Chapter VIII: Red Rogers Sends a Message to the Fort

In tense silence, Rose watched the bandit approach to carry out his master's orders.

An instant the girl thought of defying both the notorious outlaw who had spurned her and his minion. A slash of her bowie-knife would sever the bonds of the scout at her back and then she could cover both Red and Pedro with her six shooters.

The thought of having the desperado in her power and the pleasure it would be to humble him by forcing an apology from his lips proved irresistible, and stealthily she dropped her hands to the pistol butts.

Pedro, however, was watching her intently, and as he saw the movement, leaped upon her, catching her wrists in his powerful hands.

"No you don't, my lady!" he hissed. "Hey, Red, this she-devil was going to shoot you."

"I'm not surprised. The Landons never were strong on gratitude," returned the bandit. "Hurry and take away her shooting irons so she won't have another chance, and then transfer the prisoners as I told you."

These words were spoken by Rogers without taking the trouble even to turn his head, and his utter indifference to her contemplated act of treachery effected Rose as nothing else could have done.

"Oh, Red, forgive me! Forgive me!" she sobbed. "I didn't mean to quarrel with you. The excitement of your breaking out of jail and our escape from the troopers have been too much for my nerves. I know you were a friend to daddy--and you've been to me. Please for----"

"Bah! Cut it out," interrupted the outlaw, savagely. "You've showed your real nature. It's lucky for me you did. Now that I know you, I can make my plans accordingly."

Even the scouts were amazed at the bitterness of this reply, and they awaited with many misgivings the next move of their strange captor.

That he was doing something, they could all see from the motion of his right arm, but not until it suited his pleasure did they learn what it was.

"Are the men ready, Pedro?" he inquired at last.

"Uhuh!"

"Good. Keep a close watch on the girl and the young and the old prisoners. I'll be back in a little while. Remember, I hold you responsible for the girl and the others. If you try any tricks or leave this spot, I'll hunt you down--if I have to follow you into the jail at Keno!"

These words showed plainly the desperateness of Roger's mood, and the others followed his every move with apprehension.

Suddenly reining his pony alongside of Shaw, he unwound the sash about his own waist and bound it about the scout's head, blindfolding him.

This done, he seized the horse by the bridle and started to lead it down the canyon.

"Remember, your lives will pay the forfeit if I do not find you all here when I return," he snapped, in warning.

Believing that his end had come, Shaw listened for the slightest sound that might give an inkling as to the fate in store for him. But only the tramp of his horse could he hear.

For minutes that seemed interminable, his suspense continued. Now he thought he caught the sound of rushing water, and feared he was about to plunge into some swirling stream, then, as the sound died away, he told himself that his captor was probably leading him toward some precipice from which he would fall to a horrible death. The uncertainty was maddening. It seemed to him that his head would burst and in his mental agony he writhed and squirmed.

But at last his suffering came to an end.

"I'm going to send you with a message to the Fort," exclaimed Rogers, suddenly, as he stopped the horse. "That is, I'm going to start you with a message. Whether you live to deliver it is another matter," he added, grimly. "However, if anything happens to you, the message will be probably found, because within three hours you ought to be on a well traveled trail."

In amazement, the scout listened to his words, then felt something being thrust under the cords that bound his arms.

As this motion ceased, there ensued an absolute silence, then a resounding slap rang out and Shaw felt his mount leap forward--whither, he did not know.

And as his horse dashed ahead, Rogers mocking laugh rang in his ears.

Diabolical, indeed, was the plan the terrible outlaw had adopted.

Absolutely helpless, even his powers of speech and sight cut off by a gag and bandage, and bound fast to a horse, the scout was sent at a gallop into the night. Should the animal stumble, he might be crushed to death. Unfamiliar with the trail, in the darkness the horse might step off a precipice or, should the animal take it into his head, he might wander among the foothills, browsing in the sweet grass while the man on his back, tortured by flies and mosquitoes, slowly went crazy from thirst and hunger.

Little, however, did Rogers reck what fate overtook the scout, though he hoped the horse would return to the Fort, finding his way by instinct, well knowing that the sight of the soldier, bound and wounded, would rouse the colonel to fury, while his crude note was intended to strike terror by its threats.

But not long did the outlaw have to gloat over his deviltry.

As he stood listening to the hoofbeats of the army horse grow fainter and fainter, his eyes wandered over the dim outlines of the mountains surrounding him.

Suddenly he saw a ball of flame shoot into the air from the hill directly ahead of him, followed almost immediately by other balls from right and left.

