CHAPTER XIII
AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
“Bars an’ buffaler! You keerless feller!” exclaimed the trapper, pulling out his knife and liberating Frank’s hands and feet. “I reckon you’ve seed fun enough fur one day, haint you? You’ll never come nigher to bein’ rubbed out nor you were a minit ago without goin’; I can tell you that. Now toddle. We aint out of danger yet, by no means.”
There was no time for greetings and congratulations. Scarcely had the trapper lifted Frank to his feet, when a clatter of hoofs was heard, and upon looking up the two friends saw a squad of Rancheros coming toward them at the top of their speed. Frank, without an instant’s hesitation, acted upon the trapper’s suggestion, and started for the woods; while Dick ran off in the opposite direction, loading his rifle as he went.
Frank, wearied with his former exertions, and aching in every limb from the effects of the rough treatment he had received at the hands of his enemies, was in no condition for a long run; but, even had he been in the best of trim, he could not have hoped to escape. The Rancheros were mounted, and they had thrown themselves between him and the woods. Still, he exerted himself to the utmost, and his speed, although greatly diminished, would have carried him ahead of every one of his enemies had they been on foot. But the swift horses quickly overtook him, and one of his pursuers, without in the least slackening his pace, galloped up beside him and seized him with both hands.
“You’re caught now,” said he, in a tone of great satisfaction, “and I am a poor herdsman no longer. I’m rich.”
The Ranchero did not attempt to lift Frank upon his horse, but held fast to his collar, and dragged him over the ground. He went at the top of his speed, and whenever Frank tried to regain his feet, so that he could run along beside his captor, the latter would touch his horse with his spurs, and the animal would spring forward so suddenly that Frank would be thrown back again. It was a most uncomfortable and painful situation to be in, but, strange as it may appear, Frank made no attempt at escape; indeed, he scarcely bestowed a thought upon himself. A scene which he had witnessed just after his enemy seized him, had deprived him of every particle of courage and strength. He had seen the friend who had stood by him through innumerable dangers strangled before his very eyes.
We said that, when Frank ran toward the woods, the trapper started off in the opposite direction. He had done this, hoping to draw the attention of the Mexicans to himself, and thus give Frank a chance for escape. He had succeeded in one part of his object, and failed in the other. Three of the Rancheros wheeled their horses and started in pursuit of him, while the others kept on after Frank. They had no desire to take the trapper alive, for the Don had not offered a reward of fifty thousand dollars for him; but they believed that he was quite as dangerous to them as Frank was, for he was acquainted with their secret. They had tried their best to shoot him when they met him in the woods, but Dick had escaped unhurt. Now they had caught him on the open prairie, where they could use their lassos, and they were determined that he should not return home to tell his friends what he knew about Don Carlos and his rancho. They charged toward the trapper with loud yells, discharging their pistols at him with one hand, and swinging their lariats around their heads with the other. One of their number rode to his death, for when Dick’s rifle cracked, the foremost Mexican threw up his arms, and fell heavily from his saddle; but before the trapper could turn to run, a lasso was thrown over his head, and he was pulled to the ground. A yell of defiance rang out on the air, and then the Ranchero wheeled his horse and galloped off, dragging his victim after him.
Frank could scarcely credit his senses. Was it possible that the redoubtable Dick Lewis, the hero of a thousand desperate encounters, had met his match at last, and in these cowardly Mexicans, too? It did not seem to him that it could be so, and yet the whole thing had transpired in plain view. If Dick had possessed the strength of a dozen men, he could not have escaped while that lasso was around his neck. Beyond a doubt, Frank had seen the last of him. The brave fellow had lost his life in trying to save him, and the boy could not have been more horrified if he had heard his own doom pronounced. He closed his eyes, that he might not see the terrible sight; and when he opened them again, his captor was on the point of dragging him into the woods. Still urging his horse forward with reckless speed, he now lifted Frank from the ground and laid him across the horn of his saddle and held him there with one hand, while, with the other, he guided his horse through the bushes. Arriving at the creek, he dashed in, and upon reaching the opposite bank, again entered the woods, and continued his flight as rapidly as ever.
