It was Kelly who spoke to Carl, and when he was waiting for him to answer the question he cast a hurried glance at his companion, and saw that he had the money. If he had had a coat on, he could not have buttoned the garment over it. He gave him a look as he passed, and saw the butts of two ugly revolvers protruding from Thompson’s hip pockets.
“Well, we have placed the money,” said he in a low tone to his companion, who walked by his side. “The question now is, How are we going to get rid of Carl and double-team on Thompson to keep him from shooting? What’s the fare to Fort Scully, please? You have two passengers with whom I am acquainted, and we’ll take a room right next to theirs. Room No. 11, have they? Well, then, I will take No. 12.”
Their fare was soon paid, their names registered in the books, and Hayward, at his companion’s suggestion, took their valises into their own room, to which the clerk showed him. On the way he noticed that Carl, or whoever had been in that room before him, had come out and left the key in the lock instead of handing it over to the clerk. That much was in his favor. Hayward made a great show of putting his valises away, and then came out into the cabin again and saw that it was empty, the clerk having gone into his office and closed the door. With a quick step Hayward moved to the door of No. 11, noiselessly opened the door, and went in. The valises were just where Carl had left them, stowed away under the bunks. He pulled them out and saw that they were not locked, the springs at the side serving to keep them closed. It was the work of but a very few minutes to “sound” them, but he saw that the money was not there. He tumbled some of the contents of the valises out on the floor in order to make a thorough examination, and before he had time to put them back he heard the cabin door open and Carl and Thompson come in. He was just in time, for with one bound he reached the outside door of the state-room which opened onto the guards, and ran along until he came to the passage that ran through the cabin. A moment afterward the door he had just left was thrown open and Carl’s face was stuck out.
“It is not there,” said he to Kelly, whom he found sitting on the boiler deck a short time after these incidents happened.
“Of course you didn’t find it,” said Kelly. “I told you where the money was when I went in. Thompson has it, as sure as the world.”
It seemed a long time before Carl and the cowboy came out again, and when they did, Kelly gave his companion a sly punch in the ribs with his elbow. Carl had taken warning by his experience, or else Thompson had become nervous and refused longer to act as custodian of the money, for it had changed places; in other words, Carl had it. Thompson’s revolvers had disappeared and his shirt set naturally, but Carl was the one who was amply developed this time. They stayed there until Kelly began to try to talk with them, and then they picked up their chairs and took a place on the rail.
“Did you ever see anything work better than this?” said Kelly, when the cowboys had taken up a position some little distance away. “Carl has got the money, and it will be easy enough to get away with him.”
“If they will only take to sitting on the rail after dark, we’re all right,” said Hayward. “That must be our only hope now.”
It seemed a long time before the supper-bell rang, and longer still after that until dark came; but finally the dusk of evening began to settle around them, and to their surprise no one came aboard the vessel. The four were there alone. The deck hands were all below, the captain and the clerk were nowhere to be seen, and the cabin boys had gone ashore.
“I guess now is our time,” said Kelly.