CHAPTER XIII.DELL AND WAH-COO-TAH.
When the scout opened his eyes, the exciting events which he had recently passed through seemed more like a dream than anything else. As his brain slowly cleared, and he was able to pick up the broken thread of occurrences more firmly, he began to wonder at what he saw.
He was lying in the level, and a lighted candle stood on a rock near his head. Beside him knelt Dell Dauntless, bending over and allowing a trickle of water to fall upon his face from one of the canteens.
“How are you now, Buffalo Bill?” the girl asked.
“Nothing worth mentioning has happened to me, Dell,” he answered, pushing aside the canteen and sitting up. “I took a tumble over that rock where you’ve put the candle, and struck my head against the wall of the passage. It was a small thing to knock a man out.”
“It must have been a harder blow than you supposed.”
“No discount on that, pard; still, it isn’t anything to make a fuss over.”
He picked up his hat and put it on, then gave the girl an inquiring look.
“How is it I find you here?”
“Cayuse was in the gully with the horses,” Dell explained, “and I was reconnoitering around the ore-dump. Everything had been pretty quiet, up above, and Cayuse and I hadn’t seen a soul. I was close to the mouth of the shaft when I heard something like a volley of revolver-shots.I wasn’t sure there had been firing down here, though, until I had crept to the mouth of the shaft and sniffed burned powder. Cayuse and I had left the spliced riatas hidden in the bushes near the ore-dump, and I ran for the ropes, dropped one end down and made the other fast to the platform. Then I lowered myself into the mine.”
“You took a lot of chances, Dell,” muttered the scout, brushing a hand across his eyes. “You found me lying here, eh?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t see any one else?”
“No. What’s become of Nomad and Wild Bill?”
The scout couldn’t understand why Lawless and his gang hadn’t finished him, nor why he hadn’t been dragged away to the same mysterious place to which Nomad had been taken; but he didn’t stop to debate these matters just then. Getting quickly to his feet, he snatched up the candle and went along the level, looking for Wild Bill, just as he and Wild Bill had gone hunting for Nomad a little while before.
The smell of burned powder was strong, and a slight fog of it was drifting toward the shaft.
Buffalo Bill, followed by Dell, went to the end of the tunnel and back again without finding any trace of Wild Bill. The scout sat down on a rock and took his aching head between his hands.
“This is a brain-twister, if there ever was one,” he muttered.
“What do you mean by that, pard?” Dell inquired.
“Well,” he answered, looking up, “we hadn’t been down here fifteen minutes until Nomad had disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Yes. Wild Bill and I heard him give a yell, but when we went to look for him he had vanished.”
“There must be a secret passage leading into another part of the mine, and——”
“Hickok and I made up our minds to that, but if there is a secret passage we failed to locate it. While we were talking the matter over, I heard a sound of stealthy movements between us and the breast of the level, and I had just time to throw down my candle and knock the light out of Wild Bill’s hand, and then to drag Wild Bill flat down on the floor of the level, when a volley was fired. We had a hand-to-hand fight, and right in the middle of it I stumbled over that stone and rammed my head into the wall. And now Hickok has followed Nomad—where? And why is it I wasn’t taken away with Hickok? I can’t make head or tail to this thing, Dell, and it’s getting onto my nerves. Nothing happens as you would expect it to happen. The mine seems bewitched.”
“We’d better get out of here,” Dell suggested.
“I came here to stay three days and nights,” said the scout doggedly, “and——”
“But with Nomad and Wild Bill gone, what could you and I do against men who have a secret retreat in the mine? They have every advantage, pard. They can make an attack when they want to, and can get away in a hurry and without leaving a clue as to where they go. Of course, these men are Lawless and his gang, and they not only have the advantage in the point of numbers, but they have also a knowledge of these underground workings.”
“Lawless prepared the mine as a trap for us,” said thescout, “and, while I was expecting underhand work and surprises when we came down here, I was not counting upon hidden passages and secret levels. I won’t abandon Nomad and Hickok to their fate, but I’ll go up to the surface and take a look around. There may be a concealed shaft somewhere in the vicinity of the ore-dump. After I make an examination of the surface, I’ll come back down here.”
