And then thar war no greenbacks in the box that they took? gasped Bill, with staring eyes.
No!
Bill raised his hand in the air as if in solemn adjuration, and then brought it down on his knee, doubling up in a fit of uncontrollable but perfectly noiseless laughter. Oh, Lord! he gasped, hol me afore I bust right open! Hush, he went on, with a jerk of his fingers towards the next room, not a word o this to any one! Its too much to keep, I know; its nearly killing me! but we must swaller it ourselves! Oh, Jerusalem the Golden! Oh, Brice! Think o that face o Snapshot Harrys ez he opened that treasure box afore his gang in the brush! And he allers so keen and so easy and so cock sure! Created snakes! Id go through this every trip for one sight of him as he just riz up from that box and cussed! He again shook with inward convulsions till his face grew purple, and even the red came back to the younger mans cheek.
But this dont bring the money back, Bill, said Brice gloomily.
Yuba Bill swallowed the glass of whiskey at a gulp, wiped his mouth and eyes, smothered a second explosion, and then gravely confronted Brice.
When do you think it was taken, and how?
It must have been taken when I left the coach on the road and went over to that settlers cabin, said Brice bitterly. Yet I believed everything was safe, and I left two menboth passengersone inside and one on the box, that man who sat the other side of you.
Jee whillikins! ejaculated Bill, with his hand to his forehead, the men I clean forgot to pick up in the road, and now I reckon they never intended to be picked up, either.
No doubt a part of the gang, said Brice, with increased bitterness; I see it all now.
No! said Bill decisively, that aint Snapshot Harrys style; hes a clean fighter, with no underhand tricks. And I dont believe he threw down that tree, either. Look yer, sonny! he added, suddenly laying his hand on Brices shoulder, a hundred to one that that was the work of a couple o dd sneaks or traitors in that gang who kem along as passengers. I never took any stock in that coyote who paid extra for his box-seat.
Brice knew that Bill never looked kindly on any passenger who, by bribing the ticket agent, secured this favorite seat, which Bill felt was due to his personal friends and was in his own selection. He only returned gloomily:
I dont see what difference it makes to us which robber got the money.
Ye dont, said Bill, raising his head, with a sudden twinkle in his eyes. Then ye dont know Snapshot Harry. Do ye suppose hes goin to sit down and twiddle his thumbs with that skin game played on him? No, sir, he continued, with a thoughtful deliberation, drawing his fingers slowly through his long beard, he spotted itand smelt out the whole trick ez soon ez he opened that box, and thats why he didnt foller us! Hell hunt those sneak thieves into h-ll but what hell get em, and, he went on still more slowly, by the livin hokey! I reckon, sonny, thats jest how yell get your chance to chip in!
I dont understand, said Brice impatiently.
Well, said Bill, with more provoking slowness, as if he were communing with himself rather than Brice, Harrys mighty proud and high toned, and to be given away like this has cut down into his heart, you bet. It aint the money hes thinkin of; its this split in the gangthe loss of his power ez boss, ye seeand ef he could get hold o them chaps hed let the money slide ez long ez they didnt get it. So youve got a detective on your side thats worth the whole police force of Californy! Ye never heard anything about Snapshot Harry, did ye? asked Bill carelessly, raising his eyes to Brices eager face.
The young man flushed slightly. Very little, he said. At the same time a vision of the pretty girl in the settlers cabin flashed upon him with a new significance.
Hes more than half white, in some ways, said Bill thoughtfully, and they say he lives somewhere about here in a cabin in the bush, with a crippled sister and her darter, who both swear by him. It mightnt be hard to find himef a man was dead set on it.
Brice faced about with determined eyes. ILL DO IT, he said quietly.
Ye might, said Bill, still more deliberately stroking his beard, mention my name, ef ye ever get to see him.
Your name, ejaculated the astonished Brice.
My name, repeated Bill calmly. He knows its my bounden duty to kill him ef I get the chance, and I know that hed plug me full o holes in a minit ef thar war a necessity for it. But in these yer affairs, sonny, it seems to be the understood thing by the kempany that Im to keep fiery young squirts like you, and chuckle-headed passengers like themjerking his thumb towards the other roomfrom gettin themselves killed by their rashness. So ontil the kempany fill the top o that coach with men who aint got any business to do BUT fightin other men who aint got any other business to do BUT to fight themthe odds are agin us! Harry has always acted square to methats how I know he aint in this sneak-thief business, and why he didnt foller us, suspectin suthin, and Ive always acted square to him. All the same, Id like ter hev seen his face when that box was opened! Lordy! Here Bill again collapsed in his silent paroxysm of mirth. Ye might tell him how I laughed!
I would hardly do that, Bill, said the young man, smiling in spite of himself. But youve given me an idea, and Ill work it out.
Bill glanced at the young fellows kindling eyes and flushing cheek, and nodded. Well, rastle with that idea later on, sonny. Ill fix you all right in my report to the kempany, but the rest you must work alone. Ive started out the usual posse, circus-ridin down the road after Harry. Hed be a rough customer to meet just now, continued Bill, with a chuckle, ef thar was the ghost of a chance o them comin up with him, for him and his gang is scattered miles away by this. He paused, tossed off another glass of whiskey, wiped his mouth, and saying to Brice, with a wink, Its about time to go and comfort them thar passengers, led the way through the crowded barroom into the stage office.
The spectacle of Bills humorously satisfied face and Brices bright eyes and heightened color was singularly effective. The inside passengers, who had experienced neither the excitement nor the danger of the robbery, yet had been obliged to listen to the hairbreadth escapes of the others, pooh-poohed the whole affair, and even the outsides themselves were at last convinced that the robbery was a slight one, with little or no loss to the company. The clamor subsided almost as suddenly as it had arisen; the wiser passengers fashioned their attitude on the sang-froid of Yuba Bill, and the whole coach load presently rolled away as complacently as if nothing had happened.
IIThe robbery furnished the usual amount of copy for the local press. There was the inevitable compliment to Yuba Bill for his well-known coolness; the conduct of the young expressman, who, though new to the service, displayed an intrepidity that only succumbed to numbers, was highly commended, and even the passengers received their meed of praise, not forgetting the lady, who accepted the incident with the light-hearted pleasantry characteristic of the Californian woman. There was the usual allusion to the necessity of a Vigilance Committee to cope with this organized lawlessness but it is to be feared that the readers of The Red Dog Clarion, however ready to lynch a horse thief, were of the opinion that rich stage express companies were quite able to take care of their own property.