CHAPTER XXI
ALLEN’S GUN
The gun fell from Allen’s fingers. It struck the pony on the neck, and he shied. Bug Eye moved his bronco forward.
“Now we’ll have a little conversation,” he went on. “Nick, what’s it all about?”
“It’s about robbery, that’s what it’s about!” Allen broke in. “Your little playmate took the gold I trusted him with and substituted rock! Look!” He pulled from his pocket the bag that Nick had handed him. “Plain, ordinary rock!”
“He done what?”
“He stole my gold, that’s what he done!”
“Bah!”
Contained in the exclamation was all the contempt that Bug Eye could give it.
“Nick never stole nothin’. I don’t know what the game is, but--”
“It’s blackmail, Bug Eye,” Nick said quietly. “Allen thinks he’s got me for stealin’ gold that he never had. Says if I get ten thousand bucks from Teddy or Roy or from the boss, he’ll call it off.”
“Ten thousand bucks!”
“Well, there was that much gold in the bags he had!” Allen said defiantly. “If I don’t get the gold, I want the money!”
“Uh-huh.” Bug Eye regarded Allen silently. Suddenly he grinned.
“Nick,” he said, “slide down an’ pick up the gun this here waddie just dropped. I notice you lost yourn. Then, my lad, we’ll take a little ride. Allen, you ride ahead. We’ll see what the rest have to say to this! No, not toward camp--over to little ole One Hundred an’ Eleven! The boys are waitin’ there. To the left, Allen. We’ll have a debate on this here subject!”
Bug Eye had ridden toward his flivver to see if he had left anything of value in the car, telling those at the mine he would be back in half an hour. He kept to his word--he was back within the time set and with him rode Nick and Allen, the latter under surveillance of Bug Eye’s gun.
When they approached the mine, Teddy and Roy were erecting a makeshift windlass that Silent had constructed. They looked up in surprise as they saw Bug Eye with his gun out.
“What’s the trouble, Bug Eye?” Teddy called.
“Well, it’s a long story,” the puncher replied. “You, Allen, slide off that bronc!”
Muttering to himself, the man obeyed. Things were not shaping up as he had expected.
“Now, boys, we’ll have that debate,” Bug Eye said smoothly. “Gather ’round, gents, an’ listen to a tale. Hey, Gus! You might as well be in on this too.” He waited until Gus came up, his eyes wide with wonder. Bug Eye and Nick were off their ponies, standing before Allen.
“Nick, suppose you start the proceedings,” Bug Eye suggested. “Make it short an’ snappy.”
“I will.” Nick jerked his thumb toward Allen. “This here hombre, boys, claims I stole the gold he said he gave me. We went to his tent, an’ I put some bags in my pocket. Then he asked me to get my bronc, which I did, an’ we rode over to the flivver. When we gets there he pulls his gun, shows me there’s rock in the bags I had, and claims I grabbed his nuggets. Reckon that’s about all.”
“When I came up he was talkin’ about hangin’,” Bug Eye said gently. “Hangin’, Roy. Nice, pleasant word, ain’t it?”
“By golly, you’ll see how pleasant it is!” Allen flared. “This feller stole my gold, ten thousand dollars’ worth, an’ I want it back or the cash for it! You waddies think you’re pretty great, don’t you? Well, by golly, I’ll--”
“You’ll do nothing, and little of that,” Roy broke in quietly. “Nick, did you see any gold in the bags you took?”
“Not any, Roy. I never opened ’em. First time I seed what was in ’em was when this bird opens one, and shows me some stones. That’s all I know about it.”
“How can you prove there was gold in ’em?” Teddy demanded.
“‘Cause the ones I carried still have gold in ’em, for one way! How come he happened to pick the only bags that had rock, like he says?”
“When I went to get my bronc,” Nick said, “Allen threw out the rock from the bags he had an’ put some gold in, enough to make it look real. When I took the bags there was stones in all of ’em.”
“Think you’ll make the boys at camp believe that?” Allen sneered. “Likely I’d ask you to help me carry a load of stones, ain’t it?”
“That’s what you done!” Nick exclaimed hotly. “You framed me, that’s what! But you won’t get away with it!”
