Kitabı oku: «Frank Merriwell's Triumph: or, The Disappearance of Felicia», sayfa 9

Yazı tipi:

CHAPTER XIII.
MACKLYN MORGAN APPEARS

“Mate,” said Cap’n Wiley, as they hurried along the street on their way back to the hotel, “you are in every minute particular the finest specimen of exuberant manhood that it has ever been my fortune to associate with. Of course, I felt sure you would do up that fellow, but you came through the seething and turgid fray without so much as a scar. I don’t believe he even touched you once.”

“Yes, he did,” said Merry, “a couple of times. He hit me on the shoulder, but the blow was spent, and he caught me a fair one over the heart. I leaped away just in time to spoil the effectiveness of that.”

“But you are certainly the supreme fighter of this period of scrappers. If you chose to enter the ring, you might be champion of the world. It would delight my soul to be able to put up a real fight like that.”

“It disgusts me,” returned Merry.

“Wha-a-at?” gasped the sailor. “I think I fail to catch your meaning.”

“It disgusts me,” repeated Merry. “If there is anything that makes me feel degraded, it is being compelled to take part in a fight of that sort. I was practically forced into it on this occasion. I saw those fellows meant mischief, and I felt that the only way to settle the affair was to give that big duffer a thumping. It’s about the only reasoning a man can use on men of his calibre. Words and arguments fail to affect them, and a good thrashing moves them to respect.”

“But do you mean to tell me,” said Wiley, “that you are not an admirer of the manly art of self-defense? Do you mean to tell me that you take no interest in the prize ring and the glorious heroes of it?”

“If there is anything for which I have absolutely no use,” said Merry, “it is a professional prize fighter. To me prize fighting is the most degrading of all the so-called sports.”

“This is more than passing strange,” said the sailor. “If such can be the case, will you elucidate to me how it happened that you ever learned to use your little dukes in such a marvelously scientific manner?”

“I think it is the duty of every American youth to learn to defend himself with his fists. No matter how peacefully inclined he is, no matter how much of a gentleman he is, no matter how much forbearance he may have, there is bound to come a time in his life when he will be forced to fight or suffer insults or bodily injury. As a rule, I never fight if I can avoid it. In this instance I might have avoided it for the time being, but I was certain that if I did so the matter would culminate in something more serious than a fistic encounter. Had I escaped from that saloon without meeting Spotted Dan, he and all his partners would have regarded me as afraid of them, and you know very well that they would have sought to force trouble on me at every opportunity. The easiest way to settle the whole matter was to fight then and there, and therefore I did so.”

“Well, you oughter feel proud of the job you did!”

“Instead of that, I feel as if I had lowered and degraded myself. I’ll not throw off the feeling for some time. To make the matter still worse, it was a saloon fight. However, I do not go there to drink. Out in this country the man who does business with the men he finds here is sometimes compelled to enter a saloon.”

“That’s true – quite true,” sighed Wiley. “I sometimes find it necessary to enter one myself.”

By this time they had reached the hotel, and as they entered the office Merry suddenly paused in surprise, his eyes fastened on a man who stood before the desk.

This man was tall and well dressed, with a somewhat ministerial face and flowing grayish side whiskers. He was speaking to the clerk.

“I see here the name of Mr. Frank Merriwell on the register,” he was saying. “Can you tell me where to find him?”

“Mr. Merriwell!” called the clerk. “Here is a gentleman inquiring for you.”

The man at the desk turned and faced Frank.

“Is that so?” muttered Frank. “It is Macklyn Morgan!”

Morgan, one of the money kings of the great Consolidated Mining Association of America, looked Merriwell over with a glance as cold as ice.

“How do you do, sir?” he said, in a calm, low voice. “It seems that I have found you at last.”

“From your words,” returned Merry, “I should fancy you had been looking for me for some time?”

“I have.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes, I have looked for you in Denver, in Holbrook, and at your Queen Mystery Mine.”

“It appears that I have given you considerable trouble?”

“Not a little; but I was determined to find you.”

“You have done so.”

“Yes; you can’t hide from me.”

“I have not the least desire in the world to hide from you, Mr. Morgan.”

“You say so,” returned the man, with a cold sneer; “but I am certain you have taken pains to keep out of my way for the last two weeks.”

“You are utterly mistaken. I would not take pains to keep out of your way for two minutes. What do you want of me?”

