W. C. Tuttle

“ From the street came the sound of voices, as though the crowd had separated and was searching; scattered voices yelling instructions, with one group closer than the rest. Duke reloaded his pistol and shook the Saint’s shoulder.
“Get up, Saint! There’s men comin’, and we don’t know whether they’re friends or not.”
But the Saint mumbled thickly and shook his head. Came a scraping noise at the doorway, and Duke lifted his head to see Luck leaning inside. ”

“ It was only a narrow trail, which broke off to the sharp cliffs below it. Beyond them went the Saint, with the sure-footedness of a mountain goat, traveling at a pace that none dared imitate.
Duke and Luck followed closely. Duke had forgotten that he was also being hunted by the crowd, and it is doubtful if any of the crowd knew or cared about him now.
“He’s got to go into the Silver Shell tunnel!” yelled a man. “That’s the end of the trail.” ”

“ For an instant the crowd was silent. Loper had half caught his balance, but it was only an instant before he fell forward on his face.
Into the startled crowd came Luck, running swiftly to the Saint.
“Look out, Saint!” yelled Duke. “It’s a trick to kill you.”
Another pistol thudded from nearer the saloon, and the Saint staggered sideways from the shock of the bullet. It was Mendez shooting from the sidewalk. Duke sprang into a cleared spot and fired twice at Mendez, who tried to run, but seemed to collapse half-way in the saloon door, at the feet of Silver Sleed. ”

“ Your dad is willin’ to pay big for the man what gets ’em. Loper’s dead. Mendez and Fane are kinda bad, but mebbe they’ll live.”
For a moment there was silence, and then Cates said, “’Member what I said about them buzzards? It sure is hard to fool a buzzard. G’d-night.”
Luck turned to Duke, her face white in the flickering light of the one candle.
“My dad,” she said slowly, “is offering money for your lives.”
Duke thought of the I. O. U. in his pocket. Forty-six thousand dollars. No wonder Silver Sleed was willing to pay well to stop collection on that piece of paper. ”

“ Has he ever been anything except a good friend to us?’
“‘I do not know,’ she replied, as she hugged the baby and went into the cabin. I laughed and went on the trail. But a man’s mind is the devil’s garden, where seeds of suspicion take root easily, and I grew uneasy. I would go back to the little cabin and stay with my wife until she was no longer afraid.
“I reached the cabin just in time to see my partner, who had returned, forcing my wife into the canoe. ”

“ Silver Sleed’s place?”
“Yes. Don’t you see it’s the only place where they won’t search?”
“But suppose they do,” argued Duke. “What will they think of you, Miss Luck?”
“They won’t come here. Help him inside, please. They will think you hid in the rocks tonight. I know a trail that leads around Ruby Hill and you can go out that way into the desert. Nobody will ever think of watching that trail. ”

“ Everythin’ yore dad had belongs to you. You can git eddicated and have silk dresses, and—” Mica Cates seemed to expand—“and you won’t have t’ live in Calico.”
“What become of that other feller?” queried the other man. ”