CHAPTER XXI
HORROCKS LEARNS THE SECRET OF THE MUSKEG
The rope which brought Horrocks to the ground came near to stranglinghim. He struggled wildly as he fell, and, as he struggled, the grip ofthe rope tightened. He felt that the blood was ready to burst from histemples and eyes. Then everything seemed to swim about him and hebelieved consciousness was leaving him. Everything was done in a momentand yet he seemed to be passing through an eternity of time.
The lariat is a handy weapon, but to truly appreciate its merits onemust be a prairie man. The Breeds are prairie men. They understand fullythe uses to which a "rope" may be put. For criminal purposes theyappreciate its silent merits, and the dexterity with which they can useit makes its value equal to, and even surpass, the noisier and moretell-tale pistol.
The next thing that the policeman knew was that he was stretched on hisback upon the ground, disarmed, and with a great bandanna secured abouthis eyes and mouth, and his hands tied behind his back. Then a gruffvoice bade him rise, and, as he silently obeyed, he was glad to feelthat the gripping lariat was removed from his throat. Truly had theofficer's pride gone before a fall. And his feelings were now of thedeepest chagrin. He stood turning his head from side to side, blindlyseeking to penetrate the bandage about his eyes. He knew where he was,of course, but he would have given half his year's salary for a sight ofhis assailants.
He was not given long for his futile efforts. The same rough voicewhich had bade him rise now ordered him to walk, and he found himselfforced forward by the aid of a heavy hand which gripped one of his arms.The feeling of a blindfold walk is not a happy one, and the officerexperienced a strange sensation of falling as he was urged he knew notwhither. After a few steps he was again halted, and then he felt himselfseized from behind and lifted bodily into a conveyance.
He quickly realized that he was in a buckboard. The slats which formedthe body of it, as his feet lit upon them, told him this. Then two menjumped in after him and he found himself seated between them. And so hewas driven off.
In justice to Horrocks it must be said that he experienced no fear.True, his chagrin was very great. He saw only too plainly what want ofdiscretion he had displayed in trusting to the Breed's story, but hefelt that his previous association with the rascal warranted hiscredulity, and the outcome must be regarded as the fortune of war. Heonly wondered what strange experience this blindfold journey was toforerun. There was not the least doubt in his mind as to whose was thedevising of this well-laid and well-carried-out plot. Retief, he knew,must be answerable for the plan, and the method displayed in itsexecution plainly showed him that every detail had been carefullythought out, and administered by only too willing hands. That there wasmore than ordinary purpose in this blindfold journey he felt assured,and he racked his brains to discover the desperado's object. He evenfound time to speculate as to how it had fared with his men, only herehe was even more at a loss than in the case of his own ultimate fate.
In less than half an hour from the time of his capture the buckboarddrew up beside some bush. Horrocks knew it was a bluff. He could hearthe rustle of the leaves as they fluttered in the gentle night air. Thenhe was unceremoniously hustled to the ground, and, equallyunceremoniously, urged forward until his feet trod upon the stubbly,breaking undergrowth. Next he was brought to a stand and swung round,face about, his bonds were removed, and four powerful hands gripped hisarms. By these he was drawn backwards until he bumped against atree-trunk. His hands were then again made fast, but this time his armsembraced the tree behind him. In this manner he was securely trussed.
Now from behind--his captors were well behind him--a hand reached over,and, by a swift movement, removed the bandage from before his eyes.Then, before he had time to turn his head, he heard a scrambling throughthe bush, and, a moment later, the sound of the creaking buckboardrapidly receding. He was left alone; and, after one swift, comprehensivesurvey, to his surprise, he found himself facing the wire-spreadingmuskeg, at the very spot where he had given up further pursuit of thecattle whose "spur" he had traced down to the brink of the viscid mire.
His astonishment rendered him oblivious to all else. He merely gazed outacross that deceptive flat and wondered. Why--why had this thing beendone, and what strange freak had induced the "hustler" to conceive sucha form of imprisonment for his captive? Horrocks struggled with hisconfusion, but he failed to fathom the mystery, and never was a man'sconfusion worse confounded than was his.
Presently he bethought him of his bonds, and he cautiously tried them.They were quite unyielding, and, at each turn of his arms, they causedhim considerable pain. The Breeds had done their work well, and herealized that he must wait the raider's pleasure. He was certain of onething, however, which brought him a slight amount of comfort. He hadbeen brought here for a definite purpose. Moreover, he did not believethat he was to be left here alone for long. So, with resignation inducedby necessity, he possessed himself of what patience he best couldsummon.