All this while the prisoner’s mind had been so fully occupied with the scene he had witnessed on the prairie, that he scarcely knew what was going on; but now he became aware that his captor was not taking him to the rancho, but that he was making the best of his way toward the mountains. Frank was at a loss how to account for this, until he glanced at the dark, lowering face above him. Could he believe his eyes? He raised his head and looked again; and it is hard to tell whether he was the more astonished or alarmed. That one look was enough to satisfy him that his troubles were but just beginning. He would much rather have found himself in the power of Don Carlos, than in the hands of the man who was bending over him.
“Ah! You know me, do you?” exclaimed the Mexican, glancing triumphantly down at his captive. “I’m glad to meet you again.”
“Pierre Costello!” cried Frank, in dismay.
“Ay! It’s Pierre, alive and well, no thanks to you or your friends!”
Frank gazed long and earnestly at the Ranchero. The last time he saw him he was on his way to the prison at San Diego, bound hand and foot, and guarded by trusty men; but here he was, in full possession of his liberty, and ready to carry out the scheme in which he had been foiled a few weeks before.
“Oh, it’s I,” said the robber, seeing that his prisoner was looking at him in utter bewilderment. “We were pretty well acquainted at one time, and it is strange that you do not recognize me.”
“I would know that villainous face of yours among a thousand,” replied Frank. “I was wondering how you escaped from the prison.”
“Easy enough. It wasn’t strong enough to hold me – that’s all. I didn’t stay there three days. I came back here, and set myself to watch you; and now that I have found you, I do not intend to lose sight of you very soon. When the Don gives me the reward he has offered for you, I will deliver you up to him. I am taking you to the mountains, because I want to see the color of the money, before I give you up; and because I don’t want to be compelled to divide with any one.”
There was no need that Pierre should take the trouble to explain his plans. Frank knew what they were before he said a word about them, and he could see no way to prevent them from being carried out. He was satisfied that it was quite useless to think of escape, and knowing that it would be the height of folly to provoke Pierre’s anger, he did not make the slightest show of resistance.
“I shall always hold a grudge against you,” said the Ranchero, tightening his grasp on Frank’s collar, “and, if it were not for the money you are worth, I would settle accounts with you in a hurry. I’ve had two chances to make myself rich, but you knocked my calculations higher than a kite. I am all right now, however, and if I ever meet you, after I deliver you up to Don Carlos, you are a goner. But that is not at all likely,” added the Mexican, “for when the gate of that rancho once closes upon you, it will never open for you again. The Don knows how to deal with men who learn his secrets. You are always meddling with other people’s business, but you have done it now for the last time.”
Frank listened in silence to this disheartening speech, and told himself that this was the worst predicament he had ever got into. When he was delivered into the Don’s hands, the latter would make an end of him; and if he did not, Pierre would. It was plain that if his captor could have his own way in the matter, Frank had not much longer to live.
The course which Pierre was taking to reach the mountains, lay through a dense forest, which, even in the day-time, was almost impassable for horsemen. He might have chosen an easier route, but knowing that he would be followed by his companions, who would not willingly surrender their claims to a share of the reward, he kept in the deepest part of the woods to elude their pursuit. His horse went at the top of his speed, and Frank was jolted about, and dashed against the trees, until it seemed to him that he could not possibly survive a moment longer. To his great relief, Pierre brought him to the edge of the woods at last; and after carrying him some distance up a ravine, stopped his horse, and began making preparations to bind his captive.
“I shall leave you here for an hour or two,” said he. “I am going back to the Don, and, if he comes down with the fifty thousand, I’ll turn you over to him; and if he doesn’t, you and I will lead a free and easy life here in the mountains, until your uncle ransoms you. I’ve got two strings to my bow this time.”
Pierre pulled his prisoner to a tree, to which he tied him securely with his lasso, Frank offering no resistance. He was too weak to lift a finger in his defense, and, as for remonstrance, he knew that would be useless, and so he held his peace.
“You take it very coolly,” remarked Pierre. “Why don’t you say something?”
“If I hadn’t been knocked about until the strength was all beaten out of me, I should have done something before this time,” replied Frank, boldly. “Give me my liberty, and fifteen minutes’ rest, and I’ll make trouble for you.”
“H’m!” said Pierre. “I can’t see it. You have made trouble enough for me already.”
