Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 07 - Sudden Rides Again(1938) (41 page)

 
          
“Shore,
we gotta give ‘em a warm welcome,” Turvey laughed, and departed.

 
          
Satan
laughed, too, but directly he was alone, became thoughtful. “So the cat is
out,” he mused, “and the most perfect getaway ever devised comes to grief.
Keith has talked, or the gunman has guessed—correctly, but in this place no one
knows save that rat and gold will keep him quiet until I substitute—lead. I
still hold a trump card, Joan, but it is not safe for her to remain here—those
damned cowboys may prove too strong for us. The wise general prepares for the
possibility of defeat.”

 
          
He
summoned Silver and sent him for Miss Dalroy. When she arrived he pointed to a
seat.

 
          
“Hell
City is shortly to be attacked by a considerable force,” he began bluntly.
“What do you suppose will happen to you if it is taken?”

 
          
“One
of the victors might succumb to my charms and make me his blushing bride,” she
returned lightly, conceiving that he was trying to frighten her for some
purpose.

 
          
He
frowned at her flippancy. “You would be handed over to the nearest sheriff and
go back to face your trial.”

 
          
The
harsh statement sobered her. “What do you want?”

 
          
“I
am arranging for you and Miss Keith to be taken elsewhere. You will start this
afternoon, with Silver as escort.”

 
          
“Two
woman
, alone with that—animal?” she cried.

 
          
“He
is the only man I trust, or can spare,” Satan said coldly. “You will be quite
safe.”

 
          
“Why
can’t you come?”

 
          
He
drew himself up. “Desert my people?” he asked, and then, remembering that this
woman was not one to be impressed by heroics, added, “I shall be needed here,
and will join you later.”

 
          
“I
won’t go,” she said stubbornly.

 
          
“Get
ready. You need not tell the Keith girl why the journey is necessary,” he
replied, and with a change of tone, “Belle, you know I would not send you away
but for your own sake, don’t you?”

 
          
Instantly
she melted. “Oh, Jeff, I’m a fool about you,” she murmured. “There are times
when I could kill you, and others—”

 
          
“When
you would die for me,” he smiled. “But I’m only asking you to live for me, my
dear.”

 
          
The
smile remained when she had gone. “Hard words for a man, and soft for a woman,
spoken at the right time, will move mountains,” he soliloquized.
“God!
If that cursed cowpuncher had never been born.”

 
          
He
thrust aside the ambitious hopes his abnormal vanity had bred—the present
needed all his attention. To
Silver
he gave detailed
instructions, and the dwarf’s beady eyes shone when he heard the reward he was
to receive if he carried them out successfully.

 
          
“I
savvy, Chief,” he grunted.

 
          
“If
you fail, in any way, I’ll kill you—slowly,” Satan said. “You can’t hide from
me.” He tapped his forehead. “I see with my brain.”

 
          
Having
thus reminded the fellow of his supernatural powers, he went about the business
of dealing with the threatened attack. The boom of the bell brought the
dwellers running, all save the guardians of the gates. Excited questions flew
back and fore. Who was the victim? What form would the punishment take? One
said the gunman, Sudden, had been recaptured. The spectacular figure of their
leader stilled the hubbub. In a melodramatic fashion he flung his right hand
upwards.

 
          
“My
friends,” he cried, “it has been revealed to me that the Double K and Twin
Diamond ranches are combining to drive us from our retreat. What are we to do?”

 
          
The
answer came in one roar, “Fight!”

 
          
“I
am glad you agree with me. These cattlemen think the earth was created solely
for them, and must be taught otherwise. They can get to us only through the
gates, unless”—he glanced up at the cliff walls—”they drop from Heaven, and a
cowboy is as little likely to come from as go there.”

 
          
“That’s
one for you, Turvey,” a wit shouted, and raised a laugh.

 
          
“So
we must have a strong force at each entrance, men who can use their rifles,
with others in readiness to take the places of those who may—be unlucky,” Satan
went on. “We have plenty of weapons and ammunition. Roden will command at the
west gate and Turvey at the east. There will be twenty gold pieces for every
man if we win, and remember, you will be fighting for your very existence,
so—no mercy.”

 
          
Though
the cheering as he turned his back on them gratified his mummer’s appetite for
applause, it brought a sneer to his lips. How easy it was for a clever man to
mould the common clay to his own desires! A handful of gold, a few well-chosen
words, and these men were ready to lay down their lives for him. Fools … fools
…

 
          
Meanwhile,
the objects of his contempt were discussing the news. Hard-bitten, reckless,
the prospect of a battle daunted them not at all. With coarse jests and a great
deal of boasting, they crowded round the two lieutenants, busy distributing
cartridges and rifles. Some disdained the latter, for as one rugged-faced old
freebooter expressed it: “
A gun
you know is like a
good wife—not so purty, mebbe, but you c’n trust her.”

 
          
“Gimme
a skinnin’ knife; I’ll win me some scalps,” another bragged.