“Will it be wise,” asked Dell, “for us to come back down here alone? Hadn’t we better send Cayuse to Sun Dance for more men? Pete, and Tenny, and Blake would probably be glad to come down here and help.”
“Dell,” said the scout earnestly, “I’ve got just pride enough about me to want to wind this up without any outside aid. I’ll be an hour on the surface, not longer; then I’ll come down here again and leave you at the top of the shaft.”
“You’ll be taking your life in your hands,” said Dell.
“I don’t think so. Lawless and his men could have killed me, or have snaked me out of the tunnel with Hickok. They didn’t do it; and that proves that they have some reason for sparing me and leaving me in the level. I can’t leave here without doing something for Wild Bill and Nomad.”
The scout started toward the shaft with the candle. As Dell followed, she kicked against something on the floor. Picking the object up, she found it to be a pine knot, soaked in kerosene.
“That gang that attacked Wild Bill and me,” said the scout, “probably brought that along with them. They didn’t have time to light it, and it was lost in the scuffle. We’ll make use of it ourselves,” and he held the candle to the oil-soaked knot.
The torch blazed up on the instant, and the scout blew out his candle and put it in his pocket.
They went on to the shaft, and, when they got there, another one of Dell’s “disagreeable surprises” awaited them. The rope which Dell had left swinging from the plank platform was gone!
The girl recoiled with a cry of dismay.
“I’m getting used to this sort of thing, Dell,” said the scout grimly. “The unexpected is sure to happen in this mine—you meet it at every turn.”
“Could Cayuse have pulled up the rope?”
“Hardly. It’s a safe guess he wouldn’t leave the horses.”
“Then it must have been Lawless and his men?”
“That’s the way I figure it.”
“If that’s the case, it naturally follows that the outlaws have some way of getting to the surface, aside from using this shaft?”
“That’s right, pard. Lawless and his men appear to have everything their own way. They can come and go as they please, and they can dodge in on us and dodge away again without leaving any clue. If you were on the surface, the loss of the rope wouldn’t bother me very much. I have just found out what I was going up to discover. Thereisa concealed shaft, and the outlaws had to make use of it in order to get to the top of the ore-dump and pull up that rope.”
“You think they knew I was down here?”
“It’s an easy guess. Now that we’re likely to have to stay down here for a while, we had better make ourselves as secure as possible. The safest place in the mine, it strikes me, is that ‘drift’ where Wild Bill found the gold. We’ll carry our grub-sacks and water-cansin there, then put out the light, lay low, and wait for developments. We’ll have plenty of them, if I’m any prophet. I never saw such a place for things to happen.”
While Dell held the torch, Buffalo Bill picked up some of the canteens and provision-bags and carried them into the “drift.” A few canteens were left in the level, and Dell went back for them.
The scout, in the dark end of the short passage, was stowing away the bags and canteens, when he heard an unusual sound just beyond the opening leading into the “drift.” He glanced up and stared toward the place where Dell was standing with the torch.
The unexpected had happened, just as the scout had surmised it would, but nevertheless he was mightily taken aback by what he saw.
An Indian girl was standing in front of Dell. The newcomer had a catamount skin over her back and a knife in the uplifted hand. Dell, it was plain, had been startled by the Indian girl’s appearance—as well she might be; and no less by her appearance than by the fierce hostility that gleamed in her black eyes.
In three leaps the scout gained the level and had grasped the Indian girl’s uplifted arm.
“Wah-coo-tah!” thundered Buffalo Bill; “what does this mean?”
The Indian girl stared into the scout’s face, and her upraised arm slowly dropped. As the scout’s grip relaxed, she drew away a step, and a soft look came into her eyes.
“Pa-e-has-ka,” she murmured, “why you come here? You no want um mine—know um no good. You wantum Lawless, but you no ketch um. Lawless kill Pa-e-has-ka, all same.”
“Wah-coo-tah,” asked the scout, “where are my pards, Nomad and Wild Bill?”
“Lawless got um.”
“That’s what I supposed; but where has Lawless taken them?”
“All same secret level.”
“Are they in any immediate danger?”
“Lawless no kill umyet. Him wait till he kill um Pa-e-has-ka.”
“Why didn’t he kill me a while ago, when he had the chance?”