“And you haven’t seen the last of me yet,” added Frank.
“I know it. I told you that I should come back to you, didn’t I?”
“I mean that you will meet me under very different circumstances. We will change places in less than twenty-four hours.”
Frank said this with no other object in view, than to let Pierre know that he still kept up a brave heart, if the future was dark before him. There was nothing in his prospects, just then, to encourage the hope that he and his enemy would “change places,” and he little dreamed that such would be the case; but, after all, something very like it did happen, and in less than half the time Frank had mentioned. Pierre, however, happy in the belief that his dreams of wealth were about to be realized, had no misgivings. He laughed at his prisoner’s warning, and springing into his saddle, disappeared in the darkness. Frank listened to the sound of his horse’s feet until it died away in the distance, and then rested his aching head against the tree, and thought over his situation. What an eventful day it had been! What astonishing adventures had been crowded into the short space of ten hours! Frank’s mind was in a perfect whirl; and, if he could have freed his hands, he would have pinched himself to see if he was really wide awake. But, after all, he knew that the events of the day were no dream – his aching limbs and throbbing head assured him of that. The fight with Old Davy, Archie’s mishap, and his mysterious disappearance at Don Carlos’ rancho, the death of the trapper, and the unexpected encounter with Pierre Costello – all were realities. It was no dream, either, that he had been bound to a tree and left in those dark woods; and it was equally certain that he was not the only living thing there. He heard a stealthy step on the leaves, and a moment afterward, saw a pair of eyes, which shone like two coals of fire, glaring at him from a thicket not far distant.
“It’s a panther!” exclaimed Frank, trembling all over with terror, and much more alarmed now than he had been when he found himself in the power of his old enemy; “and here I am perfectly helpless. Hi! hi!”
Acting upon his first impulse, which was to frighten away his disagreeable neighbor, he uttered a series of yells which awoke the echoes far and near. The result greatly astonished him. An answering shout came from the farther end of the ravine, and hasty footsteps were heard approaching. Frank’s heart beat high with hope. Had friends been following him? More likely they were some of the settlers, who had been out hunting, and were returning to their homes. In either case he would soon be free once more, and his first care would be to show Pierre that, if he had come back to the settlement, expecting to have things all his own way, he had reckoned without his host. He shouted again, and the eyes in the bushes disappeared, and he heard the panther bounding up the mountain.
“Hallo!” called a voice through the darkness.
“Hallo!” replied Frank. “This way. Here I am.”
The unknown persons were prompt to answer the call, and came through the bushes with all possible speed. Presently, Frank saw two dark forms approaching, and in a few seconds they were close at his side, and peering into his face. Why was it that he did not speak to them and tell them what had happened to him? Simply because there was no need of it. The men knew quite as much about it as he did. He had seen them before, and knew that they were members of Don Carlos’ band. The first words they uttered explained their presence there, and told Frank that they perfectly understood the matter.
“Pierre thinks he is smart,” said one, untying the lasso with which Frank was bound to the tree; “but he will find that there are men in the world as sharp as he is. We knew what was up when we saw him ride into the woods, instead of going toward the rancho. He tried to swindle us out of our share of the money, and now we will see how much of it he’ll get.”
In less time than it takes to tell it, Frank had been tied upon a horse behind one of the Mexicans, and was being carried back to the rancho. He did not experience much inconvenience from the ride, for the Mexicans traveled slowly, and avoided the woods altogether. At the end of half an hour they stopped in front of the walls of the rancho; and when the ponderous gate closed behind him, Frank shuddered and thought of the prediction Pierre had made. He glanced around the court, and saw that it was lighted up by numerous dark-lanterns, and filled with men, who seemed to be highly excited and enraged about something. They were all talking at the top of their voices, and the babel of English and Spanish was almost deafening. Archie had been the cause of this disturbance. Not more than half an hour before he had been flying about that court with all the speed his horse could command; and, having failed in his attempt at escape, he had taken refuge in the house. The Mexicans had seen him run through the hall, and into the Don’s reception-room, and had, of course, expected to capture him there; but they found the room empty, and could not imagine where Archie had gone. His disappearance astonished and alarmed them. They did not know that he was acquainted with the secret of that spring in the painting of the Indian warrior.
