CHAPTER XXI.
THE SACRIFICE
The plucky stand taken by Celeste Seldon won the admiration of Harding at once. He did not understand why she had been so prompt in her reply, so willing to at once yield herself as a hostage until a ransom was received for her release. But she did offer, and he at once decided what he should do.
"See here, cutthroat," he said, "I have something to say to you."
"Well, out with it, but be more choice in your epithets bestowed on me, if you wish to keep in good health."
"What! don't like the name, eh? Well, I called you by a name that denotes your calling."
"What have you to say?"
"Just this, that if you will allow this young lady to ride on to Last Chance, on one of my stage-horses, for he will carry her safely there, I will remain your hostage until Landlord Larry sends the money out to you which you demand."
"As a hostage you are of no value, but the lady is."
"Well, again?"
"What is it?"
"If I pay you the amount you said was to be sent by me, will you let the lady go?"
"When will you pay it?"
"Now."
"Do so, and I will let the lady go free."
"No, no, sir, you have not the money," cried Celeste to Harding.
"Yes, miss, I can make it good, for I have a little more saved up than he demands, and I can start over again to lay up a fortune, you see, for I am young yet."
"I will not consent to that, except that I return you the money, my kind friend, for I am well able to do so. I will recompense you, by paying you back my ransom."
"We will not quarrel on that score, miss, so give him the money," said Harding.
Celeste turned, and, raising her skirt, took the bag of money from its hiding-place. This she handed to Harding, who threw it at the masked outlaw's feet with the remark:
"Your spy informed you correctly; there is the money; just thirty-two thousand dollars."
"Thank you," said the outlaw, quietly counting the money before he spoke again.
"Yes, it is all here. Now, miss, had Harding ransomed you, it was your intention to have repaid him, you said."
"By all means, for I have no claim upon that brave gentleman."
"You are able to pay back so large a ransom, are you?"
"Had I not been able to pay it back I would not have made the offer to do so."
"You have not got the money with you?"
"Oh, no, I am no traveling bank, nor am I a fool."
"Well said; but as you are able to pay a ransom for yourself, I shall hold you a prisoner until you pay me the money I demand."
An oath burst involuntarily from the lips of Harding at this treachery on the part of the road-agent, while the young girl turned pale with momentary dread. But she said firmly:
"After receiving the money you demanded, and which I feel it my duty to pay back, as it is really my ransom, will you be so vile, so lost to all manhood, as to enforce your words against me?"
"What more can you expect of one who has no character, who is already damned body and soul. Oh, no, I have no conscience, so do not appeal to me, for all I wish in the world is gold, and that I will have, no matter who the victim or what the means I have to take to get it."
"You are indeed lost to every human feeling."
"So I said, and you are my prisoner until this man, Harding, brings me, well, say thirty thousand dollars ransom money for your safe delivery to him once more. Now, miss, I will take your baggage along, for you may need it, and you will go with me."
"Where would you take me?"
"To my retreat, and you will be treated with respect; but money I must have. As for you, Harding, go on to Last Chance and raise the money for this lady's ransom. Give it to Doctor Dick, and let him come with you in your coach on your next run out.
"Halt just here, and he will be met by one of my men with this lady. If others come, her life shall be the forfeit. When my messenger receives the money, this lady shall be given into the charge of Doctor Dick. Do you understand?"
"I do, and you will understand that all of Last Chance, every man capable of carrying a gun, will be upon your trail before night."
"Just let any one pursue me, and instead of finding me, you will discover the dead body of this young girl in the trail awaiting you. Remember, I am not to be followed, or intimidated. Do you understand now?"
Harding made no reply, for he was too much overcome to speak; but the small leather trunk belonging to Celeste Seldon having been taken from the coach, along with a side-saddle and bridle she had brought with her, the driver clasped her hand in farewell.
Harding was unable himself to speak, for his emotion at being unable to protect the girl. Celeste Seldon said to the outlaw:
"I would like to have a word with this gentleman."
"Before me, yes," said the masked chief.
"Very well, I have no secret to make known to him, so you may hear."
Then, turning to Harding, she continued:
"You have been most kind to me, sir, and I appreciate it. You have done all in your power for me, no one could do more; but let me say to you if you can raise the sum demanded by this – this – robber, do so, and every dollar shall be refunded to you within a few days after my return East."
