The Argosy, Vol. 76, No. 3 — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

514 there on the level were bits of chapar- ral. From screen to screen of bushes he moved and finally was as close to the mouth of the arroyo as he could go without inviting discovery. He heard a mumble of words. Big steve was talking with some one whom he had met. A match was lighted, and the speck of fire hung over a pipe be- tween the amalgamator’s lips. Hardly a breath of air was stirring, and that faint glow did not waver. Big Steve sat on a boulder. The fig- ure beside him bent to pick up the bag he had carried from the bunk-house. The face of the stooping form came within the dim circle of light from the match. It was Chombo’s face, and the light glittered on the rings in his ears. There was a sling of white cloth sus- pended from the half-blood’s neck, and in the fold of it his right hand rested. ‘There could not be the least doubt re- garding the identity of Chombo. Here was positive evidence of con- spiracy. Chombo had assisted Big Steve in his stealings while ‘employed at the mine, and he was still active now that he had been discharged. How many of those rough workers at the mine were honest and loyal to Deane? The scene at the mouth of the arroyo suggested the question to Brem- efton, and he was in a mood to distrust every man in the camp except King. Where double-dealing was possible, owing to laxity of those in control, nearly.every one would be found with a hand in it. It was up to Bremerton to make the thieving impossible. The first.step to that end would be accom- plished by making object-lessons of Big Steve and Chombo. When the two in the mouth of the arroyo separated, the amalgamator re- turned toward the mill by the way he had come, and the half-blood faded into the dark of the narrow valley. Bremerton allowed Big Steve to go his way and pressed forward into the arroyo. His object was to discover, if he could, where the stolen amalgam was taken by Chombo. ridge. THE ARGOSY. In this he failed. Chombo had van- ished completely, and to prowl aimless- ly around in an attempt to locate him might have resulted in disaster to the superintendent. An examination of the arroyo could wait until the following day. The heavy gloom made a night search worse than useless. Bremerton started back towards the As he was climbing the slope, a rider galloped along the ridge-top, coming suddenly from nowhere and flinging along in the direction of the trail. ; His jaws clamped hard and his brows wrinkled as he stood and gazed. The rider was cut sharply in silhouette against the lighter background of the night sky. That swinging, graceful figure, the broad-brimmed hat, the flut- tering hair— He could not be mis- taken. It was Mariquita Mallory! The girl was swallowed up in the shadows as suddenly as she had ap- peared. Bremerton muttered angrily. Why was she there? Had she a part in that scoundrelly work at the mill? Was there really but one set of enemies fighting Deane? Were the foes within the camp linked in deviltry with those outside? Were they all working together to drive Deane out of that mining district? Somewhere, deep down in Bremer- ton’s soul, lurked a sense of disappoint- ment. He realized that he had been hoping against hope that Mariquita Mallory, in the face of all that had happened, might be as inoncent of actual wrong-doing as she -had pro- fessed to be. But evidence was piling upon evidence to prove the contrary. Big Steve, the thief, had met Chom- bo, another thief, in the hills. The girl was there, not present at the meeting, but handily by, to take from Chombo the bag of stolen amalgam. Quite likely the bag lay across the saddle in front of her as she galloped away. _ “She'll not make a fool of me as she did of Lacey,” Bremerton growled. He had said that before. Why was COMicdoo S CO@