How long that solitary vigil lasted Horrocks had no idea. Time, in thatpredicament, was to him of little account. He merely wondered andwaited. He considered himself more than fortunate that his captors hadseen fit to remove the bandage from his eyes. In spite of his painfulcaptivity he felt less helpless from the fact that he could see whatmight be about him.
From a general survey his attention soon became riveted upon the muskegspread out before him, and, before long, his thoughts turned to thesecret path which he knew, at some point near by, bridged the silenthorror. All about him was lit by the starry splendor of the sky. Thescent of the redolent grass of the great keg hung heavily upon the airand smelt sweet in his nostrils. He could see the ghostly outline of thedistant peaks of the mountains, he could hear the haunting cries ofnightfowl and coyote; but these things failed to interest him.Familiarity with the prairie made them, to him, commonplace. Thepath--the secret of the great keg. That was the absorbing thought whichoccupied his waiting moments. He felt that its discovery would more thancompensate for any blunders he had made. He strained his keen eyes as hegazed at the tall waving grass of the mire, as though to tear from thebosom of the awful swamp the secret it so jealously guarded. He slowlysurveyed its dark surface, almost inch by inch, in the hopes ofdiscovering the smallest indication or difference which might lead tothe desired end.
There was nothing in what he saw to guide him, nothing which offered theleast suggestion of a path. In the darkness the tall waving grass took anondescript hue which reached unbroken for miles around. Occasionallythe greensward seemed to ripple in the breeze, like water swayed by asoft summer zephyr, but beyond this the outlook was uniform--darklymysterious--inscrutable.
His arms cramped under the pressure of the restraining bonds and hemoved uneasily. Now and again the rustling of the leaves overhead causedhim to listen keenly. Gradually his fancy became slightly distorted,and, as time passed, the sounds which had struck so familiarly upon hisears, and which had hitherto passed unheeded, began to get upon hisnerves.
By-and-by he found himself listening eagerly for the monotonousrepetition of the prairie scavenger's dismal howl, and as the criesrecurred they seemed to grow in power and become more plaintivelyhorrible. Now, too, the sighing of the breeze drew more keen attentionfrom the imprisoned man, and fancy magnified it into the sound of manyapproaching feet. These matters were the effect of solitude. At suchtimes nerves play curious pranks.
In spite of his position, in spite of his anxiety of mind, thepolice-officer began to grow drowsy. The long night's vigil was telling,and nature rebelled, as she always will rebel when sleep is refused andbodily rest is unobtainable. A man may pace his bedroom for hours withthe unmitigated pain of toothache. Even while the pain is almostunendurable his eyes will close and he will continue his peregrinationswith tottering gait, awake, but with most of his faculties drowsilyfaltering. Horrocks found his head drooping forward, and, even againsthis will, his eyes would close. Time and again he pulled himselftogether, only the next instant to catch
himself dozing off again.
Suddenly, however, he was electrified into life. He was awake now, andall drowsiness had vanished. A sound--distant, rumbling, butdistinct--had fallen upon his, for the moment, dulled ears. For awhileit likened to the far-off growl of thunder, blending with a steady rushof wind. But it was not passing. The sound remained and grew steadilylouder. A minute passed--then another and then another. Horrocks staredin the direction, listening with almost painful intensity. As therumbling grew, and the sound became more distinct, a light ofintelligence crept into the prisoner's face. He heard and recognized.
"Cattle!" he muttered, and in that pronouncement was an inflection ofjoy. "Cattle--and moving at a great pace."
He was alert now, as alert as he had ever been in his life. Was he atlast going to discover the coveted secret? Cattle traveling fast at thistime of night, and in the vicinity of the great keg. What could it mean?To his mind there could only be one construction which he couldreasonably put upon the circumstance. The cattle were being "hustled,"and the hustler must be the half-breed Retief.
Then, like a douche of cold water, followed the thought that he had beenpurposely made a prisoner at the edge of the muskeg. Surely he was notto be allowed to see the cattle pass over the mire and then be permittedto go free. Even Retief in his wildest moments of bravado could notmeditate so reckless a proceeding. No, there was some subtle purposeunderlying this new development--possibly the outcome was to be far moregrim than he had supposed. He waited horrified, at his own thoughts, butfascinated in spite of himself.
