Rathburn was looking steadily at the deputy. “Carlisle is roped an’ tied up the trail by the big rocks,” he said. “Send up there for him an’ bring him down here.”
Several of the men who were mounted spurred their horses up the steep trail. There was utter silence now among the men. Mannix, too, was cool and collected. He had not drawn his gun. He surveyed the quaking Sautee with a look of extreme contempt. The mine manager’s nerves had gone to pieces before Rathburn’s menacing personality. All he cared for now was his life. The black reputation he had given to Rathburn led him to believe that the 172 man could not be depended upon, and that he was liable to carry out his threat and blow them all to bits. He wet his lips with a feverish tongue.
“Where’s the money you an’ Carlisle got away with?” demanded Mannix.
“I’ve got all I took,” whined Sautee. “I’ll give it back. I don’t know what Carlisle’s done with his. It was his scheme, anyway; he proposed it when he hit this country a year ago.”
“And the other man–––” suggested Mannix.
“Mike Reynolds,” cried Sautee. “But he was only in on the truck driver deal and––last night. Let The Coyote go, Mannix–––”
Then Sautee, in a frenzy of fear, an easy prey to the seriousness of the situation and his shattered nerves, told everything. He explained how it had been Carlisle who proposed getting Rathburn out of jail and making him the goat. He told of the worthless contents of the package he had given Rathburn to carry to the mine, how they had planned to rob him on the way and thus put him in a situation where he would have to get out of the country. He explained how Carlisle had pointed out that they had a club over Rathburn’s head in their knowledge of his real identity. He complained that Carlisle had intended to double cross him, and how he had double crossed Carlisle in turn. He ended with a whining plea for consideration at the hands of Mannix.
The men with Carlisle came down the trail. Carlisle was astride his own horse. His gun was in his holster.
“We’ve got you, you outlaw!” he cried as he flung himself from the saddle and strode up to Rathburn, Mannix, and Sautee.
Rathburn’s eyes had narrowed until they were slits through which his cold, hard gaze centered upon Carlisle. His attitude had changed. Even his posture 173 was suddenly different. There was a long breath from the men behind Mannix. It was a tense moment. They could see the menace in Rathburn’s manner, and they could see that Carlisle was fighting mad.