“Those men are plotting a heap to take the mines, sir. Hodge discovered it.”
“How did he make the discovery?”
“That I don’t know. He discovers it, somehow, and he sends me with this yere message. He picks me out and asks me could he trust me a whole lot. I tells him he could, and he chances it. I plans with him to git out in the night, and I does so.”
“But you were followed?”
“Yes. One of the crew sees me a-talking with Mr. Hodge, and they suspects me. Arter that they watches me mighty close. That makes it plenty hard for me to git away. I don’t opine I am much more than out of the valley afore they finds out I am gone. I didn’t think they’d git on so quick, and so I fails to push as hard as I might at first. Shortly after sun-up I sees two horsemen coming miles behind me. Even then I’m not dead sure they’re arter me. But they was, sir—they was. I had a hard run for it, but I have made good by getting the message to you.”
“And you shan’t lose by it, Colvin. Be sure of that. Did you know about this plot to seize the mines—before Hodge discovered it?”
“I knows there was something up, sir; but the rest of the gang they don’t trust me complete, and so I don’t find out just what was a-doing. I sees them whispering and acting queer, and I thinks there’s trouble brewing before Hodge speaks to me about it.”
“What sort of men are they?”
“A right tough lot, Mr. Merriwell. They has liquor, too. Somehow it’s brought to them, but the head one of the bunch, Texas Bland, he don’t ladle it out free at once. He seems to keep it for some occasion later.”
Merry’s face wore a serious expression.