CHAPTER XIV.
THE TRANSIENT TRIUMPH.
Redburn sprung from his seat, ran over to her side, and raised hertenderly in his arms.
"Poor thing!" he murmured, gazing into her pale, still face, "theshock was too much for her. No wonder she fainted." He laid her on thecouch, and kept off the others who crowded around.
"Bring cold water!" he ordered, "and I will soon have her out of thisfit."
Alice hastened to obey, and Anita's face and hands were bathed in thecooling liquid until she began to show signs of returningconsciousness.
"You may now give me the particulars of the affair," Redburn said,rising and closing the door, for a chilly breeze was sweeping into thecabin.
Alice proceeded to comply with his request by narrating what hadoccurred and, as nearly as possible, what had been said. When she hadconcluded, he gazed down for several moments thoughtfully into theface of Anita. There was much yet that was beyond his powers ofcomprehension--a knotty problem for which he saw no immediatesolution.
"What do you think about it, "General"?" he asked, turning to themine-locater. "Have we sufficient evidence to hang this devil inscarlet?"
"Hardly, boyee, hardly. 'Peers te me, 'cordin' to ther gal's tell,thet thar war a fair shake all around, an' as duelin' ar' more or lessther fashun 'round these parts,--considera'bly more o' less 'n less o'more--et ain't law-fell ter yank a critter up by ther throat!"
"I know it is not, according to the customs of this country of theBlack Hills; but, look at it. That fellow, who I am satisfied is ablack-hearted knave, has not only taken the life of poor Harris, but,very probably, has given his sister her death-blow. The question is:should he go unpunished in the face of all this evidence?"
"Yes. Let him go; _I_ will be the one to punish him!"
It was Anita who spoke. She had partly arisen on the couch; her facewas streaked with water and slightly haggard; her hair blew unconfinedabout her neck and shoulders; her eyes blazed with a wild, almostsavage fire.
* * * * *
"Let him go!" she repeated, more of fierceness in her voice thanRedburn had ever heard there, before. "He shall not escape myvengeance. Oh, my poor, poor dead brother!"
She flung herself back upon the couch, and gave herself up to a wild,passionate, uncontrollable outburst of tears and sobs--the wailings ofa sorrowing heart. For a long time she continued to weep and sobviolently; then came a lull, during which she fell asleep, fromexhaustion--a deep sleep. Redburn and Alice then carried her into anadjoining room, where she was left under the latter's skillful care.Awhile later the cabin was wrapped in silence.
When morning sunlight next peeped down into the Flower Pocket, itfound everything generally astir. Anita was up and pursuing herhousehold duties, but she was calm, now, even sadder than before,making a strange contrast to blithe, gaysome Alice, who flitted about,here and there, like some bright-winged butterfly surrounded by a haloof perpetual sunshine.
* * * * *
Unknown to any one save themselves, two men were within the valley ofthe Flower Pocket gold-mines--there on business, and that businessmeant bloodshed. They were secreted in among the foothills on thewestern side of the flowering paradise, at a point where they were notobserved, and at the same time were the observers of all that wasgoing on in front of them.
How came they here, when the hand of Deadwood Dick guarded the onlyaccessible entrance there was to the valley? The answer was: they camesecretly through the pass on the night preceding the arrival of theroad-agents, and had been lying in close concealment ever since.
The one was an elderly man of portly figure, and the other a young,dandyish fellow, evidently the elder's son, for they resembled eachother in every feature. We make no difficulty to recognizing them asthe same precious pair whom Outlaw Dick captured from the stage, onlyto lose them again through the treachery of two of his own band.
Both looked considerably the worse for wear, and the gaunt, hungryexpression on their features, as the morning sunlight shone down uponthem, declared in a language more adequate than words, that they werebeginning to suffer the first pangs of starvation.
"We cannot hold out at this rate much longer!" the elder Filmorecried, as he watched the bustle in the valley below. "I'm as empty asa collapsed balloon, and what's more, we're in no prospects ofimmediate relief."
Filmore, the younger, groaned aloud in agony of spirit.
"Curse the Black Hills and all who have been fools enough to inhabitthem, anyhow!" he growled, savagely; "just let me get back in the landof civilization again, and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll knowenough to stay there."
"Bah! this little rough experience will do you good. If we only had asquare meal or two and a basket of sherry, I should feel quite athome. Nothing but a fair prospect of increasing our individualfinances would ever have lured me into this outlandish place. Butmoney, you know, is the root of all--"
"Evil!" broke in the other, "and after three months' wild-goose-chaseyou are just as destitute of the desired root as you were at first."
"True, but we have at least discovered one of the shrubs at the bottomof which grows the root."
"You refer to Deadwood Dick?"
"I do. He is here in the valley, and he must never leave it alive.While we have the chance we must strike the blow that will foreversilence his tongue."
