Page:Allan Dunn--Dead Man's Gold.djvu/237

Rh and man went crashing down. A second rider dropped from the saddle and lay sprawling on the sand as the band changed to open order but still came on.

"Myke it five 'undred and haim 'igh," said Larkin. "Damn that 'Arvey and 'Ealy. They've tricked us. I allus said they was in cahoots. Ah! I got yer that time, hold cocky! 'Ell, they've 'it one of the girls!"

Lola and Peggy were close enough now for recognition. Both had lost their hats and the dark flowing hair of Lola and the yellow locks of Peggy streamed behind them. The buckskin ridden by Lola suddenly leaped and started to plunge, a stream of blood showing high up on its flank. But the girl managed him and they came on toward the butte, firing no longer but looking up toward the two men.

The desertion of Healy and Harvey stung Stone to madness. Every second he expected that they would make an attempt to shoot the mounts of the girls. He did not believe they would attempt to injure them but they had their revolvers with them and as soon as the girls got to the base of the butte they might intimidate them and make them prisoners while he and Larkin would be at their mercy if they attempted to descend.

While he pumped lead at the bandits who had chased the girls out of the main cañon, his brain worked like a motion-picture film, projecting a score of pictures that pointed to the successful springing of a trap with Healy and Castro as the instigators.