"The men won't ask it, miss."
"But I shall pay it. Now to the reason in part of my coming here."
"Yes, miss."
"Try to find out for me among the miners if a man by the name of Andrew Seldon is known to any of them, and, if so, where he is."
"I will."
"Try also to do all in your power for that poor young man Bernard Brandon, who, you told me, had been crazed by a bullet-wound, doubtless given by this very – murderer."
"Yes, I shot him, and killed Dave Dockery, the driver, and a miner at the same time," was the remark of the masked road-agent, delivered with the utmost effrontery.
"You seem proud of your red work, sir."
"Yes, killing is a trade with me just now."
Celeste Seldon turned from him with disgust and horror, and, addressing Harding, continued:
"Ask the one you spoke of as Doctor Dick to do all in his power for that poor sufferer, and he shall be well rewarded for it. When I am released I will go to Last Chance, as it was my intention, and do all I can to find my father, and minister to the sufferings of poor Mr. Brandon. Now, I thank you once more and bid you good-by."
Harding clasped her hand, dared not to trust himself to speak, but there were volumes in the look of intense hatred he cast upon the masked face of the road-agent chief. Then he mounted to the stage-box, gathered up his lines, and drove away in a silence that was most expressive.
Harding glanced back as he came to the end of the cañon, but saw that the road-agents and their fair prisoner had already disappeared.
Then the lash descended upon the backs of the startled horses and the team was sent along at a pace that was dangerous indeed.
But Harding could only find vent for his pent-up feelings by rapid and reckless driving, and never before had the distance between the Dead Line and Last Chance been covered in the time in which he made it.
Notwithstanding his delay at the Dead Line, he went thundering up the valley half an hour ahead of time, and when he drew rein before the hotel his horses were reeking with foam and panting like hard-run hounds, while his face was white, his eyes ablaze with anger and indignation, and his teeth set firmly.
"Great God! Harding, what has happened?" cried Landlord Larry in alarm.
Throwing the mail at the feet of the surprised landlord, Harding leaped to the ground and said hoarsely:
"Come, I wish to speak to you."
He led the way into the office and then told the whole story.
"We will mount a hundred men and go in pursuit at once," cried Larry.
"What! do you forget his threat?"
"What threat?"
"To kill the girl!"
"He will not do it."
"He will."
"No, he dare not."
"You do not know him – I do."
"Well, what is to be done?"
"Just what he demands."
"What! pay him?"
"By all means, and save the girl!"
"You are right."
"But have all ready then, the moment that she is safe, to throw five hundred mounted men on a hunt for him, have the entire country about Dead Line surrounded, and then hunt him and his men to death," savagely said Harding.
"Yes, it must be done; but now to tell the men what has happened," and Landlord Larry went out, followed by Harding, to find a large crowd of miners gathered about the hotel.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE RANSOM
Landlord Larry was considerably nonplused by what had been told him by Harding, and he hardly knew how to break the news to the miners. Hundreds had assembled, for the mad race of Harding's team up the valley had told them that something had gone wrong.
So they had hurried in twos and by half-dozens to the hotel to hear what had happened.
They were more eager to learn it all when it was told how Harding had made no report, but had led Landlord Larry into the office and been closeted there with him an hour.
The panting horses had been led away to the stable, the mail had been opened by Landlord Larry's clerk, and many had gotten letters.
But the interest in letters was lost in the desire to learn what had happened on Harding's run in.
When the two men were seen coming out of the hotel, a wild yell greeted them.
Landlord Larry stepped out upon the piazza, and at once a silence fell upon the crowd, while every eye was turned upon the white face of Harding.
"Men, I have bad news for you," said Landlord Larry. "The coach has been held up again, and thirty-two thousand dollars in money, given to Driver Harding to bring to Last Chance, was taken. There are some forty of you who feel this loss, having sent your gold out to be exchanged for this money. But that is not the worst of it.
"The mails were not disturbed, as the road-agent said that he wished no trouble with the Government. Nor is this all, for Harding had a passenger with him on this run, a young girl."
"Where is she?" came in a chorus of voices.
"I will tell you: There were seven road-agents, all masked, and their chief mounted. They held the coach up at the Dead Line, and they covered Harding with their rifles, and demanded the money which, in some way, they knew he had.