"Yes; but what about the girl? She will be just as much in the way, ifnot a good deal more so."
"We can manage her all right when the proper time arrives. Dick is ourgame, now."
"He may prove altogether too much game. But, now that we are countingeggs, how much of the 'lay' is to be mine, when this boy and girl arefinished?" he queried.
"How much? Well, that depends upon circumstances. The girl _may_ fallto you."
"The girl? Bah! I'd rather be excused."
* * * * *
The day passed without incident in the mines. The work went steadilyon, the sounds of the crusher making strange music for the mountainechoes to mock.
Occasionally the crack of a rifle announced that either a road-agentor a Ute miner had risked a shot at a mountain sheep, bird, or deer.Generally their aim was attended with success, though sometimes theywere unable to procure the slaughtered game.
Redburn, on account of his clear-headedness and business tact, hadfull charge of both mines, the "General" working under him in theshaft, and Fearless Frank in the quartz mine.
When questioned about his duel with Harris by Redburn, McKenzie hadvery little to say; he seemed pained when approached on the subject;would answer no questions concerning the past; was reserved and attimes singularly haughty.
During the day Anita and Alice took a stroll through the valley, butthe latter had been warned, and fought shy of the quartz mine; sothere was no encounter between Anita and Fearless Frank.
Deadwood Dick joined them as they were returning to the cabin, loadeddown with flowers--flowers of almost every color and perfume.
"This is a beautiful day," he remarked, pulling up a daisy, as hewalked gracefully along. "One rarely sees so many beauties centered inone little valley like this--beautiful landscape and mountain scenery,beautiful flowers beneath smiling skies, and lovely women, the chiefcenter of attraction among all."
"Indeed!" and Alice gave him a coquettish smile; "you are flattering,sir road-agent. You, at least, are not beautiful, in that horribleblack suit and villainous mask. You remind me of a picture I have seensomewhere of the devil in disguise; all that is lacking is the horns,tail and cloven-foot."
Dick broke out into a burst of laughter--it was one of those wild,terrible laughs of his, so peculiar to hear from one who was evidentlyyoung in years.
Both of the girls were terrified, and would have fled had he notdetained them.
"Ha, ha!" he said, stepping in front of them, "do not be frightened;don't go, ladies. That's only the way I express my amusement atanything."
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br /> "Then, for mercy's sake, don't get amused again," said Alice,deprecatingly. "Why, dear me, I thought the Old Nick and all hiscouriers had pounced down upon us."
"Well, how do you know but what he has? _I_ may be his Satanicmajesty, or one of his envoys."
"I hardly think so; you are too much an earthly being for that. Come,now, take off that detestable mask and let me see what you look like."
"No, indeed! I would not remove this mask, except on conditions, forall the gold yon toiling miners are finding, which, I am satisfied, isno small amount."
"You spoke of conditions. What are they?"
"Some time, perhaps, I will tell you, lady, but not now. See! my menare signaling to me, and I must go. Adieu, ladies;" and in anothermoment he had wheeled, and was striding back toward camp.
In their concealment the two Filmores witnessed this meeting betweenDick and the two girls.
"So there are females here, eh?" grunted the elder, musingly. "Fromobservation I should say that Prince Dick was a comparative strangerhere."
"That is my opinion," groaned Clarence, his thoughts reverting to hisempty stomach. "Did you hear that laugh a moment ago? It was more likethe screech of a lunatic than anything else."
"Yes; he is a young tiger. There is no doubt of that to my mind."
"And we shall have to keep on the alert to take him. He came to thecabin last night. If he does to-night we can mount him!"
Before night the elder Filmore succeeded in capturing a wild goosethat had strayed down with the stream from somewhere above. This waskilled, dressed and half cooked by a brushwood fire which theyhazarded in a fissure in the hillside whereto they had hidden. Thisfowl they almost ravenously devoured, and thus thoroughly satisfiedtheir appetites. They now felt a great deal better, ready for the workin hand--of capturing and slaying the dare-devil Deadwood Dick.
As soon as it was dark they crept, like the prowling wolves they were,down into the valley, and positioned themselves midway between thecabin and the road-agent's camp, but several yards apart, with a lassoheld above the grass between them, to serve as a "trip-up."
The sky had become overcast with dense black clouds, and the gloom tothe valley was quite impenetrable. From their concealment the twoFilmores could hear Redburn, Alice and the "General" singing up atthe cabin, and it told them to be on their guard, as Dick might nowcome along at any moment.
Slowly the minutes dragged by, and both were growing impatient, whenthe firm tread of "the Prince" was heard swiftly approaching. Quicklythe lasso was drawn taut. Dick, not dreaming of the trap, came boldlyalong, tripped, and went sprawling to the ground. The next instant hisenemies were on him, each with a long murderous knife in hand.