“Him wait to kill you another way.Nuzhee Mona!”
Here were the same words that had already aroused the curiosity of the scout and his pards. Wah-coo-tah, it was now proved, had spoken them in the basement of the Alcazar, pinned them to the hotel door with the dagger, and written them in smoke on the roof of the level.
“How did you get here, Wah-coo-tah?” asked the scout.
“Come by secret door in rocks,” answered the girl.
“Have you been trying to warn me, and keep me away?”
“Ai, but Pa-e-has-ka no stay away. Him here now, and him die.”
“Why did you leave the hotel like you did?”
Wah-coo-tah glared over the scout’s shoulder at Dell Dauntless.
“No like um yellow hair squaw,” she said savagely.
“What harm have I ever done you, Wah-coo-tah?” asked Dell.
“Huh!” said the Indian girl scornfully, hunching up her shoulders and folding her arms. “Me like um Pa-e-has-ka; you like um.”
At that a light dawned on the scout. He could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. As soon as he became certain there was no mistake, an amused laugh broke from his lips. He would have laughed had his situation been ten times as perilous as it was.
A faint smile curved around Dell’s red lips. Wah-coo-tah, watching and listening with catlike vigilance, lashed herself into another burst of temper.
“Me come here to kill Yellow Hair!” she cried. “Me watch up top o’ ground; me see her come down shaft; then me pull up rope, come by secret door into tunnel.”
Like a panther, Wah-coo-tah flung herself toward Dell.
With a quick move, the scout placed himself in Wah-coo-tah’s way. Her lifted knife dropped until the point touched his breast, and she stood in front of him with flashing eyes and heaving bosom, a living picture of murderous hate.
“There, there, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, reaching up his hands and unclasping her fingers from the knife. “You’re making a big mistake.” He took the weapon from her resisting grasp and slid it into his pocket. “You don’t understand the situation at all. Yellow Hair Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, all same Nomad, Wild Bill, and Little Cayuse. Wah-coo-tah Pa-e-has-ka’s pard, too.Sabe?”
The girl was only half-convinced, only half-placated.
“Ugh!” she muttered, “me no like um Yellow Hair.”
“If you want to be friends with Pa-e-has-ka, Wah-coo-tah,” proceeded the scout earnestly, “you must also be friends with Yellow Hair.”
“No!” Wah-coo-tah screamed in sudden frenzy; “mebbyso, bymby, me kill um Yellow Hair.”
“That’s the Indian of it,” muttered the scout. “When you’re dealing with a redskin you never can tell which way the cat is going to jump.”
Looking Wah-coo-tah in the eyes, he addressed her directly.
“If you wanted to warn me,” said he, “why didn’t you come out, face to face?”
“Lawless watch Sun Dance Camp,” answered Wah-coo-tah. “Mebbyso he see Wah-coo-tah make talk with Pa-e-has-ka, he kill Wah-coo-tah.”
“Ah! so that’s the way of it? You came to the Alcazar when we were talking with the gambler?”
“All same under floor; try make Pa-e-has-ka stay ’way from mine. Pa-e-has-ka no stay. Me get into Alcazar by window in cellar; get out same way.”
“Can you write, Wah-coo-tah?”
“My father he teach me how to make letters.”
“And you made letters on a piece of bark and pinned them to the hotel door with a dagger?”
“All same. When me come from Alcazar me watch. See um Pa-e-has-ka, Yellow Hair, and rest Pa-e-has-ka’s pards come from Alcazar, meet Piute, hold powwow; then me put birch bark on hotel door. Hope mebbyso Pa-e-has-ka see um—no go to mine.”
“You came back to the Forty Thieves from Sun Dance?”
“Ai.”
“And you came into this level, took a candle, and wrote those words on the wall with the candle-smoke?”
“Ai. Me no like to think Pa-e-has-ka die. Pa-e-has-ka big brave. Wah-coo-tah like um.”
“Don’t be foolish, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout. “Such talk is forzinga zingas(children).”
“Mebbyso Yellow Hair talk like that,” said Wah-coo-tah angrily, “you no say she talk likezinga zinga.”
“Yellow Hair has too much sense to talk in that way.”
“Huh!” exclaimed the Indian girl contemptuously.
