CHAPTER XXIX.
A TRAMP WITH THE ROBBERS.
"Oh, it is gold!" exclaimed Jake, as Bob took the bag and bent overit; "it is not iron pyrites."
"Stow that about your clothes, Jake, and then we'll go on," said Bob;"and we want you boys to gather up provisions enough to last you forthree or four days. But, in the first place, where are yourrevolvers?"
"Don't you see them hung up there, in plain sight?" asked Jack,pointing to the articles in question, which were suspended from therack of the lean-to, in plain sight. "What are you going to do withus?"
"We are going to take you a three days' journey with us, and then turnyou loose."
"Why can't you let us go now?" queried Julian. "We have nothing elsethat is worth stealing."
"No, but you are too close to Dutch Flat," Jake replied. "We haven'tgot anything against you, and when we get out there in themountains--"
"You might as well shoot us on the spot as to lose us among thesehills. I pledge you my word that we will not stir a step--"
"That is all very well," interrupted Bob with a shake of his headwhich told the boys that he had already decided on his plan; "but, yousee, it don't go far enough. If you don't go to the miners, the minerswill come here to you, so we think you would be safer with us. Gatherup your grub and let us get away from here."
The boy saw very plainly that Bob and Jake wanted to make their escapefrom the miners sure; so Julian collected some bacon and hard-tack,which he wrapped up in a blanket and fixed to sling over hisshoulders. There was one thing that encouraged him--"if he did not goto the miners, the miners would come after him"--and proved that theymust in some way have had their suspicions aroused against Bob andJake. Jack also busied himself in the same way, and in a very fewminutes the boys were ready to start.
"I must say you are tolerably cool ones, to let ten or fifteenthousand dollars be taken from you in this way," remarked Bob, who waslost in admiration of the indifferent manner in which the boys obeyedall orders. "I have seen some that would have been flurried to deathby the loss of so much money."
"If Claus, here, told the truth, they have a whole block of buildingsto fall back on," answered Jake. "But maybe that is a lie, too."
"No, he told you the truth there," said Julian. "He tried to cheat usout of those buildings while we were in St. Louis--"
"I never did it in this world!" declared Claus, emphatically.
"Did you not claim to be our uncle?" asked Julian.
"Uncle!" ejaculated Jack. "Great Scott!"
Claus did not attempt to deny this. Bob and Jake were almost withinreach of him, and they looked hard at him to see what he would say,and he was afraid to affirm that there was no truth in the statementfor fear of something that might happen afterward. He glanced at theboys, who were looking steadily at him, and Jack moved a step or twonearer to him with his hands clenched and a fierce frown on his face,all ready to knock him down if he denied it; so Claus thought it bestnot to answer the question at all.
"You won't think it hard of me if I hit him a time or two?" askedJack.
"Come here and behave yourself," said Julian, walking up and takingJack by the arm. "I think, if the truth was known, he is in a worsefix than we are."
"But he claims to be my uncle!" exclaimed Jack.
The tone in which these words were uttered, and Jack's anger over theclaim of relationship, caused Bob and Jake to break out into a roar oflaughter.
"We'll take your word for it," said Bob, as soon as he could speak;"but we can't waste any more time here. Follow along after me, andJake will bring up the rear."
Bob at once set off to the spot where they had left their provisions,and, having picked them up, led the way down the almost perpendicularside of the ravine until they reached the bottom. Now and then hewould look over his shoulder at Jack, who was following close behindhim, and would break into another peal of laughter.
"So you didn't want that fellow to claim relationship with you?" saidhe. "Well, I don't blame you. He has done nothing but tell us one packof lies after another ever since we met him. The only thing that hadthe least speck of truth in it was that we should find you here at thehaunted mine."
This remark was made in a low tone, so that it did not reach the earsof Claus, who was following some distance behind. If Claus had notseen already that he was in a "fix," he ought to have seen it now.
"Now, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us what you are going to dowith us," Jack ventured to say, in reply.
"Well, the men there at Dutch Flat are hot on our trail now," assertedBob.
"How do you know that?"
"Because our mule got away from us when we tried to shove him over thebluff. We wanted to destroy everything we had that we could not carryon our backs, but he got away from us. Banta warned us against comingup here, and we fooled him by making him believe we were goingstraight down to Denver; but he will be after us now. If he comes, hehad better take us unawares; that's all."
"We don't want to see that fight," remarked Jack. "You'll let us gobefore that comes off?"
"Oh, yes; when we get you so deep in the mountains that you can't findyour way back readily, why, then we'll let you go. If you behaveyourselves, you won't get hurt."
Bob led the way at a more rapid pace when they reached the bottom ofthe gorge, jumping from rock to rock, and climbing over fallen treesthat lay in their road, and Jack followed his example. He knew thatBob was making the trail more difficult to follow, but it was done inorder to keep out of argument with his charge; for Bob often stopped,whenever he came to a place that took some pains to get over, and sawthat those who were following him left no tracks behind them.
"There!" said Bob, pulling off his hat and looking back at the waythey had come; "I reckon Banta will find some trouble in tracking usup here. I am hungry, and we'll stop here and have something to eat."
After they had satisfied their appetites they took a little time torest, and then set off again at a more rapid pace than ever. It wasalmost dark when they stopped to camp for the night. The boys weretired, and they showed it as soon as they had disposed of their baconand hard-tack by wrapping their blankets about them and lying down tosleep, with their feet to the fire. Their slumber was as sound asthough they were surrounded by friends instead of being in the powerof those who had robbed them of their hard-earned wealth.
