Part 10 (2/2)

”Halt, there! you two. This is corporation property.”

”Not much it ain't!” retorted one of the trespa.s.sers gruffly. ”It's the drain-way from our placer up yonder.”

”What are you going to do up there at this time of night?”

”None o' your blame business!” was the explosive counter-shot.

”Perhaps it isn't,” said Adams mildly. ”Just the same, I'm thirsting to know. Call it vulgar curiosity if you like.”

”All right, you can know, and be cussed to you. We're goin' to work our claim. Got anything to say against it?”

”Oh! no,” rejoined Adams; and when the twain had disappeared in the upper darkness he went down the grade with Branagan and took his place on the man-loaded flats for the run to the construction camp, thinking more of the lately-arrived car with its complement of armed men than of the two miners who had calmly announced their intention of working a placer claim on a high mountain, without water, and in the dead of winter! By which it will be seen that Mr. Morton P. Adams, C. E. M. I. T. Boston, had something yet to learn in the matter of practical field work.

By the time Ah Foo had served him his solitary supper in the d.i.n.key he had quite forgotten the incident of the mysterious placer miners.

Worse than this, it had never occurred to him to connect their movements with the Rajah's plan of campaign. On the other hand, he was thinking altogether of the carload of armed men, and trying to devise some means of finding out how they were to be employed in furthering the Rajah's designs.

The means suggested themselves after supper, and he went alone over to Argentine to spend a half-hour in the bar of the dance-hall listening to the gossip of the place. When he had learned what he wanted to know, he forthfared to meet Winton at the incoming train.

”We are in for it now,” he said, when they had crossed the creek to the d.i.n.key and the Chinaman was bringing Winton's belated supper. ”The Rajah has imported a carload of armed mercenaries, and he is going to clean us all out to-morrow: arrest everybody from the gang foremen up.”

Winton's eyebrows lifted. ”So? that is a pretty large contract. Has he men enough to do it?”

”Not so many men. But they are sworn-in deputies, with the sheriff of Ute County in command--a posse, in fact. So he has the law on his side.”

”Which is more than he had when he set a thug on me this afternoon at Carbonate,” said Winton sourly; and he told Adams about the misunderstanding in the lobby of the Buckingham. His friend whistled under his breath. ”By Jove! that's pretty rough. Do you suppose the Rajah dictated any such Lucretia Borgia thing as that?”

Winton took time to think about it and admitted a doubt, as he had not before. Believing Mr. Somerville Darrah fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils in his official capacity of vice-president of a fighting corporation, he was none the less disposed to find excuses for Miss Virginia Carteret's uncle.

”I did think so at first, but I guess it was only the misguided zeal of some understrapper. Of course, word has gone out all along the C. G. R. line that we are to be delayed by every possible expedient.”

But Adams shook his head.

”Mr. Darrah dictated that move in his own proper person.”

”How do you know that?”

”You had a message from me this afternoon?”

”I did.”

”What did you think of it?”

”I thought you might have left out the first part of it; also that you might have made the latter half a good bit more explicit.”

A slow smile spread itself over Adams' impa.s.sive face.

”Every man has his limitations,” he said. ”I did the best I could. But the Rajah knew very well what he was about--otherwise there would have been no telegram.”

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