Chapter 22

Keeping to the stone wall of the passage beneath the river, Hoss Logan crept through the darkness, his shotgun cocked and ready. He was oblivious to everything except the pounding of his own heart in his ears. For two long years his hatred of Gary Davis had driven him, preparing him for this act of vengeance. But now that the time had come, his ultimate victory seemed empty, meaningless. He had subjected Davis to three days and nights of terror in the darkness of the Superstitions, and the man had literally gone mad, believing that the murdered Jed Logan was haunting him. Now there would be no reasoning with Davis. It was shoot or be shot, and Henry Logan wanted it finished.

“Davis,” he shouted, “it’s you and me. I’m comin’ after you.”

His challenge drew no fire, which surprised him. He had counted on Davis giving away his position. Now he must be more cautious, for while Davis might be insane, he was by no means careless. Logan’s advantage was that a shotgun could lay down a swath of death that a Colt couldn’t match, and in total darkness, aiming with a scattergun wasn’t crucial. But the range was. Given a target, Davis could fire effectively with a Colt from a much greater distance. Logan found a stone and threw it as far as he could, but it drew no response. The passage was muddy from the constant dripping of water, and Logan’s boot slipped. He didn’t try to recover his balance, but threw himself facedown. Davis fired five times, the lead ripping the air in a fanned-out pattern above Logan’s head. Steadying the shotgun, Logan fired once. He then rolled to the farthest side of the passage in case there should be return fire. But there was no sound except the constant dripping of water and the distant roar of the falls. For many long minutes, Henry Logan lay unmoving. Finally he got to his feet, keeping to the wall, and followed the passage until he reached the narrow upward path from which Kelly had fallen.

When Arlo, Dallas, Kelly, and Kelsey stepped out into daylight, there was no sign of Cass Bowdre and his men.

“I reckon we got nothin’ to fear from them now,” Dallas said. “I just wonder if Hoss is runnin’ a bluff about the mine.”

“No,” Arlo replied. “There was water all through that passage, and dripping all around us. I believe the mine really is the death trap he said it was.”

“I don’t care about the mine,” said Kelly. “Uncle Henry’s alive, and I just want him out of there.”

“Him come,” Paiute said confidently.

“Damn it, Paiute, why ain’t you ever talked before?” Dallas asked.

“Habla bueno,” Paiute said with a straight face. “Mucho habla malo, like squaw.”

The old Indian grinned uncertainly at Kelly and Kelsey, but they laughed along with Arlo and Dallas. It soon became a grand and glorious reunion when Hoss Logan stepped into the sunlight, still carrying the shotgun. He tossed the gun to Paiute and gathered Kelly and Kelsey close in a bear hug. Arlo and Dallas held back, allowing the girls time with their uncle. When Hoss at last turned to his friends, he threw one arm around Arlo and the other around Dallas.

“Let’s go home, boys,” said Hoss. “Paiute and me will have to double with you on the horses, but it ain’t that far. We got plenty to talk about.”

“There’s a big pot of boiled chicken left,” Kelly said. “They made enough to feed me for a month. We can heat that up and celebrate.”

“That pot of chicken will be almost enough for Paiute,” Arlo joked, “but what about the rest of us?”

Cass Bowdre and his companions returned to their hidden camp below the mountain’s rim. Sandoval, at their lookout point, reported the departure of Henry Logan, Paiute, and their four companions.

“Six of ’em,” Sandoval said. “One of ’em is Logan’s Indian. It must of been him that caused us so much trouble.”

“Now we can go back and look for the gold,” said Carp, “unless we’re goin’ to take it as gospel what that old varmint said about the river bustin’ through and floodin’ the mine.”

“Well,” Bowdre said, “it ain’t so far, so first thing in the morning, we’ll be in there with our lanterns.”

“That was mighty damn easy,” said Sandoval, “old Logan just walkin’ away. I wasn’t all that fond of Davis myself, but I can’t imagine a gent usin’ a gold claim to kill some no-account coyote he hates and then just walkin’ away from the gold. Hell. I ain’t believin’ there is any gold, until I see and touch it.”

“Me neither,” Carp said. “That bunch is gone, and I’m ready to go back in mere right now. To hell with waitin’ for mornin’. Who’s with me?”

They all were. Even Bowdre got the fever, so they filled their lanterns and returned to me cavern. There they immediately found what was left of Gary Davis.

“God,” said Three-Fingered Joe, “there oughta be a law against shotgunnin’ a man to pieces like this. Even a crazy coyote like Davis.”

The farther they went, the more water dripped from above. When the passage suddenly widened, what they saw left them literally breathless. Above them, in the dim glow of their lanterns, thousands of tiny golden stars winked invitingly at them.

“Great God!” said Bowdre in awe. “The whole damn roof of this place is shot plumb full of gold!”

“And leaks,” Sandoval said. “I believe old Logan was telling the truth. Do we walk out, or go for the gold and risk bein’ drowned like rats?”

