'
'When we are ready to clean up and leave here there should be a big bank-roll to split,' was the reply. 'Is there anything more I can get you?'
'I have all I want, save that which means all--freedom.'
'That may not be so long; if Dealtry should meet with an accident--'
'No, I will not have any dirty work,' came the sharp interjection.
'My dear fellow,' Satan remonstrated, 'I am not suggesting it, but Dealtry is a good sheriff and no man can be that without making enemies. If one of these seizes an opportunity, I decline to be held responsible, or to wear mourning. Adios.'
With a light laugh he went up the stairway. Sudden waited until he heard the bolts shoot home and then stepped out, to be met with a mocking smile.
'Well, Mister Interloper, you have wasted your time, you see.'
'If there's anythin' yu wanta take along, get it.'
'But, my good man, you heard what my friend said; I have an excellent reason for staying here.'
'I've a better for not lettin' yu an' I'm holdin' it,' the puncher replied meaningly. 'If yu'd ruther be tied ...'
The unknown looked at the levelled revolver, then at the cold eyes and athletic form of its owner, and realized that he was helpless. From a peg in the wall, he took down a hat and clapped it on his head.
'The gun wins,' he said.
Sudden sheathed the weapon, and began to unwind the ropes he had brought. This done, he joined them, and his gaze roved round the room in search of something to serve as a cross-bar. A stout leg wrenched from the table providedthis, and with one end of the rope knotted in the middle, was placed across the window. The slack, Sudden pitched out into the night, and turned to the prisoner, who had watched these preparations with evident misgiving.
'Go ahead,' he said. 'Our weight will keep that bit o' wood in place, but don't hurry or yu'll be liable to bust yore brains out. I'll be right after yu.'
'Wouldn't it be safer to make that rope secure at this end?'
'Shore, but I ain't leavin' an easy way o' follerin' us; yore friend mighta forgot somethin'.'
With a gesture of resignation, the other crawled out. On the brink of the black abyss which yawned at his feet, he hesitated, and then, gripping the frail support, lowered himself, hand over hand. It was not easy; the rope was thin, rendering a deliberate descent wellnigh impossible, and speed resulted in burned palms and a body bruised by bumps against protruding portions of the cliff. Lack of exercise, too, had softened his sinews, and the drag of his body soon numbed his arms. His mind was obsessed by the thought that the table-leg might slip, and then ... A scrape of boots and a fragment of stone which whizzed past his ear reminded him that his captor was running the same risk.
Spinning dizzily, slithering, holding the rope with hands which seemed to be on fire, he dropped what appeared to be an interminable depth. He heard the whicker of a horse and it gave him an idea: if he could reach the animal and ride off before the stranger completed the descent ... A moment later he staggered backwards as his feet impacted on solid ground. Recovering his balance, he was about to run when a voice said: 'Hold on, yu. Where's Jim?'
A dark form a little way up the cliff, which suddenly gained momentum, curled itself up, and sent them both rolling, answered the question.
'Right here,' it said, sitting up and stretching its limbs experimentaly. 'On'y bruises, seem'ly. Why didn't yu stop me?'
'Well, of all the gall,' Frosty retorted. 'What was yore hurry, anyway?'
'Somethin' fetched loose,' Sudden told him. 'Reckon that cross-bar warn't such a notion after all.' He explained.
'I'll say it wasn't--the damned thing on'y missed my head by an inch,' the Double K man agreed feelingly. 'Yu must be loco to take a chance like that for a couple o' ropes, an' they warn't even our'n.'
'Yore ideas o' honesty won't never lose yu nothin' 'cept yore liberty,' Sudden told him.
When they were mounted, he led the way west. The rescued man appeared to be indifferent as to his fate, and asked no questions. Sudden rode head down, deep in thought, and Frosty's efforts to enliven the journey met with a chilling response.
'Yu'll hear all about it presently,' he was told. 'What's the use tellin' things twice over?'
Some time later they pulled up outside the Twin Diamond ranch-house. Though it was near midnight, there was a light in the living-room, and Merry himself answered the rap on the door. He seemed surprised to see them.
'Hello, boys,' he said. 'Come right in.'
They filed into the house, Sudden bringing up the rear, and for a moment there was an awkward silence, the rancher studying the third man curiously. Then he said: 'Why this visit?'
'We've brung back the hosses,' Frosty informed. 'What hosses?'
'Them I borried--yu warn't around, so I couldn't ask. There was a couple o' ropes, too.'
'How come yu overlooked the ranch-house?' Merry enquired ironically.'We wasn't needin' firewood,' Frosty grinned.
The fat man laughed, too. 'That'll be enough from yu, Mister Impudence. What's it all mean, Jim?'
Sudden told him, his recital being punctuated by profane expressions of amazement from the rancher. When it was finished, he said : 'An' who is this fella yu risked breakin' yore neck for?'
'One who only desired to be left alone,' the unknown replied gruffly.
Sudden deftly twitched the pulled-down hat from the speaker's head. 'I guess yu know him,' he said. Open- mouthed, Merry stared at the man disclosed, who glared back defiantly.
'Jeff Keith!' he cried. 'Then who the blisterin' hell is the Red Mask?'
Frosty, upon whom the revelation had produced a petrifying effect, now came to life again. 'Mebbe Jeff can tell us?' he suggested.
The young man looked at Sudden. 'You're the clever guy,' he jeered. 'Suppose you tell me.'
'Right,' the puncher said. 'He is Lafe Lander, better knowed around here as Satan, boss of a band of outlaw thieves an' murderers, an' masqueradin' as--yu.'
Keith's expression was one of plain derision. 'Are you expecting me to swallow such a tale?' he asked.
'It is true, boy,' Merry said sternly. 'Dressed like yu, speakin' in yore voice, and masked, he has deceived all who have seen him, even those who knew yu well, like Frosty here.'
'That's so, Jeff,' the Double K rider supplemented. 'An' he trots out yore favourite cuss-word, too.'
'But there's a good reason why he shouldn't want to be taken for me. It doesn't make sense.'