"Rocket signals!" exclaimed Rogers. "By the blood of old Barney! it won't do for me to delay getting to the Stockade. Judging from their rockets, the manhunters must be closing in on it. If I'm going to reach there at all, it must be to-night. I can never get through in the daytime."

Rose and the others also beheld the signals, and in the face of the danger all the girl's anger against the outlaw vanished.

"Oh, Red! Did you see those rockets?" she inquired, with her old time interest in his welfare, as he rejoined his anxious companions.

"Sure I saw 'em," he replied. "Couldn't very well help it--unless I was blindfolded, like the scout."

At the mention of the luckless man he had led away, the girl drew her breath sharply.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"It's none of your business, but I don't mind telling you," responded Rogers, his anger at Rose apparently forgotten. "I sent him with a message to the Fort."

"But he'll never get there!" protested the girl.

"Why not?"

"The horse doesn't know the way."

"Never you worry. An army horse will always find his way back to his post--provided nothing happens to him."

"But, if he doesn't go quickly, the man may die!" gasped Rose, in horror.

"So much the better. It'll give more force to my terms."

At this announcement that the desperado had not only sent a message to the Fort, but had dictated conditions, the others were amazed.

"What in the world did you say?" queried the girl, voicing the curiosity of the rest.

"Not much."

"But what?"

"Say, you're asking a good many questions, did you know it?" demanded Rogers.

His tone, however, indicated that he was not displeased and so Rose persisted.

"How can I help it since you won't tell without my asking?" she returned.

"If you ain't just like old Barney," mused the bandit, smiling at the girl good naturedly. "I've seen Barney ready to shoot a man down, then something would excite his curiosity, and he'd forget what he was holding his guns for. Many a time he----"

"Never mind about daddy. What did you say in your message?" interrupted Rose, impatiently.

"But it was about your daddy."

"About daddy? Oh, Red, tell me." Then a shrewd thought flashed into her mind and she added: "You're wasting valuable time teasing me."

The words produced the desired effect upon the bandit, recalling him, as they did, to the danger of his position.

"I guess it would be better for me if we stayed mad," he rejoined. "I forget everything when I'm talking to you, Rosie."

"Then I won't say another word to you, _ever_, unless you tell me what message you sent to the Fort," pouted the girl, aware that the breech between them had been healed.

"Oh, it was nothing much. I just told the colonel I'd come back to keep the pledge I made to Barney the night he was killed, adding that I had two more of his men beside the messenger, I was keeping so's he'd behave. Oh, yes, and I told him if he didn't get a safe conduct for you and leave it at old man Quint's before to-day week, I'd run down and burn up his old Fort."

In contemplation of the effect such a message from the man for whom his troops were scouring the "Bad Lands" would have upon their choleric colonel, the scouts forgot the precariousness of their position.

"But old turkey gobler won't do it," exclaimed Rose, with the evident wish of being contradicted.

"No-o. I don't suppose he will," admitted the outlaw, reluctantly. "But it will give me a chance to make 'em sit-up and take notice. It'll show 'em they've got some job on their hands to catch me when I can run through their lines, call at old man Quint's and get back again."

"Nobody with any sense would try it," grunted Pedro. "What would become of Rosie and me if you got caught? You ought to think of others besides yourself when you're planning these daredevil raids."

"That's just what I am doing," retorted Rogers. "Didn't I tell you I asked the colonel for a safe conduct for Rosie? If I can only get it, she can go to Old Mex. and you can go where you please."

"And where'll you go?" demanded Pedro, suspiciously.

"I? Oh, I'll just carry out my pledge and then travel for my health."

The matter-of-fact manner in which the outlaw, who was, even as he spoke, being hunted by hundreds of men, talked of eluding his pursuers and fulfilling his promise, gave the scouts an idea of his absolute fearlessness which they could not but admire, while at the same time his contempt for the Service galled them.

The girl, however, received Red's words in silence.

"What is the pledge you made to daddy?" she suddenly demanded.

"Something that doesn't concern you, Rosie."

"But it _does_. I don't see why you should run such risks of being captured, now you're safe, just on account of a promise. _Please_ tell me what it is. I'm Barney's daughter, and as such--if it seems foolish--I can absolve you from your pledge."

Though they had known that the outlaw had made some sort of promise to his pal as he lay dying in his arms, neither Rose nor Pedro were aware of its exact nature. Moreover, the constant reference to it since their capture had whetted the curiosity of the scouts.

Consequently it was with keenest eagerness the four listened for the bandit's answer.

"It's generous of you, Rosie, very," he finally declared. "But Red Rogers never broke a promise yet!"

And with these words, the outlaw mounted his horse and, followed by Pedro with the prisoners, set out for the Old Stockade.