Mercedes gave the writing one swift glance, then fainted in Thorne's arms. He carried her to a couch, and with Nell and Mrs. Belding began to work over her.
Belding looked at his rangers. It was characteristic of the man that, now when catastrophe appeared inevitable, all the gloom and care and angry agitation passed from him.
'Laddy, it's Rojas all right. How many men has he out there?'
'Mebbe twenty. Not more.'
'We can lick twice that many Greasers.'
'Shore.'
Jim Lash removed his pipe long enough to speak.
'I reckon. But it ain't sense to start a fight when mebbe we can avoid it.'
'What's your idea?'
'Let's stave the Greaser off till dark. Then Laddy an' me an' Thorne will take Mercedes an' hit the trail for Yuma.'
'Camino del Diablo! That awful trail with a woman! Jim, do you forget how many hundreds of men have perished on the Devil's Road?'
'I reckon I ain't forgettin' nothin',' replied Jim. 'The waterholes are full now. There's grass, an' we can do the job in six days.'
'It's three hundred miles to Yuma.'
'Beldin', Jim's idea hits me pretty reasonable,' interposed Ladd. 'Lord knows that's about the only chance we've got except fightin'.'
'But suppose we do stave Rojas off, and you get safely away with Mercedes. Isn't Rojas going to find it out quick? Then what'll he try to do to us who're left here?'
'I reckon he'd find out by daylight,' replied Jim. 'But, Tom, he ain't agoin' to start a scrap then. He'd want time an' hosses an' men to chase us out on the trail. You see, I'm figgerin' on the crazy Greaser wantin' the girl. I reckon he'll try to clean up here to get her. But he's too smart to fight you for nothin'. Rojas may be nutty about women, but he's afraid of the U. S. Take my word for it he'd discover the trail in the mornin' an' light out on it. I reckon with ten hours' start we could travel comfortable.'
Belding paced up and down the room. Jim and Ladd whispered together. Gale walked to the window and looked out at the distant group of bandits, and then turned his gaze to rest upon Mercedes. She was conscious now, and her eyes seemed all the larger and blacker for the whiteness of her face. Thorne held her hands, and the other women were trying to still her tremblings.
No one but Gale saw the Yaqui in the background looking down upon the Spanish girl. All of Yaqui's looks were strange; but this singularly so. Gale marked it, and felt he would never forget. Mercedes's beauty had never before struck him as being so exquisite, so alluring as now when she lay stricken. Gale wondered if the Indian was affected by her loveliness, her helplessness, or her terror. Yaqui had seen Mercedes only a few times, and upon each of these he had appeared to be fascinated. Could the strange Indian, because his hate for Mexicans was so great, be gloating over her misery? Something about Yaqui–a noble austerity of countenance–made Gale feel his suspicion unjust.
Presently Belding called his rangers to him, and then Thorne.
'Listen to this,' he said, earnestly. 'I'll go out and have a talk with Rojas. I'll try to reason with him; tell him to think a long time before he sheds blood on Uncle Sam's soil. That he's now after an American's wife! I'll not commit myself, nor will I refuse outright to consider his demands, nor will I show the least fear of him. I'll play for time. If my bluff goes through...well and good....After dark the four of you, Laddy, Jim, Dick, and Thorne, will take Mercedes and my best white horses, and, with Yaqui as guide, circle round through Altar Valley to the trail, and head for Yuma....Wait now, Laddy. Let me finish. I want you to take the white horses for two reasons–to save them and to save you. Savvy? If Rojas should follow on my horses he'd be likely to catch you. Also, you can pack a great deal more than on the bronchs. Also, the big horses can travel faster and farther on little grass and water. I want you to take the Indian, because in a case of this kind he'll be a godsend. If you get headed or lost or have to circle off the trail, think what it 'd mean to have Yaqui with you. He knows Sonora as no Greaser knows it. He could hide you, find water and grass, when you would absolutely believe it impossible. The Indian is loyal. He has his debt to pay, and he'll pay it, don't mistake me. When you're gone I'll hide Nell so Rojas won't see her if he searches the place. Then I think I could sit down and wait without any particular worry.'
The rangers approved of Belding's plan, and Thorne choked in his effort to express his gratitude.
'All right, we'll chance it,' concluded Belding. 'I'll go out now and call Rojas and his outfit over...Say, it might be as well for me to know just what he said in that paper.'
Thorne went to the side of his wife.
'Mercedes, we've planned to outwit Rojas. Will you tell us just what he wrote?'
The girl sat up, her eyes dilating, and with her hands clasping Thorne's. She said:
'Rojas swore–by his saints and his virgin–that if I wasn't given–to him–in twenty-four hours–he would set fire to the village–kill the men–carry off the women–hang the children on cactus thorns!'
A moment's silence followed her last halting whisper.
'By his saints an' his virgin!' echoed Ladd. He laughed–a cold, cutting, deadly laugh–significant and terrible.
Then the Yaqui uttered a singular cry. Gale had heard this once before, and now he remembered it was at the Papago Well.
'Look at the Indian,' whispered Belding, hoarsely. 'Damn if I don't believe he understood every word Mercedes said. And, gentlemen, don't mistake me, if he ever gets near Senor Rojas there'll be some gory Aztec knife work.'
Yaqui had moved close to Mercedes, and stood beside her as she leaned against her husband. She seemed
