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CHAPTER XXXI
The Broken Trust

To seek always for Truth and Justice and the common good of mankind has seldom had its earthly reward but, twenty-three hundred and fifteen years after he drank the cup of hemlock, the soul of Socrates received its oration. Not that the Colonel was hipped upon the subject of the ancients, for he talked mining and showed some copper claims as well; but a similar tragedy in his own domestic life had evoked a profound admiration for Socrates. And if Wiley understood what lay behind his words he gave no hint to the Colonel. Always, morning, noon and night, he listened respectfully, his lips curling briefly at some thought; and at the end of a week the Colonel was as devoted to him as he had been formerly to his father.

Yet when, as sometimes happened, the Colonel tried to draw him out, he shook his head stubbornly and was dumb. The problem that he had could not be solved by talk; it called for years to recover and forget; and if the Colonel once knew that his own daughter was involved he might rise up and demand a retraction. In his first rush of bitterness Wiley had stated without reservation that Virginia had sold him out for money, and the pride of the Huffs would scarcely allow this to pass unnoticed–and yet he would not retract it if he died for it. He knew from her own lips that Virginia had betrayed him, and it could never be explained away.

If she argued that she was misled by Blount and his associates, he had warned her before she left; and if she had thought that he was doing her an injustice, that was not the way to correct it. She had accepted a trust and she had broken that trust to gain a personal profit–and that was the unpardonable sin. He could have excused her if she had weakened or made some mistake, but she had betrayed him deliberately and willfully; and as he sat off by himself, mulling it over in his mind, his eyes became stern and hard. For the killing of Stiff Neck George he had no regrets, and the treachery of Blount did not surprise him; but he had given this woman his heart to keep and she had sold him for fifty thousand dollars. All the rest became as nothing but this wound refused to heal, for he had lost his faith in womankind. Had he loved her less, or trusted her less, it would not have rankled so deep; but she had been his one woman, whose goings and comings he watched for, and all the time she was playing him false.

He sat silent one morning in the cool shade of a wild grapevine, jerking the meat of a mountain sheep that he had killed; and as he worked mechanically, shredding the flesh into long strips, he watched the lower trail. Ten days had gone by since he had fled across the Valley, but the danger of pursuit had not passed and, as he saw a great owl that was nesting down below rise up blindly and flop away he paused and reached for his gun.

“Never mind,” said the Colonel who had noticed the movement. “I expect an old Indian in with grub. But step into the cave and if it’s who you think it is you can count on me till the hair slips.”

Wiley stepped in quietly, strapping on his belt and pistol, and then the Colonel burst into a roar.

“It’s Charley,” he cried, leaping nimbly to his feet and putting up his gun. “Come on, boy–here’s where we get that drink!”

Wiley looked out doubtfully as Heine rushed up and sniffed at the pans of meat, and then he ducked back and hid. Around the shoulder of the cliff came Death Valley Charley; but behind him, on a burro, was Virginia. He looked out again as the Colonel swore an oath and then she leapt off and ran towards them.

“Oh–Father!” she cried and hung about his neck while the astonished Colonel kissed her doubtfully.

“Well, well!” he protested as she fell to weeping, “what’s the cause of all this distress? Is your mother not well, or─”

“We–we thought you were dead!” she burst out indignantly, “and Charley there knew–all the time!”

She let go of her father and turned upon Death Valley Charley, who was solicitously attending to Heine, and the Colonel spoke up peremptorily.

“Here, Charley!” he commanded, “let that gluttonous cur wait. What’s this I hear from Virginia? Didn’t you tell her I was perfectly well?”

“Why–why yes, sir; I did, sir,” replied Charley, apologetically, “but–she only thought I was crazy. I told her, all the time─”

“Oh, Charley!” reproached Virginia, “didn’t you know better than that? You only said it when you had those spells. Why didn’t you tell me when you were feeling all right–and you denied it, I know, repeatedly!”

“The Colonel would kill me,” mumbled Charley sullenly. “He told me not to tell. But I brought you the whiskey, sir; a whole big─”

“Never mind the whiskey,” said the Colonel sharply. “Now, let’s get to the bottom of this matter. Why should you think I was dead when I had merely absented myself─”

“But the body!” clamored Virginia. “We got word you were lost when your burro came in at the Borax works. And when we hired trackers, the Indians said you were lost–and your body was out in the sand-hills!”

“It was that cursed camp-robber!” declared the Colonel with conviction. “Well, I’m glad he’s gone to his reward. It was only some rascal that came through here and stole my riding burro–did they care for old Jack at the Works? Well, I shall thank them for it kindly; and anything I can do–but what’s the matter, Virginia?”

