CHAPTER XXXI.
CONCLUSION.
When Julian had fairly settled down to tell his story, which he did bycrossing his right leg over his left leg and clasping his hands aroundhis knee, he discovered that there was not so much to be told as hehad thought for. His adventure with the robbers was nothing more thanmight have happened to any one of the miners who were standing aroundhim; the only question in his mind was, would the other miner havefared as well as he did?
"They came to our mine and stole our dust; but I don't see how theyfound out about the full bag. Mr. Banta told us to be careful aboutthat."
"Why, Mr. Banta told it himself!" remarked one of the miners. "He saidyou had a bagful hidden away."
"You see, he had to do it, or the men here would have becomesuspicions and gone up to your mine in a body," explained another. "Goon--what next?"
"They took the full bag, as well as the half-empty one, and told us wewould have to go with them on a three days' journey into themountains, so as to keep you fellows here in ignorance of the robberyas long as possible but they took us only a two days' journey, andthen told us we had gone far enough. That's all there was of it."
"Is that all you have to tell?" asked one.
"Well, no. They went away from here on horseback, you said. Now, whatdid they do with their animals? They were on foot when they came tosee us, and they never said 'horses' once during the two days we werewith them."
"Probably they rode their horses as far as they could, and then killedthem."
"No doubt they pushed them over a bluff," said a man who had notspoken before.
"We did not see any horses; of that much we are certain. The onlything I can't see into is, what they did with Claus after we wentaway. Of course they agreed to give him a portion of the money theygot off us."
"Maybe so, but I don't think they did it. Go on--how did they treatyou?"
"As well as they knew how," answered Julian, emphatically. "That isthe reason why I hope Mr. Banta will be kind to them if he catchesthem."
"Well, you'll see how he'll treat them," retorted a miner. "You'llnever see those three men again."
Julian became uneasy every time the men spoke of the way the minerswould use their prisoners if they found them, but he knew it would beof no use to say a word. If anything was done to them, he was in hopesthe miners would get through with it before they came to camp. He wasnot used to any Western way of dealing with criminals, and he thoughthe was getting too old to become used to it now.
This was the way Julian told his story, in answer to numerousquestions of the miners, who finally heard all they wanted to know. Inregard to what had happened to Claus, none of the miners had anyidea. He did not get any of the dust that was stolen from the boys,and he would be lucky if he got away with a dollar in his pocket.
"Do you know, I have been on the watch for them fellows to get into asquabble of some kind before we saw the last of them?" remarked aminer. "That Bob was a regular thief--one could tell that by lookingat him. The short, pursy fellow--you called him Claus, didn'tyou?--looked like a gentleman; but his face did not bear out his goodclothes."
The miners then slowly dispersed, one after the other,--some to theirwork, and some to lounge in front of the grocery, smoking theirpipes,--and the boys were left to themselves. Their first care was toget something to eat, for they had not had a sufficient quantity offood, the bacon and hard-tack they first put into their blanketshaving disappeared until there was none left. Provisions were handy inMr. Banta's cabin, and when they had got fairly to work on it theyheard a sound from the miners whom they had left outside.
"Here they come!" shouted a voice. "Now we'll see what will be donewith those prisoners!"
The boys looked at each other in blank amazement. They had caught therobbers, so their dust was safe; but what were they going to do withthe culprits, now that they had captured them?
"I declare," said another miner, at length, "they haven't brought anyprisoners with them! And there's Tony, with his arm tied up in asling!"
The boys had by this time reached the door, and saw Mr. Banta,accompanied by a dozen miners, ride into the camp. The boys lookedclosely at them, but could not see anybody that looked like Bob andJake; but Tony did not seem to have left all the fight there was inhim up in the mountains, for he raised his rifle and flourished itover his head.
"Halloo! Mr. Banta," shouted Julian. "You meant to catch them, didyou? But I guess you came out at the little end of the horn."
"Well, there!" exclaimed Mr. Banta, stopping his horse and addressinghimself to his men; "didn't I tell you those boys would come back allright? Put it there, kids!"
Julian and Jack shook hands with all the returning miners before theysaw an opportunity to propound any other questions; and then, whenthey did ask them, they did not get any satisfactory answers.
"Did you get our dust?" asked Jack.
"Yes, sir! And the men--ah!" said Mr. Banta, who stopped and lookedaround at the miners as if he hardly knew what to say next.
"Well, what about the men?" inquired Julian. "You saw them, ofcourse."
"Oh, yes, we saw the men; and when we asked them where the dust wasthat they stole down here at the haunted mine, they took it out oftheir clothes and gave it to us. Ain't that so, boys?"
The men around him nodded their heads emphatically, as if to say theirleader had told nothing but the truth, but there was something intheir faces that told a different story. The boys concluded theywould ask no more questions while Mr. Banta was around, but when hewent away they were sure they would get at the truth of the matter.
"And, Julian, there's your money," continued Mr. Banta, who had beentrying to take something out of his coat-pocket. "There is the fullbag, and there is the other. The next time I leave you with such anamount of money to take care of, I'll give you my head for afootball."
"Why, Mr. Banta, _you_ told them all about this!" asserted Jack,laughingly.
"No, I never!" shouted Mr. Banta.
"Didn't you tell the men what we had done and all about the dust wehad?" asked Julian. "You _did_ tell them, and the robbers were sittingby the camp-fire, and heard it all."
"Eh? Oh, well--I did say--I could not well help it--let us go into thecabin and see what you have to eat."
Mr. Banta lost no time in getting into the cabin, for the boys hadasked a question he could not answer, and when they followed him in hewas engaged in filling his pipe.