 
          
“Scalps, hell!
They’ll be skallyhootin’ to damnation afore
they git within fifty yards o’ the gates,” he was told. And this seemed to be
the general opinion.

 
          
To
Joan Keith the journey, when she learned that Satan would not accompany them,
proved such a relief that she did not ask why they were going; no place could
be worse than the horrible haunt she was in. Even the presence of Silver
alarmed her much less than it had her more sophisticated companion.

 
          
“The
poor fellow can’t help the way he was born,” she said. “I had a dog once whose
appearance scared everybody, and he was the most docile of animals.”

 
          
Belle
shrugged her shapely shoulders and retired behind a screen to dress for the
ride. When she reappeared, Joan found herself staring at a young cowboy in
high-heeled boots, chaps, woollen shirt with a bright kerchief knotted round
the neck, Stetson, and gauntleted gloves.

 
          
“What
do you think of it?” Belle laughed, turning this and that way to display
herself.

 
          
Before
Joan could reply, a familiar voice forestalled her: “Charming, Belle; you need
only the mask to be my double.”

 
          
“Let
me try,” she said saucily, holding out her hand.

 
          
“We’ve
no time for play,” he replied sharply. “The horses are waiting.”

 
          
The
scene outside was one of bustle and excitement, and the fact that every man was
carrying a rifle, coupled with their own hurried departure, gave Joan a
glimmering of the truth; her friends were coming to the rescue. Obeying their
conductor’s order, they went to his apartment. Belle’s eyebrows rose when she
saw the open trapdoor.

 
          
“A
private exit?” she laughed. “What a clever devil you are, Jeff. Come along,
Miss Keith, we shall learn all his secrets.”

 
          
They
descended until they reached the cave where Keith had spent so many solitary
months. Belle looked at the man archly.

 
          
“I
wonder what love-bird occupied this comfortable cage?” she said. “
you
are full of surprises, Jeff.”

 
          
“The
best is yet to come,” he returned curtly, and went to the opening which served
as a window.

 
          
Joan
absently opened one of the books on the table. The fly-leaf bore the
inscription “Jefferson Keith” and she closed it quickly. At that moment, the
Chief called them, and even Belle’s self-assurance failed her when she saw the
frail rope-ladder dangling aginst the face of the cliff.

 
          
“My
God, Jeff, you’re not expecting us to go down that, are you?” she exclaimed.

 
          
“No,
I’m ordering you to,” he replied forcefully. “It’s safe enough—if you hold on.”

 
          
Heights
had no terrors for the range-bred girl. “I will go first,” Joan offered.

 
          
The
masked man divined that she would risk being dashed to fragments rather than
remain alone with him; anger, and his natural instinct to inflict pain, brought
a refusal.

 
          
“No,
age before beauty,” he said, dealing a double blow. “Go, Belle, and don’t look
down.”

 
          
The
taunt served its purpose. Furious, the woman crawled through the opening and
commenced the descent.

 
          
She
was not without courage, but this was an ordeal outside her experience, and the
thought of what would happen if she fell, paralysed her. Clinging desperately
to the ladder, she moved so slowly that the man above cursed impatiently. Weak
and dizzy, she every moment expected to slip and feel her body hurtling through
the air. When she was half-waythough she did not know that—her flimsy support
began to sway under her weight and she paused, frozen with fear.

 
          
“Don’t
stop, damn you, unless you want death.”

 
          
The
strident voice, cleaving the atmosphere like a bullet, lashed her to action.
Blind to everything save the ropes she must grip and the rungs she must find
for her feet, she went on, and at last the watchers above saw her vanish over
the bulge at the bottom of the cliff.

 
          
“That
yell saved her life—in another moment the fool would have fallen,” Satan said.
“I expect better from you. I hate to let you go, Joan, but it is only for a day
or so.”

 
          
His
eyes were alive now, alive with a passion which chilled and frightened. But she
must play her part.

 
          
“I
don’t understand,” she said wearily. “I know you would not hurt me—Jeff.”

 
          
“I
shall explain everything,” he replied eagerly, his hot gaze devouring her.
“Joan, I could take your kisses, but… Go, girl, before the nearness of you
weakens my will.”

 
          
She
needed no second bidding; the peril she was about to face could not compare
with that she left behind. So, with a light heart, she followed Belle. Holding
tightly, she looked neither up nor down, keeping her eyes glued on the rocky
wall before them. One thought only came to her as she dropped lower and
lower—Jeff must have escaped in the.
same
way.
Somehow, the probability gave her confidence, and almost before she realized
that the task was done, a pair of huge hands lifted her from the ladder, set
her on the ground, and she was gazing into the grinning face of Silver.

 
          
“Here
you
is
, an’ there’s the hosses. Let’s be goin’,” he
said.

 
          
There
were four animals, one of them packed with supplies. In a brief space, they
were on their way.

 
          
The
first arrivals at the Twin Diamond ranch-house on the following morning were
Lagley, Frosty, and Lazy. The face of the foreman wore a worried frown as he
drew Sudden aside.