The Law-Breakers Part 46

The moon rose up, a great golden globe, slowly changing to a cold silvery light as it mounted the starlit vault. Then came a change.

Instead of leaving a starry track behind it, a bank of cloud followed hard upon its heels, threatening to overtake it and hide its splendor behind a pall of summer storm.

Stanley Fyles watched with satisfaction the signs of the night.

A solitary horseman sat leaning forward upon the horn of his saddle, his eyes searching, searching, with aching intensity, that dim, shadowed skyline now almost lost against its backing of cloud. He was half-hidden in the shadow of a small bluff of spruce, with the depths of the valley hard behind him.

Not only were his eyes searching with an almost unblinking watchfulness, but his ears, too, were busy with that intense, nerve-racking straining which leaves them ever ready to carry the phantom sounds of imagination to the impatient brain above.

It was a long, intense vigil, and a hundred times the waiting man saw movements and heard sounds which set him ready to give the final signal which was to complete the carefully laid plans of his chief.

But, in each case, he was spared the false alarm to which tricks of imagination so nearly drove him.

Midnight came and pa.s.sed. The sky grew more threatening. The man's eyes were upon that distant, southern upland which marked the skyline.

Something seemed to be moving in the hazy distance, but as yet there was no sound accompanying the movement.

Was there not? Hark, what was that?

The man sighed. It was the rustle of the trees about him, stirred by a gentle rising breeze. But was it? Hark! That sounded like a footfall. But a footfall was not wanted. It was the sound of wheels for which his ears were straining. Ah, that was surely the wind.

And--yes--listen. A rumble. It might be the wheels at last, or was it thunder? He sat up. The strain was hard to bear. It was thunder. And his eyes, for a moment, left the horizon for the clouds above. He regretted the absence of the moon. It left his work doubly difficult.

He wondered----

But his wonder ceased, and he fell like a stone out of the saddle. He struggled fiercely, but his arms were held to his sides immovable. He had a vague recollection of a swift whirring sound, but that was all.

Then he found himself struggling furiously on the ground with his horse vanished.

Inspector Fyles was thinking of many things. His post was at a point overlooking the Fort Alberton trail, which wound its way in the wide trough of two great, still waves of prairieland directly in front of him. Nothing could pa.s.s that way and remain un.o.bserved, excepting under cover of the storm which seemed to be gathering.

He patted Peter's arched neck, and the well-mannered, amiable creature responded by champing its bit impatiently. Fyles smiled. He knew that Peter loved to be traveling far and fast.

He turned his eyes skywards. Perhaps it was not a storm. There were breaks here and there, and occasionally a star peeped out and twinkled mockingly at him. Still, he must hope for the best. A storm would favor his quarry, besides being----. Hark!

A shot rang out in the distance, away to the east. One--two! Wait. A third! There it was. To the east. They were coming on over the southern trail, and that was in McBain's section!

He lifted his reins, and Peter promptly laid his swift heels to the ground. Three shots. Fyles hoped the fourth would not be fired until he was within striking distance of the spot.

Four hors.e.m.e.n were converging upon the bluff whence the shots had proceeded. Each of the four had heard the three shots fired, each was executing the tactical arrangement agreed upon, and each was waiting as he rode, laboring under a high nervous tension, for the fourth shot, which was to confirm the alarm and notify the definite discovery of the contraband.

It was withheld.

Fyles was the first to reach the bluff, but, almost at the same moment, McBain's great horse drew up with a jolt. The inspector saw the approach of his subordinate while his eyes were still searching the skirts of the bluff for the patrol who had given the signal.

"He should be on the southeast side," said McBain, and rode off in that direction. Fyles followed hard upon his heels.

They had gone less than two hundred yards when the officer saw the shadowy form of the Scot throw itself back in the saddle, and pull his great horse back upon its haunches. Fyles swept up on the swift-footed Peter. He, too, reined up with a jolt and leaped out of the saddle.

McBain was on his knees beside the prostrate form of the sentry. The man was bound hand and foot, and a heavy gag was secured in his widely forced open mouth.

At that moment two troopers dashed up. And the sounds of others foregathering could be plainly heard.

As Fyles regarded the prostrate man he realized that once more he had been defeated. He did not require to wait for the gag to be removed.

He understood.

He leaped into the saddle, as McBain cut the gag from the man's mouth.

A sharp inquiry broke the silence.

"Say, did you fire that--alarm?" Fyles cried almost fiercely.

The man had struggled to a sitting posture, and began to explain.

"No, sir. I was dragged----"

"Never mind what happened. You didn't give the alarm?"

"No, sir."

"Quick, McBain!" Fyles almost shouted. "They've done us. Cut him loose, and follow me. They're on the Fort Allerton trail--or my name's not Fyles."

Peter led the race for the Fort Allerton trail. The dark night clouds were breaking when they reached the spot where the inspector had originally stationed himself. They pa.s.sed on, and a glimmer of moonlight peeped out at them as they reached the trail side.

Fyles and McBain leaped from their saddles and examined the sandy surface of it. Two of the troopers joined them.

At length the officer spoke, and his voice had lost something of its sharp tone of authority.

"They've beaten us, McBain," he cried. "G.o.d's curse on them, they've played us at our own game, and--beaten us. A wagon and team's pa.s.sed here less than five minutes ago. Look at the dust track they've left."

Fyles stood up. Then he started, and an angry glitter shone in his gray eyes. A horseman was silently looking on at the group of dismounted men, deliberately watching their movements. In the heat of the hunt no one had heard his approach. He sat there looking on in absolute silence.

Fyles moved clear of his men and strode up to the horseman. He halted within a yard of him, while the rest of the party looked on in amazement. McBain was the only one to make any move. He followed hard on his chief's heels.

Fyles looked up into the horseman's face. The sky had cleared and the moon was s.h.i.+ning once more. A sudden fury leaped to the officer's brain, and, for a moment, all discretion was very nearly flung to the winds. By a great effort, however, he checked his mad impulse.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Bryant?" he demanded sharply.

Charlie Bryant leaned forward upon the horn of his saddle. His dark eyes were smiling, but it was not a pleasant smile.

"Why, wondering what you fellows are doing here," he said calmly.

Fyles stared, and again his fury nearly got the better of him.

"That's no answer to my question," he snapped.

"Isn't it?" A subtle change was in Charlie Bryant's manner. His smile remained, but it was full of a burning dislike, and even insolence.

"Guess it's all you'll get from a free citizen. I've as much right here looking on at the escapades of the police, as they have to--indulge in 'em. Guess I've had a mighty long day and need to get home. Say, I'm tired. So long."