“How is Lawless planning to get even with me, Wah-coo-tah?” went on the scout. “Why didn’t he take me out of this level at the time he dragged Wild Bill away?”
“Him got better way to kill Pa-e-has-ka. No want to use um knife or bullet. Pa-e-has-ka die in Forty Thieves Mine.”
“How?”
“Nuzhee Mona!”
“What does that mean?”
The girl shook her head, and shivered as though struck by a draft of icy air.
“Tell me what the words mean!” insisted the scout.
“Nuzhee Monaall same god of Injun; god slay Pa-e-has-ka.”
“I reckon I’m able to defend myself against any of these heathen gods,” said the scout.
“Pa-e-has-ka no save himself fromNuzhee Mona.”
“We’ll see. How many men has Lawless with him?”
“So many,” and Wah-coo-tah held up seven fingers. “Clancy, Seth Coomby, Tex, Andy, all same three Injun—Cheyennes.”
“Lawless fixed up this mine for a trap, eh?”
“Mine been fixed for many moons. Lawless got bad heart, do bad things white man no like. Him fix mine so he get away when white pony soldiers come to ketch um.”
“This ‘plant’ of his was originally devised for his ownsafety, then? Well, I reckon he thinks he is putting it to good use now. If you had come to me in Sun Dance, Wah-coo-tah, and had told me about the layout here, I would have taken extra measures looking to the safety of my pards and myself.”
“Pa-e-has-ka great brave, but him no can fight Lawless. Lawless Wah-coo-tah’s father, but Wah-coo-tah no like um. Wah-coo-tah know, when Lawless driven by Pa-e-has-ka from gulch, that Lawless make try kill Pa-e-has-ka. So Wah-coo-tah go to Lawless, learn what he try to do, then warn Pa-e-has-ka. Pa-e-has-ka no pay any ’tention,” and rebuke and sadness lurked in the last words.
“Had I known more, Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout, “I should have paid more attention. Are Wild Bill and Nomad bound?”
“Ai. Lawless no let um get ’way.”
“Are all of the outlaws watching them?”
“Plenty men watch um.”
“Won’t it be possible for Dell and me to go through the secret door you speak about, and rescue my pards? I can’t leave them in the hands of Lawless.”
“Pa-e-has-ka want to die,quick? Him go through secret door, him be shot down,pronto. Door watched all time.”
“How did you get through it to come here?”
“Cheyenne watch um door. Cheyenne like um Wah-coo-tah, let Wah-coo-tah come.”
“See here, Wah-coo-tah,” went on the scout, “can’t you contrive to set Nomad and Wild Bill free, then get them past the Cheyenne at the secret door?”
“What good, huh? Then you all die here byNuzhee Mona.”
“We’ll take our chances withNuzhee Monaif you’ll help my pards.”
Wah-coo-tah bowed her head in thought for a moment; then, drawing herself erect, she took a swift step toward the scout.
“Mebbyso Pa-e-has-ka send Yellow Hair away, huh? Then Wah-coo-tah save um pards Pa-e-has-ka.”
“Why is she so bitter against me?” breathed Dell. “As she puts it now, I am standing between Nomad and Wild Bill and safety.” She whirled on Wah-coo-tah. “How can Pa-e-has-ka send me away, Wah-coo-tah? We are in the mine—there is no way out, for you have taken away the rope.”
“Mebbyso me go back, let down rope, then Pa-e-has-ka and his pards get ’way, huh? Injun girl more able to do things than white squaw. Wah-coo-tah save Pa-e-has-ka, Nomad, and Wild Bill, you promise go ’way never see Pa-e-has-ka again?”
Wah-coo-tah bent her hard, stony eyes on the white face of Dell.
The Indian girl must have understood the struggle that was taking place in Dell’s breast, for a gloating exultation overspread her face. Dell was her enemy, and she exulted in the torture she had caused.
“Yes,” said Dell slowly: “if you will save Nomad and Wild Bill, and then let down the rope so that we may all get out of this mine, I—I will leave Buffalo Bill and never see him again.”
At that instant, Wah-coo-tah’s keen ear detected something that led her to snatch the torch from Dell’s hand and crush out the flame under her moccasins.
