Now he saw only the tragedy that lay beneath the meeting of two brothers in such circumstances, and he wondered if the town marshal had been aware the two would meet when he sent his invitation to Jack Allen. He was curious as to that, but he was more curious as to the reason behind the invitation; he was reasonably sure Tucker had some hidden motive. Hogan was still pondering the matter when the door opened and Jack Allen entered.
The famous Wyoming sheriff and United States marshal was cool and collected. His eyes swept the room and rested on each man in turn. Most of the miners met his searching gaze unflinchingly. But there were one or two men there who hastily looked away, for they had a feeling that Allen’s rather hard brown eyes might read more than they cared to tell. Bill Tucker stepped forward and introduced Allen to the assembly.
“Howdy, gents!” Jack greeted them.
They murmured a reply, then all grew silent.
“Suppose yuh give me a line on what’s been goin’ on here,” the little man suggested.
“It’s this way,” Bill Tucker explained. “The placers has been givin’ out an’ there ain’t nothin’ but quartz mining hereabouts now. About eight mines are workin’ sinkin’ shafts. The veins are darned thin but mighty rich. About four months ago some gang started stealin’ quartz, an’ since then every darn mine has been robbed.”
“On the quiet or with guns?” Allen interrupted.
“Sometimes one, sometimes the other. The last time this here gang worked they held up the American Beauty—about a week ago—shot one guard, locked up the workers, and made off with about four thousand dollars in quartz,” the town marshal explained.
“When did you find out about it?” Jack Allen asked.
Pop Howes cut into the conversation. “I was stayin’ in town that night with my wife an’ went out to the mine about daylight. I find a young Mex kid I left in the house, gunned proper, an’ the rest locked up, so I come into town an’ fetched Bill Tucker.”