"I reckoned I'd leave that for you,"said Brace coolly."If he'd killed me,and if he'd even covered me with his rifle,he'd been sure to let daylight through me at double the distance.Ishouldn't have been any better off,nor you either.If I'd killed HIM,it would have been your duty as sheriff to put me in jail;and I reckon it wouldn't have broken your heart,Jim Dunn,to have got rid of TWO rivals instead of one.Hullo!Where are you going?""Going?"said Dunn hoarsely."Going to the Carquinez Woods,by God!to kill him before her.I'LL risk it,if you daren't.Let me succeed,and you can hang ME and take the girl yourself.""Sit down,sit down.Don't be a fool,Jim Dunn!You wouldn't keep the saddle a hundred yards.Did I say I wouldn't help you?
No.If you're willing,we'll run the risk together,but it must be in my way.Hear me.I'll drive you down there in a buggy before daylight,and we'll surprise them in the cabin or as they leave the wood.But you must come as if to arrest him for some offense--say,as an escaped Digger from the Reservation,a dangerous tramp,a destroyer of public property in the forests,a suspected road agent,or anything to give you the right to hunt him.The exposure of him and Nellie,don't you see,must be accidental.If he resists,kill him on the spot,and nobody'll blame you;if he goes peaceably with you,and you once get him in Excelsior jail,when the story gets out that he's taken the belle of Excelsior for his squaw,if you'd the angels for your posse you couldn't keep the boys from hanging him to the first tree.
What's that?"
He walked to the window,and looked out cautiously.
"If it was the old man coming back and listening,"he said,after a pause,"it can't he helped.He'll hear it soon enough,if he don't suspect something already.""Look yer,Brace,"broke in Dunn hoarsely."D--d if I understand you or you me.That dog Low has got to answer to ME,not to the LAW!I'll take my risk of killing him,on sight and on the square.I don't reckon to handicap myself with a warrant,and Iam not going to draw him out with a lie.You hear me?That's me all the time!""Then you calkilate to go down thar,"said Brace contemptuously,"yell out for him and Nellie,and let him line you on a rest from the first tree as if you were a grizzly."There was a pause."What's that you were saying just now about a bearskin he sold?"asked Dunn slowly,as if reflecting.
"He exchanged a bearskin,"replied Brace,"with a single hole right over the heart.He's a dead shot,I tell you.""D--n his shooting,"said Dunn."I'm not thinking of that.How long ago did he bring in that bearskin?""About two weeks,I reckon.Why?"
"Nothing!Look yer,Brace,you mean well--thar's my hand.I'll go down with you there,but not as the sheriff.I'm going there as Jim Dunn,and you can come along as a white man,to see things fixed on the square.Come!"Brace hesitated."You'll think better of my plan before you get there;but I've said I'd stand by you,and I will.Come,then.
There's no time to lose."
They passed out into the darkness together.
"What are you waiting for?"said Dunn impatiently,as Brace,who was supporting him by the arm,suddenly halted at the corner of the house.
"Some one was listening--did you not see him?Was it the old man?"asked Brace hurriedly.
"Blast the old man!It was only one of them Mexican packers chock-full of whisky,and trying to hold up the house.What are you thinking of?We shall be late."In spite of his weakness,the wounded man hurriedly urged Brace forward,until they reached the latter's lodgings .To his surprise,the horse and buggy were already before the door.
"Then you reckoned to go,any way?"said Dunn,with a searching look at his companion.
"I calkilated SOMEBODY would go,"returned Brace,evasively,patting the impatient Buckskin;"but come in and take a drink before we leave."Dunn started out of a momentary abstraction,put his hand on his hip,and mechanically entered the house.They had scarcely raised the glasses to their lips when a sudden rattle of wheels was heard in the street.Brace set down his glass and ran to the window.
"It's the mare bolted,"he said,with an oath."We've kept her too long standing.Follow me,"and he dashed down the staircase into the street.Dunn followed with difficulty;when he reached the door he was already confronted by his breathless companion.
"She's gone off on a run,and I'll swear there was a man in the buggy!"He stopped and examined the halter-strap,still fastened to the fence."Cut!by God!"Dunn turned pale with passion."Who's got another horse and buggy?"he demanded.
"The new blacksmith in Main Street;but we won't get it by borrowing,"said Brace.
"How then?"asked Dunn savagely.
"Seize it,as the sheriff of Yuba and his deputy,pursuing a confederate of the Injin Low--THE HORSE THIEF!"