CHAPTER VII
WHERE TO HIDE
For the space of several seconds Rathburn and his captive looked intoeach other's eyes. Rathburn's gaze was keen, alert, fired by the quickthinking he was doing. Stark terror showed in the other's look whichgradually changed to one of haunting fear and indecision. Then hiseyes became clear and he returned Rathburn's glance, cool andquestioning.
"Get your horse," ordered Rathburn, running to his own mount.
In a twinkling he had tightened his cinch, caught up the reins, andvaulted into the saddle. His captive was at his side shortlyafterward.
"You're still in the lead," Rathburn snapped out; "unless you want towait for 'em."
The other whirled his horse, sent him flying for the western end ofthe pocket, with Rathburn close behind. They went up a steep, rockytrail, screened by boulders. When they reached the top of the west rimthey looked back and saw four horsemen on the shale slope leading tothe pocket. Brown evidently had split up his posse and was literallycombing the hills for his quarry.
"They'll know they're on the right trail when they see the remains ofour dinner an' my pack down there," remarked Rathburn dryly.
"But they haven't seen us yet," said Percy breathlessly. "If we canmake Sunrise Canon Trail we can lose 'em in the mountains--that is if_you_ want to lose 'em."
"Where's the trail?" asked Rathburn.
"'Bout five miles west. It's the only trail goin' up into the bigmountains between here an' the other side of the Dry Lake range, an'it's a tough one."
Rathburn quickly sized up the country ahead. He saw low and highridges with towering mountains to the right, or north, of them. Therewere scattering pines on the slopes and patches of timber in the wideravines, many of which were veritable valleys.
"We'll run for it while they're getting in an' out of that hole," hesuddenly decided with a click of his teeth. "Their horses are in nobetter shape than ours. Slope along."
The other had dug in his spurs even before he got the order. They rodeswiftly down the steep trail from the rim of the pocket and fledacross an open space and up the slope of the first ridge.
Rathburn looked back as they crossed it, but could see no sign oftheir pursuers. His face still was troubled; his gaze kept boring intothe back of the man on the horse ahead of him. At times he muttered tohimself.
They galloped up the hard bed of a dry arroyo and swung westwardacross another rock-bound ridge, picking their way carefully among theboulders. Rathburn's face became more and more strained as he notedthat the leader evidently knew the country they were in like a book.Rathburn, with the experience born of years spent in the open places,was able to keep his bearings.
They had followed a course for some miles north of the main trailleading east, the trail by which he had first come into the locality.Then they had doubled back westward, some miles above that trail, ofcourse, and now were heading almost due north again, in the directionof the mountains which did not appear to be far away. He surmised thatthey were nearly directly north of the ranch where he had had the mealwith the girl and boy.
At the top of the next ridge his guide pointed above them.
"See that crack in the mountain?" he said.
Rathburn nodded as he made out what appeared to be a gash in the steepside of a mountain north of them.
"That's Sunrise Canon," said the other quietly. "There's a trail upthat canyon into the heart of the mountains where they couldn't catchus--or you, if you want to go alone--in a hundred years!"
He stared steadily at Rathburn.
"Mosey along, then," said Rathburn. "Let's get somewheres before ourhorses drop."
They kept along the ridge until it was cut by a canyon. Here theydescended and entered another long, narrow ravine which theynegotiated at a gallop. At its upper end they again climbed a steepslope. Their horses were showing the strain of the hours of hardriding. Rathburn realized that they could go but a limited distance.But the members of the posse most assuredly must be in the same fix sofar as their mounts were concerned.
He decided that if they could get into the canyon unseen they would beable to rest their horses and remain secure for the night. Nextmorning they could continue on up into the hills, or slip back by aroundabout way to Dry Lake.
His lips froze into a thin white line. He did not look at the man withhim as they paused for a few moments under the trees which covered thetop of the ridge and gazed at a long, gently sloping stretch of nearlyopen country. It was covered with clumps of trees at intervals, thatreached to the dark, narrow opening in the mountains, marking theentrance to Sunrise Canon and the trail to the fastnesses of thehigher hills.
"You can swing off here to the left an' down a wide valley to wherethere's a cut-off into Dry Lake," he heard his captive suggesting. "Idon't see any sense in all this hard ridin' an' hidin' if you're goin'to turn me in."
"We'll go on," growlingly replied Rathburn.
They descended the ridge and entered the long, sloping valley, so widethat it virtually was a plain. They made good headway, although theyfavored their horses. They took advantage of the shelter provided bythe occasional clumps of pines. The afternoon was drawing to a closewith the sun dipping sharply toward the western hills when they camein sight of the entrance to the canyon. But with the first glimpse theychecked their horses and turned into the shelter of some trees nearby.
"Beat us to it!" exclaimed Percy.
"Four of 'em," said Rathburn, frowning. "Brown ain't taking anychances. He's a better man than I figured him out. An' there's more of'em!"
He pointed westward where two riders were barely discernible on thecrest of a ridge. They disappeared almost immediately in the timberbelow.
"We'll turn back," Rathburn decided. "We'll ride with the treesbetween us an' the men up at the canyon, an' keep an eye out for thepair to the west. You might watch that side, an' I'll look out for theeast an' south. C'mon, let's drift."
The face of the man who called himself Percy was white and strained asthey urged their tired mounts southward. They skirted the western endof the ridge by which they had gained the wide valley and continuedon, carefully scanning the landscape in all directions for indicationsof pursuit. It was plain to them that they had been seen to leave theeast trail early that morning. Brown and his men undoubtedly knew theyhad headed north, and the justice had immediately dispatched men toguard the entrance to the canyon trail into the mountains. Then theyhad begun a systematic search of the locality.
This deduction was strengthened when Rathburn suddenly pointed towardthe east. More riders were to be seen on the slope of the valley'sside in that direction. Even as they looked, these riders, too,disappeared from view as they dropped down behind a rise of ground.
The sun was going down fast. Already the red banners of the sunsetwere flaunted in the high western skies. The twilight would be uponthem apace--the long-lasting, purple-veiled twilight of the altitudes.Then the night would close down with its canopy of stars.
Rathburn looked speculatively at his companion. "We'll make a breakfor that clump of trees about a quarter of a mile ahead with all ourhorses have got left," he said, driving in his spurs.
In a last mad dash which taxed every iota of strength and enduranceleft in their beasts they gained the shelter of the little patch oftimber.
"Here we'll wait," said Rathburn coolly as he dismounted.
"What?" cried the other, staring at him incredulously. "We ain't quitesurrounded yet. We haven't seen anybody in the south. That way may beopen an' it's liable to be closed while we're stayin' here."
"Get off your horse and unsaddle him," commanded Rathburn sternly."The best place to hide from a posse is in the middle of it!"