Conspicuous among a group of men who occupied the center of the court, stood the Don, who was, if possible, more excited and noisy than any of his band. He looked up when Frank’s captors stopped in front of him, and rubbed his hands gleefully together.
“Ach! Here is von of dese leetle poys,” said he. “Now dis ish all right!”
As soon as the lasso, with which Frank was confined to the horse, had been untied, he was assisted rather roughly to the ground. He put on a bold front, and unflinchingly met the angry glances that were directed toward him from all sides; but his heart was sinking within him, and he waited anxiously for the chief to speak.
“Vel,” said the latter, at length, “you peen trying to shpy out somethings about mine house, aint it? You peen von grand, leetle rascal. Vare ish dis other leetle poys?
“Who – Archie? I don’t know where he is; and, if I did, it is not likely that I should tell you. I hope he is safe at home.”
“Oh no, he don’t peen at home,” said the Don, shaking his head vehemently; “he ish somevares in dis house. Dake him down and lock him up.”
The chief’s looks had prepared Frank for some terrible sentence. He would not have been much surprised if he had heard that he was to be hanged or shot immediately; but, when he found that he was to be locked up, his courage rose again, and he began to indulge in the hope that a chance for escape might yet be offered him. In obedience to the Don’s order, the Rancheros conducted him to one of the rooms in the underground portion of the rancho, and after tying him hand and foot, left him to his meditations. But he was not destined to remain there long, for Archie fortunately stumbled upon him and released him.
We left the boys struggling with the Ranchero who had come in to satisfy himself that Frank had not yet found means to effect his escape. Archie was holding fast to his legs, and Frank had grasped him by the throat and stifled his cry for help.
“I can hold him now,” said the latter. “Shut that door, and get something to tie him with.”
The ropes with which Frank had been bound were brought into requisition, and in a few seconds, the Mexican, in spite of his furious struggles, was helpless. Archie had shown considerable generalship in the part he had played in this transaction. If the Ranchero had been permitted to return to his friends, he would, of course, have informed them that Frank had been liberated by somebody, and that would have told the Don just where to search for Archie. He knew that Archie was somewhere in the rancho, but thus far he had been unable to get on the track of him. The building was large, the underground rooms and passage-ways numerous, the doors all locked, and as long as the boys could keep their enemies from learning their exact whereabouts, there was little danger of capture.
“Now, then, what is to be done with this fellow?” asked Frank, when his cousin had securely bound the prisoner.
“Let’s give him one for Dick Lewis,” said Archie, brandishing his heavy pistol in the air. “A crack over the head with this would do him a wonderful sight of good.”
“No! no!” exclaimed Frank. “He took no part in that affair.”
“No doubt he would if he had had the chance. Let’s lock him in here, and leave him.”
“He’ll call for help, won’t he?”
“We don’t care if he does. Even if he succeeds in making himself heard through these thick walls, his friends can’t release him until they have cut down one of these doors; and by the time they get that done, we may be out of this den of robbers, and half way home.”
Archie began trying his keys in the lock of of the door, and finally found one that would fit it. Then, after the prisoner had been pulled into one corner, the cousins passed out of the room, locking the door after them.
CHAPTER XIV
THE DON IN TROUBLE
“What is to be done now?” asked Frank, as he and Archie walked slowly along the dark passage-way.
“There’s only one thing we can do,” replied the latter, “and that is, to explore every room we come to until we find our way out of the rancho. Of course there is danger in it, but – There’s one of the rascals!”
A slight noise, a little in advance of them, attracted the attention of Archie, who elevated his lantern, and peered through the darkness just in time to catch a glimpse of a Ranchero, running swiftly toward the other end of the passage. Frank’s revolver was cocked and leveled in an instant, but he was too late to stop the man, who had no sooner been discovered than he vanished from their sight. He did not go far, however, but stopped at the end of the passage, and keeping his eyes fastened upon Archie’s lantern, called loudly for help.
“We’re discovered at last,” whispered Frank.
“But we’re not caught,” was Archie’s encouraging reply. “Let’s go into this room.”
