CHAPTER IV.
It was close upon 10 o'clock at night--a late hour for a lonely travelerin this remote locality amid the hills--and Milton Derr was homewardbound. As he neared the vicinity of Alder Creek meeting-house, up in thehill country, another horseman came out of a lane into the public roadjust as he was passing.
Hailing a fellow voyager, as was the custom of the neighborhood, Derrrecognized an acquaintance and promptly checked his horse until theother came alongside.
"Hello, Steve! Isn't it a little late for an honest man to be abroad?"Milton asked, after friendly greeting from his companion.
"Well, yes, and it seems I'm not the only one in that plight," retortedthe other, with the quick repartee belonging to these people.
His companion laughed good-naturedly at the thrust, and the two rode ontogether for some little distance, when Milton Derr, suddenly changingthe drift of the talk said:
"Well, I've been thinking over that matter we were speaking about theother day."
"To what purpose?" asked the other.
"I'm in half a notion to become a member of the band."
"The other half's needed before you can get in, you know," answeredSteve, laconically.
"Well, I'm nearing that point now," admitted Derr, after a thoughtfulpause. "I think I should like to have some voice in this question offree roads myself, as it promises to be an important one."
"In that case I can easily arrange it for you. There'll be but few menaround here who won't belong to the band before toll-gate raiding isover," said the other, impressively. "Folks have been bled by fatcorporations long enough."
"When could I join?" asked Derr, after some moments of meditativesilence.
"When?" echoed his companion. "Tonight, if your mind's made up."
"Well, then, it is," said Derr, decisively. "How am I to go about it?"
"Just follow me. If you really mean business, I can take you straightto where the band is holding a meeting this very night."
"All right," answered the prospective candidate. "Lead the way!"
The two turned into a dirt lane beyond the meeting-house, Derr keepingclose by the side of his guide, while the hoofbeats of the two horsessuddenly grew muffled by the softer bed of the lane in exchange for themacadamized pike.
There was no moon to light the way, and the faint starlight that hadmade easily traceable the white, dust-covered surface of the highway wasnow absorbed and lost in the dull clay of the lane. Where the trees andbushes overhung the path a dense obscurity prevailed. Both man and beastwere familiar with night riding along country byways, however, so thetwo travelers rode rapidly on, unmindful of the darkness or the twistingroad.
A mile farther on they quitted the lane, passing through a gate into afallow field adjoining, which they crossed, and finally came to theouter fringe of a dense thicket.
Here they halted, while Steve, placing his fingers to his lips in acertain manner, blew a low, peculiar whistle, like the call of somesombre night bird, which was answered later from somewhere amid thebushes. Close upon the answering call a dark form emerged from theshadowy copse near at hand, and a voice asked gruffly:
"Who goes there?"
"Friends."
"What are you seeking?"
"Free roads."
"Dismount!"
Steve dropped from his horse and went forward to where the dark formstood, while Derr, with his ears alert and lively interest aroused,heard him announce that he had brought one who craved membership withthe band.
After learning the name of the candidate for initiation, the figureseemed to melt into darkness again, while Steve came back to his horseand companion to await the return of the messenger.
"It's all right; come along!" said Steve at another signal from amidstthe bushes. The two men quickly hitched their horses to some saplingsgrowing near, and found a narrow path leading down between theunderbrush. Steve led the way, Milton following close upon hisfootsteps, while the mysterious messenger, who wore a half-mask over theupper part of his face, brought up the rear. There was a tinge ofromantic adventure about the whole affair that strongly appealed to thenew candidate.
The path led down to a secluded hollow in the midst of the thicket--aremote and lonely spot, far removed from human habitation, it seemed,and little liable to intrusion--a spot well chosen for a secret midnightrendezvous.
In the midst of the copse lay a small clearing, and in its center thethree men came suddenly upon a group gathered around a smouldering fire,built of brushwood piled against a log.
The uncertain blaze but dimly lighted the scene, but it was sufficientto bring into clearer view the dark forms of a body of men vaguelyoutlined against the darker bushes surrounding them, while the faces ofthe members of this secret band were partly concealed under soft slouchhats, and strips of black cloth, such as the guide wore, tied over theupper part of the face, with holes cut in the cloth for the eyes.
This partial concealment of the features gave an air of weird mystery tothe secret conclave--a touch of the uncanny mingling with the strangeand romantic.
A swift thought darted into Milton Derr's brain as he suddenly recalledhis sweetheart's words of warning given him at meeting the Sundaybefore, that perhaps he had been led into a trap, of whose setting hisuncle was cognizant, and that the members of this secret organizationmeant to do him bodily harm.
If such should be their will and purpose, he was entirely at theirmercy. No friendly aid could reach him in this remote and dismal spot,where even a cry for help would die unheeded upon the still night air.Yet, as these disturbing thoughts darted through his excited brain, hestood erect and motionless, and his calm face gave no sign of inwardfear. If he was called upon to yield his life it should be rendered asbecame a brave man, but he would endeavor to sell it as dearly aspossible.
Standing in that sombre spot, the spirit of distrust bearing heavilyupon him, he gave a swift, sweeping glance of inquiry around, notingthe shadowy forms of the men that seemed to merge into the impenetrabledarkness, while the uncertain, flickering blaze of the fire but dimlylighted the gloomy depths of foliage beyond, rising like a mysteriousbarrier to shut out freedom and the outer world. The grim silence of thegroup surrounding him still further served to deeply impress the newcandidate for initiation, and to make manifest the fact that whatever ofgood or evil might be in store for him, it was now too late to retractthe words that had helped to bring him thither.
The young man found himself vaguely hoping, as he glanced keenly fromone to another of the silent brotherhood, that among these masked faces,whose fantastically concealed features were turned darkly in hisdirection, there might be at least some friendly and familiar ones ifuncovered to the light.
At the conclusion of the initiation, made yet more impressive to thecandidate because of his lively imagination, aided and fed by theremoteness of the spot and the gloom of the night, after Derr had takenthe solemn oath of the order to obey its captain and preserve allsecrets, the raiders began to bare their faces to the new member.
As the half-masks were raised, one by one, Milton Derr saw that severalmembers of the band were acquaintances of his, one or two were moreintimate friends, while others he knew only by sight and some werestrangers.
The captain was the last to remove his mask, and as he did so the newraider recognized in him the one man, of all others dwelling amid thesehills, he least desired or expected to serve under--Jade Beddow.