She had drawn away from him and was gazing about anxiously and Charley had slunk guiltily away.

“Why–where’s Wiley?” she cried, clutching her father by the arm. “Oh, isn’t he here, after all?”

“Wiley?” repeated the Colonel. “Why, who are you talking about? I never even heard of such a man.”

“Oh, he’s dead then; he’s lost!” she sobbed, sinking down on the ground in despair. “Oh, I knew it, all the time! But that old Charley─” She cast a hateful glance at him and the Colonel beckoned sternly.

“What now?” he demanded as Charley sidled near. “Who is this Mr. Wiley?”

“Why–er–Wiley; Wiley Holman, you know. I followed his tracks to the Gateway. Ain’t he around here somewhere? I found this bottle─” He held up the flask that he had given to Wiley, and the Colonel started back with a cry.

“What, a tall young fellow with leather puttees?”

“Oh, yes, yes!” answered Virginia, suddenly springing to her feet again. “We followed him–isn’t he here?”

The Colonel turned slowly and glanced at the cave, where Wiley was still hiding close, and then he cleared his throat.

“Well, kindly explain first why you should be following this gentleman, and─”

“Oh, he’s here, then!” sighed Virginia and fell into her father’s arms, at which Charley scuttled rapidly away.

“Mr. Holman,” spoke up the Colonel, as Wiley did not stir, “may I ask you to come out here and explain?”

There was a rustle inside the cave and at last Wiley came out, stuffing a strip of dried meat into his hip pocket.

“I’ll come out, yes,” he said, “but, as I’m about to go, I’ll leave it to your daughter to explain.”

He picked up his canteen and started down to the water-hole, but the Colonel called him sternly back.

“My friend,” he said, “it is the custom among gentlemen to answer a courteous question. I must ask you then what there is between you and my daughter, and why she should follow you across Death Valley?”

“There is nothing between us,” answered Wiley categorically, “and I don’t know why she followed me–that is, if she really did.”

“Well, I did!” sobbed Virginia, burying her face on her father’s breast, “but I wish I hadn’t now!”

“Huh!” grunted Wiley and stumped off down the trail where he filled his canteen at the pool. He was mad, mad all over, and yet he experienced a strange thrill at the thought of Virginia following him. He had left her smiling and shaking hands with Blount, but a curse had been on the money, and her conscience had forced her to follow him. It had been easy, for her, with a burro to ride on and Death Valley Charley to guide her; but with him it had been different. He had fled from arrest and it was only by accident that he had won to the water-hole in time. But yet, she had followed him; and now she would apologize and explain, as she had explained it all once before. Well, since she had come–and since the Colonel was watching him–he shouldered his canteen and came back.

“My daughter tells me,” began the Colonel formally, “that you are the son of my old friend, John Holman; and I trust that you will take my hand.”

He held out his hand and Wiley blinked as he returned the warm clasp of his friend. Ten days of companionship in the midst of that solitude had knitted their souls together and he loved the old Colonel like a father.

“That’s all right,” he muttered. “And–say, hunt up the Old Man! Because he thinks the world of you, still.”

“I will do so,” replied the Colonel, “but will you do me a favor? By gad, sir; I can’t let you go. No, you must stay with me, Wiley, if that is your name; I want to talk with you later, about your father. But now, as a favor, since Virginia has come so far, I will ask you to sit down and listen to her. And–er–Wiley; just a moment!” He beckoned him to one side and spoke low in his ear. “About that woman who betrayed your trust–perhaps I’d better not mention her to Virginia?”

Wiley’s eyes grew big and then they narrowed. The Colonel thought there was another woman. How could he, proud soul, even think for a moment that Virginia herself had betrayed him? No, to his high mind it was inconceivable that a daughter of his should violate a trust; and there was Virginia, watching them.

“Very well,” replied Wiley, and smiled to himself as he laid down his gun and canteen. He led the way up the creek to where a gnarled old cottonwood cast its shadow against the cliff and smoothed out a seat against the bank. “Now sit down,” he said, “and let’s have this over with before the Colonel gets wise. He’s a fine old gentleman and if his daughter took after him I wouldn’t be dodging the sheriff.”

“Well, I came to tell you,” began Virginia bravely, “that I’m sorry for what I’ve done. And to show you that I mean it I gave Blount back his stock.”

Wiley gazed at her grimly for a moment and then he curled up his lip. “Why not come through,” he asked at last, “and acknowledge that he held it out on you?”

Virginia started and then she smiled wanly.

