For a moment the stranger was nonplussed. Recovering himself instantly, with seeming nonchalance, he gave the names of John Smith and his brother Joseph, Thomas Jones and his brother Jim; and, throwing three double eagles upon the desk, he hastily departed.
As he closed the door, Beachy said to the clerk, “I’m afraid there will be a stage robbery to-night. Go to the express-office and tell the agent not to send the treasure chest by this coach. Don’t wake the passenger in the next room. I will see the citizens who have secured passage, and request them to wait until to-morrow.”
Still reflecting upon the suspicious conduct of the visitor, Beachy determined to get a sight of his companions. “There are too many Smiths and Joneses to be all right,” he said to himself, as he slipped the hood over his dark lantern and took his way to the hotel where they lodged. Ascertaining that their apartment fronted the street, he stole quietly up to the window, which was protected by shutters with adjustable lattice. This, by a cautious process, he opened, and, peering through, beheld the four inmates, three of whom he recognized as the ruffians who had left Lewiston and gone to Bannack three months before.
More deeply confirmed than at the first in the belief that a robbery was intended, he awaited the approach of the coach, designing to make a careful survey of the group after they were seated preparatory to departure. Fifteen or twenty persons, who had heard of Beachy’s suspicions, several of whom were old associates of Howard and his companions, followed the coach from the barn to the hotel.
Enveloped in overcoats and blankets, their faces concealed by mufflers, and their hats drawn down to hide their eyes, the four men climbed into the coach. Just as the driver gathered up his lines Beachy opened his lantern, and before the men could wrap their blankets around them, his quick eye detected that two of the number had each a pair of well-filled cantinas on his lap. After the coach had driven off, he turned to Judge Berry, who was standing near, and, in a low but meaning tone, said,
“Lloyd Magruder has been murdered.”
“What makes you think so?” inquired the judge. “Do you recognize these fellows?”
“Yes, three of them: Howard, Lowry, and Romaine. Their cantinas are filled with Magruder’s money. I’ll furnish horses and pay all expenses if you and the sheriff will join me, and we’ll arrest them to-night.”
“Arrest them for what?” asked the judge.
“On suspicion of having murdered Magruder.”