“I have a little matter to talk over with you – some private business.”

“I was not aware that there could be business dealings of any sort between us, Macklyn Morgan.”

“Be careful!” warned Morgan, lifting a thin finger. “You are putting on a very bold face.”

“And is there any reason why I should not? I know, Mr. Morgan, of your methods at the time of my affair with the C. M. A. of A.”

“I have not forgotten that.”

“Nor I. Nor do I regret that, although the C. M. A. of A. was compelled to give up its unlawful efforts to rob me, you entered into a combination with another moneyed rascal to accomplish the work.”

“Be careful!” again warned Morgan. “I am not the man to whom you can talk in such a manner.”

“Like any other man, you are one to whom I can tell the truth. If the truth cuts, so much the worse for you, sir.”

“Don’t get on your high horse, young man; it will be better for you if you refrain. Don’t be so free with your accusations, for you will soon find that there is an accusation against you of a most serious nature.”

“What new game are you up to, Mr. Morgan? It seems to me that the failures of the past should teach you the folly of your plots and schemes.”

“I have told you that I wish to have a private talk with you, young man. Perhaps you had better grant me the privilege.”

“As far as I am concerned, there is no necessity of doing so; but really I am curious to know just what you’re up to. This being the case, I will not object. I have a room, and we may go there.”

“Your record indicates that you are a desperate character, Merriwell. I should hesitate to place myself alone with you in any room unless you were first disarmed. If you will leave your weapons here at the desk we will go to your room.”

“I am quite willing in case you leave your own revolver, sir.”

“I never carry a revolver, Merriwell.”

“But you have one in your pocket now,” declared Frank positively.

He seemed to know this to be a fact, and, after a moment’s hesitation, Morgan took out a small revolver, which he laid upon the desk.

“I thought it best to provide myself with such an article while in this part of the country,” he said. “There it is. I will leave it here.”

Immediately Frank walked to the desk and placed his own pistol upon it.

“Come,” he said. “You may follow me to my room.”

In Frank’s room, with the door closed behind them, Merry motioned to a chair.

“Sit down, Mr. Morgan,” he said, “and make whatever statement you choose. I will listen.”

Morgan took the chair.

“First,” observed Morgan, “I wish to speak of Milton Sukes.”

“I thought likely.”

“You know the interests of Mr. Sukes and myself were closely allied.”

Frank laughed.

“Yes; although Sukes was at the head of the concern, I know that you conspired with him to defraud me.”

“Have a care!” again warned Morgan. “You are now dealing with a man of power and influence.”

“I have dealt with such men before. As a bugaboo, the mere fact that you have money does not frighten me in the least, Mr. Morgan. If, like Sukes, you fancy that money gives you power to commit any fraud, like Sukes, you are to learn your mistake.”

“I know all about your scandalous attack on Mr. Sukes in Denver. I know of your attempted blackmailing of him, Merriwell. You did try to blackmail him, and you can’t deny it.”

“You lie, Morgan!” retorted Frank, with perfect control of himself.

“Then what was the meaning of your threat to expose his mining operations?”

“Morgan, Milton Sukes pitted himself against me and attempted to rob me of my mine. When he did so he aroused my fighting blood. He was defeated in every effort he made against me, and the decision against him in the courts of the Territory was the final blow that upset his plans. In the meantime I had learned that his Great Northwest Territory Mining Company was a swindle of the most outrageous sort. I had threatened to expose him, and, when he found himself whipped to a standstill, he sought to enter into a compact with me, by which I was to remain silent and let him go on with his dishonest work.

“He sent one of his tools to me with a contract for me to sign. I tore it up. As I say, my blood had been aroused, and I warned him then that neither cajolery nor money could silence me. I warned him that I would expose and disgrace him, so that every honest man in the country would regard him with scorn and aversion. Had it been mere blackmail, Sukes could have silenced me with money. He sought to do so, but found he was barking up the wrong tree. He threatened libel suits and all that; but I kept on at my work. As a last desperate resort he paid an employee of mine to fire my office in Denver, and the result of that affair was that the treacherous fellow who betrayed me fancied I had perished in the fire. It drove him insane. He pursued Sukes relentlessly, and it is certain that Sukes was finally killed by that man’s hand.”

“So you say, Merriwell; but I hold quite a different opinion – quite a different opinion.”

“Whatever your opinion may be, Morgan, it is a matter of absolute indifference to me.”

