The St. Mary banner., 1919-10-18
CHAPTER xi-Continued.
10

through him.
ave have learned everything. Demp-
.o,n Stairway went on in his Whls-
nering voice even to the hldins-
Mace There is the door" He point
ed to the panel with the thumb-print
mon II II think that we can send
vou TO the penitentiary for a long time
with very little trouble. VIII you talk
now, Dempton|
Dempton hesitated, denial upon his
lips, growing fear in his eyes.
"What do you want TO known he
asked In a shaking whisper. = On,
nv God This has gone further al
ready"
II want to know how many men are
with Tore in this thing?"
"There-there is Juarez-and-and
"Don't be fool as well as a cow
ard, Dempton!" muttered Stairway.
~You are such a petty little thief that
nobody is going to want to prosecute
you If you help us now. There IS
Torre and Juarez and you. Who
elseY
81 don't know" Dempton licked
his dry lips and swayed between Vidal
and Mendoz as though he were going
to fall. "Oh, / was fool"
"Granted. But tell what you know
while you have the chance. How
many?"
Seven, / think" chartered Demp-
ton. "Seven besides Tore and Juarez.
Five inside, two outside with the
horses"
"Outside?" queried Stairway.
"Yes. To ride away. leading extra
horses, so that it would sound like a
number of riders were racing for the
border. To leave thu trail which yoa
followed south. The other five to do
the work inside"
Sand De la Guerra was never to be
taken from the house?"
"No. 1t seemed safer this way"
"There was every hazard In it"
Simply because you happened to
be at the rancho" returned Dempton
with little flash of bitterness. Had
there been only the senorita, it would
have been easy to have worked on her
love for her grandfather"
"And Torre?
"Killed q man month ago in San
AntOni0-is running away from the
gallows. With the money he expected
to make from this he could buy the
silence Of the one man who can iden-
tify him as the murderer. 1t was his
only chance"
"Juarez?'
SIS actually q rebel captain. Tore
was to give him his share Then Tore
was to have a commission in the rebel
army. He looked to distinguished fa-
vors when the rebels fought their way
into power. Now"
"Now what?"
"Now, if he goes into Mexico the
rebels will shoot him as traitor.
That was another chance he was TAX
ing. He was to give five thousand dol
iuic " tllt tuuSC. WI llldt lliCy iCL
him have Juarez and the other men.
He was to give his life if he lied to
them. if he tricked them or-if he
failed. He could never get across the
border without their spies finding
him."
Then Gaucho returned with word
that everything was ready. Vidal, at
Stanway's command, bound Dempton
securely once more, hand and foot, and
tossed him to the bed as one might
toss a sack Of wheat. The men had
kicked off their shoes and boots, and
stood eager and expectant.
Stairway, his revolver in his right
hand, pressed with the left thumb upon
the spot in the paneling where another
thumb had pressed.
There was little click, and the PAN
ell slid back into the wall, showing a
narrow doorway, a narrow passageway
beyond. There were candles burning
there, their steady flames casting a
clear, yellow light.
Each man keep three feet behind
the man in front of him." whispered
Stairway. "We must have room.
Vidal, Gaucho, come just behind me-"
He stepped through the door into
the two-foot wide hallway which ran
along inside the wall, Its trend east
ward and downward. There were no
steps, but the slant led quickly under
the foundations of the great adobe
building.
Stairway passed the first candle set
into niche In the rough wood wall.
Already he felt that he must be below
the level Of the floor when he came to
the second candle. Here the flame
was less steady, little breath Of air
playing with it.
furnoA nnrnAp thu hO1IVAH