CHAPTER XXII.
AN ACT OF TREACHERY.
It was past midday. Guided by Wiley, who seemed to know the way well,the party had pushed on into the mountains and followed a course thatled them over ragged slopes and steep declivities.
Finally the sailor paused and turned.
"There, mates," he said, stretching out his hand, "barely half a mileaway lies the Enchanted Valley. I have a tickling fancy that we havereached it ahead of that delectable crew we sought to avoid."
Even as he said this, Pete Curry uttered an exclamation and pointedtoward the mouth of a ragged ravine or fissure, from which at thismoment several horsemen suddenly debouched. They were followed closelyby a band of men on foot.
"That's the whole bunch!" exclaimed Curry. "And they're coming as fastas they can chase theirselves. They are heading to cut us off."
"That's right!" burst from Dick. "We've got to make a dash for it. Leadthe way, Wiley, and be sure you make no mistake."
A hot dash it was for the fissure that led into the Enchanted Valley.The enemy, yelling like a lot of savages, did their best to cut theparty off. Seeing they would fail at this, they opened fire, and a fewbullets sang dangerously near the fugitives.
"Oh, bilge-water and brine!" muttered the sailor. "There'll certainly bedoings when we attempt to scurry down that crack into the valley! It'sgoing to be a very disagreeable piece of business for us."
Nearer and nearer they came to the fissure for which they were heading.Straight toward the beginning of it they raced, Wiley telling Dick itwould be necessary for several of them to halt there and try to standoff the enemy while the rest of the party descended. But as they reachedthe beginning of the fissure, from behind some bowlders two young menopened fire with repeating rifles on the pursuers. In a moment the hailof bullets sent into the ranks of the enemy threw them into confusion. Ahorse dropped in its tracks, and another, being wounded, began buckingand kicking. One man was hit in the shoulder.
This unexpected occurrence threw the pursuers into consternation, sothat they wheeled immediately and sought to get beyond rifle range.
"Avast there, my hearties!" cried Wiley, as he caught sight of theyouths who knelt behind the bowlders. "Permit me to lay alongside andjoin you in the merry carnage."
"Hello, Wiley!" called Frank, who, aided by Hodge, had checked theruffians. "It seems that we happened up this way at just about the righttime."
"At the precise psychological moment," nodded the marine marvel. "Thisbeing just in time is getting habitual with you."
While the enemy was still in confusion Frank and Bart hastened to jointhe new arrivals and greet them. Of course they were surprised to seeCurry and his companions, and the story told by the deputy sheriff, whoexplained everything in a few words, made clear the cause of hisunexpected reappearance at the valley.
"A ministerial-looking gentleman who called himself Felton Cleveland,eh?" said Frank. "He was with the gang that cut loose your prisoners,was he? Well, I am dead sure Felton Cleveland is----"
"Macklyn Morgan!" cried Dick. "I saw him last night. He is the man."
"And Macklyn Morgan is the instigator of this whole business," saidFrank. "Wiley, get Abe and Felicia down into the valley without delay.We have got to stand this gang off right here. We can't afford to letthem reach this entrance to the valley. We're in for a siege. You willfind provisions down there at the cabin. Bring supplies when you return.Abe and Felicia will be safe down there as long as we hold thispassage."
"Ay, ay, sir!" said the sailor. "I am yours to command."
Fortunately near the mouth of the fissure there were heaped-up bowlderswhich seemed to form something of a natural fortress. Behind these rocksthe defenders concealed themselves, their horses being taken down intothe valley one after another. For a long time the enemy made nooffensive move. It seemed to Frank and his friends that the ruffians hadbeen dismayed by their warm reception, and they seemed disagreeing.
"If they will only chew the rag and get into trouble among themselves,it will be greatly to our advantage," said Hodge.
"Let them sail right into us if they are looking for a warm time!"exclaimed Brad Buckhart, who seemed thirsting for more trouble. "I opinewe can give them all they want."
Wiley brought a supply of provisions from the valley, and the defenderssatiated their hunger while ensconced behind the bowlders.
"This is even better than salt horse," declared Wiley, munching away."One time when shipwrecked in the South Atlantic, longitude unty-three,latitude oxty-one, I subsisted on raw salt horse for nineteenconsecutive days. That was one of the most harrowing experiences of mylong and sinuous career."