Archie had noticed one thing that night, and that was, that the greater the hurry he was in to find a key to open any of the doors, the more time he wasted in finding it. There must have been twenty-five or thirty keys on the bunch, and he tried nearly all of them, before he found one that would turn the bolt. His hand trembled so violently that he could scarcely insert the keys into the lock, and, in his haste, he dropped the bunch more than once.
“How thankful I would be if that fellow should lose the power of speech for about five minutes,” said Archie, who seemed to be very much disconcerted by the Mexican’s furious yells. “I might as well give it up,” he added, in despair. “If the right key is on this bunch, I can’t find it.”
“Never say die,” replied Frank, who stood close at his cousin’s side, holding the lantern in one hand, and his revolver in the other. “We’ll not give up until we are bound hand and foot.”
All this while the Mexican had never once ceased his calls for assistance. He kept up a continuous roar, and presently answering shouts, and the tramping of numerous feet, told the fugitives that he had succeeded in attracting the attention of some of his companions. The reinforcements came on rapidly, and arrived in sight, and Archie had not yet been able to find a key that would open the door.
“Take it easy,” said Frank, who began to fear that his cousin’s nervousness and impatience would prove their ruin. He spoke calmly enough, but his face was very pale, and the lantern trembled in his grasp. This was the severest test that had been applied to his courage since he stood at that log awaiting the approach of the wounded and enraged grizzly; and yet he could speak in his ordinary tone of voice, without the least impatience, and advise his terrified and excited cousin to “take it easy.” It showed what nerve he had. He was getting desperate; and while he kept one eye upon Archie, and the other turned toward the farther end of the passage, he was calculating his chances for emptying his six-shooter among the Mexicans, before they could close around him. “There is nothing to be gained by being in such a hurry,” he added, as his cousin once more dropped the keys. “The more haste the less speed, you know.”
At this moment lights flashed in the passage, and dark forms came on at a rapid run. The prospect was certainly disheartening. Their only chance for escape was through that door, which refused to open for them, and there were their enemies, at least half a dozen of them, not more than twenty feet distant. But their good fortune had not yet deserted them. The right key was found, just in the nick of time – not a single instant too soon – the door flew open, and Frank and Archie, uttering a simultaneous cry of joy, slipped through and slammed it behind them. The moment it was closed Frank braced himself against it, and Archie inserted the key into the lock; but, before he could turn the bolt, a strong hand grasped the latch, and a stalwart Mexican threw his weight against the door, which was forced partly open, in spite of all Frank’s efforts to prevent it. A moment afterward, a hand holding a murderous looking bowie-knife appeared, followed first by a dark, scowling face, and then by a pair of broad shoulders. One of the Mexicans, who had reached the door a little in advance of his companions, was trying to squeeze himself into the the room; and he seemed in a fair way to accomplish his object.
“Here’s fifty thousand dollars,” said he, exultingly. “Come here, somebody. He’s got a pistol.”
The boys jammed the door against the Ranchero, with all their strength, but he was a match for both of them, and besides he had a great advantage. Frank and Archie could find no foothold upon the hard dirt floor. Their feet slipped about in every direction, and the Mexican, having braced himself against the door-post, was slowly but surely pushing them back. He would certainly have succeeded in working his way into the room, had it not been for Frank’s revolver. The sight of the cocked weapon, thrust full in his face, drove him back, and before the rest of the Mexicans could come to his assistance, the door was closed and fastened.
“Whew!” whispered Archie, drawing a long breath, and wiping the big drops of perspiration from his forehead, “that was a close shave, wasn’t it? It doesn’t seem to suit them very well.”
If one might judge by the uproar that arose in the passage, the Mexicans were certainly very much disappointed. They yelled at the top of their lungs, and some struck the door with their knives, while others threw themselves against it and tried to burst it open. But that door was not a common door. It was made of heavy planks, and was strong enough to successfully resist all their attacks. There was but one way in which they could effect an entrance, and that was by cutting the door down with an ax. Before that could be done, the fugitives would have ample time to hunt up a new hiding-place.
