Stepsons of Light

  VII

  "May God be merciful to him and to us all." --_The Advocate of Arras._

  "Better come along and share my guilty splendor," urged Adam Forbes,toe to stirrup.

  Charlie See shook his head. "Not none. Here I rest. Gold is nothing tome. I've got no time for frivolity. I want but little here below andwant that little now. Say, Adam--don't you never carry a gun?"

  "Naw. I take a rifle, of course, for reindeer, snow dear, dear me andantelope--but I haven't packed a gun for two years. No need of ithere. Well, if you won't side me, you won't. I'm sorry, but you seehow it is about me going right now," said Adam, swinging into thesaddle. "The water in that little tank of mine won't last long, andthere may not be any more rains this fall. So long! You just makeyourself at home."

  "Good luck, Adam. And you might wish me the same. While you're gone, Imay want to make a little journey from bad to worse."

  Adam gathered up his lead rope. "Good luck, Charlie." But a troubledlook came to his eyes as he passed through the gate; in his heart hethought his friend rode late and vainly from Selden Hill.

  The pack horse jogged alongside, his friendly head at Adam's knee. Itwas earliest morning and they were still in the fresh cool shadow ofthe low eastern hills. Farther north the enormous bulk of TimberMountain loomed monstrous in the sky, and there the shadows were deepand dense, impenetrably black; there night lingered visible, brighterthan in all the wide arc to westward, bench-land and mighty hill weredrenched with sparkling sun.

  Adam rode with a pleasant jingling of spurs. He passed throughGarfield town, or town-to-be, remodeled from the old San Ysidro, thebare and grassless Mexican _plaza_ changed to the square of a Kansastown, by tree and hard-won turf; blacksmith shop and school, with alittle store and post office, clustered for company on one side:business would fill up the three blank sides--like Columbus orCherryvale. For there is no new thing beneath the kindly sun. Nototherwise, far from the plains of windy Troy, did Priam's son buildand copy, in the wild hills of Epirus:

  _The little Troy, the castle Pergamus, The river Xanthus, and the Scaean gate._

  Fringing the townlet, new gristmill and new factory stood where themother ditch was bridged. Beyond the bridge the roads forked. From theright hand a steep canyon came plunging to the valley, winding darkbetween red-brown hills. This canyon was Redgate; here turned theclimbing road to Upham; and Adam Forbes followed the Redgate road.

  At the summit he turned to the left across a corner of MacCleod'sPark; he crossed a whorl of low ridges at the head of Apache Canyon andcame to Hidden Tanks--a little limestone basin, now brimming withrainwater, perhaps a dozen barrels in all. Adam had fenced this inwith a combination of stone wall and cedar brush, to keep cattle out.He now climbed to a little low cliff near by. There he had cached hisoutfit in a little cupboard of a cave, the floor of it shoulder highto him where he stood. Here he unpacked. He added to the cache hislittle store of sugar, coffee, rice, bacon and flour, all packed infive or ten pound baking-powder cans against the ravages of mice, graysquirrels and trade rats. The little deep cave gave protection againstlarger pests and shelter from rain. He rolled up his bedding, liftedit into the mouth of the cave and shoved it back.

  Two empty five-gallon kegs were left of his pack; he had not dared toleave them in the cache, to fall apart in the dry and sun-parched air.These kegs he filled at the tanks and slung on the pack saddle; withthem he made his way to the hill of his hopes. It was close by; he hadhidden there his pick, shovel and the broad shallow basin used forpanning gold. He hobbled the horses; by ten o'clock, or a littlelater, he was deep in the interrupted task of a month before.

  Freakish chance had timed that interruption to halt him on the verybrink of success. Before he had taken out a dozen pans he was in richdirt. Noon found him shaken from the poise and mastery of years.Abandoning the patient and systematic follow-up system, he pushed onup the hill, sampling at random, and finding each sample richer. Thescant supply of water was nearly gone, the gold frenzy clutched at hisheart. By sighting, he roughly developed the lines showing theprobable limit of pay dirt, as marked by the monuments of his earlierlabor; he noted the intersection of those lines, and there began afeverish panning with his remnant of water. He found gold in flakes,in scales, in millet-seed grains--in grains like rice at last! He hadtracked down a pocket to make history with, to count time from. Andthe last of his water was used.

  Adam sat down, trembling to think his find had been unprotected by theshadow of a claim for the last month; reflected then that it had lainunclaimed for some thousands of years, and with the reflection pulledhimself together and managed a grin at his own folly.

