Chapter IX.
THE STORM BREAKS.
Angered by the lack of confidence in their shrewdness and ability the banker's words and actions disclosed, Dillaby rose from his chair, bowed stiffly and said:
"You'll think differently, sir, within twenty-four hours. Come, boys."
But Mr. Rozier's response was a snort of disgust that further enraged the man-hunters.
"The old mutton-head! I wish Jesse would rob his bank! It would serve him right!" snapped one of them.
No comment, however, did his comrades vouchsafe. Each was occupied with his own thoughts and chief among these thoughts was a grim determination to prove to the banker that his opinion of them was erroneous.
Arrived at the rendezvous in the square, Dillaby and his men were forced to wait some minutes before they beheld their fellows hurrying to join them.
Without wasting any time, the eight men, with Higgins and the superintendent of the Kansas City office in lead, set out for the campground.
Nearing the place, Jones said:
"When we get to the tent, the rest of you surround it. Higgins and I will go inside and interview the miners."
"But there are three of them," protested Dillaby.
"What if there are? We can call for help if we need any."
As the reader knows, there was no need.
When the detectives had reached a point from which the camp the suspects had occupied could be seen, they instantly noticed that the roan mare was gone. Ordering a double-quick as the information was imparted to him, Higgins dashed up to the tent.
A glance at the overturned chairs and tables inside told of the haste of the supposed miners' departure.
"Ha! they opened your package of wine, Dillaby," cried Jones when he and his side partner had vented their disappointment at finding the men had taken alarm and vanished.
"If we could only trail 'em we could examine them at our leisure. There's enough dope in that Madeira to knock 'em out for hours, if it doesn't put 'em out of the way altogether."
"There's no use in going 'ifs' and 'buts' when you're working against Jesse James," snapped Higgins. "The fact that the three lit out so soon after the shindy over the wine makes me almost certain the 'miners' are, in reality, the bandits. They realized they were attracting too much attention and made their get-away while they had a chance.
"We've got just one recourse left—to watch Susie. The sooner we get back to the house where she is, the sooner we'll know whether or not it amounts to anything.
"If the girl came down here to meet her brothers, and the miners are the outlaws, they won't leave the Springs till they've seen her!"
And without more ado, the man-hunters hastened to the farmhouse where Higgins and Jones had followed Susie, having learned by inquiring of a neighbour that it belonged to the Priors.
But the sister of the notorious James' boys had left the homestead in Kearney with no such purpose in view.
Tiring of the long promised, but never given, consent to her marriage to Tim Mason, the telegraph operator at Kearney who had served the desperadoes so well in times gone by, the lovers had put their heads together and decided to take matters into their own hands and elope.
After considering many places, they finally decided upon Monegaw Springs as the one where their marriage would attract the least notice because of the constantly changing population.
With many misgivings, Susie had sought her mother's permission to pay a visit to the Priors, permission which was eventually granted.
The matter of leaving her home without occasioning embarrassing inquiries thus settled, the young people selected the day and made the final arrangements.
The girl was to leave Kearney on the morning train and her sweetheart at noon.
Both were aware that man-hunters would doubtless follow the sister of the desperadoes but they knew they could only look on, and many a laugh the lovers had over the surprise of the sleuths when they discovered they had trailed the girl to an elopement instead of to a meeting with her brothers.
But fate plays strange pranks.
The appointed day came, the departure from Kearney was accomplished without misadventure, though the presence of the detectives was soon made evident to the prospective bride, and in due course the train arrived at Monegaw Springs.
Happy in the thought that she could buy some little kitchen utensil for their home, her home and Jim's, with the money that it would cost to take a carriage from the station to the Priors, she resolutely set out to walk the distance.
For once, Susie had no thought for Jesse, Frank or their men as she advanced along the sidewalk. Her bag was heavy but even its weight was forgotten in the dream pictures of the future she conjured in her mind.
Yet as she emerged from behind the hedge, caught sight of the tall, bearded man who was coming up the street, saw him bow politely and heard his voice, her love-creations tumbled about her head, shattered!
Susie had recognized Cole!
His presence in the Springs bespoke the presence of her brothers, or their expected arrival. In either case, Jesse and Frank would seek to learn the cause of her being in the town and the detectives who were shadowing her would see them.
These and many other thoughts flashed through her brain as she pulled herself together after the shock of the unexpected and unwelcome meeting.
Many a woman would have betrayed the outlaw to the man-hunters, inadvertently.
But Susie had been trained in a school of terrible emergencies and ere the detectives could become suspicious, she had glanced in their direction to disclose their presence to Cole and continued on her way as though she merely repulsed the advances of some "masher."
Yet how heavy her bag grew as she hurried along!
All the ruins of her shattered hopes, apparently, were clinging to it, making it seem to weigh a ton!
Scarce seeing where she stepped, the girl hurried toward the home of her friends. Once the idea occurred to her that she would not go to the Priors, but, taking a room at the hotel, wail till Tim arrived on the evening train, meet him at the station and be married without delay.
