CHAPTER X.
AT POTTER'S GAP.
All those rough and ready men were amazed at Motor Matt's performance.Their interest in the boy and his machine, however, was pushed to thebackground by their curiosity to learn what sort of a message thegovernor had sent to Burke.
The sheriff read the message through, then slapped the letter excitedlywith the back of his hand.
"Here's a go and no mistake, boys!" he cried. "The governor andMcKibben have picked up a hot clue about that Dangerfield outfit. IfMotor Matt, here, hadn't got this message through in the time he did,the smugglers would have got away from us."
"How's that, Burke?" asked the man Matt had met in the gap, ridingforward and joining the rest of the posse.
"First off," Burke explained, "Juan Morisco has been nabbed in Phoenix.He was getting out of town with a wood-hauler, but he had been actingqueer, and McKibben was having him watched. While in Phoenix, Moriscowore a piece of courtplaster on one side of his face. The wood-hauler'steam ran away, just as he and Morisco were leaving Phoenix, and, inthe excitement of catching it, the courtplaster must have got knockedoff Morisco's face. Anyhow, when McKibben saw him after the team wasstopped, there was that cross-shaped scar, plain as anything. That wasall McKibben needed to see. Morisco was taken to jail, and it was whatMcKibben got out of him that concerns _us_."
"What in thunder was Juan Morisco doin' in Phoenix?" queried one of themen. "I thought he was with Dangerfield, an' movin' this way, on theroad to Mexico."
"Morisco told McKibben," went on Burke, "that Dangerfield sent him onan important piece of work. He also told McKibben that the smugglersare rounded up at Tinaja Wells, and that they have heard we're waitingfor them at Potter's Gap, and that they're going to leave the Wellsto-night, give us the slip, and go south by way of the Rio Verde."
This revelation caused a tremendous amount of excitement, all the mentalking back and forth.
"How'd Dangerfield ever find out we was layin' fer him here?" asked one.
"The governor don't say anything about that; but Dangerfield must knowit, or Morisco wouldn't have been able to tell McKibben. The governorsays," proceeded Burke, glancing at the letter which he still held inhis hand, "that Morisco tells McKibben Dangerfield is going to leaveTinaja Wells to-night, but that he--the governor, mind you--hopes toget this letter into my hands by five o'clock this afternoon, so we'llhave a chance to rush the smugglers at the Wells by daylight." Hefolded up the letter and shoved it into his pocket. "It's twenty milesto the Wells, my lads, and if we start at once we can make it. Saddleup in a hurry. One of you make my horse ready."
Instantly the camp became a scene of bustle and excitement. While themen were making ready, Burke turned to Matt.
"I don't know how you ever got through in the time you did, King," heobserved. "That machine of yours must be a jim-dandy."
"It's the best ever," answered Matt.
"Tell me about your trip--just the main points."
Matt began with the red roadster and the trouble he had had with thetwo men who were traveling in it.
"Dangerfield has a heap of friends through this part of the country,"commented Burke. "There's a whole lot of people, you know, who don'tthink smuggling Chinks into the United States is very much of a crime.Dangerfield must have been expecting something to go crossways inPhoenix and had some of his misguided friends watching McKibben. But goahead."
Matt told about the smoke-signals, and how they were passed on alongthe rim of Castle Creek Canyon. The stern lines deepened in thesheriff's face.
"Dangerfield was sure doing everything he could to make a safe getawayinto Mexico," said he. "They say he has fifteen men, whites andhalf-breeds, working his underground railroad. I'm willing enough tobelieve about those smoke-signals. The two in the red automobile sentword ahead that you and your chum were coming. Well, did that make anytrouble for you, King?"
Matt told about the boulder which had been rolled down the side of thenotch, and which had crippled Clipperton's machine and put him out ofthe running; but he did not say a word about the half-breed.
The sheriff was deeply interested in Matt's recital. By that time therest of the men had finished getting ready, and were pushing aroundMatt and listening to his experiences. As he went on with the incidenton the divide, and the way he had escaped from the man and the dog,several rough hands reached over to give him an admiring tap on theshoulder.
"You're the stuff, son!" cried one of the men.
"You're a fair daisy, an' no mistake!" added another.
"If we clean up on the Dangerfield gang, it will be you as helpedmore'n anybody else," dropped in a third.
"Some o' us, Burke," suggested a fourth, "mout lope acrost the dividean' down the canyon, gatherin' in all them outposts. Each one means athousand apiece."
"By the time you got there, Meagher," returned the sheriff, "youwouldn't find any of the men, so it would be a bad play. Besides, we'reliable to need our whole force over at Tinaja Wells. What are you goingto do, my boy?" he asked, turning to Matt.