“No,” she said, “it wasn’t quite that. And yet–well, he didn’t really give it to me.”

“I knew it!” exploded Wiley, “the doggoned piker! But of course you made a clean-up on your other stock?”

“No, I didn’t! I gave that away, too! But Wiley, why won’t you listen to me? I didn’t intend to do it, but he explained it all so nicely─”

“Didn’t I tell you he would?” he raged.

“Yes, but listen; you don’t understand. When I went to him first I asked for Father’s stock and–he must have known what was coming. I guess he saw the bills. Anyway, he told me then that he had always loved my father, and that he wanted to protect us from you; and so, he said, he was just holding my Father’s stock to keep you from getting it away from us. And then he called in some friends of his; and oh, they all became so indignant that I thought I couldn’t be wrong! Why, they showed me that you would make millions by the deal, and all at our expense; and then–I don’t know, something came over me. We’d been poor so long, and it would make you so rich; and, like a fool, I went and did it.”

“Well, that’s all right,” said Wiley. “I forgive you, and all that; but don’t let your father know. He’s got old-fashioned ideas about keeping a trust and–say, do you know what he thinks? I happened to mention, the first night I got in, that a woman had thrown me down; and he just now took me aside and told me not to worry because he’d never mention the lady to you. He thinks it was somebody else.”

“Oh,” breathed Virginia, and then she sat silent while he kicked a hole in the dirt and waited. He was willing to concede anything, agree to anything, look pleasant at anything, until the ordeal was over; and then he intended to depart. Where he would go was a detail to be considered later when he felt the need of something to occupy his mind; right now he was only thinking that she looked very pale–and there was a tired, hunted look in her eyes. She had nerves, of course, the same as he had, and the trip across Death Valley had been hard on her; but if she suffered now, he had suffered also, and he failed to be as sorry as he should.

“You’ll be all right now,” he said at last, when it seemed she would never speak up, “and I’m glad you found your father. He’ll go back with you now and take a fall out of Blount and–well, you won’t feel so poor, any more.”

“Yes, I will,” returned Virginia, suddenly rousing up and looking at him with haggard eyes. “I’ll always feel poor, because if I gave you back all I had it wouldn’t be a tenth of what you lost.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” grumbled Wiley. “I don’t care about the money. Are they hunting me for murder, or what?”

“Oh, no; not for anything!” she answered eagerly. “You’ll come back, won’t you, Wiley? Mother was watching you through her glasses, and she says George fired first. They aren’t trying to arrest you; all they want you to do is to give up and stand a brief trial. And I’ll help you, Wiley; oh, I’ve just got to do something or I’ll be miserable all my life!”

“You’re tired now,” said Wiley. “It’ll look different, pretty soon; and–well, I don’t think I’ll go in, right now.”

“But where will you go?” she entreated piteously. “Oh, Wiley, can’t you see I’m sorry? Why can’t you forgive me and let me try to make amends, instead of making both our lives so miserable?”

“I don’t know,” answered Wiley. “It’s just the way I feel. I’ve got nothing againstyou; I just want to get away and forget a few things that you’ve done.”

“And then?” she asked, and he smiled enigmatically.

“Well, maybe you’ll forget me, too.”

“But Father!” she objected as he rose up suddenly and started off down the creek. “He thinks we’re lovers, you know.” Wiley stopped and the cold anger in his eyes gave way to a look of doubt. “Why not pretend we are?” she suggested wistfully. “Not really, but just before him. I told him we’d quarreled–and he knows I followed after you. Just to-day, Wiley; and then you can go. But if my father should think─”

“Well, all right,” he broke in, and as they stepped out into the open she slipped her hand into his.

CHAPTER XXXII
A Huff

The Colonel was sitting in the shade of a wild grapevine rapping out a series of questions at Charley, but at sight of the young people coming back hand in hand, he paused and smiled understandingly.

“What now?” he said. “Is there a new earth and a new heaven? Ah, well; then Virginia’s trip was worth while. But Charley here is so full of signs and wonders that my brain is fairly in a whirl. The Germans, it seems, have made a forty-two centimeter gun that is blasting down cities in France; and the Allies, to beat them, are constructing still larger ones made out of tungsten that is mined from the Paymaster. Yes, yes, Charley, that’s all right, I don’t doubt your word, but we’ll call on Wiley for the details.”

He laughed indulgently and poured Charley out a drink which made his eyes blink and snap and then he waved him graciously away.

“Take your burros up the canyon,” he suggested briefly, and when Charley was gone he smiled. “Now,” he said, as Virginia sat down beside him, “what’s all this about the Paymaster and Keno?”