  He went back to his saddle. Tucked in the saddle pockets was a goodlylunch, but he did not touch that. He untied his coat and took out twoprinted location notices, several crumply sheets of blank paper and apencil. He filled in the blanks as the location notice of the GoblinGold Mine--original notice and copy. On the blank paper he wrote outfour more notices, two originals and two copies, for the Nine BucksPlacer Claim and the Please Hush. For the Goblin Gold he wrote himselfas locator, Charles See and Howard Lull as witnesses; he reserved thisfor the highest and richest claim. For the next below, Charles See waslocator, Forbes and Lull were witnesses; and the third was assigned toHoward Lull, with See and Forbes to bear witness.

  Adam paced off the three claims adjoining each other and built astone monument at each corner, with a larger monument for thelocation-papers at the center of each claim; the central monument ofthe Goblin Gold about where he had made the last panning. And then,even as he started to slip the first location notice in its monument,he lifted up his eyes and saw, across the tangled ridges, three menriding up from the deeps of Apache Canyon.

  The cool judgment that had brought him safe through a thousand dangerswas warped now by the fever and frenzy of gold lust; his cannyinstinct against disaster failed him in his need. There must be noshadow of irregularity on these claims, his hot brain reasoned; hisfind was too rich for chance-taking in the matter of mythicalwitnesses; yonder, by happy and unlooked for chance, were witnessesindeed; he must have their names to his location notices, and then hewould get the copies to Hillsboro for recording at the earliest; hewould mail them in Garfield post office that very afternoon.

  He reversed his pencil and erased the names of his fictitiouswitnesses; he saddled his horse and rode to intercept the threehorsemen, half a mile away now, trailing slowly across the park towardMacCleod's Tanks. He waved them to stop. As he drew near he knew twoof the men--Jody Weir, of Hillsboro, and Big Ed Caney, a deputysheriff from Dona Ana County; two men he trusted not at all. Time washe would have deemed this conjunction sinister; to-day, madness wasupon him. The third was a stranger. Each man had a blanket and abulging slicker tied behind his saddle. Evidently they carried rationsfor several days' camping.

  "Hello, Adam!"

  "You're another--three of 'em. Got any water in those canteens? If Iwas to do a piece of wishin', right now, I'd mention water first off.This is sure one old scorcher of a day! She's a weather breeder. Rainbefore morning, sure as snakes. I see thunder-heads peeping up overthe Black Range, right now."

  Caney handed over a canteen. "Drink hearty! You shore look like you'dbeen working, Adam."

  Adam drank deep before replying.

  "Working is right. Prospecting. Tired of farming--need a change. Say,I want you fellows to witness some location notices for me. Ride overon the next ridge and I can point out where the claims lay so you canswear to 'em--or ride over with me if you got time. I was just doing alittle forgery when I saw your dust, for I wasn't expectin' to see aman up this way--not ever. I do reckon this is the lonesomest place inthe world."

  "Adam, meet my friend," said Jody. "Mr. Forbes, Mr. Hales. Now, Adam,no need for us to go over to your layout, is there? We can see yoursilly monuments. That's enough. No particular odds anyway, is it? Ireckon half the notices on record have ghost signatures to 'em. Justas
good as any. Nobody'll ever know the difference."

  "Sure, that's all right--but seein' you happened along so slick, Ithought I'd get your John Hancocks. Sign on the dotted line,please--where I rubbed out my forgeries."

  "Any good, your mines?" asked Jody as they signed.

  "Might be--will be, likely enough. Just struck pay dirt to-day. Lotsof room if you want to try a whirl--all round my claims, any directionexcept down."

  "Not to-day, I guess. Say, Forbes--you ain't seen any strangers thisway, have you? Mexicans, mebbe?"

  "Not any. But I just come up from the river. Hills might be full ofpeople, for all I know. Water all round, after these rains."

  "Look, now," said Jody. "We're doin' a little man hunt--and if you'rehangin' round here prospectin', you may be able to give us a straighttip. Keep your eye peeled. There'll be a piece of money in it for youif you can help us out."

  "Give it a name. But see here, Caney--this isn't Dona Ana County, youknow. You're over the line."

  "I'm not doing this official," said Caney. "Neither is Hales, here,though he is a deputy in Socorro County. We're private cits in thisman's county--playin' a hunch. Here's the lay: There's been a heap ofstealing saddles for a business lately--saddles and other truck, butsaddles, wholesale, most particular. Got so it wasn't safe for a manto leave a saddle on a horse at night, down round Las Cruces."

