CHAPTER V
A LOAD OF BUCKSHOT
Since he had turned back, far out on the desert, and braved the storm toinspect the Paymaster Mine, Wiley Holman had met nothing but disaster;but as he lay on the ground with one leg full of buckshot he blamed itall on the Widow. Without warning or justification, without even givinghim a chance, she had sneaked up and potted him like a rabbit; and now,as men came running to witness his shame, she gloried in her badness.
"Aha-ah!" she jeered, coming back to stand over him and Wiley reachedfor a stone.
"You old she-cat," he burst out, "you say another word to me and I'llbounce this rock off your head!"
He groaned and dropped the rock to take his leg in both hands, and thenVirginia rushed to the rescue.
"How badly are you hurt?" she asked, kneeling down beside him, but hejerked ungraciously away.
"Go away and leave me alone!" he shouted to the world at large and theWidow took the hint to withdraw. Then in a series of frenzied cursesWiley stripped off his puttee and felt of his injured leg. It was wetwith blood and two shot-holes in his shin-bone were giving him the mostexquisite pain; the rest were just flesh-wounds where the buckshot hadpierced his leggings and imbedded themselves in the muscles. He lookedthem over hastily by the light of a flashing lantern and then he rose upfrom the ground.
"Gimme that gun for a crutch!" he demanded of the Widow; and Mrs. Huff,who had been surveying her work with awe, passed over the shotgun insilence. "All right, now," he went on, turning to Death Valley Charley,who had been patiently holding his lantern, "just show me the trail andI'll get out of camp before some crazy dastard ups and kills me."
"That was Stiff Neck George," observed Charley mysteriously. "He'sguarding the Paymaster for Blount."
"Who--that fellow that was after me?" burst out Wiley in a passion as hehobbled off down the trail. "What the hell was he trying to do? Thewhole rotten mine isn't worth stealing from anybody. What's the matterwith you people--are you crazy?"
"Well, that's all right!" returned the Widow from the darkness. "Youcan't sneak in and jump _my_ mine!"
"_Your_ mine, you old tarrier!" yelled Wiley furiously. "You'dbetter go to town and look it up. The whole danged works is mine--Ibought it in for taxes!"
"You--what?" cried the Widow, brushing Virginia and Charley aside andhalting him in the trail. "You bought the Paymaster for _taxes_!"
"Yes, for taxes," answered Wiley, "and got stung at that! Gimmeeighty-three dollars and forty-one cents and you can have it back,with costs. But now listen, you old battle-ax; I've taken enough offof you. You went up on my property when I was making an inspection ofit and made an attempt on my life; and if I hear a peep out of you,from this time on, I'll go down and swear out a warrant."
"I didn't aim to kill you," defended the Widow, weakly. "I just tried toshoot you in the leg."
"Well, you did it," returned Wiley, and, pushing; her aside, he limpedon down the trail. The Widow followed meekly, talking in low tones withher daughter, and at last Virginia came up beside him.
"Take him right to our house," she said to Charley, "and I'll nurse himuntil he gets well."
"No, you take me to the Holman house!" directed Wiley, obstinately. "Iguess we've got a house of our own."
"Well, suit yourself," she murmured, and fell back to the rear whileWiley went hobbling on. At every step he jabbed the muzzle of theshotgun vindictively into the ground, but as he reached the flat and meta posse of citizens, he submitted to being carried on a door. The firstpain had passed and a deadly numbness seemed to take the place of itsbite; but as he moved his stiffened muscles, which were beginning toache and throb, he realized that he was badly hurt. With a leg like thathe could not drive out across the desert, seventy-four long miles toVegas; nor would he, on the other hand, find the best of accommodationsin the deserted house of his father. It had been a great home in itsday, but that day was past, and the water connections too, and somebodymust be handy to wait on him.
"Say," he said, turning to Death Valley Charley, "have you got a househere in town? Well, take me to it and I'll pay you well, and foranything else that you do."
"It won't cost you nothing," answered Charley quickly. "I used to knowyour father."
"Well, you knew a good man then," replied Wiley grimly, but Death Valleydid not respond. The Widow Huff was listening behind; and besides, hehad his doubts.
"I'll run on ahead," said Charley noncommittally, and when Wiley arriveda canvas cot was waiting for him, fully equipped except for the sheets.Virginia came in later with a pair on her arm, and after a look atCharley's greasy blankets Wiley allowed her to spread them on the bed.Then, as Death Valley laid a grimy paw on his leg and began to pick outthe shot Wiley jerked away and asked Virginia impatiently if she didn'thave a little carbolic.
"Aw, he'll be all right," protested Charley cheerfully, as Virginiapushed him aside; "them buckshot won't hurt him much, nohow. Jest put onsome pine pitch and a chew of tobacco and he'll fall off to sleep like achild."
He stood blinking helplessly as Virginia heated some water and poured ina teaspoonful of carbolic, then as she bathed the wounds and picked outthe last shot, Charley placed a disc on his phonograph.
"Does he want some music?" he inquired of Heine, who was sitting up andbegging, but Virginia put down her foot. "No, Charley," she said with aforbidding frown, "you go ask mother for a needle and thread."
"He's kind of crazy to-night," she whispered to Wiley, when Death Valleywas safely out of sight, "you'd better come over to the house."
"Huh, I guess we're all crazy," answered Wiley, laughing shortly. "I canstand it--but how does he act?"
"Oh, he hears things--and gets messages--and talks about Death Valley.He got lost over there, three years ago last August, and the heat kindof cooked his brains. He heard your automobile, when you came backto-night--that's why mother and all the rest of them went over to themine to get you. I'm sorry she shot you up."
