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CHAPTER IV.
REJECTING A PROPOSAL

Dick Bristol smiled grimly.

He knew that Captain Joaquin was no fool, and also that the outlaw did not take him to be one.

Was this the chance for his life the road-raider intended to give him? It looked so. Dick could plainly see the string attached to the gift.

He did not respond immediately.

"You don't answer," urged the Red Rover.

"What is the use? Were I to accept, all in good faith, you would not trust me."

"Why not?"

"Because I am Deadwood Dick, the Dead-Set Detective and Rogue-Runner."

Captain Joaquin smiled in his turn.

He and his men had now removed their masks.

"That is a good enough reason, certainly," he said.

"And that is the only show you intend to give me?"

"What else can I do? I will give you an equal share with the rest of my men of the plunder we have taken to-day, according to the rate I divide with them, and make you one of us. I can't do any more than that."

"There is no use our trying to fool each other, Captain Joaquin."

"Then you don't believe that I will do what I say?"

"Yes, I believe you will do that, if I say I will accept the proposition."

"Then what is the matter with your accepting it? You would make a fine lieutenant for me, now that poor Hoxey is dead – thanks to that express-messenger."

"I had rather deal openly with you then underhanded, Red Rover," was Dick's response.

"What do you mean?"

"Just what you know – that I am first, last and all the time against birds of your feather, and that were I to accept your offer it would be only to do you a trick at the first opportunity."

A murmur of admiration ran through the company of cutthroats.

"That being the case, I must recall the offer, that's all. I have no way of convincing you that I meant it in good faith."

"No, you would find it impossible to do that."

"Well, I have given you the show I promised."

"And it was about what I expected, at your hands. You have got me; you mean to do away with me. Well, I do not blame you for that."

"Thunder! but you are a brave cuss, Dick Bristol! What a team you and I would make, if we could only have confidence in each other and work together! But, that is out of the question."

"Entirely out of the question."

"Then, what can you propose?"

"Let me go, and I pledge you my word not to move against you for a period of ten days, you to observe the same armistice."

"And after that?"

"War to the knife again!"

"I hope you do not take me for a fool."

"Not at all, save only that all villains are fools in that they go wrong instead of right."

"Have a care, Bristol! Some word of yours may cost your life without a moment's notice. I am not the man to brook many such insults. I give you warning."

"Neither are you a coward, Red Rover. You would not shoot me down handcuffed as I am."

Again a murmur ran through the band.

"You have nothing more to propose?"

"No; I considered that proposition a sort of even exchange; that was all."

"An exchange? Where does the exchange come in, I would like to know? I do not see that I would be getting anything out of it."

"It would be giving me my life for yours. I could have picked you off easily when you entered that car after me, but spared you."

"Ha! ha! Lucky for you you didn't do that; you would have been a dead man the same instant."

"And you would have been just as dead, for I seldom miss my mark when I take a bead on a man."

"Then why didn't you shoot me? Come, now, why didn't you?"

"Because I knew it would cost the lives of the others in the car, who hadn't the nerve to follow where I led, on the first occasion. It would have been much easier to have shot you than it was to take those two fellows who already had the drop on the car."

"Well, that cuts no ice with me, since you didn't spare me for any love you have for me. There is really no reason why I should spare you, that I can see."

"Nor I."

"Then what are you kicking about?"

"All I am asking is a fair chance. When I put on these handcuffs I had your word that I would get that."

"And I have given it and you have refused it. I can do nothing more than that. It has been war to the knife between us, as you expressed it, and I have won the fight. I would be a fool to give up the advantage gained."

"Just as you have a mind to look at it."

"Suppose you had captured me, would you let me go again?"

"No, sir!"

"Then say no more about it. Neither can I let you go. I would be a fool if I did."

"Well, I have to agree with you, Captain Joaquin. As I said before, there is no use in our trying to fool each other. We are foes to the bitter end, and so be it."

The outlaw gave a nod and a wave of the hand in acquiescence, and which, at the same time, cut the subject short.

A little later he called a halt.

"Here, men," he said, "is the place for us to part company. You know what the programme is."

They answered that they did.

