第23章

The day following the great stagecoach robbery found the patient proprietor of Collinson's Mill calm and untroubled in his usual seclusion.The news that had thrilled the length and breadth of Galloper's Ridge had not touched the leafy banks of the dried-up river;the hue and cry had followed the stage-road,and no courier had deemed it worth his while to diverge as far as the rocky ridge which formed the only pathway to the mill.That day Collinson's solitude had been unbroken even by the haggard emigrant from the valley,with his old monotonous story of hardship and privation.

The birds had flown nearer to the old mill,as if emboldened by the unwonted quiet.That morning there had been the half human imprint of a bear's foot in the ooze beside the mill-wheel;and coming home with his scant stock from the woodland pasture,he had found a golden squirrel--a beautiful,airy embodiment of the brown woods itself--calmly seated on his bar-counter,with a biscuit between its baby hands.He was full of his characteristic reveries and abstractions that afternoon;falling into them even at his wood-pile,leaning on his axe--so still that an emerald-throated lizard,who had slid upon the log,went to sleep under the forgotten stroke.

But at nightfall the wind arose,--at first as a distant murmur along the hillside,that died away before it reached the rocky ledge;then it rocked the tops of the tall redwoods behind the mill,but left the mill and the dried leaves that lay in the river-bed undisturbed.Then the murmur was prolonged,until it became the continuous trouble of some far-off sea,and at last the wind possessed the ledge itself;driving the smoke down the stumpy chimney of the mill,rattling the sun-warped shingles on the roof,stirring the inside rafters with cool breaths,and singing over the rough projections of the outside eaves.At nine o'clock he rolled himself up in his blankets before the fire,as was his wont,and fell asleep.

It was past midnight when he was awakened by the familiar clatter of boulders down the grade,the usual simulation of a wild rush from without that encompassed the whole mill,even to that heavy impact against the door,which he had heard once before.In this he recognized merely the ordinary phenomena of his experience,and only turned over to sleep again.But this time the door rudely fell in upon him,and a figure strode over his prostrate body,with a gun leveled at his head.

He sprang sideways for his own weapon,which stood by the hearth.

In another second that action would have been his last,and the solitude of Seth Collinson might have remained henceforward unbroken by any mortal.But the gun of the first figure was knocked sharply upward by a second man,and the one and only shot fired that night sped harmlessly to the roof.With the report he felt his arms gripped tightly behind him;through the smoke he saw dimly that the room was filled with masked and armed men,and in another moment he was pinioned and thrust into his empty armchair.

At a signal three of the men left the room,and he could hear them exploring the other rooms and outhouses.Then the two men who had been standing beside him fell back with a certain disciplined precision,as a smooth-chinned man advanced from the open door.

Going to the bar,he poured out a glass of whiskey,tossed it off deliberately,and,standing in front of Collinson,with his shoulder against the chimney and his hand resting lightly on his hip,cleared his throat.Had Collinson been an observant man,he would have noticed that the two men dropped their eyes and moved their feet with a half impatient,perfunctory air of waiting.Had he witnessed the stage-robbery,he would have recognized in the smooth-faced man the presence of "the orator."But he only gazed at him with his dull,imperturbable patience.

"We regret exceedingly to have to use force to a gentleman in his own house,"began the orator blandly;"but we feel it our duty to prevent a repetition of the unhappy incident which occurred as we entered.We desire that you should answer a few questions,and are deeply grateful that you are still able to do so,--which seemed extremely improbable a moment or two ago."He paused,coughed,and leaned back against the chimney."How many men have you here besides yourself?""Nary one,"said Collinson.

The interrogator glanced at the other men,who had reentered.They nodded significantly.

"Good!"he resumed."You have told the truth--an excellent habit,and one that expedites business.Now,is there a room in this house with a door that locks?Your front door DOESN'T.""No."

"No cellar nor outhouse?"

"No."

"We regret that;for it will compel us,much against our wishes,to keep you bound as you are for the present.The matter is simply this:circumstances of a very pressing nature oblige us to occupy this house for a few days,--possibly for an indefinite period.We respect the sacred rites of hospitality too much to turn you out of it;indeed,nothing could be more distasteful to our feelings than to have you,in your own person,spread such a disgraceful report through the chivalrous Sierras.We must therefore keep you a close prisoner,--open,however,to an offer.It is this:we propose to give you five hundred dollars for this property as it stands,provided that you leave it,and accompany a pack-train which will start to-morrow morning for the lower valley as far as Thompson's Pass,binding yourself to quit the State for three months and keep this matter a secret.Three of these gentlemen will go with you.

They will point out to you your duty;their shotguns will apprise you of any dereliction from it.What do you say?""Who yer talking to?"said Collinson in a dull voice.

"You remind us,"said the orator suavely,"that we have not yet the pleasure of knowing.""My name's Seth Collinson."

There was a dead silence in the room,and every eye was fixed upon the two men.The orator's smile slightly stiffened.

"Where from?"he continued blandly.

"Mizzouri."