It seemed to them that they had scarcely closed their eyes when theywere awakened by the sound of footsteps moving about, and threw offtheir blankets in time to see Bob cutting off a slice of bacon. It wasas dark as pitch in the woods, and the boys did not see how Bob was tofind his way through them.
"It will be light enough by the time we have our breakfast eaten,"said he, in response to the inquiry of Julian. "You have a watch withyou. What time is it?"
Julian had a watch with him, it is true, but he had been careful howhe drew it out in the presence of Bob and Jake. It had no chainattached to it, and the boy was not aware that Bob knew anything aboutit; but he produced the gold timepiece and announced that it was justfive o'clock. This was another thing over which Julian had had anargument with Jack, who believed that, with the money he had at hisdisposal, he ought to have the best watch that could be procured, and,in spite of Jack's arguments, he had purchased the best Americanpatent lever he could find. Jack's watch was an ordinary silver one,and he said that by it he could tell the time when dinner was ready aswell as he could by a good timepiece.
"Do you want this watch?" asked Julian, because he thought the man whowould steal his money would not be above stealing his watch also.
"Oh, no," replied Bob, with a laugh; "you can keep that. I wanted yourmoney, and, now that I have it, I am satisfied."
By the time breakfast was cooked and eaten there was light enough toshow them the way, and Bob once more took the lead. There was no trailto guide them--nothing but the gully, which twisted and turned in somany ways that Julian almost grew heart-sick when he thought offinding his way back there in company with
Jack. More than once he wason the point of asking Bob if he did not think they had gone farenough, but the man had been so friendly and good-natured all the timethat he did not want to give him a chance to act in any other way. Sohe kept with him during that long day's tramp, looking into all thegullies he crossed, and once or twice he slyly reached behind him andpulled down a branch of an evergreen that happened to come in hisway.
"That's the way our women used to do in old Revolutionary times whenthey were captured and wanted to leave some trail for their rescuersto follow," soliloquized Julian; "but Bob doesn't take any notice ofit."
"Well, I reckon we'll stop here for the night," remarked Bob, when itgot so dark that he could scarcely see. "This is as far as we shallask you to go with us, Julian. I suppose you are mighty glad to getclear of us."
"Yes, I am," assented Julian, honestly. "If you will give us what youhave in your pockets, you can go your way and we will make no attemptto capture you."
"Oh, we couldn't think of that! You have wealth enough to keep you allyour lives, and I have struggled for ten years to gain a fortune, andto-day I have just got it."
"What would you do if somebody should catch you along the trail,somewhere? You would come in for a hanging, sure."
"Don't you suppose we know all that? It is a good plan for you tocatch your man before you hang him. We have two revolvers apiece, andyou know what that means."
"You don't count Claus worth anything, then," remarked Jack.
"Eh? Oh, yes, we do," exclaimed Bob, who wondered what Claus wouldthink of him for leaving him out entirely. "But Claus is not used tothis sort of business, you know. He could make a noise, and that isabout all he could do."
"We know we should come in for a hanging if those fellows at DutchFlat should ever get their hands on us, but when they do that we'll bedead. You need not think we are going to stay in this country, whereeverybody has got so rich, and we be as poor as Job's turkey all thewhile. We have just as good a right to be rich as they have."
When Jake got to talking this way it was a sure sign that he wasrapidly getting toward a point which Bob called "crazy." He was alwaysmad when he spoke of others' wealth and his own poverty; and the boys,who were anxious to get him off from that subject, began theirpreparations for supper. They were glad to know they had gone farenough with the robbers to insure their escape, and they weredisposed to be talkative; but they noticed that Claus was moredownhearted than he had ever been. He lit his pipe, leaned backagainst a tree, and went off into a brown study.
"I suppose he'll get a portion of the money that was stolen from us,"said Jack, in a low tone.
"No, he won't," answered Julian in the same cautious manner. "He hasbeen promised some of that money, but I'll bet you he don't get a centof it. He is here in these fellows' power, and they'll take what theyplease out of him."
The boys, although as tired as they were on the previous day, were notby any means inclined to sleep. In fact they did not believe they hadbeen asleep at all until they heard Bob moving around the fire. It wasfive o'clock by Julian's watch, and his first care was to find outwhat had become of Claus, who lay muffled up, head and ears, in hisblanket; but he would not have stayed there if he knew what was goingto happen to him during the day.
"Now perhaps you will be good enough to tell us what route we have totravel in order to get out of here," said Jack.
"Have you a compass with you?" asked Jake.
No, the boys had none; they did not think they would need one whenthey were surrounded by friends who knew the woods, and consequentlythey had not brought one with them.
"You know which way is east, don't you? Well, place your backs to thesun, and keep it there all the time. Dutch Flat lies directly west ofhere."
"That will be good if the sun shines all the time," said Julian. "Butif it goes under a cloud--then what?"
"Then you will have to go into camp, and stay until it comes outagain," replied Bob. "But at this time of the year you have nothing tofear on that score. Are you going already? Well, good-bye. Why don'tyou wish us good luck with that money we took from you?"
"Because I don't believe it will bring you good luck," said Jack. "Weworked hard for it, and we ought to have it. I wish you good-bye, butI don't wish you good luck."
"Shake hands with your uncle, why don't you?" asked Bob.
"Not much!" returned Jack. "If that money doesn't bring him somemisfortune I shall miss my guess."
Julian and Jack shouldered the blankets which contained the fewprovisions they had left, plunged into the thicket, and were out ofhearing in a few minutes. The robbers sat by the fire without makingany effort to continue their journey, and presently Bob turned hiseyes upon Claus.
"Now, my friend, it is time for you to go, too," said he.