"Spare us! Spare us!" exclaimed Frank. "We have got to stand off thoseruffians, so don't deprive us of our nerve and strength."
"Look here!" exclaimed the sailor, "this thing is getting somewhatmonotonous! Whenever I attempt to tell a little nannygoat somebody risesup and yells, 'Stop it!' Pretty soon I will get so I'll have to talk tomyself. There was a man I knew once who kept a bowling alley and thedoctor told him he mustn't talk; but he kept right on talking. He talkedeverybody deaf, and dumb, and black, and blue, and stone-blind, so atlast there was nobody left for him to talk to but himself. Then he wentto talking to himself in his sleep, which disturbed him so that healways woke up and couldn't sleep. The result was that he became soutterly exhausted for the want of rest that it was necessary to take himto the hospital. But even in the hospital they couldn't keep him stilluntil they gagged him. That was the only thing that saved his life. Whata sad thing it would be if anything like that should happen to me!"
Late in the afternoon the enemy made a move. Protected by rocks and suchcover as they could find, they attempted to close in on the defenders ofthe valley.
Frank was keenly alert, and he discovered this move almost as soon as itbegan. Immediately he posted his companions where they could watch, andthey agreed on a dead line, across which they would not permit theruffians to creep without firing on them. As the ruffians drew nearerthe cover was less available, and when the dead line was crossed thedefenders opened fire on them. Within three minutes several of the enemyhad been wounded, and the advance was not only checked, but the ruffianswere filled with such dismay that the greater part of them took to theirheels and fled. Several of these might have been shot down, but Frankwould not permit it.
"I opine that just about gives them all they want for a while," saidBrad Buckhart.
It seemed that he was right. The besiegers disappeared amid the rocks,and the afternoon crept on with no further effort in that direction toenter the valley by assault.
Some of the defenders were beginning to wonder if the enemy had notgiven up when, with the sun hanging low, a man appeared in the distance,waving a white handkerchief, attached like a flag to the end of a stick.
"Whatever's up now?" muttered Pete Curry.
"It is a flag of truce," said Merry.
"Look out, Frank!" exclaimed Bart. "It may be a trick."
Merry rose and stood on a mound of bowlders, drawing out his ownhandkerchief and waved it in return.
"What are you going to do?" asked Hodge.
"I am going to find out what they are up to," was the answer.
"I tell you it may be a trick."
"We will see."
The man in the distance with the flag of truce immediately advancedalone. Barely had he walked out into full view when Merry said:
"It is Macklyn Morgan, or my eyes are no good!"
"Old Joe he fix um," said the aged Indian, carefully thrusting his rifleover the rocks and preparing to take aim.
"Stop him!" exclaimed Merry. "Don't let him fire on a man with a whiteflag!"
The old savage seemed greatly surprised and disappointed when he wasprevented from shooting.
"When um Morgan man he is killed that stop all trouble," said Joe. "Goodchance to do it."
"Watch him close, Dick," directed Frank. "I am going out there to meetMorgan."
"Let
me go with you."
"No; he's alone. I will go alone. He is taking his chances. If anythinghappens to me, if one of those ruffians should fire on me, Morgan knowsmy friends here will shoot him down. Still, there may be some trickabout it, and I want every one of you to watch close and be on thealert."
"Depend on us, Frank," said Dick. "Only I'm sorry you won't let me gowith you."
A few moments later Merriwell strode out boldly from the rocks, with thewhite handkerchief still fluttering in his hand, advancing to meetMorgan, who was slowly coming forward.
They met in the centre of the open space near the little heap ofbowlders. In grim silence, regarding his enemy with accusing eyes, Merrywaited for Morgan to open the conversation.
"This is a very unfortunate affair, young man," said the hypocriticalmoney king. "I am sorry it has happened."
"Are you?" asked Frank derisively.
"I am, I am," nodded Morgan. "It's very bad--very bad."
"If you feel so bad about it, sir, it's the easiest thing in the worldfor you to bring it to an end."
"But you are the one to terminate it, young man."
"How do you make that out?"
"You know how you can settle this affair without delay. You heard myproposition in Prescott."
"I believe I did. It was very interesting as the proposition of athoroughly unscrupulous man."
"Don't get insulting, Mr. Merriwell. I am doing my duty. Milton Sukeswas my partner. Do you think I can conscientiously ignore the fact thathe was murdered?"