Macklyn Morgan showed his teeth.

“You may think so just now, young man, but you will change your mind. I have been investigating this matter thoroughly. I have followed it up faithfully. I know how and where Sukes was shot. I have taken pains to secure all the evidence possible. You were present at the time. You were there in disguise. Why did you pursue and hunt him in disguise? It looks black for you, Mr. Merriwell – it looks black. These things will count against you at the day of reckoning, which is surely coming. How will you explain your behavior to the satisfaction of the law?”

“That’s no matter to worry you, Macklyn Morgan,” calmly returned Merriwell. “If there is anything of explanation, I shall have the explaining to do. Don’t trouble yourself over it.”

“You have a great deal of nerve just now, young man; but it will weaken – it will weaken. Wait until you are arrested on the charge of murder. Had you killed an ordinary man it might have been different; but Milton Sukes was a man of money, a man of power, a man of influence. All his money, if necessary, will be used to convict you. You cannot escape. Just as true as this case is put into the hands of the law you will eventually be hanged.”

In his cold, calm, accusing way, Morgan was doing everything in his power to unsettle Frank’s nerves. As he spoke, he watched the youth as a hawk watches its prey.

“I fail to see your object in coming to me with this,” said Merry. “It seems most remarkable. If you intend to push such a charge against me, why don’t you go ahead and do it? Why do you tell me what you contemplate doing? The proper method is to secure every scrap of evidence and then have me arrested without warning and thrown into jail.”

“I have all the evidence I need,” asserted the money king. “Merriwell, I have men who will swear that you fired that shot.”

“Did they see me do it?”

“They did.”

“Most amazing, Morgan! Are you aware of the fact that Sukes was shot in the dark? Are you aware that every light in the place had first been extinguished by other shots? Will you explain to me how any one could have seen me shoot him under such circumstances?”

“One of the men was standing within two feet of you. He saw the flash of your weapon, as did the other man, who was a little farther away.”

Frank smiled derisively.

“Wonderful evidence!” he said. “I doubt a great deal if a jury anywhere in this country would convict a man on such proof. At the time, as I think you will acknowledge, there was another man who did some shooting. I deny that I fired the shot. But even had I done so, who could say that it was not I who shot out the lights and the other man who killed Milton Sukes?”

“Did you know that you left a pistol with your name upon it in a hotel where you stopped in Snowflake?”

“I did nothing of the sort.”

“You did, Merriwell! The bullet that killed Sukes is in my possession. It is a bullet such as would have been fired from that pistol. The pistol is in my possession, Merriwell! I have the evidence against you, and you can’t escape!”

“Although you are lying in every particular, Morgan, I am curious to know what your game may be. What is behind this singular procedure of yours?”

Macklyn Morgan seemed to hesitate for a few moments, and then, leaning forward on the edge of his chair and holding up one finger, he suddenly exclaimed:

“There is only one escape for you!”

“And that is – ”

“If I abandon the case you may escape. If I drop it there will be no one to push it.”

“And you will drop it?” questioned Merry, with pretended anxiety. “On what inducements?”

“Now you’re coming to your senses,” nodded the man. “Now I fancy you comprehend just where you are. You possess several mines, and they are of considerable value. I have spent some money to get possession of one of those mines, having, as both Milton Sukes and I believed, a good claim to it. I speak of the Queen Mystery. Frank Merriwell, the day you deed over to me the Queen Mystery and give me possession of it I will abandon my determination to prosecute you for murder. I will even place such proofs as I have in your hands and you may destroy them. Of course there will remain the two men who are ready to swear they saw you fire the shot, but they may be easily silenced. That’s my proposition. And it is by that method alone you can save your neck. Now give me your answer.”

“I will!” exclaimed Merriwell suddenly.

And then, with a spring, he seized Macklyn Morgan by the collar. Immediately he ran the man to the door, which he hurled open.

“That is my answer!” he cried, as he kicked Morgan out of the room.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE MESSENGER

As Morgan was hurled headlong from Merry’s room he collided with a man outside, who was very nearly upset. This young man caught a glimpse of Frank in the act of violently ejecting the man of money, and what immediately happened to Morgan was the result of this discovery.

“What’s the meaning of this great agitation by which you seek to overthrow my corporosity?” savagely demanded Cap’n Wiley, for it was he. “This insult to my indignity is several degrees beyond my comprehension, and without waste of verbosity or the expenditure of violent language, I feel called upon to precipitate your corporosity on its journey.”