“Good!” she muttered, in reply to Dell’s promise.“Me save um. Just now Lawless come; get in here,quick.”
With her hands, Wah-coo-tah pushed the scout and Dell through the mouth of the “drift.”
While they crouched there, the scout fingering his revolvers, they heard stealthy movements along the tunnel in their direction.
“Pa-e-has-ka make parley with Lawless,” whispered Wah-coo-tah to the scout. “Pa-e-has-ka tell um Lawless Pa-e-has-ka kill um Wah-coo-tah if Lawless no get back through secret door.Sabe?”
The scout understood. The stealthy sounds were coming nearer and nearer along the tunnel, and the scout would rather have met his enemies with bullets than with words, but just then Wah-coo-tah’s plan seemed best.
“Lawless!” the scout cried.
The movements stopped, and a low, mocking laugh came out of the heavy gloom.
“Who speaks?” demanded a voice.
“Buffalo Bill.”
“What do you want, Buffalo Bill?”
“I want you to stand where you are, and not come another step this way.”
“What you want, and what you’ll get,” was the taunting reply, “are two different things. I have the upper hand here. You came to the Forty Thieves thinking you would trap the trappers; and you thought I did not know Wild Bill had discovered that rich vein in the ‘drift.’ I knew about that when I made out that deed, and I knew very well the rich vein would tempt you to come here. However, I let you suppose I thought theForty Thieves worthless, and that I was summoning you here to pit my strength against yours.”
Captain Lawless gave another laugh—a laugh that held a ringing note of triumph.
“I am not the fool you think me,” he went on. “The Forty Thieves is a bonanza, but it will never belong to you. You and your pards are on my trail, and when you are out of the way, I can take possession of the mine and work it myself. There is a method in my plans. Your greed to get possession of the mine, which you knew to be valuable, and which you believed I thought worthless, has placed you in the jaws of death. Two of your pards are already in my hands. By to-morrow noon their scalps will swing from the girdles of my Cheyennes; but you—well, yours is to be a different fate. That is why I left you here when I could have had you dragged away with Hickok; that is why I did not let a Cheyenne knife do its work with you; and so sure was I that I would ‘get’ you, that I did not even trouble to remove your weapons.”
Silence followed Lawless’ words.
“How did you learn about the rich vein?” asked the scout.
“When you thought you chased me and my men out of the cañon, some days ago,” replied Lawless, still in his high, mocking voice, “we took refuge in the secret workings of the mine. We were here when you rode off; and it was then we examined the drift and saw the vein of gold. More than that, I was lurking close at hand when you and your pards came here on your last visit and looked over the vein for yourselves. I am obliged to you, Buffalo Bill, for spoiling that deal ofmine with Bingham. Thinking the mine worthless, I was on the point of handing him a bonanza. Now, as soon as you and your pards are out of the way, I shall have the bonanza for myself—and not a man in Sun Dance Cañon will lift a hand to interfere with me in working the mine.”
“What fate have you selected for me, Lawless?”
“In two hours it will be sunrise. Listen, then, and you will hear your doom rushing upon you.Nuzhee Mona!” and a diabolical laugh came with the last words.
“I have heard scoundrels of your stamp make their threats before,” flung back the scout defiantly. “Talk is cheap.”
“You will find that I am not making empty threats. You will be caught like a rat in a trap.”
“If my fate is not to overtake me before sunrise, why have you come into this part of the mine now?”
“I am looking for that girl of mine.”
“Then you need look no farther. She came spying upon me, and I have her here, a prisoner.”
An exclamation of anger escaped Lawless.
“Turn her loose, at once!” he commanded.
“I shall keep her as a hostage for my own safety,” said the scout. “Whatever fate comes to me, will come to her; and if you do not instantly leave this level, she shall suffer.”
Lawless called out something in the Cheyenne tongue. Wah-coo-tah answered, and her words were like the screech of an enraged panther.
“Wah-coo-tah,” went on Lawless, “is ready to die to help her father, if need be. Your fate will come to you at sunrise, Buffalo Bill, and I will have my revenge, evenif it is necessary to sacrifice the girl. That ought to show you I mean business.”
“It shows me that you are a more contemptible scoundrel than I had supposed,” answered the scout calmly. “Are you going to get out of this level?”
