herbert watrous turned his field glass to the left, and, for the first time since he caught sight of the adobe structure, gave attention to another part of his field of vision.
the cause of the texan’s remark was apparent. a half mile beyond the building was a party of horsemen, numbering perhaps a dozen. they were grouped together and apparently holding a discussion over some matter in which all must have been interested, since they kept in such close order.
the youth had become accustomed to seeing indians since leaving san antonio, and needed no one to tell him that these people belonged to that race. the distance was too far for them to show distinctly through the instrument, but enough was seen to settle the point.
[231]
“what tribe are they?” he asked, addressing all his companions. strubell was studying them without the glass, while lattin had turned his gaze thither, and eph was lying on his face, his brows wrinkled, his gaze concentrated on the group. it was he who answered:
“‘paches, every one of them.”
“are they not off their hunting grounds?” asked herbert.
“not ‘cordin’ to thar ideas, for every ‘pache believes that the whole north american continent belongs to his people, which is about what every redskin thinks. howsumever, they ginerally do thar killin’ and deviltry further over in arizona, but them’s ‘paches sure as you’re born.”
“they seem to be as much interested in the building as we are.”
“they’ve seen rickard and slidham and the younker go in thar, and they’re tryin’ to figure out what it means. you see things are in a quar’ shape in these parts.”
while the party lay on the crest of the elevation, looking at the building and the[232] council of warriors beyond, strubell for the first time showed a desire to make known to herbert watrous the things that had puzzled him. the strange enterprise had now reached a point where he was willing to talk. he had consulted with lattin and eph until there was an agreement all round, and no cause for further secrecy existed. in fact, there had never been any real cause for it at all.
without quoting the texan’s words, it may be said that in the minds of the party it was clear that belden rickard, the noted horse thief, with his companion harman slidham, was carrying out a scheme to secure a ransom for the restoration of nick ribsam to his friends.
it will be remembered that herbert had held this belief more than once, but he saw so many difficulties in the way that he was awaiting another explanation. he now asked strubell to clear up the points that perplexed him, and he did, so far as he could.
he wished to learn why, if rickard had formed the plan for the capture of nick, with the idea of restoring him to freedom on the[233] payment of a sum of money, he had ridden hundreds of miles to reach the point of conference, when it might as well have been held in texas, and within sight of the very ridge where nick fell into the power of his enemies. it was this phase of the question that had troubled herbert greatly and led him to fear the ruffian intended to take the life of his friend.
strubell replied that during the conversation with rickard, whom he had known for years, he picked up more than one item of news which surprised him. one was that while making his long rides through the southwest, he and his companions, when hard pressed, were accustomed, at times, to take refuge in the old mansion house on the ranch which mr. lord proposed buying. this had been abandoned, as i have already stated, for years; but in the hospitable west, where every person’s doors are open, no one would have hesitated to enter the adobe structure, whenever cause existed for doing so.
rickard saw signs of others having been there, though he did not believe the indians[234] ever passed through the broad doors into the courtyard beyond. had there been a party of settlers or white men within they would have been eager to do so, but while it was empty the incitement was lacking.
rickard and his gang were in a peculiar situation. the texans had reason to believe that he had fully twenty desperate associates in pushing his unlawful business over an immense extent of territory, though it was rare that they all came together. they were not only in danger from indians, as were all who ventured into that section, but they were outlawed by their own race. it was dangerous for any member of the gang to trust himself within reach of the law, while the rough bordermen would have strung up every one without hesitation could they have laid hands on them.
leading this wild, lawless life, it was necessary for these ruffians to have retreats, where they could feel comparatively safe. a number of such were at command. some were deep in the mountains, and one was the abandoned ranch. standing in the middle of a vast and[235] comparatively level plain this had many advantages over the others, while it was also deficient in more than one respect.
among the secret compartments in the old mission house was a store-room for provisions, where rickard saw that enough grain was kept to last him and several companions for weeks. there was a spring of water that could not be shut off, so that a small garrison could stand an indefinite siege from a large number. in this place, the great horse thief and his followers, whether few or many, might feel safe.
had rickard, after securing the custody of nick ribsam, proposed his plan of ransom, he would have been in an awkward situation. any messenger that he might send forward could be made prisoner by the texans and held as a hostage. the little party itself was liable to be assailed and destroyed, for no mercy would have been showed at such a time, though a certain rude chivalry prevailed in other respects.
in what way would the situation be improved if rickard took his prisoner to the adobe building? this was the question which[236] herbert asked and the answer to which was simple.
behind the walls of the massive structure it was easy for rickard to communicate by word of mouth without any risk to himself. he need not send out a messenger to be captured, but could make known his terms to nick’s friends, who would be at liberty to accept or reject them.
it was the strong suspicion that such was the purpose of the ruffians that led the texans to make every effort to overtake them before they reached their refuge. could they have brought rickard and his companion to bay they would have forced their own terms upon him.
but the criminal was too cunning thus to be caught. leaving the pack horses for jim-john and brindage to look after, he pushed on with such vigor that, as we have shown, the refuge was attained in spite of all the pursuers could do to prevent it.
rickard was an honest fellow in his early days and had done scouting duty in the company of arden strubell. it was this fact that[237] led the latter to show him a certain consideration when he was made prisoner by nick ribsam, though there might have been other situations in which they would have flown at each other with irrestrainable wrath.
it was strubell who was the innocent cause of the plight of nick ribsam. while he and rickard were talking of nothing in particular, by the camp fire, hundreds of miles away, the cowboy indulged in a little quiet boasting about the two youths who were his companions. he represented them as sons of wealthy parents, who allowed them to do as they chose, and they were now enjoying a vacation after their own hearts.
it was this statement that gave rickard his idea before he left camp. he hated the sturdy nick intensely enough to shoot him down at the first opportunity, but to do that would intensify the anger against him, while it could do him no good, except so far as the satisfying of his revenge went; but if he took the boy to one of his safe retreats, he might force a good round sum from his rich parents to secure his safety.
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the scheme savored strongly of the style of doing business in classic greece, but you need not be told that it has been carried to a successful issue more than once within these glorious united states of america.
