CHAPTER XIII.
THE HUT IN THE HILLS.
The Red Flier made fine work of the climb, rounding the crest of thegully-bank in excellent form. The road they were after lay in plainsight, with smooth ground between.
"Which way now, Pringle?" asked Matt, when they had reached the trail.
"Turn to the right," answered Pringle. "You and your new partner arein luck, Pretzel," he added, when the turn was made and the car wasskimming along toward the adobe hut and Tomlinson. "You'll cut a finelarge cake when you break in on Mr. Gotrocks and tell him he's saved,and that you're prepared to hand him all the pearls in the bag. Wish Ihad you for the next twenty-four hours, Dutch."
"Oof you hat blayed skevare mit me, Pringle," replied Carl, "youvouldn't haf peen in sooch a mix. I alvays t'ought you vas a pad egg,aber you know how to blay der panjo."
"Sure, and we make a good team. How'll it be if I meet you inBrockville, after I get away, and we hit up Needles with the sketch?All the stuff's at Needles."
"Say, I vouldn't haf nodding more to do mit you. I'm for Tenver sokevick as I can ged dere."
"Well, be jeerful, be jeerful."
"Schust vatch my shmoke a leedle und see. Vill you send my shtuff pyTenver?"
"I will, so help me!"
"You vill--I don'd t'ink. You check der trunk, hey?"
"Sure."
"Vere iss der check?"
"In my jeans. Going to frisk me for it?"
Carl pushed his hand into Pringle's trousers pocket, and dug up a brasstag.
"Vell," said he, "you dit tell der trut'. I vill keep der sheck,Pringle, und ven I got some time I vill sendt it on und have derpaggage come to me ad Tenver."
"What about my stuff? You ain't going to hog the whole business, areyou?"
"Vell, oof you know anypody in Tenver, I vill leaf your shtuff anyblace vat you say."
"Andy Hickman has a saloon there. Leave it with him. What's the use ofkeeping me tied any longer? You might just as well take off the rope."
"Not until we see how we find things in the hut in the hills," saidMatt.
"Yah," agreed Carl, "meppy you vas sdringing us. How ve know dot undilve findt it oudt?"
"Have I strung you any, so far?" protested Pringle.
"It vas all righdt, so far, aber somet'ing mighdt come oop farder on.Hey, Matt?"
"That's right, Carl," answered Matt. "We'll keep him a prisoner untilwe find Tomlinson."
This road, like the one they had left, angled about through the hills.They passed one vehicle--a buckboard with two passengers--going in theother direction.
The horses attached to the buckboard were not used to automobiles, andshied badly. Matt slowed to a stop while the driver of the team wasgoing past.
"Seen anything of another automobile, mister?" called Matt.
"Nary, I haven't," answered one of the men, "although I hear LemNugent, o' Ash Fork, has been blowin' himself fer one o' the things."
The horses danced past on their hind legs, and Matt started up again.
"There's the Fork," announced Pringle, a few minutes later, nodding hishead toward the left. "This is as near as we come to the town."
They were forging along rising ground, just then, and the huddle ofbuildings that represented the town lay below them, and about a mileaway.
"How far is the hut from here, Pringle?" asked Matt.
"Twenty-five miles, I should say, at a rough guess," was the answer."We'll cross the railroad in another mile, and after that you'd betterlook for buzz-wagon tracks in the dust. If you see any, then you canbank heavy that Hank and Spang are ahead of you."
"Couldn't they go the other road?"
"They could, but they wouldn't. They'd make a nice picture runningthrough town, Hank with a gun at the driver's head, wouldn't they? Nix.They'll keep in the background as much as they can--and this road ispretty well back. They don't want to be seen by anybody but us, justnow, Hank and Spang don't."
"Does this road run into the Ash Fork trail?"
"Yep--a mile t'other side of the hut. The hut's between the two roads,close to this and not so close to the other. If the hut had been closerto the other road, maybe Hank, Spang, and I would have heard Denny whenhe cut loose from us with this car."