The sound grew rapidly and Horrocks's face remained turned in thedirection from which it proceeded. He fancied, even in the uncertainlight, that he could see the distant crowd of beasts silhouetted againstthe sky-line. His post of imprisonment was upon the outskirts of thebush, and he had a perfect and uninterrupted view of the prairie alongthe brink of the keg, both to the north and south.
It was his fancy, however, which designed the silhouette, and he soonbecame aware that the herd was nearer than he had supposed. The noisehad become a continuous roar as the driven beasts came on, and he sawthem loom towards him a black patch on the dark background of thedimly-lit prairie. The bunch was large, but his straining eyes as yetcould make no estimate of its numbers. He could see several herders, butthese, too, were as yet beyond recognition.
Yet another surprise was in store for the waiting man. So fixed had hisattention been upon the on-coming cattle that he had not once removedhis eyes from the direction of their approach. Now, however, a prolongedbellow to the right of him caused him to turn abruptly. To his utterastonishment he saw, not fifty yards from him, a solitary horsemanleading a couple of steers by ropes affixed to their horns. He wonderedhow long this strange apparition had been there. The horse was calmlynibbling at the grass, and the man was quietly resting himself withelbows propped upon the horn of his saddle. He, too, appeared to begazing in the direction of the on-coming cattle. Horrocks tried hard todistinguish the man's appearance, but the light was too uncertain togive him more than the vaguest idea of his personality.
The horse seemed to be black or very dark brown. And the general outlineof the rider was that of a short slight man, with rather long hair whichflowed from beneath the brim of his Stetson hat. The most curiousdistinguishable feature was his slightness. The horse was big and theman, was so small that, as he sat astride of his charger, he looked tobe little more than a boy of fifteen or sixteen.
Horrocks's survey was cut short, however, for now the herd of cattle wastearing down upon him at a desperate racing pace. He saw the solitaryrider gather up his lines and move his horse further away from the edgeof the muskeg. Then the herd of cattle came along. They raced past thebluff where the officer was stationed, accompanied by four swarthydrivers, one of which was mounted upon a great chestnut horse whosemagnificent stride and proportions fixed the captive's attention. He hadheard of "Golden Eagle," and he had no doubt in his mind that this washe and the rider was the celebrated cattle-thief. The band and itsdrovers swept by, and Horrocks estimated that the cattle numbered manyhundreds.
After awhile he heard the sound of voices. Then the beasts were drivenback again over their tracks, only at a more gentle pace. Several timesthe performance was gone through, and each time, as they passed him,Horrocks noticed that their pace was decreased, until by the sixth timethey passed their gait had become a simple mouche, and they leisurelynipped up the grass as they went, with bovine unconcern. It was amasterly display of how cattle can be handled, and Horrocks forgot for awhile his other troubles in his interest in the spectacle.
After passing him for the sixth time the cattle came to a halt; and thenthe strangest part of this strange scene was enacted. The horseman withthe led steers, whom, by this time, Horrocks had almost forgotten, cameleisurely upon the field of action. No instructions were given. Thewhole thing was done in almost absolute silence. It seemed as if longpractice had perfected the method of procedure.
The horseman advanced to the brink of the muskeg, exactly opposite tothe bluff where the captive was tied, and with him the two led steers.Horrocks held his breath--his excitement was intense. The swarthydrivers roused the tired cattle and headed them towards the captivesteers. Horrocks saw the boyish rider urge his horse fearlessly on tothe treacherous surface of the keg. The now docile and exhausted cattlefollowed leisurely. There was no undue bustle or haste. It was averitable "follow my leader." Where it was good enough for the captiveleaders to go it was good enough for the weary beasts to follow, and so,as the boy rider moved forward, the great herd followed in twos andthrees. The four drivers remained until the end, and then, as the laststeer set foot on the dreadful mire, they too joined in the silentprocession.
Horrocks exerted all his prairie instinct as he watched the course ofthat silent band. He was committing to memory, as far as he was capable,the direction of the path across the keg, for, when opportunity offered,he was determined to follow up his discovery and attempt the journeyhimself. He fancied in his own secret heart that Retief had at lastoverreached himself, and in thus giving away his secret he was pavingthe way to his own capture.
