CHAPTER XXVI
AN INTERRUPTED MEAL
The first impulse to flee was restrained as Robert watched the giant drawing near, for though it would be possible for him to dart past the clumsy man, it would be to leave Hannah alone with him, and he was not prepared for that. Besides, his horse was in the barn, and Robert Dorlon had no thought of losing his faithful friend, without at least an attempt to retain him.
As Josh drew near, Robert could perceive that he himself had been recognized, but the great moon-face of the giant did not betray either anger or surprise, and Robert, prepared to act as occasion might demand, waited quietly for the man to enter.
"Ho! ho!" roared Josh. "What's this I see?"
"Depends upon what you are looking at, I fancy," replied Robert sharply.
"Ho! ho! So it does! So it does!" shouted Josh. "Going with me?"
"Where are you going?"
"Back to see some o' your old friends."
"No, I am not going," replied Robert, glancing at Hannah, who was standing beside him, and evidently as excited as he by the interview.
"Think ye better go 'long." Whether Josh was threatening or not, Robert was unable to decide, but he was determined not to give up without an effort to go on his way. He had carefully noted what might be done if such a crisis should come, and he was holding himself ready for action at any moment.
The interview was interrupted, however, by the return of Mr. Beach, who hastily said, "Glad to see ye, Josh. He! he! I was just goin' to have this young man leave a notice with ye. It was a bit I had cut out o' the paper, an' I knew 't would interest ye."
"Did you give it to him?" demanded Josh sharply.
"Why, yes. He! he! 'T was all right, was n't it? He had th' ' word' all right. I knew ye 'd want it jest as soon as ye could get it, Joshua."
For a moment the huge cowboy glared at the trembling man as if he was minded to deal with him as he deserved. "If I expected to come back into these parts very soon again, I 'd be for having both o' ye follow 'long with me an' let Claud deal with ye as he wanted to. You poor fool, don't you know who this fellow is?"
"No, no, Josh, I can't say that I do. He! he! He is a good friend. He knows the 'word.' He gave it to me himself."
"He's an express from Washington."
"Ye don't say so! He does n't look it. I'd never 'a' thought it."
In spite of his predicament, Robert smiled as he heard the words, for he was well aware that his own appearance was not such as to inspire respect or even fear in a beholder.
"That's what he is. He's goin' 'long with me, though, so ye 'll get off this time. But I can't see how ye came to let him know."
Robert had his own ideas as to whether he would accompany Josh or not, but he did not speak. Had it not been for the presence of Hannah he would at once have made a dash past the clumsy man who was standing in front of him, but if he could avoid a personal encounter it would be better for all concerned, he decided.
"Before any of you go, you 'll come up to the house and have something to eat," interrupted Hannah. "I know you are hungry," she added, looking shrewdly at Josh, "and we 've just got some breakfast for you. It's all ready now, and you won't have to wait long."
"Thank ye, miss," began Josh dubiously.
"Come on, Robert," said Hannah, quickly giving her friend a keen look as she turned to him for a moment.
"Will ye give me yer word ye won't try t' get away?" demanded Josh dubiously, of Robert.
"I 'll give you nothing!" said Robert tartly. "I shan't ask you if I can come or go." His hand was on his pistol as he spoke, and his face was flushed with anger. He would not go with this man, he reasoned, come what might.
"You won't any of you try to get away while you are eating that breakfast. I'm sure you are not afraid of me, and you are not afraid of him, are you?" Hannah demanded of Josh, as she pointed at Robert.
"Ho! ho! Afraid o' him? I'd take three such fellows an' knock their heads together any day o' the week for a half joe!"
There was a threatening movement on Robert's part, for his anger was rapidly mastering him. There were even thoughts of compelling the huge Josh to accompany him at the point of his pistol, but the expression on Hannah's face was puzzling to him, and, perplexed, he hesitated. There was more in the girl's words than appeared, and his confidence in her was so strong that he resolved to follow the implied suggestion she had given, though he was still at a loss to understand what it meant.
"Robert, you go first," said the girl resolutely, and we 'll follow."
Again the young express glanced at her, but still he was unable to understand. Nevertheless he obeyed and at once followed her suggestion, starting toward the house with the others quickly following. At Hannah's word they all proceeded to the kitchen, where the table had been prepared and food was awaiting their coming.
"Now then, you are n't afraid of him?" demanded Hannah of Josh.
"Ho! ho!" roared the giant.
"And, Robert, you are not afraid of him?" she then inquired of her friend.
"No, Hannah, I 'm not afraid of him, but I won't trust him," said Robert.
"Then let me take your pistols, both of you," she said sharply. "I 'll put them on the table, right at the other end, so you can see just where they are. You are not afraid of each other, and you can get them just as soon as you have eaten, but I'm afraid of the pistols and of you, too. I am sure I can serve you both better if you will do what I say. Come! Let me have them!" she added, as she held out her hands.
Still unable to comprehend her plan, but trusting her freely, Robert gave her his weapon, and in a moment Josh roared, "I guess I can stand it if he can. Here goes!" and he handed his pistol to Hannah, who took both his and Robert's and placed them at the extreme end of the table. Without departing from the room she called to her mother, and in a brief time the simple breakfast had been placed upon the table.
