_Chapter XXVIII_
Gratton, had he been left to his own devices, would have stoodstock-still where he was, frozen to the ground in terror. Gloria tuggedat him, whispering over and over: "They are coming! Don't you hear them?Quick! We must try to hide."
At last he seemed to awaken from a trance; he started and began hurryingwith her, crowding by her, stumbling on ahead in the darkness, seekingthe cave's unfathomed depths of darkness. She heard him stumble andfall; she ran blindly and caught him by the arm again, whisperingfiercely:
"You must be silent! If they once hear us we have no chance. If we arestill, maybe they won't find us."
After that he moved more guardedly. But still he crowded ahead; once inhis excitement, when she brushed against him and he thought that she wasgoing to get in his way, he shoved her violently aside. It was thenthat Gloria, looking back, saw Brodie's great bulk outlined against thesnow outside. He came in; she saw his rifle; his figure was absorbed inthe shadows. She saw other men following him; how many she did not know.One by one they bulked black against the daylight; one by one, as theyentered, they were lost among the shadows. She had bumped into a wall ofrock. Gratton was there, groping in all directions with his hands; shecould hear his quick, dry breathing.
They could go no further. This was the end. Brodie called out loudly,his speech dripping with his habitual vileness; he shouted: "Gratton!Better step out lively like a man now. We got you anyway." Then he beganto gather the scattered firewood; a match flared in his hand; his faceleaped out of the dark like a devil's. Or a madman's, a man's mad with arage which lusted for the killing of another man. Gloria's heart sank indespair; she felt as though she were going to faint.
But all the time her hands, like Gratton's, had been groping. At themoment when she felt that her knees were giving way under her, she foundwhere an arm of the cave continued, narrow, slanting upward steeply,cluttered with blocks of stone. She tugged at Gratton's sleeve; shecrept into this place and felt him close behind her, crowding, trying topress by her. She gave way briefly, felt him scrape past, and begancrawling, following. Again only a few feet further on she came up withhim again; once more he had come to the end of the tunnel. He wascrouching, flattened against the rock wall. They were in a pocket withno outlet save the way they had come. She stood, turned toward the frontof the cave, and waited.
"Get a fire going, boys," Brodie's rumbling bass was calling. Assurednow of having run his quarry to earth, he took a wolfish joy from themoment. There was a horrible note in his laughter, booming out suddenly."The little skunk's run to a hole; we'll smoke him out."
He spoke of Gratton as though he were a frightened animal, and like afrightened animal Gloria felt. She stooped and looked toward thepursuers; thus only could she see them, since when she stood erect theirregularities of the rocks above hid them from her.
Brodie lighted his fire. The other men--dully she counted them now;there were five of them all told--were gathering wood, heaping it on.The flames leaped, crackled, lifted their voices into a roar; volumes ofwhite smoke shot out, thinned, were gone. The light flared higher,brighter. Dark corners and crevices were made palely fight. She couldsee the faces of the men now, their eyes reflecting the fire, lookinglike the eyes of wolves. Brodie carried his rifle as though he fullyintended using it. At his side Benny Rudge fidgeted and blinked. ByBenny stood that scarecrow of a man, Brail. Close by, interestedspectators, were the squat Italian and the man who had brought the"judge" to marry her to Gratton, the leering Steve Jarrold.
"More fire, boys," called Brodie. Again his ugly laughter boomed out. "Ithink I see where he is."
Whether or not Brodie already saw them, it appeared clear that immediatediscovery was inevitable. For there was no further hiding-place here tocreep into; no such refuge as King had urged Gloria to hasten to ifBrodie came. She remembered the caution all too late; she thought ofKing with wild longing, while Gratton cringed and pulled back and triedto screen his body with hers.
"Here's the grub he stole!" It was Benny's cracked, nervous voice, fullof wrath.
