It was two miles before he again found the boot-tracks in a bit of soft soil. And here again had one man, only one man, passed. The other, the second, had evidently turned aside across the rock-strewn side of the mountain—had gone on his way, prospecting.
CHAPTER IX
FARLEY FINDS HIS MAN
It was very quiet in Dalton’s cabin. Were it not for the figures which the flickering firelight found out uncertainly, casting their grotesque wavering shadows upon the floor and wall, one would have said that there was no living thing there.
Dalton sat hunched forward in his chair—his elbows on his knees, his big hands knotted together, his eyes on the coals scattered across the stone hearth. Near the door, standing erect, his eyes upon the still figure, his whole attitude that of a man waiting, was Dick Farley. Now and then he turned his head a little and looked sharply over his shoulder into the darkness outside as if he feared interruption.
“So,” said Dalton after a long silence, no part of his body moving save his lips, his voice without expression. “So you’re his pardner. I was afraid so, all along.”
“Yes.” Farley’s answer was as quietly expressionless. “I was his pardner.”
Dalton stirred in his chair. Farley’s body lost none of its rigid motionlessness, but his hand, the right one, dropped quickly to his hip. Dalton had reached for his pipe, filled it and lighted it with a coal which he picked up in his fingers. Farley’s hand remained upon the grip of his revolver.
“I’m sorry, mighty sorry,” Dalton went on, without looking up. And then, “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“I guess I’ve said about all. I came into this country with Johnny—my pardner. We were looking for gold. We were interfering with no man. Johnny is dead, murdered. It wasn’t even a fair fight. Who did it? I haven’t jumped at conclusions. I probably would if it hadn’t been for—” he hesitated a fraction of a second, during which for the first time Dalton glanced up swiftly at him—“for Miss Dalton. I wanted to be sure. I tracked you from one end of the trail to the other, to the cabin here. I think it’s pretty clear. So I came here to accuse you of his murder.”
It was the first time he had spoken so clearly. But the two men had understood each other without this putting a name to a deed.