Despite his own anxiety, Robert at once began to eat, and his huge companion was not slow in following his example. Meanwhile Hannah bustled about the room, never once leaving it, though twice she whispered to her mother and several times seemed to question her with her eyes. Something was being done, Robert was confident, though what it was he was unable to conjecture. Suddenly the girl's manner changed and she stopped in front of the table and, looking laughingly at Robert, said, "I wish you could see yourself, now."
The face of the young express flushed slightly as he replied, "I'm happy even if my clothes don't look as new as they ought."
"‘The beggars are come to town.' I can see some in rags and some in tags, but I don't see any in velvet gowns."
"Ho! ho! ho!" roared Josh.
"Where did you meet with your mishap, kind sir?" inquired Hannah demurely.
"I am indebted to Claud Brown for all that." Robert spoke quietly, but he looked boldly into Josh's face as he spoke.
"I know how, and what for," said the huge man, as if he prided himself upon the keenness of his vision.
"Yes, I have no doubt. And before he's done with it, Claud Brown will be asking himself a hundred times why he ever was so foolish as to do it," spoke up Hannah.
"You can trust Claud Brown. He's cute," said Josh sagely.
"‘Trust' him?" retorted Hannah. "I'd as soon trust a rattler or a spotted adder."
"Ho! ho!" roared Josh, leaning back in his chair, which threatened to give way beneath him. Suddenly he glanced at the table where the pistols had been placed, and discovered that both were gone.
Leaping to his feet, his rage evident in the expression upon his face, he shouted, "Here now, wench! That 'll never do! None o' yer tricks here! Put those pistols back or it 'll be the worse for you."
"I have n't your pistols," replied Hannah, as she backed toward the door.
"Give me my pistol!" shouted Josh, now thoroughly enraged, and seizing his chair he started toward her.
"Better look at the windows," retorted Hannah, as she darted from the room and hastily closed the door behind her.
Instantly both Josh and Robert glanced at the two open windows behind them, for both men had risen in the excitement and Robert had grasped his chair ready to follow the giant if he should pursue Hannah. At each window two men were standing with rifles at their shoulders, and all four guns were aimed directly at the three men in the room.
"Don't stir!" said one of the outsiders in a low voice. "Keep perfectly quiet and you 'll not suffer any harm."
Robert was too dazed to refuse, but he was vaguely wondering if this was a part of the intrepid girl's plan. The men wore no uniform, and one glimpse had been sufficient to convince Robert that all four of them were strangers to him. For a moment the very silence itself was as eloquent as it was awkward. Josh's face, too, was as blank as it was huge, but he did not move from his position. He did not know enough to be frightened, was Robert's comment to himself, as he could see the giant's abject helplessness. What his own position was he did not clearly perceive, but his confidence in Hannah, the fact that she had lured them all into the room and that the pistols had been secured, all seemed to him as parts of a scheme from which he had little to fear.
The door into the room was opened at this moment and four men entered, each with a rifle in his hands and ready for use. Three of the men covered the inmates with their guns, and one of them placing his rifle on the floor drew forth from his pocket a long strap with which he advanced upon Josh.
The giant's eyes flashed as he perceived what the purpose of the man was, and drawing back his fist he retreated to the wall and shouted, "I'm not afraid o' the lot! The first man that tries to lay a hand on me will get his head smashed!"
For a moment the man with the strap faltered, the appearance of Josh was so threatening. The giant was at least six feet and five inches in height, and his marvelous strength was manifest in his great shoulders as well as in his brawny arms and threatening bearing.
"Now look here, my good fellow," said one of the men with the rifles, "we are n't here to coddle you. You can take your choice between eight chunks of lead or having your hands tied."
For an instant Josh gazed stupidly at the speaker and then without a word held forth his hands, which were speedily bound behind his back by the man with the strap, who, although he was by no means small, still appeared almost a pygmy beside his huge captive.
"Now then, you 're next," said the man, approaching Mr. Beach.
"Me? Me?" screamed the terrified man. "I have n't done anything! I'm not to blame for these men being here! This is my house!"
"Hold out your hands!" said the man sternly.
"But I tell you you 've made a mistake! I have n't done anything! Don't take me away! I'm innocent! What are you taking me for? I never harmed anybody in all my life!" The man's terror was so abject that it was pitiful. He cast himself on the floor and cried aloud as he strove to grasp the knees of the man with the strap.
"What shall I do?" inquired the latter of the leader, hesitating for a moment.
"Tie him up!"
"What for? What for? Tell me what for," pleaded the old man.
"For the counterfeit money you 've been scattering," replied the leader sternly. "I doubt not you 've some of it about you now."
The face of the old man was drawn and pale as he gazed helplessly at his captors, but he offered no further protest, and in a brief time his hands were securely bound, as Josh's previously had been.
"Now, then, number three," said the man, as he turned to Robert.
"You don't want me and I'll explain if you'll give me a chance," said Robert.
"Don't you believe him," called Mr. Beach. "He's the worst one of all! He's got some of the bills on him now. Search him and see for yourselves. You 'll find a Connecticut bill for forty shillings on him now. Search him and you 'll find it just as I have said," he shouted. "You 'll find an advertisement, too, for a place where he can get more. He tried to get me to take it but I would n't. I'm innocent! I'm telling you the truth. He's the only guilty one. Ask Josh! Search him and see if I have n't spoken the truth!"