She stood with bent head, as in submission, but she felt that she had won. And so it proved; her beauty, spirit, and subtle flattery had fired his imagination, and wiped out--for the moment--his defeat. Impetuously he took her in his arms.
"By Heaven, you're right, girl," he said. "I've been blind--"
The low growl of a wild beast cut him short and he turned to see Silver at the entrance, head down, long arms swinging.
"That's my woman," the dwarf said thickly. "you promised if I treated 'em fair I should have her."
Belle recoiled from her lover with a look of loathing. "You --did--that?" she whispered. "you would have given me to a --monster?"
"It was a pretence, for your sake, Belle," Satan protested. "I never meant to ..." He saw that she did not believe, and swung round on the intruder. "Get out," he ordered.
"I want my woman," Silver grunted. "I'm takin' her--now."
He moved forward, dogged, threatening, teeth bared, the great paws of him opening and shutting; desire had destroyed dread of his master, and he was blind to everything but the prize he had been promised.
This second defiance fanned Satan's fury to a white heat. Snatching out a gun he sent a bullet into the broad breast. Silver wavered, but came on. Again the bandit fired, and this time the stricken man stopped, head swaying uncertainly from side to side. Then, with glazing eyes and lips which moved soundlessly, the ponderous body collapsed as though the puny legs could no longer support it. Ashen-faced, the woman stared at it.
"You--murderer," she breathed.
Ere the man could reply there came a voice from without: "Lander, I'm waitin' for yu."
The flush of passion on the killer's face faded, leaving it ghastly. Sudden! What freak of Fortune had brought him to bar the way to liberty and life? The swift advent of peril found him unprepared. Instinctively he looked at Belle.
"What can I do?" he muttered.
"Play the man--for once," she replied harshly, and he knew that his infamy had turned her love to hate.
Into his craven heart crept a cold despair. Wantonly, without a qualm, he had sent others into the Great Unknown, and now ... It seemed incredible; he was young, strong, and yet, out there in the sunlight, death awaited him. His numbed senses could not realize it.
"Lander !"
The one word carried a threat. Motionless as a statue, the woman watched the man fight his fear, and heard the horrible croaking laugh as the actor in him came to the surface.
"I believe that is my cue," he said, and stepped, with leaden feet, into the open.
The puncher was standing about fifteen paces distant, hands hanging by his sides. He was alone, and this brought the bandit a faint hope, and a regret--that he had slain Silver.
"What do you want with me?" he demanded. "Payment," Sudden said sternly. "Yu forced me to take the life of one I had been sent to save--Dolver."
As the full import of this statement seeped into Satan's brain, tempestuous rage took the place of terror. This fellow, emissary of the Governor he had derided, had outplayed him at every point and wrought the ruin of his plans. He, the clever schemer and born leader, had been deceived and defeated by this--cowboy. The shock to his abnormal vanity bred only one craving--to kill. After all, they were man to man, and he was a fine shot.
"So you're a dirty spy, too?" he jeered. "Well, why don't you shoot?"
"I'm giving' yu what yu never gave--a chance," Sudden replied. "We'll walk towards each other, an' at the word `Three,' go for yore gun."
He took a pace and called, "One,"; a second, "Two"; and then it happened: with an inarticulate curse, the other man whipped a weapon from his belt and fired. Incredibly fast as the movement was, Sudden had seen it, yellow flame jetted from his right hip, and Satan stumbled to fall headlong, his fingers clawing convulsively at the grass. Out of the swirling smoke, Sudden advanced gun in hand; Silver might still to be reckoned with. But instead of the stunted, uncouth figune, it was Belle Dalroy who appeared. Gazing dry-eyed at the body, she said: "Crooked to the last."
"Where is Miss Keith?" the puncher asked, and when she had told him, added, "We owe yu somethin' for that."
"No, I wanted her out of the way," she said sharply. Somewhere in her warped nature was a streak of honesty. "What are you going to do with me?"
He pointed to the plain; two riders were approaching. "One o' those fellas is sheriff o' Red Rock. In yore place, I'd climb a hoss an' beat it."
Her set features softened. "You're a good sort," she murmured. "I wish--"
"They'll be here mighty soon," he said meaningly. "Take the pony with the pretty saddle."
She understood; that had been Satan's, and he would not have left Hell City empty-handed. By the time the horsemen arrived, the trees had hidden her from view. Dealtry jumped down and turned the corpse over; the bullet had entered between the eyes.
"That's Lander, shore enough," he remarked with grim satisfaction. "Lucky, after all, yore bronc went lame--he'd 'a' got away; it was one damned smart dodge. You see--"
"I had' it from Miss Dalroy," Sudden said. "It was her notion, not his. Dressed as he was--a woman's whim--and with the hoss and the mask, it looked a cinch. He thought she was takin' the ride, but she swapped duds with Miss Keith."
"Yeah, an' a nice chase she gave us. That black can run, I'm tell n' you; we'd still be admirin' his hind-quarters if Jeff hadn't fired. Shore he missed, but I s'pose it scared her, for she stopped an' faced round. You oughta seen him when we rode up, three growed men with guns drawed on that slip of a gal, but mebbe we looked as sick as he did. Frosty an' me gits the same idea--that we'd important business elsewhere. We left Jeff to do the explainin' an' I reckon he's still doin' it. What's come o' that Dalroy woman?"
"A pony is missin' but I didn't see her go," the puncher replied, omitting to add that he was looking the other way at the time.
"How did yu know Lander was here, Jim?" Frosty enquired.
"Crossing the valley, I saw Silver enter one o' the caves an' heard a shot," was the reply. "I figure we shall find him."
They did, and the sheriff pointed to the heavy Colt's revolver thrust through the waistband of the dead dwarf.
"Just--plain--murder," he pronounced.
Sudden nodded. "He killed the man who might have saved him; he shorely had `lost his medicine.' "
"We'll plant this one, but the other goes back with us--folk has to see him," Dealtry decided. "Pity we ain't got the mask."
"We have," Frosty told him, and produced it from a pocket. "I scooped her up as we came away; Miss Joan must 'a' dropped it."
So, hanging limply across the back of a pony, the Boss of Hell City returned to his shattered kingdom.
* * * Out amongst the sagebrush, two young people who had so much to say, sat tongue-tied. The girl, painfully conscious of her masculine attire, kept her head bent, or the warm admiration in the boy's eyes might have reassured her. He was the first to speak.
"Thank Heaven you are safe, Joan. But why are you here?" Falteringly she told of Belle's offer. "I had no choice; she would have gone herself if I did not, and that would have left me alone with ... I knew I was helping him, but my one thought was to get away. I had to ride hard--Belle said they would shoot."
"I shall never forgive myself for that. God! I might have killed you."
"You could not know," she reminded gently.
"Dealtry and Frosty will be too late," he said moodily. "That devil has slipped through our fingers, and now ..."
She read his thought. "Your friends will believe, Jeff," she consoled.
"There will always be some to doubt," he replied bitterly, and then forced a smile to his lips. "I'm an ungrateful cuss, Joan. After all, you have escaped from that dog, and I am free of one horrible suspicion; Dealtry knows now that it was Lander who shot his son."