"You, Hurley, I will make my lieutenant in place of Hoxey. Take the men on at speed to Injun Ford, and there divide your force, half going up the creek and half down. Part by twos, and scatter to every point of the compass until the time of meeting, as agreed."

"All right; we understand," answered Hurley.

Captain Joaquin dismounted.

"But, what about ther prisoner?" his lieutenant inquired. "What are we goin' to do with him?"

"Hang me if I know," responded the Red Rover, rubbing his chin in a meditative manner.

"Jist whatever you say, captain," assured Hurley.

"I am afraid to trust him with you, boys," decided Captain Joaquin, after a few moments' reflection. "He would be sure to find the soft spot in your hearts, if you have got such organs, and play upon it. I guess I will take him with me. Dismount, Deadwood Dick!"

"And be murdered in cold blood somewhere in the mountain passes?"

"You will be shot here and now if you don't."

"Well, it is about as broad as it is long," observed Dick, throwing his leg over and leaping lightly to the ground. "You hold the winning card, captain."

"Yes, and I intend to play it for all there is in it, too," was the rejoinder. "Come, boys, off with you, and make all the time you can, for the sheriff and his posse will be on your trail in less than two hours."

"And let him catch us if he can!" cried Hurley, as he touched his horse and led the way, the riderless horses being led.

The others cheered as they followed, and as soon as they had passed out of sight, Captain Joaquin turned to Dick and said:

"Now, then, Deadwood Dick, you follow me."

CHAPTER V.
TURNING THE TABLES

Captain Joaquin met with the surprise of his life, just there!

Deadwood Dick's hands came up to the level, the handcuffs swinging by one wrist, and in each hand a gun!

"I prefer to have you follow me, Red Rover!" Dick said grimly. "If you make a move or a sound you are a dead man in the same instant, I give you fair warning."

The outlaw turned as white as chalk.

"Curse you!" he hissed. "You have tricked me, after all!"

"Everything is fair in love and war," with a smile. "You are my prisoner."

"Cursed idiot that I was for not hanging you to the first tree we came to! But, do you not mean to give me a show?"

"About as much of a show as you gave me, perhaps."

"You have got me; I own the corn. But let us come to some sort of terms. I have got about seventy thousand dollars here in this bag; I'll divide even with you and each go his way."

"What is the use of dividing, when I can have it all if I want to take it?"

"Do not be too sure of that – "

"Hold! I read your thought in your eyes, my man. If you make a move to get a gun you will die before you can say scat! Dick Bristol seldom misses his mark."

"Curse you! But before you shall have this wealth you shall murder me to get it; I will defend it with my life."

"I do not want it; that is, I want you and it together."

"Then you mean – "

"To hand you over to the authorities, yes, and restore the funds to their owner."

"You are a fool! Here is a life-time fortune within reach of your hand, Deadwood Dick, and if you do as you say you will not get more than five thousand, at the most, for your risk and trouble."

"That is your way of looking at it."

"My way of looking at it, yes."

"And you will not accept my proposition?"

"Decidedly not."

"Then I have another to make."

"What is it?"

"First let us draw back from this trail. I took leave of my men here in order to get away safely with the boodle – "

"Which I do not mean that you shall do, so I prefer to remain close to the trail. The sheriff's posse will pass this way as soon as a special engine can be run to the scene of your robbery."

"And you will turn me over to them?"

"Exactly."

"I will not be alive."

"That will be your fault, then. You will be worth just as much to them."

"Well, for my proposition – are you open to anything that I might suggest? I made you a fair offer, when I held the better hand."

"An offer that you did not mean, however."

"I swear that I did mean it."

"I have only your word for that."

"And my word is all I have to give you."

"You mean to tell me that you, knowing who I am, really would have entered into a compact with me and taken me into your band?"

"That is just what I do tell you – just what I did mean. You would not have it so, and there was an end of it. I gave you a fair show, the same as I said I would."

"And now?"

"I want a fair show in return."

"Well, I'll give it to you, as far as I can. What is your suggestion?"

"Give me yours first. Perhaps it is something that we can agree upon, and, if so, no need to mention mine."

