“I don’t know about the Mexicans, but I can bank on the rest.”
“Then here is what you must do: Contrive in some way to have the men in the bunk-house and in the mill armed with six-shooters. Arm O’Connell, too, but don’t arm the Mexicans. Do this at noon, and don’t let either Bernritter or Jacobs know that you do it.”
“That will take a lot of guns, Buffalo Bill, and I haven’t so many. Most of the men, however, have weapons of their own.”
“If you can’t arm all of them with guns, arm them with iron drills, axes, picks—anything that comes handiest. My Dutch pard and I would also like a six-shooter apiece—we had the misfortune to be stripped of our own hardware. Is there any place, near the laboratory and the cyanid-tanks, where you could hide Nomad and the baron and me?”
“There’s an old powder-house at the rear of the laboratory,” said McGowan. “It isn’t used for storing high-explosives any more, and you might hang out in there.”
“At noon,” proceeded the scout, “when you arm your men tell your mill-engineer to keep a lookout in the direction of the cyanid-tanks. The moment he sees a man there waving a handkerchief, tell him to blow the whistle as long as he can. That will be the signal for your men to get busy. I presume there will be steam enough in the boiler for that?”
“Yes. The mill starts up again when the night-shift goes on. I’ll tell the engineer. Nevertheless, this may be a case of all cry and no wool, Buffalo Bill.”
“I hope it will prove to be, but I am positive it will not. Will you carry out instructions, McGowan?”
“Certainly! I’d be a fool if I didn’t. I can’t afford to lose forty thousand dollars’ worth of bullion. But you’re wrong about Bernritter.”
“Why, Bernritter has been stealing you blind for the last two weeks!”