"The young lady had hidden it for him, but as she was to be held for ransom, she gave it up, and, learning that she was rich, the road-agent chief then demanded ransom from her."
And speaking slowly and distinctly Landlord Larry went on to tell the whole story of the coach and taking of Celeste Seldon captive.
The crowd was as silent as death, except for the suppressed breathing of the men, and the bronzed faces of the miners paled and flushed by turns. When at last it was told how a ransom of thirty thousand dollars was demanded, before a word had been said that it would be paid back, a yell arose:
"We'll raise it!"
"Good! that is just what I knew you would do, pards, and I will head the list with five hundred," said Landlord Larry.
"Put me down for five hundred," called out Harding, and the two offers were cheered, while a stern voice called out behind the landlord:
"Put me down for a thousand, Larry, for I have heard all that you have told the men."
It was Doctor Dick, who, seeing the crowd in front of the hotel, had come to the piazza by passing into the house through the rear door.
Another cheer greeted the sum named by Doctor Dick, and there arose cries on all sides as men pressed forward:
"I'll give a thousand, landlord!"
"Name me for fifty."
"Put me on the list for a hundred!"
"Twenty-five for me!"
And so on were the sums named by the noble-hearted and generous fellows, even those who had lost their money by the road-agents subscribing, until Doctor Dick called out, for he had been keeping account:
"Hold on, all! The amount is already named. Now, men, form in line, and give your names as you pass along, and the money, those who have it."
It was late when the ransom list was made up, and the men had not heeded the supper-gong until after they had paid their subscriptions.
Then Landlord Larry packed the money away, and the crowd dispersed to their various occupations and pleasures for the night, which may be set down as consisting principally of drinking and gambling.
The question regarding the unfortunate girl who had fallen into the hands of the masked and merciless outlaws being settled, the driver said to Landlord Larry and Doctor Dick, who had returned to the office in the hotel.
"Now I wish to see about the poor fellow whom that young girl was coming out to see, and also to learn about her father."
"Who was her father?" asked Landlord Larry.
"Her name is Celeste Seldon, and she wished me to ascertain if her father had ever been heard of in the mines. His name was Andrew Seldon."
"Andrew Seldon?" quickly said Doctor Dick.
"Yes."
"I know of such a man, or, rather, knew of him, for he is dead now," was the response of the gambler.
A cloud passed over the face of Harding, and he remarked sadly:
"That poor girl seems doomed to have sorrow dog her steps. But you knew her father, doctor?"
"Yes, I knew him long years ago, and I happen to know of his having been out here, working for a fortune in the mines, I believe."
"You are sure that it is the one she seeks?"
"The names are the same. The Andrew Seldon I knew was from Tennessee."
"So was her father, and he must be the man you refer to. But where did he die?"
"I'll tell you what I have not made known to others. Buffalo Bill and I struck a trail to see what the end would bring to us, and the night before we came to the end those we sought were buried by the caving-in of a mine which they were working under a cliff. One of those men was Andrew Seldon, and he had a companion with him."
"And they were killed?"
"Yes, buried under the cliff, that fell upon their cabin, destroying all."
"You must tell the story to the young girl, for I cannot, doctor."
"I will do so, though I hate to give a woman pain."
"Now, doctor, I wish to ask about the one she seeks here in Last Chance."
"Who is he, Harding?"
"The poor fellow you so devotedly cared for, but whose reason was destroyed by the wound he received from the road-agents."
"Ah, yes, poor fellow, his mind is irrevocably wrecked."
"Where is he?"
"Landlord Larry can tell you better than I, for he seems to avoid my cabin since I gave him up as a patient."
"He wanders about among the camps at will; but that reminds me that I have not seen him to-day," the landlord said.
"Is he the one the girl is coming to see?" asked Doctor Dick.
"Yes, and his name is Bernard Brandon. He came out here on a special mission for her, I suppose to find her father, and not hearing from him she feared that he had gotten into trouble, so came West herself in search of him."
"Well, her coming may bring back his reason, though I doubt it."
"Will you not question him, doctor, telling him about her, and see if you cannot get him to talk rationally?"
"Certainly, Harding, but where is he?"
