He carried only his service revolver and three
exposure to sunlight for a lengthy period,
or four dozen rounds of ammunition. revealing the stones embedded within. Beside Moreover, he was one man against seven or
the pit was a long, leveled stretch of ground,
eight. But delay was not to be thought of.
covered with decomposing clay.
“Come, Pete, show me where they
Luke looked at it and was completely
are,” he insisted.
enlightened as to the motives that had led to
Pete urged him to ride.
the murder of his companions, and the
“You’ll need the horse for fighting,”
kidnaping of Emmy and her father. There was
he hiccoughed. “I ain’t going to fight. I’m
no doubt but that Hart and his men had
only showing you where the diamonds is, and
discovered the diamond pipe on old Jan’s
you divide with old Pete. You won’t keep
land, and had kidnaped him in order to force
them all?” he pleaded anxiously, upturning a
from him a deed to the property. The two
face as woeful as a child’s.
murdered policemen must have nosed out the
“I’ll see that they’re divided fairly, trail of the conspirators.
according to the law,” answered Luke, and
As Luke looked down he felt a tug at
Pete seemed satisfied. Chuckling and his arm. Pete Flanagan was at his side once staggering, the old man took up the trail, first
more.
past that awful pit of death, then through the
“They’ve got the stones!” he whimpered.
scrub.
“Big, white, shining stones, as good as De
How far it was, Luke had no idea, but
Beers. They’re going to make their escape
they had not gone more than a mile or two,
with them. My stones that I found when
and there was only the faintest tinge of saffron
everybody laughed at old Pete and called him
in the east when the flicker of a campfire
a madman! Kill them, policeman, and we’ll
appeared through the scrub, at the base of a
divide the stones between ourselves. We’ll be
low kopje.
rich! We’ll have everything we want. I tell
Pete indicated to Luke to dismount,
you they are the finest stones that ever came
and he did so, fastening the horse to a thorn
out of South Africa!”
tree. Silently the two crept forward, not going
Suddenly, from the house, came an
directly toward the fire, however, but circling
outburst of oaths and drunken laughter.
it. Luke pushed through the scrub in the old
Instantly Luke was all alert. Shaking off the
man’s wake, until he reached a clearing.
old man, who vanished, still whimpering, into
In the distant foreground, outlined by
the darkness, Luke turned his steps toward the
the fire, he could see a queer little brick house, house, his hand gripping his revolver. As he
Action Stories
14
approached he heard a renewed outburst of
side.
quarreling, more distinct.
As the sergeant hesitated, preparing for
As he began to round the structure, he
the leap through the doorway beside the
caught the faint reflected light of a candle
window, the wrangle broke out again, and he
upon the ground outside. Creeping nearer, awaited the propitious moment.
Luke perceived that the building was divided
Hart and Van Reenen were facing each
into two rooms, to judge from a tiny window
other across the table, snarling savagely.
at the rear, but there seemed to be only a
Baldy Smith and Brouwer, upon opposite
single door, with another window beside it.
sides, looked on at the dispute impassively to
Advancing softly to the rear window,
outward appearances, yet their unconscious
Luke raised himself on tiptoes and looked
attitude showed that the former was with Hart,
inside. A single candle was guttering in its
as the latter was with the Dutchman.
socket. Luke could make out an iron cot, and
“You’ve won that pot, Hart,” Van
old Jan Duplessis stretched out upon it. From
Reenen shouted, “but I want my revenge! I’ll
the posture in which the old man was lying
play you for the mine. The whole damn mine
Luke surmised that he was bound. It was
and all the stones we’ve got to go to the
impossible to see anything clearly.
winner of the next pot! Are you game, Hart?
Beside her father crouched Emmy, Or are you afraid? All to the winner of the with ropes about her body. The sight next pot, I say, after Baldy and Brouwer here awakened all the sergeant’s indignation, and it
have had their share. If you win the stones, I’ll was with difficulty that he succeeded in be satisfied with the girl!”
keeping in control his impulse to rush in upon
the kidnapers in the outer room. He must act
cautiously, he realized, if he was not to
CHAPTER VI
encounter disaster. How many of them there
RED BATTLE!
were he could not know for sure, but there
would be, in addition to Brouwer and his two
confederates, Van Reenen and the party he
“I’LL go you, Van Reenen!”
had brought with him and which had mocked
Hart’s face was livid with excitement.
the policeman from the edge of the pit.
