him."
"Well, you are dry and comfortable too," snapped Tish. "What do youexpect us to do?"
"Call him back. Let him sleep here by the fire. Give him something toeat; he looks starved. If you're afraid it isn't proper we can hang ourkimonos up for curtains and make him a separate room."
But we did not need to call him. He had limped back and stood in thefirelight again.
"You--you haven't seen anything of the bandits, have you?" he asked.
"Bandits!"
"Train robbers. I thought you had probably run across them."
All at once we remembered the green automobile and the four men withguns. We told him about it and he nodded.
"That would be they," he said. As Tish remarked later, we knew from thatinstant that he was a gentleman. Even Charlie Sands would probably havesaid "them." "They got away very rapidly, and I dare say an automobilewould be---- Did one of them have a red beard?"
"Yes," we told him. "The one who called to us."
Well, he said that on Monday night an express car on the C. & L.Railroad had been held up. The pursuit had gone in another direction,but he was convinced from what we said that they were there in ThunderCloud Glen!
As Tish said, the situation was changed if there were outlaws about. Wewere three defenseless women, and here was a man brought providentiallyto us! She asked him at once to join our party and look after us untilwe got to civilization again, or at least until the roads were dryenough to travel on.
"To look after you!" he said with a smile. "I, with a bad leg and noweapon!"
At that Aggie brought out her new revolver and gave it to him. Hewhistled when he looked at it. "Great Scott!" he said. "What a weaponfor a woman! Why, you don't need any help. You could kill all theoutlaws in the county at one loading!"
But finally he consented to take the revolver and even to accept theshelter of the cave for that night anyhow, although we had to beg him todo that. "How do you know I'll not get up in the night and take all yourvaluables and gallop away on your trusty steed before morning?" heasked.
"We'll take a chance," Tish said dryly. "In the first place, we havenothing more valuable than the portable stove; and in the second place,if you can make Modestine gallop you may have him."
It is curious, when I look back, to think how completely he won us all.He was young--not more than twenty-six, I think--and dressed for awalking tour, in knickerbockers, with a blue flannel shirt, heavy lowshoes and a soft hat. His hands were quite white. He kept running themover his chin, which was bluish, as if a day or two's beard wasbothering him.
We asked him if he was hungry, and he admitted that he could hardlyremember when he had eaten. So we made him some tea and buttered toast,and opened and heated a can of baked beans. He ate them all.
"Good gracious," he said, with the last spoonful, "what a world it wouldbe without women!"
At that he fell into a sort of study, looking at the fire, and we allsaw that he looked sad again and rather forlorn.
"Yes," Tish said, "you're all ready enough to shout 'Beware of woman'until you are hungry or uncomfortable or hurt, and then you are all justlittle boys again, crying for somebody to kiss the bump."
"But when it is a woman who has given the--er--bump?" he asked.
Aggie is romantic. Years ago she was engaged to a Mr. Wiggins, a roofer,who met with an accident due to an icy roof. She leaned forward andlooked at him with sympathy.
"That's it, is it?" she asked gently.
He tried to smile, but we could all see that he was suffering.
"Yes, that's it--partly at least," he said.
"That is, if it were not for a woman----" He stopped abruptly. "But whyshould I bother you with my troubles?"
We were curious, of course; but it is hardly good taste to ask a man toconfide his heartaches. As Tish said, the best cure for a masculineheartache is to make the man comfortable. We did all we could. I driedhis coat by the fire, and Tish made hot arnica compresses for his ankle,which was blue and swollen. I believe Aggie would gladly have sat by andheld his hand, but he had crawled into his shell of reserve again andwould not be coaxed out.
"I have a nephew about your age," Tish said when he objected to herbathing his ankle. "I'm doing for you what I should do for Charlie Sandsunder the same circumstances."
"Charlie Sands!" he said, and I was positive he started. But he saidnothing, and we only remembered that later. We were glad to have a manabout. Heaven only knows why women persist in regarding men as absoluteprotection against fire, burglars and lightning. But they do. A sharpstorm came up at that time, and ordinarily Aggie would have been in hersleeping-bag, with Modestine's saddle on top by way of extra protection.But now, from sheer bravado, she went to the mouth of the cave and stoodlooking out at the lightning.
"Come and look at it, Tish!" she said.
"It's---- Good gracious! There's a man across the valley with a gun!"
We all ran to the mouth of the cave except the walking-tour gentleman,who had his foot in a collapsible basin of arnica and hot water. Butnone of us saw Aggie's man.
When we went back: "Wouldn't it be better to darken things up a bit?" hesuggested. "If there are bandits round it isn't necessary to send out awelcome to them, you know."
This seemed only sensible. We put the fire out and sat in the warmdarkness. And that was when our gentleman told us his story.
"Ladies," he began, "in saying that I am on a walking tour I am tellingthe truth, but only part of the truth. I am on a walking tour, but notfor pleasure. To be frank, I--I am after the outlaws who robbed theexpress car on the C. & L. Railroad Monday night."
I heard Aggie gasp in the dark.
"Did you expect to capture them with a walking-stick?" Tish demanded.She might treat his ankle as she would treat Charlie Sands' ankle,but--Tish has not Aggie's confidence in people, or mine.
"Perfectly well taken," he said good-humoredly. "I left home with anentire arsenal in my knapsack, but, as I say, I lost everything when Ifell into the flooded creek. Everything, that is, but my----"
"Good name?" Aggie suggested timidly.
"Determination. That I still have. Ladies, I'm not going backempty-handed."
"Then you are in the Government service?" Tish asked with more respect.
"Have you ever heard of George Muldoon, generally known as Felt-hatMuldoon?"
Had we? Weren't the papers full of him week after week? Wasn't itMuldoon who had brought back the communion service to my church, withnothing missing and only a dent in one of the silver pitchers? Hadn't hejust sent up Tish's own Italian fruit dealer for writing blackhandletters? Wasn't he the best sheriff the county had ever had?
"Muldoon!" gasped Tish. "You Muldoon!"
"Not tonight or for the next two or three days. After that---- Tonight,ladies, and for a day or two, why not adopt me to be your nephew--whatwas his name--Sands?--accompanying you on a walking tour?"
Adopt him! The great Muldoon! We'd have married him if he had said theword, name and all. We sat back and stared at him, open-mouthed. Tothink that he had come to us for help, and that in aiding him we werefurthering the cause of justice!
He talked for quite a long time in the darkness, telling us of hisadventures. He remembered perfectly about getting back the silver forthe church, and about Tish's Italian, and then at last, finding us goodlisteners, he told about the girl.
"Is it--er--money?" Aggie breathlessly asked.
"Well--partly," he admitted. "I don't make much, of course."
"But with the rewards and all that?" asked Aggie, who'd been sittingforward with her mouth open.
"Rewards? Oh, well, of course I get something that way. But it isn'tsteady money. A chap can't very well go to a girl's father and tell himthat, if somebody murders somebody else and escapes and he captures him,he can pay the rent and the grocery bill."
"Is she pretty?" asked Aggie.
"Beautiful!" His tone was ardent enough to please even Aggie.
He sat without speaking for a
time, and none of us liked to interrupthim. Outside it had stopped raining, and the moon was coming up over theCamel's Back. We could hear Modestine stirring in the thicket and awatery ray of moonlight came into the cave and threw our shadows againstthe wall.
"If only," said Sheriff Muldoon thoughtfully--"If only I could get myhands on that chap with the red beard!"
We all went to bed soon after. Aggie, as usual, went to sleep at once,and soon, from, behind the kimono screen across the cave, loud noisestold us that Mr. Muldoon also slept. It was then that Tish