She could feel Gratton shiver as he crouched against her. Sudden disgustfilled her. They knew that he was here; they would take him in a minute;his seeking further to hide was so futile. And yet he was not man enoughto stand forth at the end; he was the type who must be draggedwhimpering and pulling back, pleading for mercy even when he knew sowell that he deserved no mercy, and would have none meted out to him.Gratton had his one last chance to show if there was the spark ofmanhood in him; they did not yet know of Gloria's presence, and had hestepped out now, he might have given her a chance to remain unseen. Butno such heroism suggested itself to Gratton.
"Come on, Gratton," shouted Brodie. "Or do you want me to begin shootingfrom here?"
The light of the fire flared higher, brighter. The eyes of the men whohad just entered from the outside were growing accustomed to this placeof shadows. Suddenly the man Jarrold called sharply:
"There's some one with him. There's two of 'em, Brodie. Go easy!"
Brodie cursed him for a fool.
"I don't care how many's with him or who they are," he bellowed. "Thegrub-stealing thief has got his coming to him. Step out, youlily-livered sneak, and take your medicine."
"That's all right," muttered Jarrold. "But it won't hurt to see who theyare first, Brodie."
"Gratton's got no gun with him," cackled Benny Rudge. "Neither's thatother guy. Come ahead, Steve. Me an' you'll pull 'em out."
Gloria pressed back against the rock, her flesh quivering. She saw twomen and then another two coming toward her. The first sound broke fromGratton's lips now, a little gurgling moan. The men came on; one hadheard and laughed. Then Gloria, with more shuddersome thought of roughhands upon her than of a rifle-ball, broke away from her coweringcompanion and came hastily to meet them.
"I'm coming out," she cried out to them.
It was all that she could do to hold herself erect and come back intothe more open cave. Jarrold and Benny and the men after them came to adead halt and stared at her. In the flickering half-light she looked aslim frightened boy.
"All of a sudden the woods is gettin' all cluttered up with folks,"grunted Benny. "Who in blazes are you, kid? An' where's your mamma?"
His companions laughed; they laughed at anything. One of them, SteveJarrold, came closer to look into her face. She saw that his steps wereuncertain; she had heard how thick was his vocal utterance; now shesmelled the whiskey with which he reeked.
A shout broke from Jarrold. He clutched her shoulder with a great clawof a hand and drew her closer to him, his face thrust down to hers.
"Let me go!" she cried, trying to jerk away from him.
"Easy does it," said Jarrold. "Easy--_kid_! I'm of a notion I've seenthat face of yours somewheres."
"Never mind the kid," Brodie was growling savagely. "It's Gratton first.Out with him, Benny."
The others bore down upon Gratton. He had found his voice now; heshrieked at them; he begged shrilly; he battered them with his fists,striking weak, vain blows. Benny, though the smaller man, had him by thecollar. The Italian caught an arm, and as they dragged him half-faintingtoward the fire, Brail struck at him with a heavy boot.
"So," said Brodie heavily.
Gratton began an incoherent pleading, arrested impatiently by Brodie'sgreat voice.
"Shut up! You've had your innings; it's mine now. You swiped grub whenit's the same thing as slitting a man's gullet. You let another man bekilled for what you done. Now you get yours!"
He jerked up his rifle. Benny and the Italian let Gratton go and jumpednimbly aside. Gratton stumbled and sagged, staggering like a drunkenman. Brodie, with his rifle-barrel not six feet from Gratton'sterror-stricken body, laughed again.
"Stop!" Gloria shrilled. She broke away from Jarrold's grasp and rantoward Brodie. "You don't know what you are doing. You----"
"Close your trap, kid," Brodie thundered at her. "Unless you want thesecond bullet."
Jarrold's big
boots came clumping noisily across the rock floor.
"Easy does it, Brodie," he shouted. "She ain't no kid, I tell you. She'sa girl. That's Ben Gaynor's girl, the one Gratton wanted to marry, theone King took away from him. Keep your eye peeled; King would be aroundsomewhere!"
"Hidin' back there in the dark somewhere," muttered Benny.
Brodie, though his rifle had not swerved, was listening.
"No, not hiding in the dark corners," he said ponderously. "Not MarkKing, rot him.... Ben Gaynor's girl, you say? Then we're red hot on theright trail, boys! You know what her and King would be after!"
