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Old Broadbrim into the Heart of Australia or, A Strange Bargain and Its Consequences

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<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> THE FACE IN THE HAY. Five minutes later the detective walked from the house with Belle Demona's words of thanks and her good-night ringing in his ears, and sought the little corner where his bunk was. This was in a small house not far from the main dwelling, but separate from it. The other guards were his companions, but when he entered the place he found them all sound asleep, and their snores told him that he would have plenty of music through the night. But it was not to sleep that the menaced detective sought the hard grass pillow of his couch. He believed that the message received by Merle concerned his escape from the pit in Melbourne. He felt assured that it told the hunted man that it was empty, and perhaps the letter was from Old Danny himself. Broadbrim thought the whole matter over as the night wore on. He recalled the face on the porch in the vines, and wondered what it meant. Whose face was it and from whence had it come? Midnight passed and he was not asleep. Outside all was still, and the moon had gone down, taking with her the light which had silvered all that it touched. Old Broadbrim suddenly heard a noise at the door. It was a very slight one, but it was enough to tell him that something was afoot. In a few moments the door of the sleeping quarters was pushed open, and some one came in. Old Broadbrim heard the step as it cleared the threshold, and then feigned slumber. Presently the rays of a dark lantern penetrated the place, and disclosed the figure of the person who carried it. It was Merle Macray! On came the hunted man with a lantern in one hand, and a long knife lying along the right arm. He stepped like the Indian, and his light fell here and there upon the forms of the sleeping men. Old Broadbrim knew what the visit meant. Merle was looking for the detective; he was investigating in person to see if the hunter who had escaped the pit in Melbourne had yet found his way to Round Robin Ranch. Over each sleeper the man bent and threw the light of the little bull's-eye upon him. Old Broadbrim saw all this, while Merle searched those in the other beds, knowing well that in time he would reach him. The crisis of his man hunt seemed to have come, but he did not lose his nerve. At last Merle stepped to where he lay, and the detective, with closed eyes, felt that he was being subjected to a terrible examination. Merle lingered longer over him than usual. He held the light in various positions, so as to see all of the hunter's face, and at last he stepped back. It was a ruse to deceive the detective, but Old Broadbrim did not open his eyes. Not for five minutes did he stir. He heard the little door open and shut, and then he looked and found himself in darkness. It was over, but what had Merle discovered? Time would tell. Old Broadbrim slept but little the rest of the night. He longed for day, and when the first streaks flushed the eastern skies he came forth and looked abroad. The ordeal had been passed without a break, but the worst had to come. All at once the front door of the ranch opened, and Merle came out. Old Broadbrim touched his hat to him. "You're up early, Riggs," said the hunted man. "Don't you sleep good?" "Good enough, I guess; but I'm an early bird." Merle came up and lowered his voice. "Walk down the paddock road with me to the bridge," said he. "Certainly. The morning's cool, and a little walk will help a fellow stretch his limbs." The bridge was but a few hundred yards from the ranch dwelling, and spanned an almost waterless ravine, which was one of the wildest spots on the ranch. The banks on either side were rocky and steep, and the bottom of the ravine was some hundreds of feet below the timber of the little bridge. Merle talked but little during the walk to the spot, but the moment they touched the bridge he turned suddenly upon Old Broadbrim and said: "I want you to do me a little favor. I want some help just now, and a cool man like you is just the one I want." The detective looked at the speaker, but did not answer him. "You don't mind a little by-play, eh Riggs?" continued Merle. "You didn't come out here just to guard a few sheep and a ranch house? You're ready for anything that promises to pay well, aren't you?" "Certainly. Who is not?" "That's what I thought. I took you for a free lance the moment you leaped from the saddle in front of the ranch house. I'm glad I'm not mistaken." The detective waited for him to go on, which he did after taking breath. "I'm in a little trouble, and there's