It was not long before the cattle and their drivers passed out of sight,but Horrocks continued to watch, so that he should lose no chance detailof interest. At length, however, he found that his straining gaze wasuseless, and all further interest passed out of his lonely vigil.
Now he busied himself with plans for his future movements, when heshould once more be free. And in such thought the long night passed, andthe time drew on towards dawn.
The surprises of the night were not yet over, however, for just beforethe first streaks of daylight shot athwart the eastern sky he saw twohorsemen returning across the muskeg. He quickly recognized them asbeing the raider himself and the boyish rider who had led the cattleacross the mire. They came across at a good pace, and as they reachedthe bank the officer was disgusted to see the boy ride off in adirection away from the settlement, and the raider come straight towardsthe bluff. Horrocks was curious about the boy who seemed so conversantwith the path across the mire, and was anxious to have obtained aclearer view of him.
The raider drew his horse up within a few yards of the captive. Horrockshad a good view of the man's commanding, eagle face. In spite of himselfhe could not help but feel a strange admiration for this lawless Breed.
There was something wonderfully fascinating and lofty in the hustler'sdirect, piercing gaze as, proudly disdainful, he looked down upon hisdiscomfited prisoner.
He seemed in no hurry to speak. A shadowy smile hovered about his faceas he eyed the officer. Then he turned away and looked over to theeastern horizon. He turned back again and drawled out a greeting. It wasnot cordial but it was characteristic of him.
"Wal?"
Horrocks made no reply. The Breed laughed mockingly, and leant forwardupon the horn of his saddle.
"Guess you've satisfied your curiosity--some. Say, the boys didn'thandle you too rough, I take it. I told 'em to g
o light."
Horrocks was constrained to retort.
"Not so rough as you'll be handled when you get the law about you."
"Now I call that unfriendly. Guess them's gopher's words. But say, pard,the law ain't got me yet. Wot d'ye think of the road across the keg?Mighty fine trail that." He laughed as though enjoying a good joke.
Horrocks felt that he must terminate this interview. The Breed had amost provoking way with him. His self-satisfaction annoyed his hearer.
"How much longer do you intend to keep me here?" Horrocks exclaimedbitterly. "I suppose you mean murder; you'd better get on with it andstop gassing. Men of your kidney don't generally take so much time overthat sort of business."
Retief seemed quite unruffled.
"Murder? Why, man, I didn't bring you here to murder you. Guess ef I'd anotion that way you'd 'a' been done neat long ago. No, I jest wanted toshow you what you wanted to find out. Now I'm goin' to let you go, soyou, an' that skunk Lablache'll be able to chin-wag over this night'sdoin's. That's wot I'm here fer right now."
As he finished speaking the Breed circled Golden Eagle round behind thetree, and, bending low down from the saddle, he cut the rope which heldthe policeman's wrists. Horrocks, feeling himself freed, stepped quicklyfrom the bush into the open, and faced about towards his liberator. Ashe did so he found himself looking up into the muzzle of Retief'srevolver. He stood his ground unflinchingly.
"Now, see hyar, pard," said Retief, quietly, "I've a mighty fine respectfor you. You ain't the cuckoo that many o' yer mates is. You've gotgrit, anyway. But that ain't all you need. 'Savee's' a mighty finething--on occasions. Now you need 'Savee.' I'll jest give yer a piece ofadvice right hyar. You go straight off down to Lablache's ranch. You'llfind him thar. An' pesky uncomfortable you'll find him. You ken set himfree, also his ranch boys, an' when you've done that jest make tracksfor Stormy Cloud an' don't draw rein till you git thar. Ef ever you seeRetief on one trail, jest hit right off on to another. That's good soundsense right through fur you. Say, work on that, an' you ain't like tocome to no harm. But I swear, right hyar, ef you an' me ever come toclose quarters I'll perforate you--'less you git the drop on me. An' todo that'll keep you humpin'. So long, pard. It's jest gettin' daylight,ah' I don't calc'late to slouch around hyar when the sun's shinin'.Don't go fur to forget my advice. I don't charge nothin' fur it, butit's good, pard--real good, for all that. So long."
He swung his horse round, and before Horrocks had time to collecthimself, much less to speak, he was almost out of sight.
Half dazed and still wondering at the strangeness of the desperateBreed's manner he mechanically began to walk slowly in the direction ofthe Foss River Settlement.