Cayuse did not stop for anything further. Whirling about, he made off, tearing up the telegram the scout had given to him to send in case De Bray did not arrive.
Cayuse, a couple of hours later, was in the Sun Dance stage when De Bray climbed onto the front seat with Pete and Chick Billings.
During the entire journey, up to the point where the first hold-up had been planned to occur, Cayuse had kept strictly to himself on the back seat. But he was all eyes and ears, even if he did not use his tongue, and among the rocks that hemmed in the stage-trail ahead he had caught a strange glimmer, as of the sun on steel.
That was his signal to drop out at the rear of the mountain-wagon, and flicker from sight among the rocks like a scared coyote. But Cayuse wasn’t scared—he was only curious.
He had seen rifles sparkle in the sun before, and he was pretty sure he had caught a gleam of gun-barrels.
From a safe place among the rocks he witnessed the first hold-up. When the stage pulled out, and the outlaws grouped together to take stock of their spoil, Cayuse saw Lawless—whom he knew by sight—open the locket and stare at the pictures inside.
Then he overheard Lawless plan to cross the arm of the gulch and overhaul the stage again. Cayuse, much to his disappointment, was powerless to warn those in the stage. He was afoot, and the driver of the stage was going fast toward Sun Dance. The boy might have raced across the arm of the gulch, but he could not have beaten the mounted thieves. He followed the thieves, however, picking his cautious way among the rocks and carefully keeping himself out of sight.
By the time he had reached the scene of the second hold-up, the fighting was over and the stage was once more bounding along toward Sun Dance.
Hidden safely only a few yards from where the outlaws had left their horses, Cayuse saw the white woman, and heard her plead for release as soon as she had recovered from her swoon. He heard, also, a number of other things which he considered of more importance.
“We’ll go to Medicine Bluff,” said Lawless to one of his men, “and make sure whether Lawless is going to get well of his wound, or cash in.”