a woman in the case," he said. "It's this way: I once met a young girl who would not listen to me. I believe I promised to marry her, but I never thought of doing that. It's the way all over the world. She is pure yet, but she's a vengeance hunter. She gives me a good bit of trouble, shadows me and all that. I don't want to be bothered with her. You understand, Riggs?" Old Broadbrim smiled. Of course he understood the cool-hearted villain. "She's here again," Merle went on. "I found a footstep in the sand last night which I know was not made by Belle. Stareyes is back to Round Robin." "Stareyes? Is that her name?" "Yes, that's what we call her. She lives in Perth, but she wanders off to Melbourne and is ready at all times to make war between me and Belle, whom she hates with all an Australian's nature." "But you can meet her without help, can't you?" "Hang it, no. I have a good many things to look after here, and she's liable to turn up at any time." "I see." [Pg 15] "Of course you do. Now, if she's here, as I believe she is, I want her looked after." "And taken care of?" "That's it, Riggs, that's it exactly. Belle is ready to pistol her at a moment's notice, but Stareyes may get her work in too soon for her, and give me a world of trouble. I want it well done." "I can watch for her, and, if she turns up, I will take her from the ranch, and warn her not to come back again." Merle's look at this juncture was a study. "I don't want her to go away. I want her to remain on Ranch Robin." "Oh!" ejaculated the detective. "I want her to rest here forever." "Not alive, Captain Merle?" "As dead as Potipher's wife!" was the answer, and the eyes of the handsome speaker flashed. "I don't want this girl to bother me any longer. A little grip like the sort you've got and a little twist of her pretty neck and it will be well done." Roland Riggs drew back and looked at Merle with pretended horror. "You can't mean that I am expected to silence the girl?" he exclaimed. "I mean nothing else," was the answer. "I want her out of the way. She will prove nothing in your hands, Riggs. You're one of those agile men, and one little twist will get her out of my way. I'll make you rich for the job." It was the coolest proposition he had ever heard, and Old Broadbrim felt a thrill sweep to his heart. He looked at the man before him and saw that he was terribly in earnest. "She won't be hard to find," said Merle. "She's bound to show up somewhere, and I'll get you relieved from guard duty if you will undertake the work." Merle was looking Old Broadbrim squarely in the eye and his gaze seemed to transfix him like a lance. "It's a bargain, eh?" he cried. "I'll try," said Old Broadbrim. "That's all I ask. I know if you 'try' we'll get rid of this pest in skirts. Don't mince matters, Riggs. Let her have the full benefit of your grip and that will be sufficient." Old Broadbrim cast his eyes down the ravine and seemed to measure the distance to the bottom mentally. "Stareyes is cunning and cool. I have stood before her and seen her orbs flash like twin stars. She has one parent living, an old mother, who is either in Perth or Melbourne. She is as much a viper as her child, but never let her sting you. Take time by the forelock, Riggs." "I'll do it, sir." They walked back over the dusty road and separated near the ranch house. "A hired murderer," smiled the detective when he thought of the walk to the bridge. "I must see Stareyes. I must find this girl who is doomed by Merle Macray, and she can tell me something of his past. When I kill her for him the moon will fall from the skies." At that moment the detective happened to look across a little patch of meadow land and caught sight of a figure that flitted out of sight even as he gazed. The girl had been found already. Down where he saw the slight figure a few empty houses stood and he walked toward them. They were tumble-down traps, hardly fit to house sheep in, and Old Broadbrim entered one. His head touched the rafters of the place and he looked up to avoid them. The next moment he started back, for overhead, half concealed by a lot of hay, lay a young girl, and her white face was turned toward his own. Their eyes met. He found Stareyes already, and she watched him with a strange smile at the corners of her mouth. "How do you like it?" she asked, the smile broadening as she spoke. "It's a nice place, isn't it, but it's inhabited by demons. They call you Roland Riggs here, but you're not that person. You're a beagle, but I'll keep the secret. Ha, ha, ha! sir, you don't know Stareyes yet. You play fair with her and you're safe. Fail, and it's death—death!" <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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