"I fail to understand what that has to do with me."
"You know I have proofs," said Morgan sternly. "You know they willconvict you."
"I know nothing of the sort. You have no proofs that are worth beingcalled that."
"Everything points accusingly and decisively at you. You were Mr. Sukes'bitter enemy. It was to your advantage that he should be put out of theway. He annoyed you. He gave you great trouble."
"And I fancy, Macklyn Morgan, that I annoyed him a little. But why doyou pretend that it is on his account you are carrying out this lawlesspiece of business? You know its nature. You know in your heart that youare a hypocrite. You have even offered, if I turn over my property toyou here, to make no proceeding against me. Is that the way you obtainjustice for your dead partner? Is that the sort of justice you arelooking for, Morgan? Don't talk to me of justice! I know the sort of manyou are! I know you from the ground up!"
"Be careful! Be careful! You are making a mistake, young man. Mr. Sukesannoyed you and harassed you because he believed you held property thathe should possess--property that rightfully belonged to him. He obtainedno satisfaction from you. If I am willing to settle with you by securingpossession of this undeveloped mine here, which I now offer to do, youought to think yourself getting off easy. It is not often that I enterinto an affair of this sort. It is not often that I take hold of itpersonally. I allow my agents to carry such things through under mydirections. In this case, however, I have considered it best to see thematter to an end myself. I confess that it seemed probable that youmight be too slick for my agents."
"No thanks whatever for the compliment. Have you anything new topropose, Mr. Morgan?"
"My proposition is this: that you and your companions retire at oncefrom this vicinity, and if you do I give you my word that you will notbe molested. It is an easy and simple way to settle this whole affair.If you comply, we will let the Sukes matter drop where it is. You willescape prosecution for murder. Think well of it--think well. It is thebest thing you can do. You are trapped now. You are penned in here andyou can't get out. If we see fit, we can lay siege to this place andkeep you here until we starve you out. In the end you will be compelledto surrender. In the end you will lose everything. If you force me tosuch a course, not only will I obtain possession of this undevelopedmine, but I tell you now that I shall do my best to see you hanged forthe murder of Milton Sukes."
Frank laughed in the man's face.
"It's plain," he said, "that even now, Macklyn Morgan, you don'tunderstand me. It's plain that you still fancy it possible to frightenme. You are wasting your time, sir. Go ahead with your siege and seewhat comes of it."
This seemed to enrage Morgan, for suddenly he violently shook the flagat Frank and cried:
"Then take the result of your obstinacy!"
Instantly there were several puffs of white smoke from beyond thedistant rocks and Frank pitched forward upon his face.
At the same moment Macklyn Morgan made a spring and dropped behind alittle pile of bowlders, where he was fully protected from the defendersof the valley.
Apparently Frank had been treacherously shot down in cold blood whileunder the flag of truce.
The watchers of the defense were horrified as they saw Frank fall. Dickuttered a savage cry and would have rushed out from behind the rocks hadhe not been seized by Brad Buckhart.
"Steady, pard--steady!" warned the Texan, finding it difficult to detainyoung Merriwell.
"Let go!" panted Dick. "Don't you see! My brother! The dastardlywretches have shot him!"
"And do you propose to prance out there and let them shoot you up, too?Do you propose to let these measly galoots wipe out the Merriwell familyin a bunch? Cool down, pard, and have some sense."
Bart Hodge had been no less excited than Dick, and nothing could haveprevented him from rushing forth to Frank had he not suddenly made adiscovery as he sprang up. His eyes were on his chum of school andcollege days, and he saw Frank quickly roll over and over until he layclose against a bowlder, where he would be protected in case the enemyfired again. Then, as he lay thus, Merry lifted the hand that stillclutched the white handkerchief and waved it in a signal to his friends.
Hodge was shaking in every limb.
"He is not killed!" he exclaimed.
"Heap keep still," came from old Joe. "No shot at all. Him all right.Him see gun flash, him drop quick, bullets go over um. Him fool badpalefaces a heap."
"What's that?" fluttered Dick. "Do you mean that he wasn't hurt, Joe?"
"No hurt him much," asserted the old savage, "Strong Heart he have keeneye. He watch all the time. He see gun flash. He see smoke. He dropquick."