"Well, you undertake to aid me in taking this money safe to its destination, and I will use my influence with the governor for a pardon for you and make you my detective ally."

"Ha! ha! ha!"

"You will not listen to it, eh! Well, it is all I can offer you, and is on a par with the offer you made me."

"It is impossible, just as impossible as the offer I made you – yes, a good deal more so. The governor has a rope ready for me, and he will use it at the first opportunity."

"Well, what is your proposition, then?"

"That we decide this matter by a fair and square duel to the death."

"Which is a rather cool thing to ask of an officer of the law, after he has bagged his game."

"Then you will not do it?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I was in earnest in the offer I made you when you were my prisoner."

"Captain Joaquin, I don't believe it. You are not such a fool as to make such a proposition to me in earnest, knowing who I am. Or, if you did mean it, there was a purpose behind it."

"My purpose was to make you my friend instead of my foe."

"I believe that you lie – "

"Then I cannot convince you, that is certain. What are you going to do with me?"

"I say I believe that you lie, but giving you the benefit of the doubt, and giving you half a chance for your life, I will accept your proposition."

"You will take half and let me go – "

"No, no, not that; I will fight you to the death, the best man to win. We'll see whether chance will be on the side of the law or the lawless."

"You don't mean it!"

"You are surprised?"

"Yes."

"You take me for a fool, I know, and so I am for giving you such a chance; but there is the bare possibility that you are telling the truth concerning the chance you would have given me."

"Yes, yes, I swear that I was telling the truth – that I did – that I am telling the truth!"

"Very well, I give you the benefit of the doubt."

Deadwood Dick believed that the fellow was lying, nevertheless, and so, in fact, he was. Seeing a chance to gain the point, he played upon the string to the limit.

"I don't believe you, but I will do as I say," said Dick. "Put down that bag of money, and go away twenty paces and draw your guns."

"Ha! there is something else to be thought of."

"What is that? Don't forget, mean time, that I hold the drop, and that the slightest suspicious move on your part will mean your death, which will naturally culminate all negotiations."

"I am not rash enough to try any trick with you, Deadwood Dick. I am too eager to accept the one chance in a thousand that you hold out to me. What I was going to say – suppose we both get disabled, what of the money in that event? Some one who has no right to it will come along and gather it in."

"What do you propose respecting it, then?"

"That we go and cache it first of all."

"Very well, that is not a bad idea. It will be safe for you or for me, whichever has use for it after our duel."

"Just so. I know a fine place for it, where it will keep for ten days or ten years; just as the case may be, and where no one will ever find it in the world."

"There is one objection to that, however."

"And that is?"

"That we may both be killed outright, and the money will never be recovered."

"We'll have to take the chances of that. Come, we must do something, for we are wasting precious time – at any rate, I am. Every minute I stay here I am one minute nearer prison doors."

CHAPTER VI.
CACHING THE TREASURE

Deadwood Dick had to laugh.

There was something about the situation that struck him as being ridiculous.

Why should he be talking terms and conditions to a man already in his power, and that man an outlaw? It was needless, and yet – Well, Deadwood Dick had his moods.

He was willing to give the fellow, rascal though he was, the benefit of a doubt, and now that his word had been given he would not recall it. That was not Deadwood Dick's way. What he said, that had to stand; and yet, as said, he had to laugh.

"As if you are not as good as in prison already," he said. "Still, I have given my word, and I'll stick to it. Pace off the required number of steps backward, then draw your guns, and at the word from me open fire, and do your best to dispose of me. If you miss the first shot I warn you that you are not likely to get a second."

"But, the money?"

"Take it with you; I can pick it up after I have dropped you. If I happen to be the one to go down, you will not have to stop."

"No, no, we must not risk that, Deadwood Dick. Recall what I said a moment ago. If you are going to give me a show at all, let it be a fair one all around."

"Then you are determined to cache it?"

"I want to."

"That will mean a delay while you draw two maps of the spot where it is cached, one for me and the other for you. If we both go down, others can then find and profit by it."

"Yes, I'll do that. I can't expect to have it all my own way."

"All right. First of all, turn your back to me and remove your weapons, and lay them on the ground."

"What for?"

"Because I will not risk a snap shot from you when you might possibly get a chance to fire it."

