The fight didn’t last more ’n five or ten minutes. They had banked on surprisin’ us; and when this failed they were ready to back out. I afterward found out that it was the Friar who had caught sight of ’em first, he not’ bein’ able to sleep.
Ty and Pepper Kendal were the last to leave the big room; and when their own men were out of it, they opened fire on us; we fired back, and when they backed into the library where the rest o’ their gang had disappeared, we made a rush for ’em. I supposed they had come in through the library window, and I called for a candle, hopin’ to grab Ty before he could get out.
Spider Kelley had already picked up the candle, and he had it in the doorway in a second. The big drawers at the bottom o’ the bookcase were swung back, showin’ a stairway behind ’em, and Ty Jones stood at the top with Pepper Kendal just behind him. I dove through the air, catchin’ Ty’s wrist with my left hand and his throat with my right, Pepper Kendal bent his gun on me, Olaf grabbed the gun which was fired just as The grabbed Pepper’s arms. It looked to me as though the bullet must have gone into Olaf’s head; but just then we tripped, rolled down the stairs and the imitation drawers swung to behind us.
All holts were broke on the way down, and when I reached the bottom, I lay as quiet as a frozen moonbeam. I heard steps runnin’ away from me in the dark, and presently the legs of the man next to me moved, and he got up. I rose to a crouchin’ position, held my arm above my head, and whispered, “Who is this?”
For answer, I got a smash on the arm with the butt of a forty-five which drove it down again’ my head hard enough to bring me to my knees and wake up my horse-sense. I might ’a’ known they’d have a signal.
I waited with my back again’ the wall until the silence began to soak into my nerve. One o’ my guns had got lost durin’ the mess upstairs; but I still had the other, and when I closed my grip around it, it seemed like I was shakin’ hands with my best friend. As far as I could discover I hadn’t been shot; but several knife-cuts and bruises began to hum little tunes which wasn’t in nowise cheerin’. I just simply don’t like to be kept waitin’ in the dark!
After a bit I reached my hand out cautious, and felt the heel of a ridin’ boot. I examined as careful as though the feller inside the boot was a disguised bear-trap; but the’ was no need. His neck was broke. I felt of his face, and it was soft and smooth. The face of the young feller with the boy’s eyes, I had seen put to bed drunk that night at Skelty’s, flashed across me, and I gave a sigh; but I had too much on my mind to turn soft, so I began to feel around again.
Presently my fingers struck the heel of another boot. I shut down on my bellows until the breath didn’t get down past the top inch o’ my neck, and I was as gentle with the heel o’ that boot, as though it was a bitin’ man’s eyeball; because I sure felt a quiver in it. I slid my fingers up that boot a quarter inch at a time, and I didn’t use no more rudeness ’n a mouse would use in tryin’ to sneak a cheese piller out from under a sleepin’ cat. When my fingers finally struck corduroy, I purt nigh gave a shout, for this was what Promotheus wore.
It allus embarrasses a man to be felt over in the dark, so I took my time with The; but after locatin’ both hands and his crooked mouth, I discovered he’d been knocked out complete. I rubbed his wrists until he began to moan, and then I pinched his nose until he was able to notice my name when I whispered. He had bumped his head in fallin’, and it made him sick to the stomach; so while he was gettin’ tuned up again, I prospected around.
I crawled up the stairs but couldn’t hear a sound, I scratched with my fingers, knocked softly, and pushed until my eyes began to hurt; so I knew ’at the only way out for us was to follow the Cross-branders. Things had happened so sudden up above that I hadn’t an idy as to how many were fightin’ us; but I was still purty certain that a fair sized bunch had run out the tunnel just as I dove into it, and I didn’t choose to bump into ’em in the dark.