It was not easy to make Dick believe his brother had not been hurt, butFrank managed to convey to them by signals that he was all right. Theirrelief was unbounded. Indeed, Dick's eyes filled with a mist of joy,although his anxiety was intense, for he feared that his brother mightstill be in a position where the enemy could get further shots at him.Frank, however, hugged the rocks closely, and there was no moreshooting.
On the other side of the bowlders lay Macklyn Morgan, his evil heartfilled with triumph, for he believed Merriwell had been slain. Hisastonishment was unbounded when he heard Frank's voice calling his name.
"Morgan," called Merry, "can you hear me?"
"Yes, I hear you," answered the astounded villain. "So they didn't killyou outright, did they?"
"Hardly that," returned Merry. "They didn't even touch me."
"What did you say?" burst from Morgan. "Why, those men were the bestshots in our party! They were carefully chosen for this piece ofbusiness."
"A fine piece of business, Macklyn Morgan!" contemptuously retortedMerry. "And you planned it, I presume! You are a smooth-faced,hypocritical man of wealth, known far and wide and greatly respectedbecause of your riches. Yet you have descended to a piece of businesslike this! Sukes was bad enough, Morgan; but you're a hundred timesworse. You have failed in your most dastardly plot, just as you willfail in everything. Lie still, Macklyn Morgan. Keep close to those rockswhere you are, for if you show yourself you will be riddled by mywatching friends. From this time on your life will not be worth a pinchof snuff if they get a chance at you."
So the two men, the fearless youth and the treacherous money king, layeach sheltered by the bowlders while the sun sank in the west and dayslipped softly into night. When the shadows had deepened sufficiently,Frank crept away on his stomach toward the valley, taki
ng the utmostpains not to expose himself, and, through his skill in this, returned atlast in safety to his friends, who welcomed him joyously.
"Heap well done!" grunted old Joe. "But now Strong Heart him know morethan to trust um bad men. No do it some more."
Dick was able to repress his emotion, although Frank read in the fewwords his brother said the intense anxiety he had felt.
"What will be their next move?" exclaimed Hodge.
"They will attempt to overpower us by some sudden move to-night," saidFrank. "We must remain on the alert every moment."
The stars came out bright and clear, as they always do in thatSouthwestern land, and, if possible, their light seemed more brilliantthan usual. The night advanced, and still the enemy before them remainedsilent. It was Curry who discovered something down in the valley thatattracted his attention and interested him. He called the attention ofFrank, who saw down there a light waving to and fro and then in circles.
"Whatever does yer make of that, pard Merriwell?" asked Curry.
"It's a signal," said Frank--"a signal from Abe and Felicia. They areseeking to attract our attention. I must go down there at once."
"There's trouble of some sort down there, Frank," said Dick, who hadreached his brother's side. "Let's go quickly."
Merry found Bart and directed him to take charge of the defense at thatpoint and be constantly on the alert. With Dick close behind him, hehastened down the fissure leading into the valley. In the narrow placethrough which they descended the starlight was dim and uncertain, yetthey hastened with reckless speed. Reaching the valley, they madestraight for the cabin, where the signal light was still waving. As theydrew near, they saw the grotesque figure of little Abe swinging alighted torch over his head and then waving it round and round. Theflaring torch revealed Felicia, who stood near.
"What's the matter, Abe?" demanded Frank, as he dashed up.
"I am glad you saw it! I am glad you came!" said the boy. "Frank, thosemen are trying to get into the valley another way."
"Where? How?"
"Felicia saw them first. Some of them are on the other side."
"But there is no entrance save the one we are defending."
"They are planning to get in by descending the face of the precipice. Wesaw them creep down over the rocks, three or four of them, and it tookthem a long time. They have reached a precipice that is perpendicular."
"That should stop them."
"I watched them through your field glasses, which I found in the cabin.They were letting themselves down with the aid of ropes."
"Ropes?" exclaimed Dick.
"A new game," said Frank.
"Can they descend that way?" questioned the boy.
"It's possible," admitted Frank. "Show us where they are, Abe. Drop thattorch and lose not a moment."