"Well, I can't kick. You are the fiddler, just now, and I have got to dance to your tune. If the tables turn again, however, you will dance to mine, I warn you."

"Should the tables turn, you will have a chance to deal as honorably with me as I have done with you."

"And I'll do it, too."

The outlaw turned the other way, Dick's precaution against a snap shot, while he was removing his weapons, and in a moment was disarmed. His rifle, a brace of revolvers, and a knife lay on the ground.

"These things are not to be left here," he said.

"Certainly not," answered Dick; "I will bring them along with me. Go ahead, now, to the place where you want to hide the money."

"All right, follow me. I will take you to a place that is known only to myself."

He started off.

Dick, having gathered up the weapons, followed.

He held his man under cover, and it would have been impossible for him to escape.

Straight up into the mountain fastness, for a mile, the outlaw led the way, and they left no trail that could possibly have been followed save possibly by a bloodhound.

If it has seemed that Deadwood Dick was acting unwisely, and was assuming too great risks, it was not altogether without some compensating objects in view. He wanted to learn some of the secrets of this Red Rover who had become a terror in the State.

Finally, on a plateau on the very summit of a low peak, Captain Joaquin stopped.

"Here we are," he said.

It was a scene of wildest grandeur.

On every hand higher peaks rose and overshadowed the one on which they stood.

There was but one approach to the plateau, the way they had come. Every other side presented a sheer descent that could not be scaled.

Just back from the place where they had stepped up onto the rock table was a depression in which lay a boulder that was seemingly loose and possibly movable.

"And your cache is under that boulder?" asked Dick.

"Yes, there. You were quick to guess it – But, then, there is no other place possible."

"Hence it was not a guess, but a conclusion. Well, deposit your plunder and let us settle our business."

"Yes, in short order."

The outlaw chieftain put his shoulder to the boulder, at a certain point, and began surging his weight against it, and presently it moved.

He increased the force, it moved more and a little more, till presently it rolled over to another point of support, revealing a hole in the table under where it had rested.

"Here we are," he said.

"Any treasure there now?" asked Dick.

"No, not a bit; look and see for yourself."

"It does not matter."

"All right."

Captain Joaquin took the bag from his shoulder and tossed it into the cavity, strap and all, and going around to the other side of the boulder, turned it back into place.

"Now for the key-maps to the hiding-place," said Dick.

"That is going to a good deal of trouble."

"All on your account."

The outlaw smiled, and took paper and pencil from his pocket.

Spreading the paper upon the side of the boulder where a flat surface was presented, he began to sketch a map.

It took him several minutes, and when it was done he proceeded to make a duplicate of it. Both done, he held them up for Deadwood Dick's inspection.

"There you are," he said. "You can see for yourself that I have made them correct. Here is the main trail, this is the way we came, and here is the little peak on which we are standing. Here I have made an index, and under it written – Turn the boulder."

"That is good enough," said Dick, "but just write – Here treasure is hidden."

"All right, as you desire."

The words were written, and one of the maps was handed to Dick.

Dick put it into his pocket, Captain Joaquin doing the same with his copy, and they were ready.

"Now for business," said the Red Rover.

"Yes, now to oblige you," said Dick. "Where is the fight to take place?"

"Just down there where the straight stretch of gulch lies, where we can have a clear and fair range, with nothing in the way."

"I prefer to go out to the gulch from which this one branches," said Dick. "I take it that one is traveled, while this one is seldom entered save by you yourself."

"What's your reason for that?"

"We want our bodies to be found, if we both get hit hard."

"Well, I won't quarrel with your plan. Come on and let's have it over and done with."

Captain Joaquin led the way down from the little peak, Dick following close behind him, and through the first gulch mentioned out to the one Dick had preferred.

"This will do," said Dick. "I do not want to have too far to walk back to get the treasure. Here are your weapons," laying them on the ground as he spoke; "take them and back off the required distance, and we will begin to perforate each other. The man who strikes the ticker first, wins. Remember what I told you about the first shot."

"I'll try to make it unnecessary to fire more than one," said the outlaw, with a sardonic smile, as he picked up his weapons.