“What was going on at the ranch, you gentlemen know better than I do. On Tuesday my daughter wired that she was coming, and of course the game was up if she reached here. So Thorn met her in Eldorado, told her I was injured and up at the mine, and took her there. Naturally, she trusted him. Since then she has been there with me, and we’d be there now if Mr. Eden and Mr. Holley had not come up tonight, searching for this other young woman who had, unfortunately for her, stumbled on the affair early in the day.”
Madden rose. “That’s my story, Sheriff. Do you wonder that I want to see this gang behind the bars? I’ll sleep better then.”
“Well, I reckon it’s easy arranged,” returned the sheriff. “I’ll take’em along and we can fix the warrants later. Guess I’ll see’em safe in the jail at the county-seat—Eldorado can’t offer’em all the comforts of a first-class cell.”
“One thing,” said Madden. “Thorn, I heard you say the other night to Delaney,’You were always afraid of him—that time in New York—’What did that mean? You tried this thing before?”
Thorn looked up with stricken face, which had been hidden in his hands. “Chief, I’m sorry about this. I’ll talk. We had it all set to pull it once at the office in New York, when you were away on a hunting trip. But if you were afraid of Delaney, he was a lot more afraid of you. He got cold feet—backed out at the last minute—”
“And why wouldn’t I back out?” snarled Delaney. “I couldn’t trust any of you. A bunch of yellow dogs—”
“Is that so?” cried Shaky Phil. “Are you talking about me?”