“At once. Farewell, Buffalo Bill, king of scouts! The government will look far before another man is found to take your place. When you crossed the path of Captain Lawless, of the Forty Thieves, you tackled a bigger job than you had imagined.”
Sounds of retreating steps came along the level, fading abruptly into silence.
“He doesn’t think much of Wah-coo-tah,” said Dell, “from the way he talks.”
“He doesn’t think much of any one but himself,” replied the scout. “What did he say to you, Wah-coo-tah?”
“Him want to know if Pa-e-has-ka speak true when he say he ketch um Wah-coo-tah,” answered the girl. “Me tell um me here, but that me no tell Pa-e-has-ka way into secret passage, and that mebbyso me get ’way beforeNuzhee Monacome.” She gave a low, sibilant laugh. “Me fool Lawless,” she added. “Bymby me get back, fool um some more. Me hate um! Him my father, but me hate um. He try sell me to Ponca warrior for five ponies.”
“Wah-coo-tah,” spoke up Dell, “will have to get away from here and liberate Nomad and Wild Bill and ourselves before sunrise. If she waits beyond that time it will be too late.”
“Mebbyso Lawless no letNuzhee Monago till Wah-coo-tah get through secret door. We got plenty time. Lawless give Wah-coo-tah chance to save herself.”
Silence fell for a space, and then the scout took the candle from his pocket, lighted it, and opened one of the provision-bags.
They all felt the need of food and water, and began a leisurely meal, relying on Wah-coo-tah’s confidence thatNuzhee Mona—whatever that mystical name represented—would not be released until she had had a chance to effect her escape.
In the midst of their meal, they were all three startled by a perceptible quivering of the rocks about them, followed by a muffled explosion that rolled like distant thunder.
A cry fell from Wah-coo-tah’s lips, and she leaped to her feet excitedly.
Loosened stones could be heard crashing from the roof of the level to the floor.
“What is it?” exclaimed Dell, in consternation.
“Wah-coo-tah!” cried Buffalo Bill, springing up and catching the Indian girl by the arm. “Is this Lawless’ work? What is he doing?”
The girl started for the level, but halted and turned back.
“Yellow Hair make um promise to leave Buffalo Bill, huh, if I save um?” she said quickly.
“Yes, yes,” returned Dell. “Only be quick!”
Wah-coo-tah raced into the level and along it toward the breast. The stones had stopped falling by that time, and the scout and Dell, with the candle, hastened to follow the Indian girl.
Suddenly, as they ran around a sharp angle of the corridor, they saw Wah-coo-tah. She stood in a blaze of light that poured over her from a square opening inthe wall. She cried out something, and tried to push into the opening, but she was met by a clattering volley of shots, and reeled backward with a groan. Then, silently, the door closed over the glare, and only the gleam of the scout’s candle lighted the level.
“They’ve shot her!” murmured Dell; “Lawless has shot his own daughter!”
“Perhaps not Lawless, but some of his men!” returned the scout. “Oh, the fiends! the dastards! They thought she was helping us, and that is the way they took to stop it.”
Running to the girl’s side, the scout knelt down. A trickle of red was running over the girl’s breast. The catamount skin, which she had worn over her back, had fallen off.
“Wah-coo-tah,” said the scout gently, “are you hurt?”
“Me live to fool um yet!” answered Wah-coo-tah spasmodically. “You help me, Pa-e-has-ka! Quick! Take me to shaft.”
“You can’t move——”
“Ai, all same you help.”
She struggled fiercely, and Buffalo Bill, seeing her determination, helped her up. Dell took the candle and tried to be of some assistance, but Wah-coo-tah, with all her waning strength, repulsed her. Even in that tragic moment, she would have none of Dell.
Supporting the girl, the scout led her, reeling, back along the level and toward the shaft.
Before they had covered much more than half the distance, a low roaring broke on their ears. Wah-coo-tah, flinging her hands to her breast, gave a convulsive spring.
“Nuzhee Mona!” she wailed, and sank limply in the scout’s arms.
“Water, Dell!” cried the scout. “Hurry.”
As Dell darted into the “drift,” the scout listened, while the roaring grew louder and louder.