"Well, don't you care," he said reassuringly. "But she sure overplayedher hand."
"Yes, she did," acknowledged Virginia, trying not to quarrel with herpatient, "but, of course, she didn't know about that tax sale."
"Well, she knows it now," he answered pointedly, and when Charley cameback they were silent. Virginia bandaged up his wound and slipped awayand then Wiley lay back and sighed. There had been a time when he andVirginia had been friends, but now the fat was in the fire. It was herfighting mother, of course, and their quarrel about the Paymaster; butbehind it all there was the old question between their fathers, and heknew that his father was right. He had not rigged the stock market, hehad not cheated Colonel Huff, and he had not tried to get back the mine.That was a scheme of his own, put on foot on his own initiative--andbrought to nothing by the Widow. He had hoped to win over Virginia andeffect a reconciliation, but that hole in his leg told him all too wellthat the Widow could never be fooled. And, since she could not beplacated, nor bought off, nor bluffed, there was nothing to do but quit.The world was large and there were other Virginias, as well as otherPaymasters--only it seemed such a futile waste. He sighed again and thenDeath Valley Charley burst out into a cackling laugh.
"I heard you," he said, "I heard you coming--away up there in the pass.Chuh, chuh, chuh, chud, chud, chud, chud; and I told Virginny you wascoming."
"Yes, I heard about it," answered Wiley sourly, "and then you told theWidow."
"Oh, no, I didn't!" exulted Charley. "She'd've killed you, sure asshooting. I just told Virginny, that's all."
"Oh!" observed Wiley, and lay so still that Charley regarded himintently. His eyes were blue and staring like a newborn babe's, butbehind their look of childlike innocence there lurked a crafty smile.
"I told her," went on Charley, "that you was coming to git her and takeher away in your auto. She's a nice girl, Virginny, and never rode inone of them things--I never thought you'd try to steal her mine."
"I did not!" denied Wiley, but Death Valley only smiled and waved th
ematter aside.
"Never mind," he said, "they're all crazy, anyhow. They get that wayevery north wind. I'm here to take care of them--the Colonel asked meto, and keep people from stealing his mine. It's electricity that doesit--it's about us everywhere--and that's what makes 'em crazy; butelectricity is my servant; I bend it to my will; that's how I come tohear you. I heard you coming back, away out on the desert, and I knowedyour heart wasn't right. You was coming back to rob the Colonel of hismine; and the Colonel, he saved my life once. He ain't dead, you know,he's over across Death Valley in them mountains they call the Ube-Hebes.Yes, I was lost on the desert and he followed my tracks and found me,running wild through the sand-hills; and then Virginia and Mrs. Huff,they looked after me until my health returned."
"You can hear pretty well, then," suggested Wiley diplomatically. "Youmust know everything that goes on."
"It's the electricity!" declared Charley. "It's about us everywhere, andthat's what makes them crazy. All these desert rats are crazy, it's theelectric storms that does it--Nevada is a great state for winds. Butwhen they comes a sandstorm, and Mrs. Huff she wraps up her head, I feelthe power coming on. I can hear far away and then I can hear close--Imake the electricity my slave. But the rest, they go crazy; they haveheadaches and megrims, and Mrs. Huff she always wants to fight; but I'mhere to take care of 'em--the Colonel asked me to, so you keep away fromthat mine."
"Oh, sure," responded Wiley, "I won't bother the mine. As soon as I'mwell I'll go home."
"No, you stay," returned Charley, becoming suddenly confidential."I'll show you a mountain of gold. It's over across Death Valley, inthe Ube-Hebes; the Colonel is over there now."
"Is that so?" inquired Wiley, and Charley looked at him strangely, as ifdazed.
"Aw, no; of course not!" he burst out angrily. "I forgot--the Colonel isdead. You Heine; come over here, sir."
Heine crept up unwillingly and Charley slapped him. "Now--shut up!" headmonished and went off into crazy mutterings.
"What's that?" he cried, rousing up suddenly to listen, and a savagelook replaced the blank stare. "Can't you hear him?" he asked. "It'sStiff Neck George--he's coming up the alley to kill you. Here, take mygun; and when he opens the door you fill him full of holes!"
Wiley listened intently, then he reached for the heavy pistol and satup, watching the door. The wind soughed and howled and rattled at thewindows, over which Charley had stretched heavy blankets, and it seemedto his startled imagination that someone was groping at the door. Thememory of the skulking form that had followed him rose up with thedistinctness of a vision and at a knock on the door he cocked his pistoland beckoned Death Valley to one side.
"Come in!" he called, but as the door swung open it was Virginia whostood facing his gun.
"O--oh!" she screamed, and then she flushed angrily as Charley began tolaugh.
"Well, laugh then, you fool," she said to Wiley, "and when you'rethrough, just look at this that we found!"
She held up the ore-bag that Wiley had lost and strode dramatically in."Look at that!" she cried, and strewing the white quartz on the tableshe pointed her finger in his face. "You stole my specimen!" she criedaccusingly. "That's why you came back for more. But you give it back tome--I want it this minute. I see you're honest--like your father!"
She spat it out venomously, more venomously than was needful, for hewas already fumbling for the rock; and when he gave it back he smiledover-scornfully and his lower lip mounted up.
"All right," he said, "you don't have to holler for it. You're gettingto be just like your mother."
"I'm not!" she denied, but after looking at him a minute she burst intotears and fled.