“Well,” began Virginia as Wiley sat silent, “there really was tungsten in the mine. Wiley discovered it first–he was just going through the town when he saw that specimen in my collection–and since then,–oh, everything has happened!”

“By the dog!” exclaimed the Colonel starting quickly to his feet. “Do you mean that Crazy Charley spoke the truth? Is the mine really open and the town full of people and─”

“You wouldn’t know it!” cried Virginia, triumphantly. “All that heavy, white quartz was tungsten!”

“What? That waste on the dump? But how much is it worth? Old Charley says it’s better than gold!”

“It is!” she answered. “Why, some of that rock ran five thousand dollars to the ton!”

“Five–thousand!” repeated the Colonel, and then he whirled on Wiley. “What’s the reason, then,” he demanded, “that you’re hiding out here in the hills? Didn’t you get possession of the mine?”

“Under a bond and lease,” explained Wiley shortly. “I failed to meet the final payment.”

“Why–how much was this payment?” inquired the Colonel cautiously, as he sensed the sudden constraint. “It seems to me the mine should have paid it at once.”

“Fifty thousand,” answered Wiley, gazing glumly at the ground and the Colonel opened his eyes!

“Fifty thousand!” he exclaimed. “Only fifty thousand dollars? Well! What were the circumstances, Wiley?”

He stood expectant and as Wiley boggled and hesitated Virginia rose up and stood beside him.

“He got the bond and lease from Blount,” she began, talking rapidly, “and when Blount found that the white quartz was tungsten ore, he did all he could to block Wiley. When Wiley first came through the town and stopped at our house he knew that that white quartz was tungsten; but he couldn’t do anything, then. And then, by-and-by, when he tried to bond the mine, Blount came up himself and tried to work it.”

“He did, eh?” cried the Colonel. “Well, by what right, I’d like to know, did he dare to take possession of the Paymaster?”

“Oh, he’d bought up all the stock; and Mother, she took yours and─”

“What?” yelled the Colonel, and then he closed down his jaw and his blue eyes sparkled ominously. “Proceed,” he said. “The information, first–but, by the gods, he shall answer for this!”

“But all the time,” went on Virginia hastily, “the mine belonged to Wiley. It had been sold for taxes–and he bought it!”

“Ah!” observed the Colonel, and glanced at him shrewdly for he saw now where the tale was going.

“Well,” continued Virginia, “when Blount saw Wiley wanted it he came up and took it himself. And he hired Stiff Neck George to herd the mine and keep Wiley and everybody away. But when he was working it, why Wiley came back and claimed it under the tax sale; and he went right up to the mine and took away George’s gun–and kicked him down the dump!”

“He did!” exclaimed the Colonel, but Wiley did not look up, for his mind was on the end of the tale.

“And then–oh, it’s all mixed up, but Blount couldn’t find any gold and so he leased the mine to Wiley. And the minute he found that the white quartz was tungsten, and worth three dollars a pound, he was mad as anything and did everything he could to keep him from meeting the payment. But Wiley went ahead and shipped a lot of ore and made a lot of money in spite of him. He cleaned out the mine and fixed up the mill and oh, Father, you wouldn’t know the place!”

“Probably not!” returned the Colonel, “but proceed with your story. Who holds the Paymaster, now?”

“Why Blount, of course, and he’s moved back to town and is simply shoveling out the ore!”

“The scoundrel!” burst out the Colonel. “Wiley, we will return to Keno immediately and bring this blackguard to book! I have a stake in this matter, myself!”

“Nope, not for me!” answered Wiley wearily. “You haven’t heard all the story. I fell down on the final payment–it makes no difference how–and when I came back Blount had jumped the mine and Stiff Neck George was in charge. But instead of warning me off he hid behind a car and–well, I don’t care to go back there, now.”

“Why, certainly! You must!” declared the Colonel warmly. “You were acting in self defense and I consider that your conduct was justified. In fact, my boy, I wish to congratulate you–Charley tells me he had the drop on you.”

“Yes, sure,” grumbled Wiley, “but you aren’t the judge–and there’s a whole lot more to the story. It happens that I took an option on Blount’s Paymaster stock, but when I offered the payment he protested the contract and took the case to court. Now–he’s got the town of Vegas in his inside vest pocket, the lawyers and judges and all; and do you think for a minute he’s going to let me come back and take away those four hundred thousand shares?”

“Four hundred thousand?” repeated the Colonel incredulously, “do you mean to tell me─”

“Yes, you bet I do!” said Wiley, “and I’ll tell you something else. According to the dates on the back of those certificates it was Blount that sold you out. He sold all his promotion stock before the panic; and then, when the price was down to nothing, he turned around and bought it back. I knew from the first that he’d lied about my father and I kept after him till I got my hands on that stock–and then, when I’d proved it, he tried to put the blame on you!”

