“Will you hit the trail quick out of hyar?” queried Stillwell, in strained voice. “I guarantee Stewart’s appearance in El Cajon any day you say.”
“No. I come to arrest him, an’ I’m goin’ to.”
“So that’s your game!” shouted Stillwell. “We-all are glad to get you straight, Pat. Now listen, you cheap, red-eyed coyote of a sheriff! You don’t care how many enemies you make. You know you’ll never get office again in this county. What do you care now? It’s amazin’ strange how earnest you are to hunt down the man who killed that particular Greaser. I reckon there’s been some dozen or more killin’s of Greasers in the last year. Why don’t you take to trailin’ some of them killin’s? I’ll tell you why. You’re afraid to go near the border. An’ your hate of Gene Stewart makes you want to hound him an’ put him where he’s never been yet—in jail. You want to spite his friends. Wal, listen, you lean-jawed, skunk-bitten coyote! Go ahead an’ try to arrest him!”
Stillwell took one mighty stride off the porch. His last words had been cold. His rage appeared to have been transferred to Hawe. The sheriff had begun to stutter and shake a lanky red hand at the cattleman when Stewart stepped out.
“Here, you fellows, give me a chance to say a word.”
As Stewart appeared the Mexican girl suddenly seemed vitalized out of her stupor. She strained at her bonds, as if to lift her hands beseechingly. A flush animated her haggard face, and her big dark eyes lighted.
“Senor Gene!” she moaned. “Help me! I so seek. They beat me, rope me, ‘mos’ keel me. Oh, help me, Senor Gene!”
“Shut up, er I’ll gag you,” said the man who held Bonita’s horse.
“Muzzle her, Sneed, if she blabs again,” called Hawe. Madeline felt something tense and strained working in the short silence. Was it only a phase of her thrilling excitement? Her swift glance showed the faces of Nels and Monty and Nick to be brooding, cold, watchful. She wondered why Stewart did not look toward Bonita. He, too, was now dark-faced, cool, quiet, with something ominous about him.
“Hawe, I’ll submit to arrest without any fuss,” he said, slowly, “if you’ll take the ropes off that girl.”