CHAPTER XXI
THE TRICK DISCOVERED
Truly enough, this had happened. On top of one of the jagged rocks,behind which they had conducted the defense that had failed, stood aragged Yaqui Indian. To and fro, on the end of his gun, he waved notexactly a white flag, but a dirty rag that once might have been white.Objects of this hue did not long remain like the driven snow among theYaquis.
"Cease firing!" blared the bugle, and the spiteful rattle of thesoldiers' guns stopped abruptly.
"Cover the beggar, some of you," ordered Captain Marshall, "and a fewof you get ready in case this is a trick and they try a rush. I'lllook into this."
"Let me go!" pleaded Lieutenant Snow eagerly. "I can sling their lingoa bit, Captain."
"Very well," assented the commander. "But watch yourself, Mart. Idon't trust the devils, though if they try any of their tricks we'llwipe out the whole band. I wish I had a rapid fire gun. We made amistake coming off without it. But we had to leave in a hurry."
During this brief talk, during which none of the soldiers or cowboysexposed themselves, the figure of the Indian continued to stand in fullview and easy shot, waving the flag that told of a desire to surrender.
Or did it? Was it but a trick? That remained to be seen.
Seeing that his men were in readiness for quick work, Captain Marshall,himself holding his carbine where he could easily get at it, signalledto Lieutenant Stone to advance, under the flag of truce, to listen tothe capitulation of the Yaquis. A trooper went with the lieutenant,carrying one of the company guidons, which, while not exactly a flag oftruce served the purpose well enough. Besides the outfit from the fortand Diamond X were not surrendering.
"Had enough, Yaqui?" asked the lieutenant, as the Indian came down fromhis perch, and advanced to a point midway between the hidden Mexicansand the equally concealed troopers. In the rear was another band ofsoldiers, so, if it had been necessary, the Indians could have beenwithered by a cross fire.
"We stop," grunted the Yaqui.
It was the giving up.
Then followed a talk between the officer and the representative of theIndians. This was not Paz, who probably was too cowardly to trusthimself in the open under the guns of his rightful enemies.
"Unconditional surrender, lay down every gun you have, march out and bemade prisoners!" was the ultimatum of Lieutenant Snow.
It was the only terms that could be offered the treacherous band thathad broken over the border from Mexico.
"And tell 'em," shouted Snake, who, with his friends had understood theimport of what was said, "tell the beggar if any harm has come toRosemary or Floyd, we'll kill every one of the Greasers!"
Lieutenant Snow waved his hand for silence. He listened to somethingthe bearer of the flag of truce had to say, and then the officerannounced:
"The captives aren't here!"
"Aren't here!" cried Bud, Nort and Dick together.
"Don't let nim fool you!" shouted Yellin' Kid.
"Order them to march out, unarmed and then we'll search their camp,"called Captain Marshall.
Seeing that it would be useless to prolong matters, and knowing hisentire band would be wiped out if he continued the fight, now that hisrear was attacked, Paz growled out the necessary orders to hisfollowers, and they came out from amid the rocks--that is those whocould walk.
They were a sorry-looking lot. Always of a nondescript type, dirty,ragged and greasy, the Yaquis were even worse now, for they had been onthe trail for some time, and had taken part in at least two fights.They had had no time to recuperate since making the raid in LaNogalique.
As they filed out, miserably enough, they were passed into a sort ofhollow square, formed by the troopers, and there each Indian wassearched for a hidden knife or revolver. One or two were found andconfiscated amid the snarls of rage on the part of the owners, who,doubtless, meditated treachery.
Paz and his followers having been secured, a guard placed over them,and the wounded of the troopers being cared for as well as possible,search was made of the place where the Yaquis had made their stand.Several dead Indians were found, and some so badly wounded that deathwas only a question of a short time. These were made as comfortable aspossible, for though they were entitled to little consideration whilethe fight was on, matters were different after the surrender.
"But where can Rosemary and Floyd be?" was the question asked over andover again by the boy ranchers and their friends, when it was seen thatthe captives were not in the Yaquis camp. At first it was supposedthey had been sent to the rear with the Indians who were guarding theponies. But there was no trace of the youth and his sister who hadbeen carried away.
Then the more sinister thought came.
"Could they have been made away with?"
No one asked this in so many words, but it was in the minds of all, anda careful search was made to disclose if the ground had been recentlydug up. Nothing of the sort was found, however, and then the boyranchers and their friends breathed more easily.
But though the main body of Yaquis had been captured the prisoners werenot found. And one of the objects of the rescue party--the main objectin fact--was to locate Rosemary and Floyd.
"We've got to get it out of Paz what has happened to them, if we--if wehave to torture him!" declared Snake. "Can't you make him talk,Captain?"
"Well, of course we dare not, for the sake of the good name of UncleSam's men, resort to torture. But we can try some modern policemethods--putting him through the third degree, so to speak."
"That's it!" cried Bud. "Give Paz the third degree!"
Once the prisoners were secured, the wounded attended to and the deadburied, the whole attention of the rescue party was given to locatingRosemary and Floyd. That Paz knew the secret of their disappearancecould not be doubted--at least our friends did not doubt.
"Though of course," said Captain Marshall, when preparations were goingon for putting Paz through the third degree series of questions, "ofcourse there may have been several bands involved in this raid, andsome other body of Yaquis may have taken away the young man and hissister."
"It was Paz, I'm sure of it!" declared Bud.
"He looks guilty!"
Certainly the Yaquis leader looked ugly and mean enough to haveperpetrated this deed. But he maintained a scowling silence as he saton the ground before his captors.
"Now, Paz," began Lieutenant Snow, who acted as interpreter, "you mayas well tell the truth first as last, for we're going to get it out ofyou, if we have to resort to--well, you know what I mean. _Sabe_?"
"No _sabe_!" grunted the Indian.
Then the work began. It was not a pleasant task, and it was onlyexcusable on the plea of dire necessity. The Yaquis were entitled tono mercy.
But through ft all Paz maintained a grim silence. When he did speak itwas to deny that he or his followers had even seen Rosemary and Floyd,much less had they kidnapped them for a ransom.
It remained for Buck Tooth to expose the trick. The wily Indian,perhaps knowing the habits of the race he had forsaken, had beenprowling about among the sullen prisoners. He openly laughed at themfor the plight in which he found them, taunting them as cowards of thefirst water.
Then, having wrought them up to the desired pitch of anger, Buck Toothlaughed and played a trump card, so to speak. In his own way he told agroup of the captives that not only had they been caught, to be sentback to Mexico there to suffer long imprisonment, but the object forwhich they had risked so much had been snatched from them.
"We have the boy and girl!" boasted Buck Tooth.
This was vehemently denied and then, in a burst of anger, as Buck Toothinsisted this was so, the Yaqui blurted out the truth that Paz wasendeavoring to conceal. Rosemary and Floyd had been taken away fromthe main body by a squad under the leadership of the Indian whomRosemary had dubbed "Mike."
"Ugh!" grunted Buck Tooth. He had found out what he wanted to know.The trick was discovered.