The Coyote

by James Roberts

  CHAPTER IV

  "I KNEW HE LIED!"

  Rathburn extinguished the light in the lamp, walked swiftly to thefront door, and outside. Closing the door softly he turned back up thestreet. He sauntered along slowly, debating his next move. Evidentlythe town was the last for many miles in the mountainous country eastand north. Westward he would come upon many towns as the countrybecame more and more densely populated toward the coast. Northwestwardhe would be able to keep within the arm of the mountains and still bein touch with civilization. But he would have to make some changes inhis attire and fix that brand on his horse.

  Instinctively his course brought him to the big resort he had noticedupon his arrival. The entrance doors had been closed against the chillof the night, but he could see the interior of the place through oneof the windows despite the coating of dust upon the glass.

  As he peered within he stiffened to alert attention and a light oathescaped him. Walking swiftly from a rear door was a tall man, thelower part of his face concealed by a black handkerchief. He held agun in each hand and was covering the score or more patrons of theplace who had risen from the tables, or stepped back from the bar,with their hands held high above their heads.

  "Keep 'em there an' you'll be all right," the masked man was saying ina loud voice which carried to Rathburn through cracks in the windowglass. "Line up down there, now--you hear me? Line up!"

  The patrons lined up, keeping their faces toward the bandit.

  "If anybody gets to acting uneasylike it'll be the signal for me tostart shootin'--understand?" came the holdup's menacing voice as hemoved around behind the bar.

  "Open both cash drawers," he ordered the servitor in the white apron.He covered the bartender with one gun while he kept the other pointedin the direction of the men standing in line.

  Obeying instructions, the bartender took the bills from the cashdrawers and laid them before the bandit on the bar. He then madeseveral piles of silver near the bills, walking to and from thedrawers of the big cash register. Continuing to do as he was told, hestuffed the bank notes and silver into the masked man's pockets, onegun's muzzle against his breast, the other holding the men in line atbay.

  Rathburn heard footsteps on the walk close to him. He whirled and sawtwo men about to enter the resort. "I wouldn't go in there," he saidsharply in a low voice.

  "Eh--what's that?"

  The two men paused, looking at him questioningly.

  "I wouldn't go in there," Rathburn repeated. "Come here an' take alook."

  One of the men stepped to his side and peered curiously through thewindow.

  "Bill!" he whispered excitedly. "Look here. It's a holdup!"

  The other man looked over his shoulder. He swore softly.

  "I'll bet it's The Coyote!" said the first man in an awed voice.

  "Probably is," said Rathburn sneeringly. "They say he was heading thisway."

  "Good place to stay out of--if it's _him_," declared the second man.

  Rathburn suddenly pulled back his left sleeve. "See that?" he said,pointing to his left forearm.

  The two men stared at the bared forearm in the yellow light whichshone through the dust-stained window. They saw a scar about threeinches below the elbow.

  "Looks like a bullet made that," one of the men observed.

  "You're right," said Rathburn, letting down his shirt sleeve. "Abullet from The Coyote's gun left that mark."

  The men looked at him wonderingly and respectfully.

  "You boys live here?" asked Rathburn.

  "Sure," was the reply. "We work in the Pine Knot Hotel an' stables.You from the hills?"

  "Yep," answered Rathburn. "Cow-puncher an' horseshoer an' one thingan' another. What's he doing now?" He again turned his attention tothe scene within the resort, as did the two men with him.

  The bandit was backing away from the bar toward the rear of the room,still keeping his guns thrust out before him, menacing the men whostood with uplifted hands.

  "You can tell your funny judge that I called!" he sang out as hereached the rear door. "An' now, gents," he continued in an excitedvoice, "it won't go well with the man that tries to get out this backway too soon."

  As he ceased speaking his guns roared. The two large hanginglamps, suspended from the ceiling in the center, went out to theaccompaniment of shattered glass crashing on the floor. The threesmaller lamps above the back bar next were cut to splinters bybullets and the place was in total darkness.