Gratton's stunned brain began to function wildly.
"The gold is here, Brodie!" he cried out wildly. "King had got to itbefore us, but I've found it. I was coming back to tell you----"
Brodie had small liking for a coward and now his bull's voice cutGratton's chatter short.
"No solid mountain of gold is going to save your hide----"
Benny began to jig up and down in a frenzy of excitement.
"Hold your hand, Brodie, you big fool," he shouted. He even jumped toBrodie's side and caught the rifle-barrel, shoving it downward. "If hedoes know where it is, give him a show to lead us to it. Ain't you gotany sense? Before King gets back. If you popped him off now, how wouldwe know where to look?"
Brodie snarled at Benny and whipped the rifle clear of the nervousclutch. But he understood what Benny had in mind and saw wisdom inobeying the command to hold his hand. His gross, heavy-muscled face,half in light, half in darkness, showed a look of hesitation. Grattonbegan a rapid, vehement talking, explaining, arguing, pleading; he hadnot meant to steal the food; he could lead them to the gold; he wantednone of it; all that he asked was to be allowed to live----
"Shut up!" Brodie cried again disgustedly. "You ain't dead yet, are you?So's you keep your lying face closed I'll give you one show. Steplively; _where is it_?"
Gratton, like a hound in leash suddenly freed, turned and sped towardthe spot where he had hid the gold. Brodie, his rifle shifting in hishands, leaped after him, keeping close to him. Gratton was down on hishands and knees, scratching among the loose stones like a dog diggingfor a buried bone. Brodie put a heavy hand on his shoulder and jerkedhim back, hurling him to one side. Thus it was Brodie who found the bagand dragged it forward to the fire, dumping its contents on the ground.Benny was with him now, pawing over the heavy lumps. Brail, the Italian,Steve Jarrold--all rushed forward and snatched up bits of the ore thathad rolled from the sack; one of them shouted in wonder; another seizedthe nugget from his hands; they all talked at once; Benny squealed inhigh rage as Jarrold shoved him backward; the Italian trod in the fireand cursed and kicked at it savagely, sending burning brands in alldirections.
Gloria had stood powerless to move. Now she saw that in their flush ofexcitement no one was looking toward her. She began slowly, silently,edging toward the side of the cave, toward the way out. Her one thoughtwas to slip away while none noted her; to dart out and hurry up thecliff to come to the hiding-place of which Mark King had told her.
"I never see such gold, and me an old-timer in the mines." It was SteveJarrold muttering. "It's like they'd took clean gold down to the mintand rolled it and lumped it into nuggets. _This was broke off the motherlode_. Oh, my Gawd!"
Gloria made another quiet step--and another. Still no one saw her. Ifshe could only make half a dozen more steps before these men awoke fromthe first moments of a spell that had made them oblivious of everythingon earth except that little heap of rock! Another step; she wentquicker; their backs were toward her. And still no one saw. Yes, Grattonalone had seen. She made a quick frightened gesture. His jaw saggedopen; he watched her with bulging eyes. She could read his thought soplainly: he was thinking of his own ultimate chances for life, he wasscrewing up his courage to make a dash for the open himself. His eyesfollowed her step by step. Oh, if only he would look in some otherdirection! If any one of them saw Gratton's tell-tale face----
Then Gratton began a slow withdrawal from the others; he meant to do ashe saw her doing.
"Heavy laka hell," the Italian was saying. "Justa da gold do that!"
"Give me that, Tony," snarled Brodie. He snatched the mass from theother's hands. "That's the biggest nugget any man living ever saw."
Gloria tasted the clean fresh outside air; she was within three paces ofthe line of snow. Then there was a sudden noise; Gratton, inching offbackward, had stumbled over a dead stick. The men by the fire werestartled out of their oblivion. Steve Jarrold, the one nearest Gloria,swung about, saw her, dropped what was in his hands, and lunged towardsher. She made a dash for the exit. In two great strides Jarrold was uponher and had caught her by the shoulders, dragging her back. And Grattonstood again, his feet glued to the ground; she could see the flash ofhis teeth gnawing at his fingers.