Saying which, he sprang, catlike, on the millionaire, seized him, ran him swiftly along the corridor and flung him head over heels down the stairs. As Morgan crashed to the bottom, Wiley stood at the head of the stairs, his arms akimbo, nodding with satisfaction, and remarked:

“Possibly that jarred you some.”

Morgan was not seriously hurt, but he arose in a terrible fury.

“I will land you both where you belong for this outrage!” he declared, white to the lips. “I will place you both behind iron bars!”

Then he limped away. Merriwell had followed, and his hand fell on the sailor’s shoulder.

“Why do you mix up in this, Wiley?” he demanded sternly. “It was not your quarrel.”

“If I have offended by my impulsive and impetuous demeanor, I entreat pardon,” said the sailor. “When the gent bumped me and I saw that he had been scientifically ejected by you, I couldn’t resist the temptation to give him another gentle boost.”

“And by doing so you may find yourself in a peck of trouble,” said Frank. “That man has power and influence, and he will try to make good his threat, which you heard. He is a money king.”

“What is money?” loftily returned Wiley. “I scorn the filthy stuff. But, regardless of his money, it seems to me that you unhesitatingly elevated his anatomy with the toe of your boot.”

“It was my quarrel, Wiley; and there is no reason why you should pitch in.”

“My dear comrade, I ever feel it my duty to stand by my friends, and your quarrel in some degree must be mine. I inferred that in some manner he offended you most copiously.”

“He did arouse my ire,” admitted Merry, as he walked back to his room, followed by the sailor. “But he is the sort of a man who will seek to make good his threat and place us behind bars.”

“It will not be the first time your humble servant has lingered in endurance vile. In connection with that, I might mention another little nannygoat. On the last occasion when I indulged too freely in Western jag juice I was living in regal splendor in one of those hotels where they have lots of furniture and little to eat. I started out to put a red stripe on the city, and somewhere during my cruise I lost my bearings. I didn’t seem to remember much of anything after that until I awoke with my throat feeling as dry as the desert of Sahara and my head splitting.

“Just where I was I couldn’t tell. I had some vague remembrance of whooping things up in glorious style, and knew I had been hitting the redeye. In a somewhat dormant condition I stretched my hands above my head, and, to my horror, they encountered iron bars. This aroused me slightly, and I looked in that direction and beheld before me, to my unutterable dismay, the bars I had touched. ‘Cap’n,’ says I, ‘you have again collided with the blue-coated guardians of the peace, and you are pinched.’

“I noted, however, that these iron bars seemed somewhat frail and slender, and it struck me that my colossal strength might be able to bend them. With the thought of escape, I wrenched the bars apart and thrust my head between them. By vigorous pushing I injected my shoulders, but there I stuck. In spite of all my desperate efforts, I could not crawl through, and I finally discovered that I couldn’t get back. I floundered and kicked a while and then gave it up and yelled for help. My cries finally brought some one, who entered the place and dragged me from the trap, at the same time nearly shaving off my left ear with one of the bars. My rescuer proved to be a hotel attendant, who asked me, in no small astonishment, what I was trying to do. Then, to my inexpressible relief, on sitting up and looking round, I found that I was in my own room at the hotel, where I had somehow landed, and that my delusion had led me to endeavor to escape from limbo by crawling through the bars at the head of my iron bedstead. I gave the attendant who had dragged me out seven thousand dollars and pledged him to eternal silence. This is the first time my lips have ever betrayed the tale to mortal ears.”

In spite of the humor of the sailor’s whimsical story, Merry did not laugh. This convinced Wiley that the affair with Macklyn Morgan was far more serious than he had at first apprehended.

“Cap’n,” said Frank, “I wish you would find Dick and send him here. After that, if you can get track of Morgan and keep watch of his movements it will be a good thing. I’d like to know just what he means to do.”

“Depend upon me,” nodded the sailor. “I will shadow him with all the skill of those heroes about whom I used to read in the yellow-backed literature.”

Saying which, he hastily left the room. Within ten minutes Dick appeared and found Merry walking up and down.

“What’s the matter, Frank?” he asked. “From Wiley’s words I inferred there was trouble in the air.”

“There is,” Merry nodded; and he proceeded to tell his brother the whole story.

Dick’s indignation burst forth.