  "They got Bill McCall's saddle in Mesilla three months ago," broke inJody, laughing. "So Bill, he went and broke a bronc backward. Yes,sir! Broke him to be saddled and mounted from the wrong side. Onlyleft-handed horse in the world, I reckon. Then Bill slips off down toMesilla, ties his horse in front of Isham Holt's house about dark, andfilters inside to jolly Miss Valeria. Pretty soon Bill heard a tur'blerow outside, and when he went out he found a Mex boy rollin' round inthe street and a-holdin' both hands to his belly. Claimed he had thecramps, he did--but that's why we're rather looking for Mexicans."

  "We figured they were a regular gang, scattered up and down, hurryingthe stuff along by relays, and likely taking it down in old Mexico todispose of," said Caney. "Then we hear that saddles are being missedup in Socorro County too. So Hales and me gets our wise headstogether. Here is our hugeous hunch: This is lonesome country here,the big roads dodge the river from San Marcial to Rincon, 'count of itbeing so rough, so thieves wouldn't go by the Jornada nor yet take thebig west-side roads through Palomas or Hillsboro. No, sir. They justabout follow the other side of the river, where nobody lives, as fardown as Engle Ferry. There or thereabouts they cross over, climb upMescal Canyon and ooze out through the rough country east of CaballoMountain. Then they either come through by MacCleod's and cross theriver here again, or they keep on down below Rincon to Barela Bosque.Maybe they save up till they get a wagonload of saddles, cover them upwith a tarp or maybe some farm truck, and drive whistlin' down the bigroad to El Paso."

  "Anyhow," said Hales, "the Cattle Association has offered an eventhousand for information leading to conviction, and we're going towatch the passes and water holes--here and at Hadley Spring andPalomas Gap. If you help get the thousand, you help spend it. That'sright, ain't it, boys?"

  The others nodded.

  "Go with you, you mean?"

  "No. You stay here--so long as you're here anyway--while we ride upthe line. That way, one of us can go on and watch Mescal. We was oneman shy before," said Caney. "Does it go?"

  "It goes."

  "Take your silly location papers then, and we'll ride. We're goingacross to have a look for tracks in Deadman first." He jerked his chintoward a notch in the hills, halfway between the head of Apache Canyonand the head of Redgate. "Then we'll go up by MacCleod's Tank and onthrough to the Jornada and up the east side of Timber Mountain."

  "Me, I reckon I'll post my notice and then go mail the copies to therecorder's office," said Adam. "Thank'ee, gentlemen. _Adios!_"

  * * * * *

  Jody Weir pulled up his horse behind the first hill.

  "Fellers, that man has made a strike! Didya see his face--all sweatand dust? Adam Forbes is not the man to rustle like that in thisbroiling sun unless he was worked up about something. He didn't actnatural, nohow. He drawls his talk along, as a usual thing--but to-dayhe spoke up real crisp and peart. I tell you now, Forbes has found thestuff!"

  "I noticed he didn't seem noways keen for us to go help post hispapers," said Caney.

  "Humph! I began noticin' before that," said Toad Hales. "Us signing aswitnesses--that got my eye. Usually it makes no never minds about awitness to a mining claim. They sign up John Smith, Robinson Crusoe orJesse James, and let it go at that. Mighty strict and law-abiding allof a sudden, he was! And going to record his papers the day ofdiscovery--when he has ninety days for it? It's got all the earmarksof a regular old he-strike! I move we take rounders on him and golook-see."

  "Cowboy--you done said something."

  They slipped back furtively, making a detour, riding swiftly undercover of shielding hills; they peeped over a hill crest beyond Adam'sclaims just in time to see him riding slowly away in the direction ofRedgate.

  "Gone to mail his notices to Hillsboro!" snarled Jody. "Some hurry!Come on, you--let's look into this."

  They found pick and pan, stacked with the empty water kegs by thelocation monument of the Goblin Gold; they scraped up a small pan ofdirt from one of the shallow holes of Adam's making; they poured inwater from their canteens; Caney did the washing. He poured off thelighter dirt, he picked out the pebbles, he shook the residue with agentle oscillating movement; he poured the muddy water cautiously, heshook the pan again.

  "Sufferin' tomcats!" yelled Hales. "Gold as big as wheat!"

  Caney's face went whitey-green; he completed the washing with a lastdexterous flirt and set down the pan with trembling hands.

  "Look at that!"

  Jody's eyes were popping from his head. "A pocket! Even if it playsout in a day--a day's work would make us rich for life!"

  "Us--hell!" said Caney. "We get the crumbs and leavings. Adam Forbesknows what he's about. He's got the cream. Outside of his claims thewhole damn mountain won't be worth hell room!"

  Jody turned his eyes slowly toward Redgate. "If we'd only known wemight have horned in. Three of us--why, sooner than lose it all andget himself killed to boot, we might have split this fifty-fifty."