Landlord Larry asked his clerk about the man, but he had not seen him all day, and, the miners being questioned, not one recalled having seen him since the day before.
In some dread that harm had befallen him, Harding then went out in search of the poor fellow. He went from miner to miner and camp to camp in his vain search, for not anywhere could he find any one who had seen the missing man for over twenty-four hours.
Becoming really alarmed, when he realized the shock it would be to Celeste Seldon, whose hazardous and costly trip to the West would be utterly useless, Harding went back to the hotel to consult Doctor Dick and Landlord Larry about giving a general alarm.
Then alarms were only given in times of direct need, for the miners were sworn to obey the call, and come from every camp and mine within the circuit of habitation about Last Chance.
The alarm was given by sending a mounted bugler to every prominent point in the valley, where he was to sound the rally three times.
A half-dozen positions thus visited would send the bugle-notes into every camp of the valley, and it was the duty of all miners to at once strike for the place of assembly at the hotel, and give the warning to all others whom they saw.
Landlord Larry hearing the story of Harding's fruitless search for the stranger, at once decided to order the alarm sounded without consulting Doctor Dick, who was not at his cabin.
So the bugler was called in, and, mounting a speedy horse, he placed the bugle to his lips and loud, clear, and ringing resounded the "rally."
Then he dashed from point to point at the full speed of his horse, and within half an hour, from half a dozen prominent positions, the bugle-call assembling the miners had rung out and men were hastening to obey the summons.
Within an hour every man in Last Chance had reported at the assembling-point, all eager to know the cause of the alarm.
Again Landlord Larry was the speaker, and he began by asking if the unfortunate stranger, whose wound had crazed him, was in the crowd.
Every eye was at once on the search for the man, but soon the reports came that Bernard Brandon was not in the crowd.
Then Landlord Larry made known that the mysterious disappearance, at the time of Miss Seldon's capture by the road-agents, was a coincidence so strange that it needed explanation.
Miss Seldon was coming to Last Chance to find that very young man, who had in turn come there in search of her father, and now, when she was a captive to the road-agents, to be given up only upon the payment of a large ransom, the stranger had most mysteriously disappeared.
The name of the young lady's father was Andrew Seldon, and if any miner present could tell aught regarding him, or had known such a man, the landlord wished him to come and tell him all that he could about him.
But it was the duty, and but justice, for one and all of them to set out on the search for the young stranger who had disappeared from their midst, and he wished to know if they would not take a day off and do so, for it might be that he had been injured, and was then lying suffering and deserving their sympathy and aid somewhere among the mountains.
A perfect yell in answer to the request of Landlord Larry told him that Bernard Brandon would be found if he was in or near Last Chance, and so it was agreed that all would start at dawn the following morning, many mounted, many on foot, and report the result, if good or bad, at the hotel at night.
So the miners' meeting broke up, and with the first gray in the east the following morning, four-fifths of Last Chance were off, searching for the missing man.
As they wore themselves out, or completed the search over the circuit assigned them, the men came in and reported at the hotel. Each had the same story to tell, that the search had been a fruitless one.
Many of the mounted men did not come in until after dark, but theirs was the same story, that no trace of the missing stranger could be found.
At last every man who had been on the search had returned, and not the slightest trace of the missing Brandon had been discovered by a single one who had gone out to look for him.
No one remembered to have seen him very lately, and so his fate was unsolved, and the miners put it down as unknown, with the belief that he had either been kidnaped by road-agents or had fallen into some stream, or from a cliff, and thus met his death.
The belief of Landlord Larry and Harding was that Bernard Brandon had been captured, for some reason, by road-agents, and this convinced them that there were spies of the outlaws then dwelling in their midst; but what the motive for kidnaping the man was, they could only conjecture, believing it to be ransom that they thought the miners would pay, and, if they did not, that Celeste Seldon would.
This belief, of spies in their midst, caused a very unpleasant and uneasy feeling among all, for hardly any man knew whether he could trust his own comrade or not.
Doctor Dick came in late from his search and rounds to visit his patients, and listened in silence to the report that Bernard Brandon could not be found.
He, however, would not believe that road-agents had kidnaped the crazed man, but said that he might have sprung from the cliff and taken his own life, have fallen over a precipice, or been devoured by the fierce mountain-wolves that hung in packs about the camps.