The Red Flier descended a slope just then, crossed the railroad-track,and climbed another slope beyond.
Matt was worrying about the other car. There were no tracks in theroad, so it was certain the runabout hadn't passed that way as yet, butthere was plenty of time for it to reach the road and catch up with theRed Flier.
The one thing to do was to travel at speed, forestalling possibleinterference from Hank and Spang by getting well ahead of them.
During the rest of the trip, which Matt made at the top gait, notravelers or vehicles were met. The twenty-five miles were covered inthirty minutes, and when Pringle called on Matt to stop, he brought theRed Flier to a standstill at a place where the hills rose steeply oneach side of the trail.
"Here we are," said Pringle.
"The hut is on the left side of the road?" queried Matt.
"Through that gouge," and Pringle, with a nod, indicated a break in thehills. "Going to take me along?"
"I guess I can find the place, all right," answered Matt. "You can stayhere with Carl until I see if things are as you say."
"What if Hank and Spang come along?"
Matt turned to the Dutch boy.
"You have that revolver, Carl," said he, "and if you see the other car,or hear it, fire a signal. I'll not be gone any longer than I can help."
"I vill keep a sharp lookoudt, you bed you," answered Carl, "und I villshoot oof I vant you. Mach schnell, Matt, for I haf der feeling in mypones dot somet'ing iss going crossvays."
Without pausing for further talk, Matt ran into the passage betweenthe hills. A hundred feet carried him through it and out upon a littleplateau. Here there was a spring, a thicket of manzanita, and a smallruin of a house. Opposite the point where Matt came upon the plateauwas another narrow valley, leading toward the east and apparentlycommunicating with the other road.
Hurrying to the house, Matt stepped through an unclosed breach in themud wall that had once served for a door. The gloomy interior blindedhim for a space and it was impossible for him to see any one.
"You scoundrel!" cried an impassioned voice. "Untie these ropes and letus go at once. You will save yourself trouble if you do that, and giveme back that bag of pearls. There's law in this country yet, and I'llmake it my business to see that it reaches you."
Gradually, as Matt's eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he made outthe forms of two men seated on a bench along one of the walls.
"Are you Mr. Tomlinson, of Denver?" inquired Matt, stepping toward theman who had spoken.
"My name, sir," was the haughty reply. "How long are you going to leaveus here, without a mouthful of food and no water to drink? By gad,you'll suffer for this!"
"You're mistaken, Mr. Tomlinson," said the young motorist. "I'm notone of the robbers, and had nothing to do with putting you here. By astroke of luck I have been able to recover your pearls and to find outwhere you were. Your car is waiting in the west road, and I am here torelease you and take you to Ash Fork."
This startling news left Tomlinson speechless for a moment.
"You--you have come to release us?" he returned.
"Yes," and Matt, with an open knife in his hand, passed to the benchand began severing the cords that held Tomlinson and his chauffeur tothe hard seat.
The prisoners had been in their cramped positions all night, and whenthe ropes fell away, so numb were their limbs that they could hardlyhold themselves upright.
"Give us some water," begged Tomlinson.
There was a canteen lying on the floor. Matt picked it up, found thatit was full, and uncapped it and held it to Tomlinson's lips.
"The villains that brought us here," spoke up the chauffeur, "left thatcanteen, but they never stopped to figure out how we were to get at itwith our
hands tied."
"They were willing, Gregory," said Tomlinson, "to let us starve anddie, right here. I never thought a set of men could be such inhumanwretches. But who are you, young man?"
"My name is King, Matt King," replied the youth.
"You say that by a stroke of luck you were able to get my pearls andfind out where I had been left? I wish you would explain how----"
"I haven't time to explain anything, just now, as we may be interferedwith by the robbers at any moment. They have stolen a fast motor-carand are chasing us. If you and your chauffeur are able to walk, Mr.Tomlinson, we'd better get to the west road as soon as we can. Thethieves----"
A noise at the door caused Matt to whirl in that direction. He wasastounded to see Spangler standing in the entrance.