  "We'll split this thirty-thirty!" Caney sprang to his feet. "Have yougot the guts for it? Jody, this is your country--can we head him off?"

  "If he goes round by the head of Redgate Canyon--and if we don't stayhere talking--we can cut across through Deadman. There's a pass whereDeadman and Redgate bend close together. It won't be a long shot--twohundred yards."

  "Three shots! Come on!" Hales swung on his horse. "We've all got ourrifles. Three shots! Come on!" He jabbed the spurs home.

  It was not until they had passed the park that the others overtookHales.

  "Here, you, Hales--don't kill your horse!" said Jody Weir. "If hebeats us to the pass we're not done yet. He'll come back to-night. Hesaid so."

  "You cussed fool! If he once gets those location notices in the mailwe might as well let him go. We couldn't take the chances and get bywith it."

  "That's just it," said Jody. "Hi! Caney! Ride up alongside. Slow up,Hales! Listen, both of you. Even if he gets those papers in the mail,the recorder need never see them. All I have to do is to say the word.I'm on the inside--sure and safe."

  "Sure?"

  "Sure and safe. If he beats us to the gap and comes back--well, youstop Adam's mouth and I'll be responsible for the papers. They'llnever be recorded in this world!"

  "Where's your stand-in? At Garfield?"

  "Never you mind my stand-in. That's my lookout. A letter posted atGarfield to-night goes to Rincon by buckboard to-morrow; it lays overin Rincon to-morrow night, goes out on the High Line to Nutt on thenine-fifteen day after to-morrow, takes the branch line to LakeValley, and goes from Lake to Hillsboro by stage. It don't get toHillsboro till two in the after
noon, day after to-morrow. It takes aslong from Garfield to Hillsboro as from Chicago. After--after--if weturn the trick--we can come back and post location notices forourselves. Then we can beat it on a bee line for Hillsboro and record'em."

  "Aha! So it's at Hillsboro post office you're the solid Muldoon, isit?"

  Weir's gun flashed to a level with Caney's breast. "That will be allfrom you, Caney! Your next supposing along those lines will be yourlast. Get me? Now or ever! Keep your mouth closed, and Adam Forbes'mouth. That's your job."

  "Put up your gun, kid. I can't afford to be killed. I'm going to be ahowlin' millionaire. I'll say no more, but I'm not sorry I spoke. Youbein' so very earnest that way, I'm satisfied you can deliver thegoods. That is what I want to know--for I tell you now, I don't expectto head Forbes off here. He had too much start of us--unless hedilly-dallies along the road or is delayed."

  "If he comes back, won't he bring a gang with him? If he does we'redone," said Hales. "That's why I'm willing to kill my horse to beathim to it. You two seem more interested in chewing the rag."

  "O, that's all right! Jody and me, we've come to a goodunderstanding," said Caney smoothly. Jody Weir glanced carelessly atthe back of Hales' head, his eyes wandered till they met Caney's eyesand held steadily there for a moment; his brows arched a trifle.

  "Well, here we are," announced Jody. "We'd better make the climbafoot. The horses are about done and they'd make too much noiseanyway--floundering about. It's all slick rock."

  They took their rifles from the saddles, they clambered up the steeppass, they peered over cautiously.

  "Hell! There's two of them!" said Caney. "Get 'em both! Big stakes!This is the chance of a lifetime!"

  Below them on a little shelf of promontory stood a saddled horse, ablue horse. A yearling was hog-tied there, and a branding fire burnedbeside. As they looked, a young man knelt over the yearling andearmarked it. Close by, Adam Forbes slouched in the saddle, leaningwith both hands on the horn. He gave a letter to the young man, whostuck it into his shirt and then went back to the yearling. He loosedthe hogging-string. The yearling scrambled to his feet, bawlingdefiance, intent on battle; the young man grabbed the yearling's tailand jerked him round till his head faced down the canyon. Adam Forbesmade a pass with his horse and slapped with his hat; the yearlingfled.

  "Wait! Wait!" whispered Jody. "I know that man! That's Johnny Dines.Wait! Adam wants to get back and feel that gold in his fingers. Ten toone Dines is going across the river; I can guess his business; he'shunting for the John Cross. Adam gave him the location-papers to mail.If Adam goes back--there's your scapegoat--Dines! He'll be the manthat killed Forbes!"

  "Friend of yours, Jody?"

  "Damn him! If they both start down the canyon, you fellows get Forbes.I'll get Dines myself. That's the kind of friend he is. Get your gunsready--they'll be going in a minute, one way or the other."

