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

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<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> BACK TO THE DEATH-TRAP. Old Broadbrim rode back to Ranch Robin. As he dismounted at the door he caught sight of Belle Demona on the porch, and the queen of the ranch greeted him with a smile. He had carried out her mission to Perth; he had delivered the jewels to the lapidary and was back with his answer. In the house the detective was served with wine, and Belle Demona stood near while he feasted and told the story of the bandits' repulse. Old Broadbrim went out at last to look for Waters. Could he have looked beneath the foundations of the ranch at that very moment he might have seen a man toiling for life between four walls. He would have seen the slender figure of Dick Waters, in the demi-gloom of the lower dungeon, working as his hands had never worked before. But the Yankee spotter did not witness this sight, for others came before his eyes in a short time. The long hot day drew to a close, and yet Old Broadbrim had not caught a glimpse of Waters. There was a vacant spot where the sheep sheds had been and he turned to one of the men for an explanation. "She fired them," said the guard. [Pg 26] Old Broadbrim's look was a mute question which the man understood. "Mistress Belle came back with a gleam of murder in her eyes, and I never saw her look that way before. She must have thought the sheds sheltered an enemy." The detective started. Had she finished the career of Stareyes, the fair avenger? and was the girl a charred heap of bones under the ruins of the old sheds? Old Broadbrim did not care to ask openly for Waters, still his whole soul seemed interested in the mystery that hung over the young man's disappearance, and at last he sought out one of the guards whom he thought he could trust. Waters had been missing for some time. Old Broadbrim put this and that of the guard's story together, and concluded that the pair had pounced upon him soon after his (Old Broadbrim's) departure for Perth. Had they wormed the truth out of Dick Waters? He would not believe it, for Waters was a fearless man and would stand by his sworn promise. All at once a hand was laid on Old Broadbrim's shoulder, and he turned to look into the face of Merle Macray. "Back once more, eh, Riggs?" cried the man. "I'm glad you're here, for the bandits may give us something more to do, and, with several graves over there on the hill, we will need a hand and an aim like yours. You're ready, of course, for the battle?" "Yes, always ready." Merle twisted his mustache and looked toward the burned sheds. Within the next half hour the captain of the guards came, and Old Broadbrim mounted his horse to take his station on the range. This time he was placed in the darkest and wildest place on the ranch. Far away stretched the landscape of bush and hills, and he could barely see his hand before his face. As he stood beneath the darkened heavens, with his senses on the alert, he believed that some piece of deviltry was afoot and that it behooved him to be watchful. For an hour he stood beside the horse like a statue and listened to the calls of the night birds across the country. He could not see the lights in the ranch house, and this only served to make his position the more dangerous. Suddenly, however, he heard a slight noise, and then a figure appeared almost at his feet, as if it had risen from the ground. "Hush! not a sound," said a low voice, as a hand fell upon his arm. "It is I—Stareyes." Old Broadbrim, with a start, looked down into the face of the avenging girl, which was pressed close to his, and for a moment he did not reply. "You are in danger here," continued Stareyes. "The knife has been sharpened and the blade is about to fall." "I thought as much when they placed me here." "They have trapped Waters. He is in the underground dungeon now and cannot escape." "So they've caught him? Did he confess?" "Not he! He would tell them nothing, and to the dungeon he went, there to perish unless sooner rescued." "It is the chamber under the house, eh?" "The one next to the walls of the treasure house. I know the way to it, but the house is watched to-night, and Waters may work on the walls in vain." For a moment the detective looked away, but his gaze came back to the stern face of the girl. "Belle Demona fired the sheds and thinks I am there yet," she went on with a derisive laugh. "I thought so." "I could have killed her had I wished to, but her time is to end in a bitterness worse than death. Wait, Riggs. She is to see the end of all her hopes, and the revenge she took across the sea is to mock her at last." Old Broadbrim heard at this moment a slight sound overhead, and they looked up. "I know their plans," said Stareyes. "I have not been idle