“By God,” said Carp, “I ain’t walkin’ away from this. Not after all we been through. What’s this scaffold doin’ here, and why’s all this dirt piled up, if somebody ain’t been workin’ this claim?”

“I’ll go with the majority,” Bowdre said. “Do we risk workin’ it, or do we walk away from it?”

“We work it!” they all shouted.

There was much talking to be done, and after supper, it was Hoss Logan who began the conversation. He spoke mostly to Kelly and Kelsey.

“Maybe it was wrong of me, using the gold to bring you girls west, but I couldn’t do it any other way. At first I aimed to just lure Davis here, but I couldn’t tell him directly about the mine, because he knew I hated him for what he had done to Jed, and he might have seen through my plan. So he had to learn about the gold through you girls. But I want you both to know I wasn’t just using you. I hoped I could drag out the search for the gold until the two of you was eighteen. Your Ma was… well, you know what she was, and I wanted you away from her, regardless of what happened between me and Gary Davis. I worried some about you goin’ into the Superstitions, but I counted on Arlo and Dallas lookin’ after you.”

“Most of the time,” said Kelsey, “Arlo and Dallas were in more trouble than we were. They could have been killed trying to get to the bottom of that drop-off to reach the river. Arlo was hurt.”

“Crack head,” Paiute said. “Him don’t fall.”

“So it was you that hauled me in, you old coyote,” said Arlo.

“I’d planned for Paiute or me to keep all of you in sight, and out of any real danger,” Logan said, “but there were some things we had no control over that took us by surprise. Like the time, when Arlo and Kelsey were shot. I spent most of that night in the passage behind the spring, and I could hear Kelsey talking out of her head. I was there when her fever broke, and I knew she would recover. After Kelly’s fall, I didn’t know how badly she was hurt, so Paiute spent the night outside the cabin until he knew she had no broken bones.”

“I’m glad to hear all that, Hoss,” Dallas said, “but I’m real sorry we went through so much for a mine that none of us can claim. I feel like we went from poor to rich and then back to poor, all in the same day.”

Hoss Logan laughed. “I wouldn’t say that. From what I’ve seen, you got your brand on Kelly and both her ears notched. I’d say Arlo’s done about the same with Kelsey.”

“You sly old coyote,” said Arlo, “don’t try to tell us you didn’t plan it that way, along with everything else. You plumb took advantage of two poor, ignorant Arizona cowboys, layin’ more temptation on us than we could stand. Now our fiddle-footin’ days are done, and we ain’t got a damn thing ahead of us but thirty and grub, ridin’ fence on somebody’s ranch.”

“He’s right,” Kelly said. “They’re stuck with us, and now that we’re not spending all our time searching for the mine, I expect Kelsey and me will soon be in all kinds of trouble.”

“Kelly,” said Dallas, his face rosy as an Arizona sunset, “I… you … we…”

“We slept beside them ever since Paiute rescued us from Gary Davis,” Kelsey said.

“But that’s all we done,” said Arlo.

“Oh, not quite all,” Kelsey said. “There was…”

“Whoa,” said Hoss Logan. “Kelly, you and Kelsey are too old to spank, and this pair of cowboys happen to be my friends. They’re the best pards an old man ever had, and I don’t reckon they’ve done any more than they’ve been encouraged to do. Now, if the four of you want to stand before a preacher and let him read to you from the book, then you got my blessing. I already done picked out the weddin’ present.”

“God,” said Dallas, “I hope it ain’t another gold mine. I’d as soon hire on somewhere, ridin’ fence at thirty and found.”

“Oh, I think you can do better than that,” Hoss said, a twinkle in his eyes. “I’d kind of hoped you and Arlo might throw in with me—go pardners—in a horse and cattle ranch. We can settle on maybe a hundred thousand acres of Arizona land. That’s more the life I’d planned for Kelly and Kelsey. But we won’t stop at that. Someday, Phoenix will be a city. Maybe we’ll start a freight line from here to Los Angeles. We might call it Logan Freight Lines, in memory of old Jed.”

Arlo, Dallas, Kelly, and Kelsey just looked at him as though he had taken leave of his senses. At any moment they expected him to laugh, letting them know it was all a joke. But Henry Logan didn’t laugh. Instead he turned to Paiute.

“I reckon it’s time we told ’em, Paiute.”

Logan said nothing more, waiting until Paiute returned to the cabin with a heavy iron bar. He used it to pry loose most of the boards in front of the fireplace. There, in the foundation, were many, many leather bags. Hoss tossed one of them to Arlo and another to Dallas. The bags were so heavy they had to be held with both hands.

“Open them,” said Hoss.

The awestruck cowboys opened the bags and found the same gold-rich ore as the sample Paiute had first brought them—the very ore that had begun their search for the mine.

