I am Henry Dimwood, alias Snapshot Harry, and this is my house.
I came to speak with you about the robbery of greenbacks from the coach last night, began Brice hurriedly, with a sudden access of hope at his reception. I mean, of course,he stopped and hesitated,the actual robbery before YOU stopped us.
What! said Harry, springing to his feet, do you mean to say YOU knew it?
Brices heart sank, but he remained steadfast and truthful. Yes, he said, I knew it when I handed down the box. I saw that the lock had been forced, but I snapped it together again. It was my fault. Perhaps I should have warned you, but I am solely to blame.
Did Yuba Bill know of it? asked the highwayman, with singular excitement.
Not at the time, I give you my word! replied Brice quickly, thinking only of loyalty to his old comrade. I never told him till we reached the station.
And he knew it then? repeated Harry eagerly.
Yes.
Did he say anything? Did he do anything? Did he look astonished?
Brice remembered Bills uncontrollable merriment, but replied vaguely and diplomatically, He was certainly astonished.
A laugh gathered in Snapshot Harrys eyes which at last overspread his whole face, and finally shook his frame as he sat helplessly down again. Then, wiping his eyes, he said in a shaky voice:
It would have been sure death to have trusted myself near that station, but I think Id have risked it just to have seen Bills face when you told him! Just think of it! Bill, who was a match for anybody! Bill, who was never caught napping! Bill, who only wanted supreme control of things to wipe me off the face of the earth! Bill, who knew how everything was done, and could stop it if he chose, and then to have been ROBBED TWICE IN ONE EVENING BY MY GANG! Yes, sir! Yuba Bill and his rotten old coach were GONE THROUGH TWICE INSIDE HALF AN HOUR by the gang!
Then you knew of it too? said Brice, in uneasy astonishment.
Afterwards, my young friendlike Yuba Billafterwards. He stopped; his whole expression changed. It was done by two sneaking hounds, he said sharply; one whom I suspected before, and one, a new hand, a pal of his. They were detached to watch the coach and be satisfied that the greenbacks were aboard, for it isnt my style to hold up except for something special. They were to take seats on the coach as far as Ringwood Station, three miles below where we held you up, and to get out there and pass the word to us that it was all right. They didnt; that made us a little extra careful, seeing something was wrong, but never suspecting THEM. We found out afterwards that they got one of my scouts to cut down that tree, saying it was my orders and a part of our game, calculating in the stoppage and confusion to collar the swag and get off with it. Without knowing it, YOU played into their hands by going into Tarboxs cabin.
But how did you know this? interrupted Brice, in wonder.
They forgot one thing, continued Snapshot Harry grimly. They forgot that half an hour before and half an hour after a stage is stopped we have that road patrolled, every foot of it. While I was opening the box in the brush, the two fools, sneaking along the road, came slap upon one of my patrols, and then tried to run for it. One was dropped, but before he was plugged full of holes and hung up on a tree, he confessed, and said the other man who escaped had the greenbacks.
Brices face fell. Then they are lost, he said bitterly.
Not unless he eats themas he may want to do before Im done on him, for he must either starve or come out. That road is still watched by my men from Tarboxs cabin to the bridge. Hes there somewhere, and cant get forward or backward. Look! he said, rising and going to the door. That road, he pointed to the stage road,a narrow ledge flanked on one side by a precipitous mountain wall, and on the other by an equally precipitate descent,is his limit and tether, and he cant escape on either side.
But the trail?
There is but one entrance to it,the way you came, and that is guarded too. From the time you entered it until you reached the bottom, you were signaled here from point to point! HE would have been dropped! I merely gave YOU a hint of what might have happened to you, if you were up to any little game! You took it like a white man. Come, now! What is your business?
Thus challenged, Brice plunged with youthful hopefulness into his plan; if, as he voiced it, it seemed to him a little extravagant, he was buoyed up by the frankness of the highwayman, who also had treated the double robbery with a levity that seemed almost as extravagant. He suggested that they should work together to recover the money; that the express company should know that the unprecedented stealthy introduction of robbers in the guise of passengers was not Snapshot Harrys method, and he repudiated it as unmanly and unsportsmanlike; and that, by using his superior skill and knowledge of the locality to recover the money and deliver the culprit into the companys hands, he would not only earn the reward that they should offer, but that he would evoke a sentiment that all Californians would understand and respect. The highwayman listened with a tolerant smile, but, to Brices surprise, this appeal to his vanity touched him less than the prospective punishment of the thief.
It would serve the dd hound right, he muttered, if, instead of being shot like a man, he was made to do time in prison, like the ordinary sneak thief that he is. When Brice had concluded, he said briefly, The only trouble with your plans, my young friend, is that about twenty-five men have got to consider them, and have THEIR say about it. Every man in my gang is a shareholder in these greenbacks, for I work on the square; and its for him to say whether hell give them up for a reward and the good opinion of the express company. Perhaps, he went on, with a peculiar smile, its just as well that you tried it on me first! However, Ill sound the boys, and see what comes of it, but not until youre safe off the premises.
And youll let me assist you? said Brice eagerly.
Snapshot Harry smiled again. Well, if you come across the dd thief, and you recognize him and can get the greenbacks from him, Ill pass over the game to you. He rose and added, apparently by way of farewell, Perhaps its just as well that I should give you a guide part of the way to prevent accidents. He went to a door leading to an adjoining room, and called Flo!
Brices heart leaped! If he had forgotten her in the excitement of his interview, he atoned for it by a vivid blush. Her own color was a little heightened as she slipped into the room, but the two managed to look demurely at each other, without a word of recognition.
This is my niece, Flora, said Snapshot Harry, with a slight wave of the hand that was by no means uncourtly, and her company will keep you from any impertinent questioning as well as if I were with you. This is Mr. Brice, Flo, who came to see me on business, and has quite forgotten my practical joking.
The girl acknowledged Brices bow with a shyness very different from her manner of the evening before. Brice felt embarrassed and evidently showed it, for his host, with a smile, put an end to the constraint by shaking the young mans hand heartily, bidding him good-by, and accompanying him to the door.
Once on their way, Mr. Brices spirits returned. I told you last night, he said, that I hoped to meet you the next time with a better introduction. You suggested your uncles. Well, are you satisfied?