since you rode away on Black Duke. You are to be shot from ambush to-night. The hour has about arrived. Your grave has already been made over there in the bush and—— Hush! they are here." Stareyes pushed the detective back, and listened with her face turned toward the little hills. "They are to come from yon point," she whispered. "Who is to do it? Belle and Merle!" In another instant the detective led his horse around a clump of bushes, and thus screened his body. "Wait, I'll draw them off. You must have a breathing spell," cried the girl. "Stand where you are. I'll draw them back." The figure of the girl vanished, and Old Broadbrim stood alone in the night. Five minutes later he saw a jet of flame shoot heavenward where the ranch houses were. He stood transfixed with astonishment as he looked, and for a moment did not speak. All at once the fire bells of Ranch Robin rang out on the air, and their clanging startled all. The ranch house was in flames! "It is the girl's work," thought the detective. "She plays a desperate hand, but the right one just now." Already he saw the moving forms of men in the rapidly increasing light, and the following moment he was in the saddle riding like the wind toward the scene. The men of the ranch were fighting the flames with all their might, and Old Broadbrim threw himself into the work with his accustomed agility. For half an hour it was a battle for existence, and then the victory was but half secured. The ranch house had been saved, but at terrible cost; the fine interior had been gutted, and the appointments almost ruined. Belle Demona, with a strange pallor on her face, stood off and looked on. Merle Macray, not far off, watched the last efforts of the men, and smiled when he saw Old Broadbrim at the head of the workers. Beneath the midnight stars stood Ranch Robin, deplorable sight, almost uninhabitable and forlorn. Old Broadbrim thought of Waters in his dungeon. What had he done? Was he safe, or had the fire found its way to him and put an end to his career? "Riggs?" said a voice behind the detective, and he looked into the face of his prey, Merle Macray. Without another word Merle led the way to the ranch queen's private rooms and turned upon him. He shut the door behind him and pointed to a pair of revolvers that lay on the table. "You are not Riggs," said Merle. "The time for the unmasking has come. You are the American detective, Josiah Broadbrim." Not a muscle of the detective's face quivered. Merle stood over against the table, and as he spoke one of his hands picked up the nearest weapon. "These weapons are loaded alike," he went on. "We are alone in this room, and here like men we fight to the death!" "Who loaded the revolvers?" "I saw them loaded. I watched the loading with keen eyes, and they are charged alike. I snuff out the light, and in the darkness we fight it out forever." "Why not in the light?" asked Old Broadbrim. "Let it be in the dark," was the answer. "But thee had light when thee struck Custer Kipp down in the library of his own house!" There was a slight start on the murderer's part, and his eyes for an instant sought the floor. "Never mind that. You are an indefatigable tracker; never heard of your like. Trailed from New York, I have been in the shadow of your hand long enough. But it must end now—in this house!" Old Broadbrim took one step toward the table, and at the same time Merle's hand went up, and the room became enveloped in darkness. Silence fell over the scene, and the detective heard not the slightest sound. What had become of Belle Demona? Perhaps she was keeping watch outside, waiting for the result of the duel in the dark, or she might be elsewhere, lying in wait for the girl who had fired the ranch. Somewhere in the apartment stood Merle, but Old Broadbrim could not see him. [Pg 27] "There is a button set in the wall where I stand," suddenly said the unseen Merle; "I press it, and a match is ignited which lights the lamp. I will touch it, and we fire at first sight of each other. Does that suit you, Mr. Broadbrim?" "It suits me," said the detective. As he spoke he moved toward that part of the room from whence the voice had come and stopped. The minutest space of time seemed an hour, but all at once the whole room seemed on fire, for Merle Macray had pressed the secret button in the wall. The next instant the figure of the detective cleared the carpet before him, and his hand closed on the arm which came up with a cocked revolver at the end of it. Merle recoiled, but the grip of the trailer was not to be broken. The men stood face to face and looked into each other's eyes. "It was unfair!" hissed the hunted man. "With me, when there is a murderer to catch, everything is fair," was the answer. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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