"I'm going back to Phoenix," replied Matt.
"Take my advice, and don't try it to-night. It will be dark on thedivide before you could get over it, and it's a ticklish enough placein broad day, say nothing of trying to cover the trail when you can'tsee where you're going. I'll leave a blanket here for you to sleep on,and a bottle of cold coffee, some crackers, and a hunk of 'jerked.' Youcan get an early start in the morning, and probably poke this envelopeinto the governor's hands at noon."
Fishing the stump of a lead-pencil out of his pocket, Burke wrote a fewwords on the back of the envelope that had contained the governor'smessage, and gave it to Matt.
"Before I leave, son," went on the sheriff, taking Matt's hand, "letme say that I think you're the clear quill. You've done a big thingto-day, and if you hadn't had more pluck and ginger than common, it's acinch you'd have lost out. Now it's up to us, and if we can make good,as you did, everything will be all serene."
Burke turned away and jumped into his saddle. The rest of the men alsoshook Motor Matt's hand, and then got on their horses.
"There's the blanket," called Burke, tossing a roll in front of Matt."_Adios_, my lad, and always remember that Burke, of Prescott, is yourfriend. Spurs and quirts, boys!"
Away dashed the posse, Burke in the lead. They vanished in thedirection of the Gap, although their road to Painted Rocks and TinajaWells was not to take them over the divide.
Matt was tired, and the prospect of a rest appealed to him mightily.With a cloth taken from his toolkit, he proceeded to dust off the_Comet_, and to look it over and make sure it had suffered no damage.He attended to this before he looked after his own comfort.
After finishing with the machine, he spread out the sheriff's blanketunder some bushes near the spring, and ate a supper of jerked beef andcrackers and drank the bottle of coffee.
A feeling of relief and satisfaction ran through him. He had finishedhis "century" run and had delivered the governor's message to Burke ontime. Now, if only Clip had been with him, his enjoyment would havebeen complete.
He fell to wondering what Clip was about, and how he had expected tohelp with his smoke-signals. It would have been easy for Clip, aidedby the half-breed, to send signals along the line carrying informationthat the trouble was over with. But Clip had not been able to do that,or the encounter would not have occurred on the divide.
While Matt's mind circled about his chum, darkness fell suddenly, asit always does in Arizona, and coyotes began to yelp shrilly among thehills. Feeling perfectly secure, Matt lay back, pulled the side of theblanket over him, and fell asleep.
He must have slept several hours, when he was aroused by a rustling inthe bushes near him, and a sound as of some animal sniffing about hiscamp. Reaching for the bottle that had contained the coffee, he threwit into the brush. There followed a yelp, and the animal--coyote orwolf--could be heard scurrying away.
Getting up, Matt walked down to the spring and took a dr
ink. As helifted himself erect, far off across the hills toward the north andwest he saw a fiery line rise in the air and burst into a dozen flamingballs. Perhaps a minute later the rocket was answered by another, offto the south.
"There's a whole lot going on in these hills to-night," thought Matt,returning to his blanket. "By this time, I guess, Burke and his menmust have reached Tinaja Wells and done their work there. The smugglingof Chinks across the Mexican border is getting a black eye in this partof the country, all right."
Once more Matt fell asleep. When he was aroused again it was by a soundof voices close at hand. He started up quickly, rubbing the sleep outof his eyes.
Morning had come, and in the gathering light he looked through thebushes and off toward the spring. Two men were standing by the pool,one an American and the other a Mexican. They were both travel-stainedand looked as though they had been doing some hard riding.
The American was dressed after the fashion prevailing in the hills, andhad a couple of revolvers dangling at his hips. Each man had a horse,and the animals looked worn and tired.
Matt wondered who the two travelers could be, for he could not rememberhaving seen either of them among the sheriff's men. As he gave theMexican more critical attention he was amazed to discover that he wasthe wood-hauler who had fled from Phoenix at the time McKibben hadarrested Juan Morisco.
_This_ was a disquieting discovery, and Matt thought that if he couldlevant without being seen it would be well for him to do so. The_Comet_ was not far away, and Matt got on his knees and began crawlingtoward it.
A bit of brush snapped under him, however, and startled exclamationsescaped the two men. Matt sprang up, with the intention of makinga run for the motor-cycle, but before he had taken two steps, anauthoritative voice shouted: "Halt!"
Over his shoulder he could see that the American was pointing arevolver at him. Matt halted, of course. There was no reason in theworld why the two men should interfere with him, and now that he hadbeen unable to slip away unnoticed he faced them boldly.