“The devil!” exclaimed the Colonel, and paced up and down, snapping his fingers and muttering to himself. “The cowardly dastard!” he burst out at last. “He has poisoned ten years of my life. I must hurry back at once and go to John Holman and apologize to him publicly for this affront. After all the years that we were pardners in everything, and then to have me doubt his integrity! He was the soul of honor, one man in ten thousand; and yet I took the word of this lying Blount against the man I called My Friend! I remember, by gad, as if it were yesterday, the first time I really knew your father; and Blount was squeezing me, then. I owed him fifteen thousand dollars on a certain piece of property that was worth fifty thousand at least; and at the very last moment, when he was about to foreclose, John Holman loaned me the money. He mortgaged his cattle at the other bank and put the money in my hand, and Blount cursed him for an interfering fool! That was Blount, the Shylock, and Honest John Holman; and I turned against my friend.”

“Yes, that’s right,” agreed Wiley, “but if you want to make up for it, make ’em quit calling him ‘Honest John’!”

“No, indeed,” cried the Colonel, his voice tremulous with emotion. “He shall still be called Honest John; and if any man doubts it or speaks the name fleeringly he shall answer personally to me. And now, about this stock–what was that, Virginia, that you were saying about my holdings?”

“Why, Mother put them up as collateral on a loan, and Blount claimed them at the end of the first month.”

“All my stock? Well, by the horn-spoon–how much did your mother borrow? Eight–hundred? Eight hundred dollars? Well, that is enough, on the face of it–but never mind, I will recover the stock. It is certainly a revelation of human nature. The moment I am reported dead, these vultures strip my family of their all.”

“Well, I was one of them,” spoke up Wiley bluntly, “but you don’t need to blame my father. When I was having trouble with Mrs. Huff he wrote up and practically disowned me.”

“So you were one of them,” observed the Colonel mildly. “And you had trouble with Mrs. Huff? But no matter?” he went on. “We can discuss all that later–now to return to this lawsuit, with Blount. Do I understand that you had an option on his entire four hundred thousand shares?”

“For twenty thousand dollars,” answered Wiley, “and he was glad to get it–but, of course, when I opened up that big body of tungsten, the stock was worth into millions. That is, if he could keep me from making both payments. He fought me from the start, but I put up the twenty thousand; and the clerk of the court is holding it yet, unless the case is decided. But Blount knew he could beat it, if he could keep me from buying the mine under the terms of my bond and lease; and now that he’s in possession, taking out thirty or forty thousand every day, I’m licked before I begin. In fact, the case is called already and lost by default if I know that blackleg lawyer of mine.”

“But hire a good lawyer!” protested the Colonel. “A man has a right to his day in court and you have never appeared.”

“No, and I never will,” spoke up Wiley despondently. “There’s a whole lot to this case that you don’t know. And the minute I appear they’ll arrest me for murder and railroad me off to the Pen. No, I’m not going back, that’s all.”

“But Wiley,” reasoned the Colonel, “you’ve got great interests at stake–and your father will help you, I’m sure.”

“No, he won’t,” declared Wiley. “There isn’t anybody that can help me, because Blount is in control of the courts. And I might as well add that I was run out of Vegas by a Committee appointed for the purpose.” He rose up abruptly, rolling his sullen eyes on Virginia and the Colonel alike. “In fact,” he burst out, “I haven’t got a friend on the east side of Death Valley Sink.”

“But on the west side,” suggested the Colonel, drawing Virginia to his side, “you have two good friends that I know─”

“Wait till you hear it all,” broke in Wiley, bitterly, “and you’re likely to change your mind. No, I’m busted, I tell you, and the best thing I can do is drift and never come back.”

“And Virginia?” inquired the Colonel. “Am I right in supposing─”

“No,” he flared up. “Friend Virginia has quit me, along with─”

“Why, Wiley!” cried Virginia, and he started and fell silent as he met her reproachful gaze. For the sake of the Colonel they were supposed to be lovers, whose quarrel had been happily made up, but this was very unloverlike.

“Well, I don’t deserve it,” he muttered at last, “but friend Virginia has promised to stay with me.”

“Yes, I’m going to stay with him,” spoke up Virginia quickly, “because it was all my fault. I’m going to go with him, father, wherever he goes and─”

“God bless you, my daughter!” said the Colonel, smiling proudly, “and never forget you’re a Huff!”