CHAPTER XVII
FORGING A LETTER
The impulse which had moved Harlan to send Red Linton to the T Down ranchto enlist the services of some of his old friends had resulted from aconviction that he could not depend upon those men of the Rancho Secooutfit who had seemed to him, to be unfriendly to Stroud, the straw-boss.He knew nothing about them, and their loyalty to Barbara Morgan might beof a quality that would not endure through the sort of trouble thatseemed to be imminent.
The T Down men--those who would come--would stand with him no matter whathappened--they would do his will without question.
There was no doubt in Harlan's mind that John Haydon was the mysterious"Chief"--the man who had sent into Lane Morgan's breast the bullet thathad ultimately killed him; and there was no doubt that some powerful,secret force was at work in the country, and that the force was directingits attention to the Rancho Seco and the defenseless girl who was at thenominal head of it. For some reason the secret force had killed herfather, had isolated the ranch, had encompassed it with enemies, and wasworking slowly and surely to enmesh the girl herself.
Harlan was convinced that one of the motives behind the subtleaggressions of the men was a yearning for the gold that Morgan hadleft--in fact the presence of Dolver and Laskar at Sentinel Rock--andMorgan's word to him about the gold--provided sufficient evidence on thatscore.
They had watched Morgan; they suspected he was taking gold to Pardo tohave it assayed, and they had killed him in the hope of finding somethingon his person which would reveal to them where he had hidden the rest ofit.
One other motive was that of the eternal, ages-old passion of a man forwoman. Evidence of that passion had been revealed to Harlan at Lamo, bythe attack on Barbara by Deveny's hireling--Higgins; by the subtleadvances of John Haydon. It seemed to Harlan that all of these men hadbeen--and were--equally determined to possess the girl.
And yet back of it all--behind that which had been rendered visible bythe actions of the man and by Harlan's own deductions--was somethingelse--something stealthy and hidden; a secret threat of dire things tocome--a lingering promise of trickery.
Standing at one of the gates of the corral upon the third morningfollowing Linton's departure, Harlan considered this phase of thesituation. He felt the hidden threat of something sinister that lurked inthe atmosphere.
It was all around him. It seemed to lie secreted in the yawning spacethat engulfed the Rancho Seco--south, north, and east. From the haze thatstretched into the unending distance westward it seemed to come, bearingits whispered promise. The solemn hills that flanked the wide stretchesof Sunset Valley seemed to hint of it--somberly.
Mystery was in the serene calm that seemed to encompass the big basin;from the far reaches westward, in the misty veil that seemed to hang fromthe far-flung shafts of sunlight that penetrated the fleecy clouds, camethe sinister threat--the whole section seemed to pulse with it.
And yet Harlan knew there could be no mystery except the mysteries ofmen. Nature was the same here as in any other section of the world, andher secrets were not more profound than usual.
He grinned mirthlessly at the wonderful basin, noting that the RanchoSeco buildings seemed to lie on a direct line with its center; that thefaint trail that ran through the basin--the trail men traveled--came onin its undulating way straight toward the Rancho Seco ranchhouse, seemedto bring the mystery of the big basin with it; seemed to be a link thatconnected the Rancho Seco with the promise of trouble.
That impression might have engaged the serious thoughts of some men. Itwidened the smile on Harlan's face. For he knew there was no threat inthe beauty of the valley; that it did not hide its secrets from theprying eyes of men. Whatever secret the valley held was in the minds ofmen--the minds of Deveny and the mysterious "Chief," and their followers.
Harlan had not absented himself from the ranchhouse since the departureof Linton. He had lounged in the vicinity of the buildings during theday--and Barbara had seen him many times from the windows; and he hadspent his nights watching the ranchhouse, half expecting another attackon Barbara.
The girl had seen him at night, too; and she had smiled at the picture hemade with the moonlight shining upon him--or standing in someshadow--somber, motionless, undoubtedly guarding her.
She saw him this morning, too, as he stood beside the corral gate, andthere was a glow in her eyes that, had he seen it, might have thrilledhim with its gratitude.
She came out of a rear door after a while, and Harlan was still standingat the gate.
He watched her as she came toward him--it was the first time she hadventured in that direction since the return from Lamo with him--notingthat she seemed to be in better spirits--that she was smiling.
"You looked lonesome," she said, as she halted near him. "Did Linton jointhe outfit?"
"It's likely; he went three days ago."
"I knew he had gone; I saw you several times, and you were always alone.And," she added, looking keenly at him; "I saw you several times, atnight. Don't you ever sleep?"
"I reckon I'm a sort of restless cuss."
Her face took on serious lines.
"Look here, Harlan," she said, reprovingly, "you are keeping somethingback. You have been watching the ranchhouse at night--and during the day.You are guarding me. Why is it? Do you think I am going to run away?"
"From me?" he queried; "I was hopin' you wouldn't."
She stiffened with exasperation, for she felt the insincerity in hismanner--caught the humorous note in his voice.
"You are treating me as you would treat a child," she declared; "and Iwon't have it. Are you watching me because you fear there might beanother--Lawson?"
"There might be."
"Nonsense! There isn't another man in the section would dare what Lawsondared!"
"Gentlemen--eh?" he said, tauntingly. "Well, I've nosed around quiteconsiderable, an' I don't remember to have ever run into a place wherethere was fewer _men_ than in this neck of the woods."
"There are plenty of gentlemen. Do you think John Haydon----"
Harlan grinned faintly. "He's been fannin' it right along for half anhour," he said, with seeming irrelevance.
"Who?" she asked, with a swift, uncomprehending glance at him.