Luke saw Brouwer glance at Van Reenen,
If only Pete Flanagan could be relied
lean toward him, and whisper something.
on! But Luke realized that the old man would
“You keep out of it, Brouwer!” Hart
be worse than useless in an emergency.
shouted. “This here’s between Van Reenen
He made his way around the house to
and me. All or none—that’s the game I’ve
the little window beside the door, and peered
played all my life, and by God I’ll play it now!
through the sheets of mica that covered it.
First pot, the winner takes the stones. If either Dimly he could see that there were seven men
of you two blokes wins, it’s off till the next
in the room. Four of them, Hart, Van Reenen,
one.”
Brouwer, and Baldy Smith, were seated
“Stones or the girl!” Van Reenen
around a table, thumbing a pack of greasy
affirmed. “The winner gets his choice, the
cards by the light of a candle stuck into the
loser takes the other.”
neck of a bottle. The three others were
“To hell with her! If you win the
stretched out upon the floor asleep. Each of
stones, you can have her, too!” shouted Hart.
the players had a bottle of Cape smoke and a
“Cut the cards, Baldy. Van Reenen deals.”
tin mug before him, and a pile of money at his
The play began. Brouwer opened on
Sand and Diamonds
15
the second deal. He drew two cards. Van
Smith that Brouwer fired, Van Reenen at Ha
rt.
Reenen drew three, Hart one, and Baldy Smith
Baldy’s gun alone answered. He had
sat out. Brouwer bet five pounds, and Van
been waiting for that move. But he was a
Reenen raised him five. Hart raised five more.
second late. Brouwer’s bullet caught him
The betting grew faster and more between the eyes. He crumpled forward in his furious. Luke, completely absorbed in the chair, collapsed, and rolled to the floor.
spectacle, and concluding his moment had not
With a terrible cry Hart staggered
yet come, crouched between the window and
back, upsetting the table, Van Reenen’s bullet
the doorway, listening. One of the three in his throat. A wild, inhuman scream broke drunken men upon the floor staggered to his
from his lips as he pressed his fingers to the
feet and came up to the table, blinking in the
wound, from which the blood came spurting.
light of the candle. The two others sat up.
There was the bitter foretaste of death
“And ten!” yelled Van Reenen, in the wild cry that bubbled from Hart’s lips.
pushing forward two five-pound notes into the
Holding his wound, he rocked to and fro,
great heap in the centre of the table. “That’s
while Van Reenen, knocked to the floor by the
the last of my money. Never mind raising me
overturned table, deliberately picked himself
no more. See me, if you ain’t afraid!”
up and walked toward him.
“I’ll see you!” Hart shouted.
Deliberately he shot Hart through the
Brouwer, though he had opened, had
brain. The bloated body crashed down among
withdrawn from the game in the beginning.
the gold that strewed the floor. Even as it fell
His eyes were watching the three men like a
the inner door burst open and Emmy
hawk’s, Baldy more than either Hart or Van
Duplessis appeared upon the threshold,
Reenen. The gold formed a pyramid, screaming.
prevented from toppling over by the crumpled
Her arms were bound to her sides. She
five-pound notes that banked it up.
was struggling desperately to free herself. At
Slowly Hart laid down two pairs, the sight of the two dead men she screamed queens up. Van Reenen, with a savage shout,
again.
revealed two pairs, aces up, on his side of the
With a howl of triumph Van Reenen
table.
leaped forward and seized her in his arms.
The shouting gave place to absolute
“I’ve got the stones, and I’ve got you,
silence. The three men were standing too, Emmy!”
watching. Luke felt his heart thumping. In a
By the light of the flickering candle in
moment...
the little room behind, Sergeant Luke could
With a snarl, Van Reenen dropped his
see old Jan Duplessis struggling with his
fifth card, a deuce. He had been playing with
bonds as he tried to free himself from the iron
two pairs.
cot to which he was bound.
Hart, with a shout of triumph,
The sergeant stepped inside the house,
disclosed another queen, giving him a full
his revolver leveled at Van Reenen.
house, queens and tens.
“Throw up your hands!”
“It’s mine! My game, and my stones!”