Fear of Jesse, however, deterred her.
She knew that as soon as he had heard of her arrival from Cole, he would seek her at the Priors and, should he not find her, would search the town, subjecting himself to danger of capture by the detectives who had followed her.
Were her brothers to be discovered through her, she knew she could never forgive herself.
The only thing to do, she decided, was to meet Jesse. And as she trudged along, a little voice whispered:
"Perhaps you can persuade him to allow the wedding."
Her spirits buoyed by this thought, Susie responded lightly to the surprised, but hearty, greetings of the Priors.
During the dinner, to which the family was just sitting down when she arrived, her friends regaled her with the account of the doings of the mysterious strangers, whose wealth, bravery and deeds were the wonder of the Springs.
Smiling at the romance woven around her brother, Susie was on the point of enlightening them, when the pounding of hoofs was heard in the yard and looking from the window, Mr. Prior gasped:
"Wal, I swan! 'Speak of the devil and he's sure to appear.' Here they be, now. What on airth kin they want here?"
With the arrival of the outlaws, the girl's fears for their safety drove all else from her mind, yet before she could act, the farmer had risen from the table and opened the door, calling, cordially:
"Jest hitch your horses and come in, won't yeh? We're finishin' dinner but thar's plenty left, I reckon."
The reply to the invitation, delivered with all the hospitality of the South, was awaited with fluttering hearts by the daughters of the house of Prior, Helen and Marjorie, two comely lasses.
Afraid that the disclosure of their identity out of doors might lead their friend to exclamations that would excite any watching man-hunter, the world-famous desperado replied:
"Thank you, we'll come in. We came to see about buying some of your horses."
And without delay the trio made fast their animals and passed in through the door.
But their entrance was easier than their exit!
"Ma, this is Mr.—" began the farmer awkwardly, then paused in amazement.
No sooner was the door shut behind them, than Jesse had rushed to his sister and kissed her while the others stared in open mouthed bewilderment.
"There's nothing improper," laughed the bandit-chieftain as he beheld the blank amazement on the faces of his friends. "Your mysterious 'Mr. Howard' is only Sue's brother, Jesse."
The announcement, however, astounded the Priors even more than the episode of the kissing.
"I might have known it," pouted Helen. "If I had, I should have made you take me to the hop last night and turned everybody green with envy, Jesse. Oh, why didn't you tell us?"
Making his peace as best he could, the great outlaw lost no time in demanding of his sister what had brought her to the Springs.
Ever since the arrival of her brother, Susie had been preparing herself to meet the question. Having come to no satisfactory decision, when it finally was put she evaded it by turning attention from herself to the detectives who had followed her.
"We can talk any time, Jess," she rejoined, "Wouldn't it be best to put your horses in the barn before they're seen and recognized?"
"I guess you're right, Sis," acquiesced the bandit-chieftain. "All these man-hunters, together, may drop to the fact that we're who we are."
"Harry and I'll take care of 'em," announced the farmer. "The less you show yourself, the better, I reckon." And, nodding to his son, Mr. Prior went out to where the horses were tied.
Yet he was not soon enough!
The yard and barns of the Prior buildings were on the side of the house toward the business centre of the town, clearly visible to any and all coming from that direction.
Intent only upon getting the animals out of sight, neither the farmer nor his son saw the eight men walking rapidly along the sidewalk toward them.
"Better put 'em in the lower barn, hadn't we, Jeff," said his father. "I'll lead two on 'em, you take the roan."
But as Farmer Prior's son put out his hand to unhitch Jesse's mare, a cry rang out:
"You leave those horses alone!"
Startled at the command, the two men turned to see who had uttered it and for the first time beheld the detectives, who, after the sharp order, had broken into a run.
The shout had also been heard by those inside the house, though because of the closed doors and windows the words were indistinguishable.
Springing to the window, Jesse peered out just long enough to catch sight of the men bearing down on them, then turned to his terror-stricken friends.
"It's the man-hunters!" he gasped. "I didn't expect 'em so soon. Take us up into the attic or anywhere we can hide without being seen, Marjorie.
"The rest of you stay here. Mrs. Prior, go to the door and ask what the trouble is. Tell 'em your husband bought the horses from the miners at the station just an hour or so ago. Delay 'em as long as you can, though you'll be obliged to let 'em search the house before they'll go."
Scarce a second did it take to deliver these instructions and even before he had concluded them the bandit-chieftain was following the girl, whom he had entrusted with the task of hiding them, from the room, Cole and Clell at his heels.
Gliding through the parlour and out into the hall, avoiding that side of the house visible from the yard or sidewalk, they mounted the stairs, three at a time.
"What is there to hide us up in the attic?" demanded Jesse of his guide.
"Ma's clothes press, piles of quilts and old feather beds."
"Nothing else?"
"No. Won't they do?" asked Marjorie, crestfallen.