"Your gentleman," he said slowly.
She followed the direction of his gaze, and saw, on the trail that leddownward from a little table-land to the level that stretched toward theranchhouse, a horseman, coming rapidly toward them.
"It's Mr. Haydon!" she ejaculated, her voice leaping.
"So it is," said Harlan, dryly. He looked keenly at her, noting the flushon her face, the brightness of her eyes. "You ain't forgettin' to givehim that piece of chain."
"Why," she said, drawing the glittering links from a pocket of her skirt;"I have it here. You may return it to him."
"Me an' Haydon ain't on speakin' terms," he smiled. "He wouldn'tappreciate it none, if I give it to him."
"Why--" she began, only to pause and look at him with a suddencomprehension in her eyes. For into Harlan's face had come an expressionthat, she thought, she could analyze. It was jealousy. That was why hewas reluctant to return the chain to Haydon.
The situation was so positively puerile, she thought, that she almostfelt like laughing. She would have laughed had it not been that she knewof Harlan's unfailing vigilance--and that she felt differently toward himnow than she had felt during the first days of their acquaintance. Hissteadfast vigilance, she decided, must have been responsible for thechange, together with the steady consideration he revealed for her.
At any rate, something about him had affected her. She felt more gentletoward him; more inclined to believe in him; and there had been timesduring the past few days when she had been astonished at the subtle, warmsensation that had stolen over her whenever she saw him or whenever shethought of him.
Something of that warmth toward him was in her eyes now as she watchedhim and she decided that she should humor his whim; that she shoul
dperform the action that he was reluctant to perform.
She smiled, with the wisdom of a woman to whom a secret had beenunwittingly revealed.
"You don't like Haydon?"
"Him an' me ain't goin' to be bosom friends."
"Why don't you like him?" she asked banteringly.
She thought his grin was brazen. "Why don't you like me?"
"I don't know," she said coldly. But her face reddened a little.
"Well," he laughed; "that's why I don't like Haydon."
Haydon had crossed the big level, and was close to the ranchhouse.
The girl had determined to remain where she was, to return the piece ofchain to Haydon in the presence of Harlan--in order to learn what shecould of the depth of Harlan's dislike for Haydon when in the presence ofthe latter. And so a silence came between them as they watched Haydonride toward them.
When Haydon rode close to them he halted his horse and sat in the saddle,an expression of cold inquiry on his face. His smile at Miss Barbara wasa trifle forced; his glance at Harlan had a fair measure of frank dislikeand suspicion in it.
Harlan deliberately turned his back toward Barbara and Haydon when thelatter dismounted; walked a little distance, and pretended to beinterested in a snubbing post in the corral.
Yet he cast furtive glances toward the two, and when he saw the girlreaching into a pocket for the section of chain he had given her, heslowly sauntered forward, and was within hearing distance when Barbaraspoke to Haydon.
"I was to give you this," she said--and she extended a hand towardHaydon, the chain dangling from her fingers.
Harlan saw Haydon's muscles leap and become tense. He saw the man's colorgo, saw his cheeks whiten; observed that his eyes widened and gleamedwith mingled astonishment and alarm.
He regained control of himself instantly, however, but Harlan had seenenough to strengthen his convictions, and he grinned as Haydon flashed asharp glance at him.
Barbara, too, had noted the strange light in Haydon's eyes; she had seenthat Haydon had seemed about to shrink from the chain when she held itout to him. She looked from Haydon to Harlan inquiringly and when herglance again returned to Haydon he was smiling.
However, he had not taken the chain from her hand.
"Is it yours?" she asked.
"Yes--mine," he answered, hesitatingly. "Where did you find it?"
"Mr. Harlan found it." Barbara noted Haydon's quick start, the searchingglance he gave Harlan--who was now leaning on a rail of the corral fence,seemingly uninterested.
Haydon laughed, a little hoarsely, it seemed to Barbara, and more loudlythan the occasion seemed to demand. She thought, though, that the laughmight have been a jeer for Harlan's action in turning the chain over toher instead of returning it directly to the owner.
She did not catch the searching inquiry of Haydon's glance at Harlan, nordid she see Harlan's odd smile at Haydon, and the slow wink thataccompanied it.
But the wink and the smile conveyed to Haydon the intelligence thatHarlan knew the story connected with the loss of the chain, and that hehad not communicated it to the girl. They also expressed to Haydon themessage that Harlan and Haydon were kindred souls--the smile and the winktold Haydon that this man who knew his secret was secretly applaudinghim, even while inwardly laughing at him for his fear that the secretwould be betrayed.
Harlan's voice broke a short silence.
"Found it right about here--the other day. It must have laid there a longtime, for it took a heap of polishin' to brighten it up." Again he closedan eye at Haydon, and the latter grinned broadly.
Barbara silently endured a pang of disappointment. She had caughtHarlan's wink. The man had betrayed jealousy only a few minutes ago, andhe had refused personally to return the chain to Haydon. And yet he stoodthere now, smiling and winking at the other, evidently with the desire toingratiate himself. Sycophant, weakling, or fool--which was he? Sheshuddered with disgust, deliberately turned her back to Harlan, and beganto walk toward the ranchhouse, Haydon following.
And Harlan, standing at the fence, leaned an elbow on one of the railsand watched the two, an enigmatic smile on his face.
For he had succeeded in opening a gate which disclosed a trail that wouldlead him straight to the mystery, a breath of which had been borne to himthat morning upon the slight breeze that had swept down to him from themighty valley out of which Haydon had ridden.
Between him and Haydon a bond had been established, fashioned from thelinks of the section of chain.