The boys had been so terrified by their recent danger, and so intent on preventing their enemies from following them into the room, that they had not thought of any thing else. They had not had time to look about the apartment in which they had taken refuge; and if there had been a dozen men in there, they would not have known it. As soon as they had somewhat recovered their composure, and satisfied themselves that their enemies in the passage-way could not immediately effect an entrance, they began an examination of the room, and found that, like most of the others in the underground portion of the rancho, it was used as a receptacle for various odds and ends, being filled with boxes, bales of goods, and articles of like description. They noticed also that the room communicated with another, and that the door between them stood wide open; and scarcely had they observed these points, before they became aware that there were men on the opposite side of that door. They could not see them, but they could distinctly hear their voices. One was angrily demanding something, and another was answering in an imploring tone. The men, whoever they were, had evidently got into some difficulty; for, with the voices, was occasionally mingled the sounds of a furious struggle.
“There’s a fight going on in there,” whispered Archie. “I hope they will keep one another employed until we can get out of here. Which way shall we go?”
That was the very question Frank was asking himself, and it was one he could not answer. If they went back into the passage, they would run directly into the clutches of their enemies; and if they retreated into the adjoining room, they would be captured by the men who were quarreling there. It would be useless for them to conceal themselves among the boxes and bales of goods, for two men could thoroughly ransack the room in half a minute’s time, and their hiding-place would speedily be discovered.
“Oh, we are caught at last,” said Archie, after he had thought the matter over. “We can’t stir a step, for our enemies are all around us.”
Thump! thump! Both boys jumped as if some one had suddenly fired a pistol close to their ears. The Rancheros in the passage had secured an ax, and were beginning the work of cutting down the door. The blows fell fast and furiously, and before the cousins had fairly made up their minds what was going on, the door began to shake and tremble violently. Something must be done at once; for in two minutes more the room would be filled with Rancheros. The boys looked at each other, and both seemed to have decided upon the same course of action; for, with one accord, they started toward the opposite side of the room. They moved swiftly, but noiselessly, and when they reached the door, they stopped and looked in and beheld a scene that filled them with astonishment. By the light of a lantern, which stood on a table in the center of the room, they saw a man lying upon the floor, and another kneeling upon his breast, and holding him by the throat with one hand, while, with the other, he flourished a knife in the air. The prostrate man was the chief of the robber band, and his antagonist was Pierre Costello. They were talking in angry, excited tones, and during the few seconds the cousins stood at the door, undecided how to act, they caught enough of the conversation to understand the cause of the trouble.
Pierre had boasted to Frank, before he left him in the ravine, that he had two strings to his bow this time. In case Don Carlos refused to pay him the reward he had offered for Frank’s capture, he would keep his prisoner safe, until his uncle ransomed him. If one failed, the other would not, for Mr. Winters would willingly give every cent he was worth, rather than permit harm to befall his nephew. But something was always happening to upset Pierre’s plans. The Rancheros, whom he had tried to cheat out of their share of the money, had followed him to the mountains, and taken charge of the prisoner themselves. Pierre was in the court when Frank was brought in, and although he said nothing, he was highly enraged. He could, of course, have claimed a portion of the reward, but that would not satisfy him – he wanted it all; and he mentally resolved that, before morning, he would smuggle Frank out of the rancho, and carry him back to the mountains.
While thinking the matter over, and trying to decide upon the best plan for accomplishing his object, he came to the conclusion that it would be well to make a change in his programme. He was satisfied that the events of the night had broken up the robber band (the disappearance of Frank and Archie would create a great commotion in the settlement, and the Don’s secret would be certain to leak out somewhere), and Pierre determined to secure his own safety by deserting his friends, and leaving the country. He would not, however, go empty handed. The Don had plenty of gold stowed away in some secret cavern; Pierre wanted some of it; and the only way he could get it was to compel the chief to conduct him to its place of concealment. This he had decided to do; and when the Don went below to renew his search for Archie, Pierre accompanied him; and after leading him into a deserted room in a remote corner of the rancho (one of the few which happened to be unlocked), he ordered the Don to show him where the coveted gold was hidden. Frightened by the sight of the knife which Pierre brandished before his eyes, the chief would have gladly complied with the demand, but, for the simple reason, that he could not get into the room where his treasure was concealed. The key was attached to the bunch in Archie’s pocket. He had long ago missed the keys from their accustomed nail in his room, but he did not know what had become of them.