"Trying to make a sneak for it!" boomed Brodie. "I'll show you----"
"Not yet, Brodie, you big fool!" yelled Benny. "This is only a sackful,and not full at that. It's the rest of it we're after--the whole lousymess. He's got to show us where this come from."
"I am not trying to get away," said Gratton, though his tone did notconvince. "Haven't I made good already? Haven't I kept my promise? Am Inot ready to do whatever I can?"
"Talk's cheap," retorted Brodie. "Get busy, then."
Gratton, struggling already in the meshes of the net drawing evertighter about him, pointed to Gloria with shaking finger. He swallowedtwice and moistened his lips to speak.
"King found it first. She was with him. I made her show me the sack ofgold. I was going to go back to your camp, to tell you----"
"Cut it," commanded Brodie. "Leave out the lies and talk straight andfast. Where is the rest of it? Where did this come from?"
"I'm trying to tell you," said Gratton hurriedly. "There--there'sanother cave; up above. That's where King had his camp; that where's Igot the sack. It's up there----"
"No wonder she wanted to skip out," jeered Steve Jarrold, his greatbony hand locked about Gloria's shrinking shoulder. His ill-featuredface, the small, pig eyes, always jeering, the black bristle of beard,not unlike a hog's bristles, were thrust close to her face. "Where'sKing all this time?" he demanded. "Up in the other cave, maybe?"
"No," she said dismally, seeking to jerk away from his evil glance andwhiskey-laden breath. "He has gone----"
"That's good; let him go. We don't care, do we? Eh, girlie?" But againhis hand tightened until the hard fingers hurt her. "But gone where?"
"We were short of food--he is hunting--maybe he has gone for help----"
"And you showed Gratton where he hid his gold? That's a nice littleshe-trick, ain't it? Well, while the showing's good, lead us to the restof it."
"That's the eye, Steve," said Brodie. He stepped forward, shoved hisrifle-muzzle against Gratton's body, and commanded: "You, too. Go ahead,you and her, and show us the way. And no monkey business, either of you,or I'll blow a hole square through you."
Gratton, grown nimble, darted ahead with Brodie always close at hisheels. Gloria, forced on by Jarrold, came next, and after them theothers. Benny was the last; he had taken time to put the gold back intothe sack and set it aside among the shadows. For Benny believed inmaking sure of what they had, even while they quested better things.Then he caught up his rifle, the only other gun besides Brodie's, andcame hurrying after them.
They went up the cliff in a long file, clawing their way, cursing thesteepness, now and then one or another of them fumbling uncertainly,close to a slip and a fall. It was clear that, with the possibleexception of Swen Brodie, not a man of them was entirely sober. But theymade the climb safely and hastened into the upper cave eagerly.
"It's somewhere back there," said Gratton.
"More fire," shouted Brodie. His voice exulted; his blood would berunning now with the gold fever. He tossed on an armful of dry wood; theflames caught and roared; shadows quivered and danced. Already Benny wasat the far end of the cave; the others ran after him. Even Jarrold
relinquished Gloria's arm, eager to be in at the finding. But he calledto her as he went:
"You stick where you are. I'm not forgetting you this time."
Fascinated, she watched them. They ran like blood-lusting dogs that hadbriefly lost their quarry, that were seeking everywhere, in everycranny, with slavering jaws. They turned aside into side-pockets of themain cavern; they got torches and looked high and low; they went backand forth, up and down; they stumbled against one another and cursedangrily; they caught up bits of stone, ran back to the fire to see ifthe fragments were shot with gold; cursed and hurled the useless thingsfrom them, and ran back again, to jostle and seek and be first; theywere not so much like dogs now as human hogs, fighting to get first intothe trough.
But they did not forget Gratton, and they did not forget Gloria. All thetime both Brodie and Benny kept their guns in their hands; twosignificant looks had been all that was needed to keep their twoprisoners in mind of the fact that no escape now was possible.