  "Curiously enough, I know Johnny Dines myself," muttered Hales. "Veryintelligent man, Dines. Very! I would take a singular satisfaction inseeing young Dines hung. To that laudable end I sure hope your Mr.Forbes will not go down the canyon."

  "Well, he won't! Didn't you see him give Dines the papers?" saidCaney. "Lay still! This is going to match up like clockwork."

  The men below waved their hands to each other in friendly fashion;Forbes jogged lazily up the canyon; Dines stamped out the branding fireand rode whistling on the riverward road.

  "Weir, you're dead sure you can pull the trick about the papers? Allright, then--you and Hales go over there and write out joint locationpapers in the names of the three of us. Got a pencil? Yes? Burn theold notices, and burn 'em quick. Burn his kegs and turn his hobbledhorse loose. We will bring his tools as we come back, and hide 'em inthe rocks. Any old scrap of paper will do us. Here's some old letters.Use the backs of them. After we get to Hillsboro we'll make copies tofile."

  These directions came jerkily and piecemeal as the conspiratorsscrambled down the hillside.

  "Where'll we join you?"

  Caney paused with his foot in the stirrup to give Jody Weir a blacklook.

  "I'll join you, young fellow, and I'll join you at our mine. Do youknow, I don't altogether trust you? I want to see those two sets oflocation papers with my two eyes before we start. So you'll have lotsof time. Don't you make no mistakes. And when we go, we go together.Then if we happen to find Adam Forbes by the fire where he caughtyoung Dines stealin' a maverick of his--"

  "How'll you manage that? Forbes is halfway to the head of the canyon bynow."

  "That's your way to the left, gentlemen. Take your time, now. I'm inno hurry and you needn't be, and our horses are all tired from theirrun. And you want to be most mighty sure you keep on going. For thenext half hour nobody's going to know what I'm doing but me andGod--and we won't tell."

  Caney turned off to the right. Fifteen minutes later he met AdamForbes in a tangle of red hills by the head of Redgate.

  "Hi, Adam! We got 'em!" he hailed jubilantly. "Caught 'em with thegoods. Two men and five saddles. Both Mexicans."

  "They must have given you one hell of a chase, judging from yourhorse."

  "They did. We spied 'em jest over the divide at the head of Deadman.There wasn't any chance to head 'em off. We woulda tagged along out ofsight, but they saw us first. They dropped their lead horses andpulled out--but we got close enough to begin foggin' lead at 'em in astraight piece of canyon, and they laid 'em down."

  "Know 'em?"

  "Neither one. Old Mexico men, I judge by the talk of 'em. Hales andJody took 'em on down Deadman--them and the lead horses--while I comeback for you."

  "Me? Whadya want o' me?"

  "Why, you want to go down to represent for yourself. You know that oddbit of land, grown up to brush, that you bought of Miguel Silva?"

  "Took it on a bad debt. What of it?"

  "Why, there's an old tumbledown shack on it, and they've been usingthat as a store house, tha'sall. By their tell they got eighteenassorted saddles hid there."

  "Well, I'm damned!" said Adam, turning back. "That's a blame finehowdy-do, ain't it? How long have they been at this lay?"

  "Four or five months. More'n that south of here. But they just latelybeen extendin' and branchin' out."

  "Making new commercial connections, so to speak. Any of the Garfield_gente_ implicated?"

  "One. Albino Villa Neuva."

  Adam nodded. "Always thought he was a bad _hombre_, Albino."

  "They're going to come clean, these two," said Caney cheerfully. "Wetold 'em if they'd turn state's evidence they'd probable get offlight. Reckon we're going to round up the whole gang. Say, I thoughtyou'd hiked on to Garfield. I started back to your little old mine,cut into your sign, and was followin' you up."

  "Yes, I did start down all right. But I met up with a lad down here astretch and give him my papers and shackled on back. Damn your saddlethieves, anyway--I sure wanted to go back and paw round that claim ofmine. My pack horse is back there hobbled, too."

  "Aw, nemmine your pack horse. He'll make out till mornin'."

  Ahead of them the wagon road was gouged into the side of an overhangof promontory, under a saddleback pass to northward. A dim trailcurved away toward the pass. Adam's eye followed the trail. Caney'shorse fell back a step.

  "There's where I found my mail carrier," said Adam; "up on top of thatlittle thumb. A Bar Cross waddy, he was--brandin' a calf."

  Caney fired three times. The muzzle of his forty-five was almostbetween Adam's shoulders. Adam fell sidewise to the left, he clutchedat his rifle, he pulled it with him as he fell. His foot hung in thestirrup, his horse dragged him for a few feet. Then his foot camefree. He rolled over once, and tried to pull his rifle up. Then he laystill with his face in the dust.