“The unmitigated scoundrel!” he cried. “Tried to force you to give up the Queen Mystery, did he?”

“That was his game.”

“Well, you didn’t give him half what he deserves. And he threatened to have you arrested for murder – you, Frank, arrested for murder!”

Merry smiled grimly.

“That was the threat he made.”

“But it was a bluff, Frank – a bluff pure and simple. He will never try that game.”

“You can’t tell what a man like Morgan may try. Sukes was desperate and dangerous, but I regard Macklyn Morgan as even more so. As a rule, he is quiet, cold, and calculating, and he lays his plans well. He would not have started in on this thing had he not been convinced that there was a good prospect of succeeding.”

“Why, he can’t succeed! It is impossible!”

“I don’t propose to let him succeed, but I feel certain I am going to have a hot time with him. I am ready for it; let it come.”

Again Frank’s fighting blood was aroused, and Dick saw it in the sternness of his handsome face and the gleam of his flashing eyes.

“That’s the talk, Frank!” cried the boy, thrilled by the spirit of his brother. “They can’t down you. They’ve tried it and failed too many times. But what are your plans now? You intend to start for the new mines early to-morrow?”

“I may alter my plans. I may remain here for a while to face Macklyn Morgan. For all of his power and his money, I think I have a few friends and some influence in Prescott. There is one, at least, whom I can depend upon, and that is Frank Mansfield. He is white to the bone, and he always stands by his friends.”

“But you cannot depend upon your friends alone in an emergency like this,” said Dick. “You will have to rely on yourself. Of course, Brad and I will stand by you, no matter what happens.”

While they were talking Wiley came rushing in.

“The gent who lately descended the stairs with such graceful impetuosity is now in consultation with the city marshal,” he declared. “I traced him thither, and I have left one Bradley Buckhart to linger near and keep an eagle eye upon his movements.”

“By Jove!” exclaimed Dick; “I believe he does mean to have you arrested, Frank.”

“His movement seems to indicate something of the sort,” was Frank’s cool confession. “I suppose he will make a charge of personal assault, with the idea of putting me to inconvenience and detaining me until he can again try the effect of his threats of arrest on a more serious charge. Were I sure things are all right at the Enchanted Valley, I would not mind. I am afraid you have made a mess of it, cap’n, in sending those men there.”

“It seems that I have a clever little way of putting my foot into it,” retorted the sailor. “When I seek to do what I supremely consider to be for the best I make a bobble.”

“Yet we will not worry over that now,” said Merry. “However, in case of emergency, Dick, I wish you to have my horse constantly ready for me. If anything happens that I decide to get out in a hurry, you, and Brad, and Wiley are to take care of Felicia and little Abe.”

“All right,” nodded Dick. “I will see to it at once.”

Ten minutes later Frank was standing alone upon the steps of the hotel, when a man on horseback came riding furiously down the street. He was covered with dust, and his horse was so spent that it was only by the most savage urging that the beast was forced into a gallop. Behind the man, at a distance, came two more horsemen, who were likewise spurring their mounts mercilessly. Plainly they were in pursuit of the man in advance.

As Merry was wondering what it meant, the horse of the fugitive went down, as if shot, directly in front of the hotel, flinging the rider, who seemed stunned.

With a great clatter of hoofs, the pursuers came up and stopped short, leaping from their saddles. As one of them dismounted, he whipped out a wicked-looking knife. Both seemed to be desperadoes, and it was evident that their intention toward the fugitive was anything but friendly.

Now, it was not Frank’s nature to stand idly by and see two men jump on a third who was helpless and do him up. Without a moment’s hesitation, Merry leaped from the steps and rushed upon those men. A heavy blow sent one of them to the ground.

The other had stooped above the fallen man when Frank’s toe precipitated him headlong and caused him to roll over and over in the dust.

At the same time Merriwell drew a pistol.

“Get up and sneak, both of you!” he ordered. “If you linger, I will blow a window in each of you!”

Muttering oaths, the ruffians rose, but the look they saw in Frank’s face caused them to decide that the best thing they could do would be to obey.

“It’s none of your funeral!” cried one, as he grasped the bridle rein of his horse.

“But it will be yours if you linger here ten seconds!” retorted Merry. “Git! If you value your skins, don’t even turn to look back until you are out of shooting distance.”

As the baffled ruffians were retreating, the fugitive sat up, slowly recovering from his shock.