The hunchback led the way, running on before them, and they followed himclosely. As they came at length to the vicinity of the precipice, theysaw through the pale starlight that Abe had spoken truly, for alreadylong lariats had been spliced together, and, by the aid of these, whichnow dangled from the top of the precipice to the bottom, one of the menhad already begun to descend. They saw the shadowy figure of hiscompanions waiting above, and it seemed that the men did not dare trustthemselves more than one at a time upon the spliced rope.
"We've got to stop that, Frank!" panted Dick.
"We will stop it," said Merry. "Don't attract attention. Let's getnearer."
They stole forward still nearer, watching the man as he came down slowlyand carefully. This man had descended almost half the distance when asudden rifle shot broke the stillness of the valley. Immediately, with acry, the dark form of a man dropped like a stone.
Frank and his companions had been startled by the shot, but Merryinstantly recognized the peculiar spang of the rifle.
"Old Joe!" whispered Merry.
As they stood there a silent figure came slipping toward them, and theold Indian stopped close at hand.
"Bad men no come down that way," he said quietly. "Joe him shoot prettygood--pretty good. Joe him think mebbe he shoot four, five, six times,he might cut rope. Joe him shoot once, him cut rope. Joe him gotrheumatism. Him pretty old, but him shoot pretty good."
"Was that what you fired at?" asked Merry, in astonishment. "You didn'tshoot at the man on the rope?"
"Plenty time to shoot man when Joe him find out he no cut rope," was theretort. "When rope him cut one man he come down pretty fast. Him strike,bump! Mebbe it jar him some."
"The fall must have killed him instantly," said Frank. "If you cut thatrope, Joe, you have spoiled their attack on this side of the valley.Stay here. Watch sharp, and make sure they don't resume the attempt. Ifthey do, Abe can signal again."
"All right," said Crowfoot. "Me watch."
With this assurance, Frank felt safe to return again to the defendersabove, and Dick returned with him. When he told what had taken place inthe valley Cap'n Wiley observed:
"I had it in for Joseph Crowfoot, Esquire, for calling meWind-in-the-head; but I will overlook the insult. Evidently the old boyis a whole army in himself."
As they lay waiting for the attack they fully expected must take place,there came to their ears from the direction in which the enemy wassupposed to be the sounds of shots, followed immediately by hoarseyelling and more shooting.
"Well, what do you make of that, Merry?" cried Hodge. "There seems to bea ruction of some sort going on over there."
Frank listened a few moments. The sound of the shooting receded, and theyelling seemed dying out in the distance.
"It may be a trick," he said; "but I am in hopes those ruffians havequarreled among themselves. If it is a trick, we will keep still andwait. Time will tell what has happened."
Time did tell, but all through the rest of the night they waited in vainfor the attack. When morning finally dawned the mountains lay silent inthe flood of light which poured from the rising sun. Nowhere was theenemy to be discovered.
Old Joe came up to them from the valley and declared that the men on theother side had been driven away. The fate of their comrade seemed todishearten them, and they had crept back like snails over the rocks andvanished during the night.
It was the old Indian who set out to find what had happened among thebesiegers led by Morgan. He slipped away among the rocks and brush andvanished like a phantom. He was gone an hour or more when he suddenlyreappeared and beckoned to them.
"Come see," he invited.
They knew it was safe to follow him, and they did so. Where the enemyhad been ensconced they found one man, sorely wounded and in a criticalcondition. That was all. The others, to the last rascal of them, hadvanished.
"Where have they gone, Joe?" exclaimed Frank.
"Ask him," directed the Indian, motioning toward the wounded man. "Mebbehe tell."
This man was questioned, and the story he told surprised and satisfiedthe defenders beyond measure. Disgusted over their failure to get intothe valley, the ruffians had plotted among themselves. A number of themhad devised a plan which to them seemed likely to be profitable. KnowingMacklyn Morgan was a very rich man, they had schemed to take himpersonally, carry him off, and hold him in captivity until he should paythem handsomely for his freedom. Not all the ruffians had been takeninto this plot, and when the schemers started to carry Morgan off therewas an outbreak and some shooting, but they got away successfully.
With Morgan and the leading spirits of the affair gone, the othersquickly decided to give up the assault on the valley, and that was whythey had departed in the night, leaving the wounded man behind to suchmercy as Merriwell and his friends might show.
"Well, what do you think of that?" exclaimed Dick.
"Think?" said Frank, with a laugh. "Why, I think Macklyn Morgan has beencaught in his own trap. Now let him get out of it!"