Part 17 (1/2)
”I don't want to _kill_ him, Piegan,” he said pointedly, when Hicks was securely tied. ”If I had, do you suppose I'd dirty my hands on him in that sort of a scramble when I know how to use a gun? I want him to talk--you understand?--and he _will_ talk before I'm through with him.”
There was a peculiar inflection about that last sentence, a world of meaning that was lost on me until I saw Mac go to the brush a few yards distant, return with an armful of dry willows and place them on the sand close by Hicks. Without audible comment I watched him, but I was puzzled--at first. He broke the dry sticks into fragments across his knee; when he had a fair-sized pile he took out his knife and whittled a few shavings. Not till he snapped his knife shut and put it in his pocket and began, none too gently, to remove the boots from Hicks' feet, did I really comprehend what he was about. It sent a s.h.i.+ver through me, and even old Piegan stood aghast at the malevolent determination of the man. But we voiced no protest. That was neither the time nor place to abide by the Golden Rule. Only the law of force, ruthless, inexorable, would compel speech from Hicks. And since they would recognize no authority save that of force, it seemed meet and just to deal with them as they had dealt with us. So Piegan Smith and I stood aloof and watched the grim play, for the fate of a woman hung in the balance. Hicks'
salient jaw was set, his expression unreadable.
MacRae stacked the dry wood in a neat pyramid twelve inches from the bare soles of Hicks' feet. He placed the shavings in the edge of the little pile. Then he stood up and began to talk, fingering a match with horrible suggestiveness.
”Perhaps you think that by keeping a close mouth there's a chance to get out of some of the deviltry you've had a hand in lately. But there isn't. You'll get what's coming to you. And in case you're bolstering up your nerve with false hopes in that direction, let me tell you that we know exactly how you turned every trick. I don't particularly care to take the law into my own hands; I'd rather take you in and turn you over to the guard. But there's a woman to account for yet, and so you can take your choice between the same deal you gave Hans Rutter and telling me what became of her.”
He paused for a moment. Hicks stared up at him calculatingly.
”I'll tell you all I know about it if you turn me loose,” he said. ”Give me a horse and a chance to pull my freight, and I'll talk. Otherwise, I'm dumb.”
”I'll make no bargains with you,” MacRae answered. ”Talk or take the consequences.”
Hicks shook his head. MacRae coughed--the smoke was still rolling in thick clouds from over the river--and went on.
”Perhaps it will make my meaning clearer if I tell you what happened to Rutter, eh? You and Gregory got him after he was wounded, didn't you? He wouldn't tell where that stuff had been _cached_. But you had a way of loosening a man's tongue--I have you to thank for the idea. Oh, it was a good one, but that old Dutchman was harder stuff than you're made of.
You built a fire and warmed his feet. Still he wouldn't talk, so you warmed them some more. Fine! But you didn't suppose you'd ever get _your_ feet warmed. I'm not asking much of you, and you'll be no deeper in the mire when you answer. If you don't--well, there's plenty of wood here. Will you tell me what I want to know, or shall I light the fire?”
Still no word from Hicks. MacRae bent and raked the match along a flat stone.
”Oh, well,” he said indifferently, ”maybe you'll think better of it when your toes begin to sizzle.”
He thrust the flaring match among the shavings. As the flame crept in among the broken willows, Hicks raised his head.
”If I tell you what become of her, will you let me go?” he proposed again. ”I'll quit the country.”
”You'll tell me--or cook by inches, right here,” Mac answered deliberately. ”You can't buy me off.”
The blaze flickered higher. I watched it, with every fiber of my being revolting against such savagery, and the need for it. I glanced at Piegan and Bevans. The one looked on with grim repression, the other with blanched face. And suddenly Hicks jerked up his knees and heaved himself bodily aside with a scream of fear.
”Put it out! Put it out!” he cried. ”I'll tell you. For G.o.d's sake--anything but the fire!”
”Be quick, then,” MacRae muttered, ”before I move you back.”
”Last night,” Hicks gasped, ”when we pulled into the gorge to camp, she jerked the six-shooter out uh Lessard's belt and made a run for it. She took to the brush. It was dark, and we couldn't follow her. I don't know where she got to, except that she started down the creek. We hunted for her half the night--didn't see nothin'. That's the truth, s'help me.”
”Down the creek--say, by the great Jehosophat!” Piegan exclaimed. ”D'yuh remember that racket in the water this mornin'? Yuh wait.” He turned and ran down-stream. Almost instantly the smoke had swallowed him.
MacRae stood staring for a second or two, then turned and scattered the fire broadcast on the sand with a movement of his foot. He lifted his hat, and I saw that his forehead and hair was damp with sweat.
”That was a job I had mighty little stomach for,” he said, catching my eye and smiling faintly. ”I thought that sulky brute would come through if I made a strong bluff. I reckon I'd have weakened in another minute, if he hadn't.”
”Ugh!” I shuddered. ”It gave me the creeps. I wouldn't make a good Indian.”
”Nor I,” he agreed. ”But I had to know. And I feel better now. I'm not afraid for Lyn, since I know she got away from _them_.”
Piegan, at this moment, set up a jubilant hallooing down the river, and shortly came rus.h.i.+ng back to us.
”Aha, I told yuh,” he cried exultantly. ”That was her crossed the river this mornin'. I found her track in the sand. One uh yuh stand guard, and the other feller come with me. We c'n trail her.”