“Thank you, pard,” he said. “It was mighty lucky for me you pitched in just as you did. But for you, they had me dead to rights, and I opine they would have finished me.”

“What is it all about?” questioned Merry.

“Got a message,” answered the man. “Got to send it without fail. They meant to stop me. It has been a hot run. They headed me off from Bigbug, and I had to strike for this town. They’ve wasted lots of lead on me; but they were riding too fast to shoot well. And I didn’t hold up to give them an easy chance at me.”

As the man was speaking, Merry assisted him to his feet. His horse had likewise risen, but stood with hanging head, completely pegged out.

“Poor devil!” said the man, sympathetically patting the creature’s neck. “It’s a wonder I didn’t kill you. But even if I did, I was going to send the message to Frank Merriwell, if possible.”

“What’s that?” shouted Frank, in astonishment. “A message to Frank Merriwell! Man, I am Frank Merriwell!”

“You?” was the almost incredulous answer. “Why, Hodge told me to wire to San Diego. He said it might reach you there.”

“I am just back from San Diego. Give me the message.”

The man fumbled in his pocket and brought forth a crumpled piece of paper, which he placed in Merriwell’s hand.

Opening the paper, this was what Merry read:

“If possible, come at once. Trouble at the mines. Plot to seize them. – Hodge.”

“Come into the hotel,” said Frank, turning to the man who had brought this message. “We will send some one to take charge of your horse.”

The man followed him. Having asked that the horse be cared for, Merry instructed his companion to follow, and he proceeded to his room.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“It’s Colvin – Dash Colvin.”

“Well, Colvin, you are from the Enchanted Valley?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You were one of the men engaged by Wiley, I presume?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It seems that Hodge trusts you?”

“He did, sir.”

“What’s the trouble there?”

“Those men are plotting a heap to take the mines, sir. Hodge discovered it.”

“How did he make the discovery?”

“That I don’t know. He discovers it, somehow, and he sends me with this yere message. He picks me out and asks me could he trust me a whole lot. I tells him he could, and he chances it. I plans with him to git out in the night, and I does so.”

“But you were followed?”

“Yes. One of the crew sees me a-talking with Mr. Hodge, and they suspects me. Arter that they watches me mighty close. That makes it plenty hard for me to git away. I don’t opine I am much more than out of the valley afore they finds out I am gone. I didn’t think they’d git on so quick, and so I fails to push as hard as I might at first. Shortly after sun-up I sees two horsemen coming miles behind me. Even then I’m not dead sure they’re arter me. But they was, sir – they was. I had a hard run for it, but I have made good by getting the message to you.”

“And you shan’t lose by it, Colvin. Be sure of that. Did you know about this plot to seize the mines – before Hodge discovered it?”

“I knows there was something up, sir; but the rest of the gang they don’t trust me complete, and so I don’t find out just what was a-doing. I sees them whispering and acting queer, and I thinks there’s trouble brewing before Hodge speaks to me about it.”

“What sort of men are they?”

“A right tough lot, Mr. Merriwell. They has liquor, too. Somehow it’s brought to them, but the head one of the bunch, Texas Bland, he don’t ladle it out free at once. He seems to keep it for some occasion later.”

Merry’s face wore a serious expression.

“How many men do you think there are in this plot?”

“Fifteen or twenty, sir.”

“All armed?”

“Every mother’s son of them.”

“If I had my Thirty!” muttered Frank.

But he was not prepared with an organized force to meet the plotting ruffians, and he felt that it would require precious time in order to get together a band of fighting men.

“Whatever do you propose to do, Mr. Merriwell?” asked Colvin.

“I see it is necessary for me to lose no time in reaching the mines.”

“But you don’t go alone, I judge? You takes some good men with you?”

“If possible.”

“Better do it, sir. That gang is a heap tough, and it takes twice as many men to down ’em.”

“Not twice as many of the right sort. I have two or three comrades I can depend upon.”

“But two or three are no good, Mr. Merriwell; you hears me.”

“Perhaps not; but if I can get the move on those rascals it will count in my favor.”

“Now, don’t you reckon any on holding those mines with the aid of two or three backers,” warned Dash Colvin. “You will never do it.”

At this juncture Dick came in.

“Your horse is ready, Frank,” he said. “I have given orders to have it saddled and held prepared for you.”

“I may have to use it within an hour.”