Part 31 (1/2)

He put himself in her way, little thinking she was also intent upon seeing him.

Sal was a woman of more than average intelligence and strength, and quite equal to Abe Dalton in cunning when desirous of pitting herself against such a man.

Jim Dennis was the only one who knew her worth and of what she was capable, and when she left him sitting with Willie in the buggy he had not the slightest doubt she had some scheme on hand for discovering the perpetrator of the a.s.sault.

'So you came to see your pet lad win?' said Abe Dalton, as he stood in front of her.

'He beat you and that fellow Jackson,' said Sal, exultingly.

Abe Dalton was still boiling over this defeat, and he had not much faith in Sal's sagacity, or in that of any man, woman, or child, with black blood in its veins.

'He never ought to have won. The horse won. Neptune is a good one, I can tell you. The little a.s.s was half dazed at the finish,' snapped Abe.

'So would you have been had you been struck on the head like he was the night before,' she retorted.

'So you believe that story, eh? Well, let me tell you, it's a lie, an undiluted lie, not a single thing to redeem it. Struck on the head!

Well, I'm blessed! And you believe it?'

'I not only believe it, but I know who did it,' was the unexpected reply.

In spite of himself he started, and she noticed it.

He laughed harshly.

'You think yourself----clever, I suppose?' he growled.

'Some of your men did it because you wanted The Captain to win,' she said.

He felt a sense of relief. She did not think he had done it.

'Who are my men?' he asked.

'Shall I tell you?' was her fierce answer.

'Go on, let's have it.'

'Your men are the worst lot yet unhung. They are the lowest of the low, and had not Jim Dennis taken me in I might have been herded with those outcasts from the tribe at Barker's Creek. Beware, Abe Dalton! King Charlie is not yet dead, and he never forgets. Some day Barker's Creek will run with blood. I can see it--see it now. Run with blood, I tell you, Abe Dalton--and your own will mingle with it, the black and the white together.' And she raised her hand as though she would strike him.

He left her without another word.

CHAPTER XX

DANGER AT HAND

After the races, Swamp Creek settled down into its usual quiet ways, and the excitement quickly subsided.

Most of the inhabitants won a trifle over Neptune's victory and were therefore gratified at the result of the cup.