really necessary,' Dave replied. 'It ain't broke.' They searched the surrounding brush without success, and then Dave said, 'Well, we'd never get out o' this wilderness on foot; I'll have to take a chance o' swipin' a pony, I guess.'
'Better guess again, Masters,' a sarcastic voice advised. 'A deppity-marshal ain't supposed to steal horses, an' besides, it can't be did.' Dave whirled round, right hand on his gun, but could see no one. The voice continued :
'Six rifles are coverin' you this moment, an' we're all hopin' you'll be obstinate. Show him, fellas.' On all sides the moonlight glinted on gun-barrels thrust through the foliage. Dave shrugged--resistance would be just suicide.
'The pot is yores,' he said.
They closed in on him and one took charge of his weapon. All were masked, a circumstance which brought a sneer of contempt to the deputy's lips.
'Yu can take that rag off, Mullins,' he said to the leader. 'Though I admit it improves yore looks.'
'Clever, ain't you?' the ruffian replied. 'If I hadn't somethin' else for you, somethin' more interestin', I'd blow you four ways this minit,' he threatened. 'But--wait.'
'Whatever the cost, it'll be worth it,' Dave said defiantly.
'you've reached the limit a'ready,' was Jake's reply. 'Tie him up an' shove him in the wood-shed.' The young man had another inspiration. 'See here, I've had nothin' to eat since mornin'; I won't last no time at the torture- stake if I'm starvin'.'
'Give him grub; he'll need to be good an' strong tomorrow. I'll 'tend to the woman.' Dejected Mary Gray preceded him back to her prison. By the fitful light of the candle--which was still burning--he surveyed her with evil exultation.
'Now what do you think?'
'That you are as great a liar as scoundrel,' she retorted, and for a moment her sombre eyes regarded him. 'And that you have not long to live, Jake Mullins.' The sinister prophecy, uttered in a low passionless tone, startled the bandit for the instant, but he threw off the eerie sensation with a coarse laugh.
'Then I'd best make the most o' my time,' he gibed, and moved towards her.
Appalled at his expression, she shrank back, whereat he laughed again, delighting in the mental anguish he was inflicting. Cowering against the wall, faint with horror, she knew that her fate hung in the balance. Then greed of gold triumphed over a still baser appetite. Dave's rope was still hanging from the window. He drew it in and proceeded to secure her wrists and ankles. 'Safe bind, safe find,' he quoted. 'When I've dealt with yore lover, you an' me'll have another li'l pow-wow.' He extinguished the candle and went out, leaving her broken, despondent, her mind now obsessed by one fear only--what would he do to the man who had risked all to rescue her? Dave, reclining with his head on a pile of kindling, was wakened in the morning by the opening of his prison-door, and blinking in the sudden light, saw his gaoler of the night before regarding him with an expression of amused surprise. He noticed that the fellow was no longer masked. 'Got rid o' yore toothache, I see.'
'On'y troubles me after dark,' the other grinned, and then, 'If you knew what was comin' you wouldn't be so peart.'
'Breakfast is comin', I hope,' was the jaunty reply.
The gaoler reached a plate and steaming mug from behind the open door. 'Shore, I brung it, bread, fried hawg'sbelly, an' corfy.' The man slackened the rope on his wrists a little, and stood, gun in hand, regarding him with reluctant admiration.
'Women an' food shouldn't be kept waiting,' Dave remarked oracularly, and proceeded to polish off the meal in quick time. This done, he rolled a cigarette, lighted it, leaned back, sent a perfect smoke-ring quivering on the still air, and resumed the conversation : 'How come yo're tailin' after a fella like Jake--a crook, an' not smart at that? Lookit the mess he made o' the bank affair.'
'Save yore breath, Masters; you might as well try to corrupt me.' The interruption came from Mullins himself, but if he expected the prisoner to be abashed, he was mistaken.
'Which would be a shockin' waste o' time--yu can't corrupt anythin' that's rotten a'ready. Beautiful, here, tells me yo're anxious about my health. Well, it's fine an' dandy.' The sallow face darkened and became more malevolent.