To Gloria it seemed inevitable that in this quest which overlookednothing, and which as time wore on grew less frenzied and moresystematic, they would find what King had found before them. She triedto think consecutively; she recalled all that King had told her of thesemen, all that Gratton had hinted at. She recalled with a shudder thelook in the moist eyes of Steve Jarrold. It seemed to her that her onlyslim chance for safety lay in their finding the gold. For only gold,gold unlimited, could cause them to forget her.
For an hour they sought tirelessly. It appeared that there were manyfingers to the further end of the cave, narrow, irregular channels intowhich they pressed. Their faggots burned out; the smoke choked them;they coughed and cursed, came out for fresh air, dived into the darkagain. The short day was passing; the entering light, where they hadtorn the canvas aside, grew dimmer. And still they searched.
At last Brodie returned and stood looking from Gloria to Gratton.
"One of you knows," he said shortly. "Which one?"
"I swear to God----" began Gratton.
"Shut up! Then it's you?" The little, shiny blue eyes, never so coldlyevil, drew her own frightened eyes, fascinated and held them. "You know"
"I don't know! All I know----"
"Don't lie to me! It'll do you no good." He lifted a hand and held itover her, the enormous fingers apart and rigid. "I'll make you tell!"
"Listen to me," she managed to cry out. "I don't know, I tell you. But Iknow where it might be. In a place you would never think of looking. Notin a thousand years----"
Blue fire sprang up in the gleaming eyes. The other men, drawn close,watched and listened, their eyes alive with many lights.
"What you know I'll know. I'll choke it out of you----"
"I'll tell you--if you will keep your hands off me! I'll make a bargainwith you. I'll show you the place; if there's gold there, I don't carewhat happens to it--if you'll only agree to let me alone--to let mego----"
Brodie laughed at her. But Benny cried out:
"Of course we'll let you go! What do you suppose we want of you? Once weget our hands on it she can go, Brodie. Tell her so, you big----"
"Sure," said Brodie, with a wide grin. "It ain't women we're after thistrick; it's something better. And--and it would be very nice of you toshow us--Miss Gaynor." He treated her to a grinning mock respect, soobviously spurious that her fear of him rose higher, choking her. "Verynice, ain't it, boys?"
"I--I am not sure what you'll find," whispered Gloria. "I only knowthat----Oh, dear God, I hope you find all the gold in the world!"
Hastily she ran by Brodie toward the dark end of the cave. Then shestopped and tried to think; how many paces had King said? She came backto the fire; thirty, thirty-five? She began counting as she walked whilethey watched her wondering and following slowly after her. She foundseveral boulders in her path; but she had not gone far enough. She kepton; thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three----She could hardly see about her.She stumbled against a rock in her way.
"Try here," she said. Already Brodie and Steve Jarrold were at her side."This rock. See if it will move----"
They thrust her roughly aside. Brodie set down his rifle, laid his bighands on the boulder, and as if it had weighed only ten pounds, tossedit out of the way. He knelt, feeling along the ground. A sudden shoutburst from him:
"Down here! There's a big hole; there's a dark cave underneath. That'swhere it is?"
They brought faggots; at the edge of the hole they hastily built anotherfire. They crowded round, peering down. Brodie tossed a brand through;it dropped a short distance, a few feet only, struck, and began to roll;it caught against a rock, smoked and smouldered, and went out. Brodieset his legs over the opening, called to the Italian to grab his rifleand keep an eye on Gloria and Gratton, and went down. The others crowdedabout the hole, waiting impatiently for him to go through, and thenbegan piling down after him. Gloria could see their figures dimly; theywent down and down along a long, steep, slanting passage-way; they hadsmoking torches and looked like so many fiends in the bottomless pit.She heard them calling back and forth excitedly; they went on, stilldownward; she heard their grinding boot-heels, but could no longer seethem. Suddenly they were silent. Then there were swift mutterings. Andthen a great, triumphant, many-voiced shout. In Gus Ingle'streasure-cache they had at last come to Gus Ingle's treasure. And, amongother things, to the skeleton of Gus Ingle himself, sprawling here forsixty years in the dark over a great heap of gold.