Page:Allan Dunn--Dead Man's Gold.djvu/243

Rh "Then he heard that this third man was up in Nevada. With his place he gets hold of lots of information of that kind. Healy was in his debt. So he sent Healy to look him up. He found him—of course you know all about that—and Healy kept in touch with Castro by letters and telegrams. Then they tried to work it so that Castro would get in on a sure thing with another grubstake and your friend Larkin won enough money to spoil that. And you whipped Padilla. So they planned to send Padilla after you to pick up a band of men of his own sort and wait near the headwaters of Tonto Creek until Healy, who would get in touch with them, should signal them in some way that you had discovered the Madre d'Oro. I think they were going to kill you and whoever was with you so as to have the mine for themselves. They knew you wouldn't share it with them any other way.

"Next morning Castro was sullen. He didn't remember what he had said but he knew the Piscos made him talk and he suspected me. So he took away all my clothes except the ones I wore in the dance hall and he had me watched and wouldn't give me any money. I was nearly crazy, for Padilla was on the way all the time. Castro got some telegrams, but he always destroyed them and he wouldn't tell me anything more. But I got word to the driver of the machine and he brought in some mail from me with Peggy's letter in it. Then I knew that you were safe for a little while. I watched my chance and got out, with the money I took from that fat pig