“You want to go before a jury of miners with that story?” Roy asked. Silent, while all this was going on, regarded Allen carefully.
“Either that or ten thousand bucks! If this bird don’t get me back my gold, he’s got to get the cash. An’ he knows where he can get it, too.”
“He means from your dad, Roy. He thinks he’d give the money to save me from hangin’.”
“He would, as far as that goes,” Teddy declared. “You know that, Nick. But let’s talk this thing out. Allen, you don’t really think you have a chance to succeed with this plan of yours, do you?”
“Plan or not, I want my ten thousand bucks,” the man answered stubbornly. “A friend of mine, who I’ll find when I need him, was standin’ outside the tent when this bird walked out with my nuggets. That’s one witness. Then all of you heard me say I had twelve thousand worth of nuggets, an’ I wanted help to carry ’em to the flivver. Look, didn’t I give seven hundred for the flivver without battin’ an eye? Think I’d do that if I hadn’t struck it pretty rich?”
“Man, you sure got things figgered out,” Gus said. “But what makes you think we’ll testify? We’re not crazy, you know!”
“Oh, you’ll testify all right. The boys’ll see to that.”
“Ah, they will, huh?” Gus exclaimed. “They won’t see to nothin’, let me tell you! Why, you ornery, low-down--”
“Take it easy, Gus,” Roy advised. “It won’t do any good to talk that way. Listen, Allen. You may have friends in this camp, but we have, too. Four or five of our men from the X Bar X--and I guess you heard of that--are around here some place. We haven’t seen ’em yet, but they won’t be hard to find if it comes to a show-down. Now my advice to you is this, and I mean it. You slide out of here as quick as you can. Get on your pony and vamoose. We won’t follow you or try to make trouble for you. And that’s my advice.” A moment’s silence. “Well, are you taking it?”
Allen stared at Roy. For a second those about him thought he was going to back down. But suddenly his face grew red and he shouted:
“That’s your advice; is it? Well, you can take your advice an’ hang yourself with it--see! I want my ten thousand bucks, an’ I’ll get ’em or your friend here will do a little dance in the air! An’ that’s my advice--take it!”
“You--” Nick began, and stepped toward Allen, his fist clenched. But before he could strike Silent seized him by the arm.
“Wait a second,” the puncher said quietly. “Where’d you get that gun, Nick?”
“This one?” Nick pulled the weapon from his holster. “Why, it belongs to our little friend here. He took mine an’ threw it into the bushes, so when Bug Eye came I took his. Why?”
Silent turned the gun over in his hand. Teddy and Roy saw it and started forward. They did not speak, however, but waited for Silent.
The puncher’s eyes were on the gun as though he had never seen one like it before. In truth, it was not a Western weapon. It was unlike anything cowboys carry.
Finally Silent raised his eyes and there was a strange light in them. When he spoke his voice was low, almost a whisper.
“I reckon,” he said slowly, “this here farce ends now. Allen--” this word was snapped out, “this your gun?”
Allen, his face white, did not answer. He seemed fascinated by the look in Silent’s eyes.
“You don’t have to tell me--I know.” Silent took a step forward. “Allen, you ever heard the name--Greyhound?”
“Greyhound!”
The word burst from Allen’s lips. He staggered back, his hand to his head.
“Watch him, boys!” Silent roared. “Watch him!”
Allen gave one leap and gained his saddle. Frantically he dug spurs into his pony’s sides and the maddened beast sprang high.
“Take him off!” Teddy yelled. “Look out, Silent!”
Silent, his lips in a straight line, raised his weapon. At that moment Allen jerked his horse’s head cruelly and the bronco swerved into the cowboy, knocking him down.
“You blamed fools!” Allen yelled. “Think you could get me? So you know Greyhound, do you? Well, he’s where you’ll never find him! So long, you washed-out nursemaids!”
He brought a quirt down sharply on the back of Bug Eye’s pony, then did the same with Nick’s.
Although later, on looking back to this scene, Teddy declared they should have had time to draw a gun on Allen, at the time, events seemed to follow one another with such lightning-like rapidity that no one thought of this. Before they could fire a single shot the two ponies that had been hit ran in opposite directions and Allen was among the trees, away.