"We rode to the haunted mine and found you were not there, so we cameback and took the upper trail on the way to Mendota," said the miner,talking rapidly, as if he hoped to shut off any questions the boysmight have ready to ask him. "We had a good time. We found the menthere and asked them for the money, and they gave it over as peaceableand quiet as could be. Now, don't let us hear any more about it. Youknow the whole of the story. Is this all you have to ease a man'sappetite? Why, I could eat it all myself!"
"That's a funny story," whispered Jack, as he and Julian went to thespring after a bucket of water.
"Well, keep still," said Julian. "He told us not to say anything moreabout it, and that's just the same as an order. We'll get the straightof the matter yet."
"Who will you go to?"
"We'll go to Tony for it. He was the man who was shot in the fracas,and he will tell us all about it."
It was two days before Julian had an opportunity to speak to Tony inprivate. Tony's right arm was injured so badly that he could not usea shovel, and the boys volunteered to go down in his mine and helphim--a voluntary act on their part which gained them the good-will ofall the miners. One day, when Tony was sitting by his mine smoking hispipe and Julian was waiting for Jack to fill up their bucket, thelatter thought the chance had come, for Tony was unusually talkativethat morning.
"Now, there is no need that you should keep this thing away from usany longer," said Julian, suddenly. "Who shot those two men?"
Tony was taken off his guard and looked all around as if he waswaiting for some
one to suggest an answer. Finally he took off his hatand dug his fingers into his hair.
"Who said anything about shooting a man?" he asked.
"No one has said anything about it this morning, but I just want toknow if everything I suspect is true," answered Julian, with his eyesfastened on Tony's face.
"Some one who was there can't keep his mouth shut," remarked Tony, ingreat disgust. "Mr. Banta said he didn't want you to know anythingabout it, and here that man has gone and blowed the whole thing! Butyou'll remember that I didn't say a word about it--won't you?"
"No one shall ever know what you tell me," asserted Julian. "Did youshoot them?"
"Well, I couldn't help it--could I? We came up with them just beforewe got to Mendota. We rode right plump onto them before we knew it,and without saying a word they began to shoot. If they had had rifles,some of us would have gone under; but they had nothing but revolvers,and the first thing I knew something went slap through my arm, and Ibegan to shoot, too. I got in two shots while you would be thinkingabout it, and then Mr. Banta looked through their clothes and got thedust. We went down to Mendota and reported the matter to the sheriff,and he sent up and buried them."
"It is a wonder to me that they didn't arrest you," said Julian.
"Who--me? What did I do? The men were shooting at us, and I wasdefending myself. It would have taken more men than they had there toarrest me, for any man would have done the same. Anyhow, we got yourmoney back. Say! Don't lisp a word of this to Mr. Banta. He would gofor me hot and heavy."
Julian was obliged to promise again that Mr. Banta should never hear aword of what Tony had told him; but that night he told it to Jack, whosaid that his "funny story" had come out just as he thought it would.
"You said you didn't want them to deal with the culprits here in camp,and you have your wish," said Jack.
Not long after that the miners, discouraged, packed up, by companiesof half a dozen or more, bid good-bye to their associates, and struckout for other localities. Dutch Flat was "played out," there was nogold there for them, and they were going where they could do better.Some of them talked of going home, while others, whose "piles" werenot quite as large as they wished, were going to try it again foranother year. Mr. Banta lingered there for some time, and then he,too, astonished the boys by bringing up his tools and telling themthat next day he would strike for Denver.
"And when I get there I don't think I shall stop," said he. "I havebeen away from my home in the granite hills so long that I won't knowhow to act when I get there, and I can't learn any younger than I cannow. I am going as far as St. Louis with you, and then I shall strikeoff alone."
This put new life into the boys. As soon as it became known in campthat Mr. Banta was going away, a dozen others joined in with hisparty, and when they rode away from the camp the few miners who wereleft behind cheered themselves hoarse. The boys had been "to themines," had met with some adventures while there, and they were readyto go back among civilized people once more.
Their stay in Denver did not last more than a week, and the boys weremade to promise, over and over again, that after they had seen theirfriends in St. Louis they would go back there to live. Everythingthey had in the world was there, the Western country seemed to agreewith them, and there they would remain. They had not yet completedtheir course at the business school, and when that was done they mustlook for some useful occupation in which to spend their lives.
Mr. Banta proved that he had some money in the bank before he had beenin Denver two days. The boys left him at his old hotel, clad in aminer's suit, and looking altogether, as he expressed it, "like alow-down tramp," and when they saw him again they could hardlyrecognize him. The barber had been at work on him, the tailor had donehis best to fit him out; but the squeeze he gave their hands provedthat he was the same "old Banta" still. The boys never forgot him; hiskindness had saved them many a dollar.
After taking leave of Mr. Banta at St. Louis the boys took up theirquarters at a leading hotel, and for two weeks devoted themselves tocalling upon their friends. As they signed their names to the registerJulian whispered,
"I have often thought, while I have been carrying messages here in thecity and looked into this hotel while hurrying past it, that the menwho could put up at a first-class house like this must be a happy lot,and now I have a chance to see how it goes myself. Jack, let us godown and have a glass of soda water. Why don't you grumble about thatthe way you did the last time we were here?"
But Jack did not feel like grumbling--he was too happy for that. Hedid not think, while he was finding fault with Julian for the wages hehad spent at the express office in buying 'old horse,' that he was onewhose fortunes hung upon the letter that was to tell him about TheHaunted Mine.
THE END.