At the sight of the man whom he had
he yelled, and reached for the kitty.
supposed to be lying in the death-pit, Van
As if the others had been awaiting that
Reenen released Emmy and started back with
precise movement on Hart’s part, Van a cry. His hands went up instinctively.
Reenen’s and Brouwer’s guns roared out their
Brouwer was more quick-witted. Luke
death-message simultaneously. It was at Baldy
saw him, crouching over the overturned table,
Action Stories
16
draw rapidly. Both men fired together.
body of the man immediately above him, who
Luke had made an instinctive was pinning him down, clutching him by the movement sidewise. He felt the other’s bullet
throat.
sear his cheek, like a red-hot iron. Brouwer
The grip relaxed. Luke struggled to his
pitched forward, regained his feet, and came
feet and fired again. The hammer fell upon a
stumbling forward, yelling like a maniac. But
spent cartridge. He brought the muzzle
the words that poured from his lips were smashing down upon the head of another of meaningless babble.
his assailants, heard the gurgle that came from
He stopped, twitched, and began to
the man’s throat, and found himself free.
spin like a teetotum, his arms extended, his
As he turned to face the last man and
fingers twitching. Then he collapsed over the
Van Reenen, a stunning blow fell on his head.
body of Hart. Cries and movements had all
He staggered backward, groping for
been purely reflex, for he had been shot consciousness. He heard a rifle roar, had a through the brain.
glimpse of old Jan Duplessis faintly outlined
The only light that now afforded was
against the growing light, felt the wall against
that of the single candle in the small inner
him, and, grasping for a hold, subsided into
room. It went out, upset by old Jan’s frantic
unconsciousness.
struggles to free himself. Outside the day was
breaking, it was still night inside. Luke ran to
where he thought Emmy was standing. He
CHAPTER VII
heard the girl’s frightened gasps, but it was
FINALE!
Van Reenen into whom he stumbled.
Like a flash the Dutchman wheeled
upon him and fired. The bullet passed through
THE taste of raw spirit in his mouth, the
Luke’s sleeve, grazing the flesh. Luke fired
sound of an insistent voice in his ears brought
and missed. Before he could fire again, Van
Luke back to reality. He opened his eyes,
Reenen had flung his arms around him, staring at the bright sunlight that lay in a bearing him to the ground, howling to the
mottled pattern on the floor and walls of the
three drunken men to come and finish the job.
cabin.
Luke succeeded in gripping the other
For a moment or two his mind went
by the wrist and pointing the gun toward the
groping backward for a clue to his situation;
floor. More he was unable to do. Van Reenen
then he saw the dead men huddled upon the
was at least as strong as he, and fighting
floor and remembered.
desperately as he saw himself deprived of the
He was lying half-propped against the
diamonds for which he had staked everything.
wall. Old Jan Duplessis was bending over
In a moment the three confederates
him, pouring the last drops of brandy down his
had precipitated themselves upon the sergeant.
throat.
“Schiet hem! [“shoot!”-ed] Schiet,
The old man was still in the ropes that
schiet!�
� yelled Van Reenen, as he disengaged had fastened him. Only his right arm was free.
himself from the melee.
Hampering him was a part of the iron cot from
The four were struggling on the floor,
which he had broken away in his struggle. He
rolling over and over. Luke’s hand came in
was covered with blood from a wound in the
contact with his gun, which had been knocked
upper part of the right arm, which hung
out of it by the impact of Van Reenen’s body.
helpless at his side.
His fingers closed upon it. He fired into the
Luke started up.
Sand and Diamonds
17
“Emmy!” he cried.
“I’ll get her and bring her back safe,”
“He’s got her, the verdommte swart-
Luke promised him.
sel! He has taken her away, with the
The brandy had revived his strength,
diamonds!”
though his head was still swimming, and
“How long ago?”
ached abominably. He staggered out of the
“One hour. I have been trying to cabin. Three or four horses were standing a restore you. How is your head; Can you little distance away, grazing on a few blades stand?”
of grass that grew around a small, sandy pool
Sergeant Luke forced himself to his
of water in a dry nullah. Luke, to his delight,
feet with a groan. Although his wounded recognized his own mount among them.
cheek had bled a good deal it was the blow on
It came at his whistle. He led it back to
the head that had put him out of action. The
a small shed in which were saddles, stores and
Sand and Diamonds By Victor Rousseau Page 4
