“At Hermosillo, and it will take a week.”
“I have no week to waste, and I do not mean the guns at Hermosillo. You have five minutes, José Perez. Also those playful boys are building a nice warm fire for the branding irons. And you will both get a smell of your own burning hides if I wait longer for an answer.”
“Holy God!” shouted Conrad. “Why burn me for his work? From me the guns have been hid as well as from you;––all I got was promises! They are my guns,––my money paid, but he is not straight! Here at Soledad he was to show me this time, but I think now it was a trick to murder me as he murdered Juan Gonsalvo, the foreman who stored them away for him.”
“Animal!” growled Perez. “You have lost your head to talk of murders to me! Two murders at Granados are waiting for you, and it is not far to ship you back to the border! Walk with care, señor!”
“You are each wasting time with your truth telling,” stated Rotil. “This is no time to count your dead men. It is the count of the guns I want. And a sight of the ammunition.”
“Give me a guide to Hermosillo, and the price of guns can be got for you.”
“It is not the price of guns I asked you for, it is guns,––the guns Conrad and Herrara got over the border for you. Your time is going fast, José Perez.”
“They are not to be had this side of Hermosillo, send me south if you want them. But it is well to remember that if an accident happens to me you never could get them,––never! I alone know their hiding place.”
“For that reason have I waited for your visit to Soledad,––you and your carts and your pack mules,” stated Rotil. “Do not forget that Marto Cavayso and other men of mine have been for weeks with your ranchmen. Your pack train comes here empty, and means one thing only––they came for the American guns! Your minutes are going, señor, and the branding irons are getting heat from the fire. One more minute!”
“Write the figures of the ransom, and grant me a messenger to Hermosillo. You have the whip hand, you can make your price.”