Part 42 (1/2)
”Yes, desert us. Leave us when we may need you so much, with something dreadful coming.”
Monty uttered a short, hard laugh as he bent a strange look upon the girl.
”Me an' Nels is purty much scared, an' we're goin' to slope. Miss Dorothy, bein' as we've rustled round so much; it sorta hurts us to see nice young girls dragged off by the hair.”
Dorothy uttered a little cry and then became hysterical. Castleton for once was fully aroused.
”By Gad! You and your partner are a couple of blooming cowards. Where now is that courage you boasted of?”
Monty's dark face expressed extreme sarcasm.
”Dook, in my time I've seen some bright fellers, but you take the cake. It's most marvelous how bright you are. Figger'n' me an' Nels so correct. Say, Dook, if you don't git rustled off to Mexico an' roped to a cactus-bush you'll hev a swell story fer your English chums. Bah Jove! You'll tell 'em how you seen two old-time gun-men run like scared jack-rabbits from a lot of Greasers. Like h.e.l.l you will! Unless you lie like the time you told about proddin' the lion. That there story allus--”
”Monty, shut up!” yelled Stewart, as he came hurriedly up. Then Monty slouched away, cursing to himself.
Madeline and Helen, a.s.sisted by Castleton, worked over Dorothy, and with some difficulty quieted her. Stewart pa.s.sed several times without noticing them, and Monty, who had been so ridiculously eager to pay every little attention to Dorothy, did not see her at all. Rude it seemed; in Monty's ease more than that. Madeline hardly knew what to make of it.
Stewart directed cowboys to go to the head of the open place in the cliff and let down la.s.soes. Then, with little waste of words, he urged the women toward this rough ladder of stones.
”We want to hide you,” he said, when they demurred. ”If the guerrillas come we'll tell them you've all gone down to the ranch. If we have to fight you'll be safe up there.”
Helen stepped boldly forward and let Stewart put the loop of a la.s.so round her and tighten it. He waved his hand to the cowboys above.
”Just walk up, now,” he directed Helen.
It proved to the watchers to be an easy, safe, and rapid means of scaling the steep pa.s.sage. The men climbed up without a.s.sistance. Mrs.
Beck, as usual, had hysteria; she half walked and was half dragged up.
Stewart supported Dorothy with one arm, while with the other he held to the la.s.so. Ambrose had to carry Christine. The Mexican women required no a.s.sistance. Edith Wayne and Madeline climbed last; and, once up, Madeline saw a narrow bench, thick with shrubs, and overshadowed by huge, leaning crags. There were holes in the rock, and dark fissures leading back. It was a rough, wild place. Tarpaulins and bedding were then hauled up, and food and water. The cowboys spread comfortable beds in several of the caves, and told Madeline and her friends to be as quiet as possible, not to make a light, and to sleep dressed, ready for travel at a moment's notice.
After the cowboys had gone down it was not a cheerful group left there in the darkening twilight. Castleton prevailed upon them to eat.
”This is simply great,” whispered Helen.
”Oh, it's awful!” moaned Dorothy. ”It's your fault, Helen. You prayed for something to happen.”
”I believe it's a horrid trick those cowboys are playing,” said Mrs.
Beck.
Madeline a.s.sured her friends that no trick was being played upon them, and that she deplored the discomfort and distress, but felt no real alarm. She was more inclined to evasive kindness here than to sincerity, for she had a decided uneasiness. The swift change in the manner and looks of her cowboys had been a shock to her. The last glance she had of Stewart's face, then stern, almost sad, and haggard with worry, remained to augment her foreboding.
Darkness appeared to drop swiftly down; the coyotes began their haunting, mournful howls; the stars showed and grew brighter; the wind moaned through the tips of the pines. Castleton was restless. He walked to and fro before the overhanging shelf of rock, where his companions sat lamenting, and presently he went out to the ledge of the bench. The cowboys below had built a fire, and the light from it rose in a huge, fan-shaped glow. Castleton's little figure stood out black against this light. Curious and anxious also, Madeline joined him and peered down from the cliff. The distance was short, and occasionally she could distinguish a word spoken by the cowboys. They were unconcernedly cooking and eating. She marked the absence of Stewart, and mentioned it to Castleton. Silently Castleton pointed almost straight down, and there in the gloom stood Stewart, with the two stag-hounds at his feet.
Presently Nick Steele silenced the camp-fire circle by raising a warning hand. The cowboys bent their heads, listening. Madeline listened with all her might. She heard one of the hounds whine, then the faint beat of horse's hoofs. Nick spoke again and turned to his supper, and the other men seemed to slacken in attention. The beat of hoofs grew louder, entered the grove, then the circle of light. The rider was Nels. He dismounted, and the sound of his low voice just reached Madeline.
”Gene, it's Nels. Somethin' doin',” Madeline heard one of the cowboys call, softly.
”Send him over,” replied Stewart.
Nels stalked away from the fire.
”See here, Nels, the boys are all right, but I don't want them to know everything about this mix-up,” said Stewart, as Nels came up. ”Did you find the girl?”