“I wasn’t bluffing,” Hoss said. “One day a volcanic tremor will hit that mountain, and all that passage beneath the river will be flooded and filled with tons of rock and dirt. It’s a death trap now, but it ain’t always been, and it didn’t get like that on its own. I helped it some. This stash of ore you’re lookin’ at is worth near a million dollars. Now don’t you reckon that’ll buy us one hell of a spread, a right smart bunch of horses, mules, and cows, and just about anything else we got a hankerin’ for?”

“God Almighty,” Dallas said, “I reckon it will. I don’t know what to say or do.”

“Well, I know what to do and what to say,” said Arlo. “What I aim to do, first thing in the morning, is find a preacher. What I aim to say is whatever he tells me to. Kelsey and me will have us a hotel room in town, tomorrow night.”

“Kelly and me will be there too,” Dallas shouted.

“Come on,” said Arlo, “but you have to get your own room.”

Hoss Logan and Paiute didn’t understand why Kelly and Kelsey broke into fits of laughter, but it was contagious, and they joined in.

After breakfast it was time for some serious talk. There was the matter of all that gold, and Hoss Logan had a plan that appealed to Arlo and Dallas.

“I don’t know of a town anywhere closer than Los Angeles with a bank strong enough to deposit the kind of wealth we’re talkin’ about,” said Hoss, “so I think we’d better start Logan Freight Lines right now. I reckon this will conflict with your marryin’ plans, but for the time being, I want all of you to stay out of Phoenix. Arlo, you and Dallas ride to the outlying towns, looking for a pair of suitable wagons and some teams of mules. Kelly, you and Kelsey can go along, if you want. Me and Paiute will set here on this gold till you get back. When you do, we’ll load up and start out for Los Angeles. When we get our stake safely in the bank, we can buy some real freight wagons and first-class mule teams for the return trip. We’ll need plenty of supplies, and we can load up in Los Angeles. After we get back, we can start lookin’ for a suitable range for our spread. But I don’t want word get-tin’ out that I’m still alive until we’ve got this gold stashed safe in a bank in Los Angeles. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” said Dallas. “If you’re serious about Logan Freight Lines, why can’t we build us a freight terminal in Tortilla Flat, instead of Phoenix?”

“No reason we can’t,” Hoss replied. “You got some good reason for thinking of that, I reckon.”

“I have,” said Dallas. “Arlo and me owns that piece of ground where the saloon was, and I’m kind of partial to Tortilla Flat, because it’s got a grand view of the Superstitions.”

“I’m partial to it for the same reason,” Kelly said, “and I reckon that could be said for us all.”

“Well,” said Arlo, “now that we’ve agreed on that, I reckon we’d better consider the possibility there won’t be a mule for sale anywhere around here, and maybe no wagons. We may have to ride as far as Tucson, and with the silver mines there, we may still have a problem.”

“I’ll leave that to you and Dallas, then,” Hoss replied. “I’ve got near a thousand set aside for just such a time as this, so you can pay more than the goin’ price, if you have to.”

“We’ll have to buy at least two horses somewhere close by.” said Arlo, “because we have only two horses and two mules. We can’t ride as far as Tucson, leaving you and Paiute without mounts.”

“Buy them, then,” Hoss said. “Kelly and Kelsey can ride them and leave the mules for Paiute and me.”

“Hoss on mountain,” said Paiute, extending six fingers.

“But that would be stealing,” Kelsey said.

“I reckon not,” said Hoss. “He’s thinkin’ about what I told them hombres about the river comin’ in, if they try to work that mine. If it does, they won’t be needin’ horses. I think, while all of you are away buying mules and wagons, Paiute and me will look in on that bunch.”

“You don’t know that they’re working the mine,” Kelly said. “Maybe they took your advice.”

“I doubt it,” said Hoss. “They had the fever, and I’d bet all the gold we’re settin’ on that they’re in there right now, diggin.’ away at the same earth that’s holdin’ back the river.”

Cass Bowdre and his excited companions worked like demons for three days and nights, feasting their greedy eyes on the growing pile of rich gold ore they dug from the passage over their heads.

“I’m gettin’ a mite uneasy,” said Bowdre. “Remember how the whole damn mountain shook yesterday? I keep thinking of what old Logan said, about all this comin’ down on us. I’d feel better if we quit this place with what we got.”

“Not me,” Carp said greedily. “Maybe after another week.”

They were two days into their second week when again a tremor shook the mountain. They paused, waiting for it to cease, and for a moment, it did. But when another tremor came, it was more intense.

“I’m gettin’ out of here while I can,” Bowdre shouted.

But time and their luck had run out. With a crash, the last restraining earth gave way, and the terrified men were buried beneath tons of stone, just as Hoss Logan had predicted. The river—which Dallas had named the Death’s Head—rushed in and cut for itself a newer, deeper bed. The terrible act of nature took but a few seconds to bury Cass Bowdre and his companions forever deep within the Superstition Mountains, beneath the Skeleton Lode’s gold, which would remain forever beyond the reach of men.