“Thank you. I know where the money and jewels are kept, and I can get them, and will see that they go through with the sergeant and his daughter, never fear.”
“Is Jack Jessop, the star driver, driving now?”
“Oh, yes.”
“It will be his last trip, for I’ll bury him on Monument Hill. He is too plucky a man to be in the Overland coach-driving business, and so he goes under.”
“It is just as well, I guess, though I rather like Jack.”
“Well, now, we’ll go over the whole matter again, and just as soon as you return to the fort notify me by letter what you think can be done, or if you can think of any better plan. The place to leave the letter is under the end of the third board of the Cañon River bridge, where it projects over the land, as I suppose it must, though I have not seen the new structure. At any rate, look well for a spot there, and I’ll find it, for I’ll take to the trail soon with my new band.”
“I’ll prepare the way for you, Captain Eagle, never fear,” was the answer of the sergeant, and then the two went all over the same ground again, the outlaw asking many questions about the fort and its people, and coming to what he considered was a thorough understanding with the man whom he little dreamed to be his foe.
This conversation being ended, the sergeant held a powwow with his old friend Iron Eyes, the outlaw, Death Face, and Fighting Bird being present.
It being then a couple of hours after midnight, Sergeant Fallon suggested that he would make a visit to the ford to see if the enemy had sent their scouts across, and send back word by a couple of warriors who would accompany him, as he would then be compelled to go on back to the command where he was expected to serve as the Indians’ spy.