  Then there was silence, save for the sound of a horse's hoofs comingfrom somewhere behind the building.

  Rathburn drew back from the window as a match flared within and histwo companions moved toward the front door. He stole around the cornerof the building and started on a run for the rear. He stopped when heheard a horse galloping toward the east end of the street behind thebuildings which lined that side. He hurried behind two buildings whichdid not extend as far as the resort and hastened up the street. He didnot once look back.

  Behind him he heard shouts and men running in the street. He increasedhis pace until he was running swiftly for the trees where he had lefthis horse. From above he caught the dying echoes of hoofs flying onthe trail up the foothills by which he had come early that night.

  The cries down the street increased, a gun barked, and bullets whinedover his head.

  "The locoed fools!" he panted. "Didn't they hear that fellow rideaway?"

  But the shooting evidently was of a promiscuous nature, for he heardmore shots around by the rear of the place where the robbery had beencommitted. No more bullets were fired in his direction as he dartedinto the black shadows of the trees.

  He quickly untied his horse, mounted, rode in the shelter of thetimber to the east trail, and began the ascent, urging his horse toits fastest walking gait up the hard trail. The fleeing bandit'ssounds of retreat no longer came to his ears, but he kept on, scanningthe open stretches of trail above in the starlight, a disparagingsmile playing upon his lips.

  Back in the little town excitement was at a high pitch. Extra lampshad been lighted in the resort where a big crowd had gathered. Severalmen ran to the office of Judson Brown, justice of the peace, whileothers went in search of the constable.

  When Brown failed to answer the summons at his door, some onediscovered it was not locked, and the little group of men trooped into find the justice gagged and handcuffed to his bed. They lighted thelamp and removed the gag. Then acting upon his instructions they tooka bunch of keys from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs.

  He stood, boiling with rage, while they alternately hurled questionsat him and told him of the holdup.

  He ignored their questions as to how he came to be bound and gaggedand demanded more details of the robbery.

  "We took him to be The Coyote," said the spokesman of the group. Hehad been one of the men the bandit had lined up. "He was tall, an'blue or gray eyes, an'----"

  "A puncher from up north picked him out through the window," spoke upone of the men who had encountered Rathburn outside the resort. "He'dbeen shot in the forearm by him once--showed us the scar. The robberwas The Coyote, all right."

  "Certainly it was him!" roared Brown. "He came in here, tied me upafter pulling a gun on me, an' threatening to kill me, practically, sohe wouldn't have any trouble pulling his trick. Tried to steer me offby saying he didn't come here to make any trouble. I knew he lied!"

  The constable came in as the justice was finishing his irate speech.

  "I'm going to lead this chase myself!" cried Brown. "I want TheCoyote, and I'm going to get him. I raise that reward to a thousand onthe spot, and I know the sheriff will back me up. Get out every man intown that can stick on a horse, and we'll catch him if we have to combthe hills and desert country till doomsday!"

  Already horsemen were gathering in the street outside. Feeling washigh, for Dry Lake prided itself on its record of freedom from themolestation of outlaws. The rough element, too, was strong for a manhunt, or anything, for that matter, promising excit
ement.

  A quarter of an hour later Brown, who was accepted as the leader whenemergencies involving the law arose, distributed his forces. He senttwo posses of twenty men each north and northwest. A third posse of adozen men started southward. Towns to the west were notified bytelephone as was the sheriff's office. The sheriff said he would be onhis way to Dry Lake in an hour. He was amazed that The Coyote shouldbe in his territory. He, too, wanted the outlaw, and he praised Brownfor his reward offer.

  Judson Brown himself led the posse of thirty men which took the easttrail up the foothills. It was an hour past midnight. The moon hadrisen and was flooding the tumbled landscape with its cold, whitelight. From different vantage points on ridges high above, two menlooked grimly down and saw the moving shadows of the man hunters asthey took the trail.