"Not for a minute. The detectives will go for them the first thing."
"Oh dear! I don't know where else to take you except in some of our closets," groaned the girl.
"Which they'll likewise examine carefully. Can't we crawl up one of the fireplaces? Are the flues big enough? That's the kind of place we want to find."
Apprised of the sort of refuge the outlaws desired, Marjorie thought rapidly.
"There's only one fireplace where the flue's big enough and that's in the sitting room. But you couldn't get up it without being seen from the yard. And for the same reason you couldn't get into the oven. Oh—what can you—wait. I have it. You can get down into the little brick room where mother smokes the hams! Quick! It's 'round by the back stairs."
Familiar with the chambers, about four feet by six, built in the chimneys where the countryfolk used to cure their delicious hams, the bandit-chieftain rejoined:
"That'll be just the place. Get us to it as soon as you can. Any hams in it now?"
"Drat it, yes! I'd forgotten. Mother put some in yesterday." And the girl stopped, looking at the outlaws in dismay.
"Never mind. They'll help to hide us," assured Jesse.
"But the smoke and the odour, it's fearful," protested Marjorie.
Quickly the great desperado allayed her misgivings by telling her that they could stand them and without further parley, she guided them to the eighteen-inch door in the side of the stairway that opened into the smoking-chamber.
As she drew it back, the pungent fumes of the curing hams rushed out, mingled with smoke.
"Jicky, but it is strong," gasped Clell.
"We've got to stand it, so crawl inside, lively," snapped his leader. "The longer you stand here with that door open, the more the odour'll get into the house, and the greater chance there'll be of the man-hunters getting wise."
All remonstrance squelched by his statement, his two companions wriggled through the small aperture, Jesse followed and Marjorie refastened the door.
By the aid of matches, the desperadoes were able to make their way among the redolent hams to the corners farthest from the stairs.
But the smoke coming through the bricks from the flue of the kitchen stove and the fumes were powerful.
"If we have to stay here long, we'll suffocate," growled Cole.
"Shut up! We've got to stand it. Don't move 'round," snapped his leader, and, resigning themselves to the ordeal, they subsided into silence.
All this time, down in the yard, Mrs. Prior and the others had been sparring for time, and it was with relief they beheld Marjorie rejoin them, for her coming told that the outlaws were hidden.
Grasping the purpose of Jesse's instructions, the wife of the farmer had opened the door, demanding of her bewildered husband:
"What's the trouble, Ephraim? What are those men running for?"
"We want the men who rode those horses here," panted Higgins as he reached the animals.
"What men?" protested Mrs. Prior. "Tell 'em they must have made a mistake, Ephraim. When they know you bought the critturs from those miners down at the train they'll come to their senses, maybe."
The effort to give the farmer his cue was futile.
Looking at his wife as though he thought she had gone crazy, Ephraim Prior said nothing.
But Higgins was not so dull.
Divining that the words had been inspired by the man they sought, his doubt as to who 'Howard' was vanished instantly and he coolly retorted:
"If your husband were as clever as you, Mrs. Prior, your bluff might have worked. But he isn't, so you might as well let us search your house.
"We know Jesse James is inside it and we're going to find him!"
Feigning amazement at the declaration, the woman brought all her resourcefulness to bear to gain time till her daughter's return should announce that the outlaws were concealed, demanding his grounds for his suspicions and pronouncing it an outrage that Susie could not make a visit without being suspected of coming to meet her wicked brothers.
But her persistency only confirmed the detectives' belief that their quarry was scurrying to cover in the house.
With a clever change in tactics, Jones purred:
"Why don't you let us search the house, Mrs. Prior, and satisfy ourselves? We don't like to doubt your assertion that the notorious cut-throat isn't here, but Jesse has so many friends who are willing to swear that black is white for his sake that our doubt is only natural. But if we are wrong, we'll apologize and humbly."
As the suggestion she had dreaded was put into words, Mrs. Prior turned to look into the kitchen, just as Marjorie entered it.
The sight causing her untold relief, the woman responded:
"I suppose that would be the quickest way to get rid of you, though I must say I don't think much of having eight strange men ransacking my house."
"But only four of us will do the searching," returned Higgins. "The others 'll wait outside to see that Jesse and his pals don't skip out."
"How can he, when he isn't here?" retorted Mrs. Prior, stepping back to admit Jones, Dillaby and two other man-hunters, who made no reply.
Once inside the kitchen, however, the former said:
"And now if you'll give us lanterns, we'll begin."
"Well, we won't," snarled the woman. "You'll have to get along as best you can and what's more you can't go through my house alone, either. Ephraim, you and Jeff take your shot guns and follow 'em. If you see 'em steal anything, shoot 'em. I've heard of robbers trying such tricks to get into a house before."
Realizing, that further protest would be of no avail, though the words stung, the detectives started on their quest followed by the farmer and his son with their guns.
But as Jones placed his hand on the latch leading into the hall there sounded a stifled cough!