'Good, a well man dies the harder,' Jake replied.
Dave looked round. 'I allus wanted to pass out in the sunshine,' he replied coolly.
Jake's expression was that of a devil. 'You'll shore git yore wish--an' regret it. Fetch him along, hoys.' Four others appeared, leading horses. Dave was dragged to his feet, hoisted into the saddle of his own pony, and securely tied. The four mounted, and with their leader, closed in on him.
'So long, Beautiful,' Dave said. 'Pity yu gotta herd with the jackals--yu might 'a' been a reg'lar fella.' The gaoler watched them disappear into the woods. 'He's got grit, that boy,' he muttered. 'Too bad, but I can't do nothin'.' Dave rode in silence, his face set and unreadable. Theywere following a faint trail, sun-splashed where a break in the overhead foliage permitted the rays to penetrate, but for the most, darkened and dismal.
Presently they arrived at a small level clearing of sand and short grass hemmed in by low bushes, and here the leader dismounted.
'This'll do fine,' he said. 'Plenty o' sun--as I promised.' Dave stared about him curiously; there were no trees of any size adjacent. Mullins read his thought.
'We ain't goin' to stretch yore neck--that would be too easy, an' wouldn't near pay what I owe you,' he said, and to his men, 'Git busy.' Hauled from the saddle and flung to the ground in the middle of the clearing--an operation which resulted in sundry bruises for those who performed it--the prisoner was still undaunted. Hands and feet were fettered, but his tongue was free. He knew that he was about to die a lingering death; if he could provoke a swift one .. .
'Yo're a cowardly cur, Mullins,' he taunted. 'If yu had the pluck of a rabbit, yu'd deal with me yoreself, but yu get four other white-livered houn's to do the job yo're afeard to handle.' For an instant he thought he had succeeded, for Jake stepped towards him, gun gripped, stark murder in his eyes. Then he laughed, and motioned to his minions.
Their procedure was singular. Two of them held the victim down while the others attached strong cords to his wrists and ankles, and drove four stout pegs into the earth. His other bonds were then removed, each cord pulled tight and secured to a peg, leaving him spreadeagled on his back, arms and legs at full stretch. Jake, having inspected the knots, stood looking down with sadistic satisfaction at the man he was about to leave to a dreadful fate.
'Take yore fill o' sunshine yo're so fond of,' he said, and with a loathsome leer, 'While you frizzle here, I shall be with--Mary.'
'Jim Green'll send yu to hell for this,' Dave promised.
'I think you'll beat me to it. In two days I shall come an' look at yore scattered bones, picked clean by wolves, coyotes, buzzards or--somethin'.' Dave could not see that his glance had gone to a little mound of sand at one side of the clearing. He shot his last arrow.
'Two days? yore own bones will be moulderin' by then --yu got the death sign on yu a'ready.' The shaft went home. With a savage curse, the bandit climbed into his saddle. When one of the band asked a question, he shook his head.
'They'll happen on him, sooner or later,' he said. 'An' I hope it'll be later.' They departed, and for some time, Dave made no attempt to move; it was possible they were watching, and he had no desire to afford amusement. Presently he raised his head the few inches he was able, but no cackle of mirth greeted him, only the chattering of the birds. Desperately he strained at the cords, but the pegs were immovable, and the men who had tied the knots had done their work thoroughly. Moreover, his position prevented him obtaining any purchase. Repeated efforts failed to loosen the tie-ropes even a fraction, and at length he gave it up as hopeless, and lay there, gazing into the blue dome in which the sun hung, a polished brazen disc, with no vestige of cloud to dim its radiance. In a few hours it would be directly above him, the vertical rays like jets of flame, sucking the moisture from his body.
'A couple o' days,' he mused. 'Fella can last that long without grub, but water . . .' The sun had climbed higher, scorching his bared skin, and his limbs, held in that one posture, were becoming numb and cramped. Wearily he closed his eyes, but the rays seemed to pierce the lids, causing a dull ache.
But however dire his extremity, a young, healthy man instinctively clings to life, and Dave was no quitter.
