The taunt served its purpose. Furious, the woman crawled through the opening and commenced the descent.
She was not without courage, but this was an ordeal outside her experience, and the thought of what would happen if she fell, paralysed her. Clinging desperately to the ladder, she moved so slowly that the man above cursed impatiently. Weak and dizzy, she every moment expected to slip and feel her body hurtling through the air. When she was half-waythough she did not know that--her flimsy support began to sway under her weight and she paused, frozen with fear.
'Don't stop, damn you, unless you want death.'
The strident voice, cleaving the atmosphere like a bullet, lashed her to action. Blind to everything save the ropes she must grip and the rungs she must find for her feet, she went on, and at last the watchers above saw her vanish over the bulge at the bottom of the cliff.
'That yell saved her life--in another moment the fool would have fallen,' Satan said. 'I expect better from you. I hate to let you go, Joan, but it is only for a day or so.'
His eyes were alive now, alive with a passion which chilled and frightened. But she must play her part.
'I don't understand,' she said wearily. 'I know you would not hurt me--Jeff.'
'I shall explain everything,' he replied eagerly, his hot gaze devouring her. 'Joan, I could take your kisses, but .. . Go, girl, before the nearness of you weakens my will.'
She needed no second bidding; the peril she was about to face could not compare with that she left behind. So, with a light heart, she followed Belle. Holding tightly, she looked neither up nor down, keeping her eyes glued on the rocky wall before them. One thought only came to her as she dropped lower and lower--Jeff must have escaped in the. same way. Somehow, the probability gave her confidence, and almost before she realized that the task was done, a pair of huge hands lifted her from the ladder, set her on the ground, and she was gazing into the grinning face of Silver.
'Here you is, an' there's the hosses. Let's be goin',' he said.
There were four animals, one of them packed with supplies. In a brief space, they were on their way.
Chapter XXV
The first arrivals at the Twin Diamond ranch-house on the following morning were Lagley, Frosty, and Lazy. The face of the foreman wore a worried frown as he drew Sudden aside.
'Dugout has shown up ten strong but I'm fearin' we've overlooked a bet,' he said. 'Turvey's pulled his freight an' it ain't hard to guess where he's gone.'
'But he didn't know.'
'May have heard me talkin' to Frosty--he was late for supper, 'cordin' to Lazy, said his hoss was troublesome.'
Before the puncher could reply, another voice chimed in.
'By Christmas, if it isn't Steve Lagley. How are you, old grumbler?'
Lagley spun round, a picture of perturbation, but he managed to grasp the extended hand, staring hard the while. 'Mighty glad to see yu agin, Master Jeff,' he said.
'What are you looking for--a red mask?' Keith asked slyly.
The foreman's coppery skin took on a purple tinge. 'No, I on'y wanta see that once more, through the sights o' my gun.'
'Don't you do it,' the young man cried. 'He's my meat.'
'Yo're both wrong--he's mine,' Sudden corrected. He looked at Keith. 'There's Dealtry; go an' speak with him.'
The boy hesitated a mere second, squared his shoulders, stepped to where the officer was standing, and said quietly: 'Morning, sheriff.'
Dealtry, who had just dismounted, turned, scanned him closely, and then said, 'Well, Jeff, I've had some hard thoughts 'bout you; wrongly, as it now appears.'
'I didn't shoot Dan,' Keith said earnestly. 'We were friends, and our difference would have been forgotten in the morning. I suppose it was my running away ...'
'Yeah, it looked bad. If you'd stayed--but there, I reckon `if' is the cussedest word in the world. What Green told me yestiddy made it plain. All I want now is to slant a gun on that--.'
'Yo're fourth on the list an' ain't got a chance,' Sudden grinned. 'How much help yu brought?'
'There's on'y a dozen of us but we're good,' was the sheriff's modest reply. 'Got any plan?'
Mart Merry, the Double K foreman, and his two men joined the group, and the rancher answered the question.
'There's but two ways into the durn place. My idea is to split our force an' attack 'em both at the same time. Yu agree, Jim?'
'Nothin' else for it,' the cowboy concurred. 'Mart, yu an' Dealtry can take this side, an' the Double K an' Dugout men the other.'
'What are yu goin' to do, Jim?' the rancher asked.
'I want a few fellas who can shoot fast an' arc willin' to gamble. Yu see, I know of another way in--hit on it by chance--an' it's possible, with trouble both ends o' the town, it may be overlooked. Once in, mebbe we can grab the leader, an' anyway, we'll have the gates between two fires. What yu think of it, Steve?'
'It's good,' Lagley said. 'Likewise, it's a Double K job. Here's three of us--'
'Four,' Keith put in quietly.
'An' I can soon git the others--they'll all wanta come.'
'Three more will do--them gates are a tough proposi tion,' Sudden decided. 'Go get 'em, Steve.' He followed as the foreman went to his horse. 'Yu know where to meet us?'
'Yeah. How d'yu learn 'bout that way in, Jim?'
'Yu showed it me,' the puncher smiled.
'Yo're lettin' me down mighty easy; I ain't forgettin' it.' Further preparations for the fray did not take long. Sudden had a final word.
'We won't make a move till yu got 'em real interested at both ends. So long, an' good luck.'
Soon after he had gone, Merry and the sheriff set out, their men straggling behind. The cowboys, for the most part, jested and poked fun at one another, indifferent to the fact that they were about to risk their lives, but the Red Rock men rode with grave, determined faces : they were there to administer the law.
Less than an hour's ride brought them within sight of their objective, a gate of heavy timber set between unscaleable heights which, continuing for about a hundred yards, walled in the narrow approach. Dealtry pulled up with an exclamation of dismay.
'Phew! That's a nice nut to crack, Mart,' he said. 'How in blue blazes are we to git near?'
'Leave the hosses round the bend an' try to sneak up--they won't find aimin' too easy if we keep the lead flyin'.'
'I'll give 'em a chance first,' the sheriff replied.
Before the rancher could protest, he rode forward, alone, right hand raised, palm outwards, the Indian form of the white flag. He had not proceeded far when the ugly features of Roden bobbed up behind the barrier.
'That'll be near enough,' he called. 'Who are you an' what's yore errand?'
'I'm the sheriff o' Red Rock, an' I'm lookin' for a fella named Lander.'
'Never heard of him.'
'He hides his face behind a red mask,' Dealtry went on. 'Turn him over to me, surrender yoreselves, an' I'll deal with you as leniently as the law will let me. That's my only offer.'
'An' here's mine,' Roden retorted. 'Git to hell outa here or I'll send you there. Scat!' He fired as he finished, and the bullet ballooned the dust under the belly of the officer's horse. 'That's the on'y ca'tridge I'm wastin',' he added.
Dealtry paced slowly back to his companions. The horses were bestowed safely, and the men, prone on their stomachs and taking advantage of any inequality in the ground which would serve as shelter, began a steady bombardment. The besieged replied, but the hail of lead soon rendered the loopholes in the gate dangerous, and their response slackened. During a slight lull, the muffled crash of gun-fire in the distance announced that the second attack had commenced.
