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

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<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> THE ESCAPE OF THE DOOMED. Stareyes was right when she told Old Broadbrim on the range that Dick Waters was doomed to perish in the lower dungeon. The young Briton, after his interview with Merle, had been shut up again in darkness, and with death staring him in the face. The place seemed strong enough to hold a dozen men like him, and he had crept around the walls again and again in a vain attempt to find an outlet. He was still on the hunt for one, when he heard a sound that thrilled him. It was the cry of "Fire!" which penetrated to his prison, and caused him to hold his breath in anxiety and fear. For some time he could not imagine what had caused the alarm, nor just where it was; but all at once the terrible truth flashed across his mind. It was the ranch! At the same time an awful thought took possession of Waters' brain, and he stood as one paralyzed in the darkness. Shut up like a rat in a trap, with fire overhead and strong walls on each side, Dick Waters thought his temples would burst. He pounded the walls of the prison, but the sound was drowned by the shouts above and the efforts put forth by the fire-fighters to save the house. He listened against the stones, and tried to mark the progress of the grim destroyer, but in vain. The wall which had receded to let him into the lower dungeon had gone back to its place, and he was cooped up with death before him and without hope. He wondered if Old Broadbrim had come back. If he had, had he thought of him, and would he look for the man who had become his ally? At last a drop of water touched Waters' forehead. He knew that it had soaked through the ceiling from the buckets of the ranchmen, and for a moment he took hope. Perhaps, after all, he would be saved. Now, with renewed desperation. Waters went to work on the wall already sounded fifty times. He would not die where he was without an effort, a last one, for liberty. Against the door by which Merle had entered the place he hurled himself, only to fall back exhausted. But this did not check him. Dick Waters, in the underground trap, intended to perish fighting; for, fire-chased, he would not let the demon get the best of him. Seconds to a man in peril seem hours of torture. It was thus with Waters. But all at once there came to his ears a cry that tingled them with joy. He heard voices now and knew that the fire fiend had been checked. Saved! but only to perish where he was. Waters drew back against the wall and clinched his bleeding hands. Presently he heard nearer sounds, and a key turned in the door. As he sprang forward he was stopped, for the door shut, and he stood again in darkness. "Where are you, Waters?" cried some one. "Here!" A hand found the young man's arm and closed there. "Thank Heaven! They did not finish you." "Is it you, Tom?" "Briggs! I am one of the three who seized you at her command; but, by heavens, I can't see a human being, and a pard at that, die in a trap like this." Waters uttered a responsive thanksgiving. "The coast is clear. The way to the south is open for you, but you must hasten. In a minute the avenue of escape may be closed." "I am ready!" Guided by the man who had come in the nick of time, Waters went up the steps into the starlight. "This way," whispered Briggs. Three minutes later the rescued man stood some distance from the blackened ranch house, and Briggs' hand pointed toward the south. "You know the way to Perth," said he. "To be found here means death." "But Riggs," said Waters, "is he back?" "He is over there; but don't stop for him; Riggs can't help you at Robin Ranch. He has all he can do to care for himself. You must go or die here, Dick." The young man hesitated. Behind him stood the old house, and before the long trail to the provincial capital. "I am going," he said as he held out his hand to his deliverer. "That's right. It's life over there, but death for you here." The two men separated. "Should I leave Riggs here alone?" thought Waters, when he had reached the hills. "It is treachery. It would be called cowardice. He may need my help back there." He looked in the direction of the ranch, and then turned his face deliberately toward it. "I'll stand by Riggs! Together we play out our hand, or fall together." Once more he tramped back with the courage of a lion. He managed to flit past the house and caught sight of the varied groups of ranchmen in the light of lanterns and torches. Suddenly the figure of Belle Demona loomed up before him as she directed the men still at work on the remnants of fire. "A deadlier viper than that never lived in the bush," said Waters, as he watched her. "But for her Riggs would not be here looking for Merle, and she would slay on the spur of the moment. Her sting is death." He slipped around the place hoping to catch sight of Riggs, but in this he failed. Old Broadbrim was not to be seen. Waters hid himself nearby and watched and waited. He knew nothing of the two men standing in darkness in the ranch house. He wondered what had become of Merle, but he did not dream that at that very moment he and Old Broadbrim faced each other in the little room, locked in, with revolvers in their hands. Had Waters known this there might have been a change, but ignorant of the scene, he stood aloof from the ranch house and watched for the detective. He was in the act of moving on when a footstep greeted him, and he turned quickly with his hand on the weapon Briggs had handed him. "I nearly destroyed the nest," he heard a voice say in tones of triumph. "I gave it the match, but the men saved it. And Riggs fought the flames the best of all. It was calling off the hounds of death from him, for he was in the shadow when I lit the moss." Waters made out the speaker standing in the narrow path within arm's length, and the next moment he had captured her. Stareyes uttered a cry as she flashed a knife in his face, but he did not relinquish his hold. "You fired the ranch—you!" said Waters, pulling the fair Australian forward. "You must hate Belle Demona." "Does the bird hate the hawk that robs the nest?" she exclaimed. "Do I hate the beautiful serpent over there, and the man who does her bidding? Stand her before me and arm me with a keen blade, then ask me if I hate her." "You say you saved Riggs?" "I did. He was doomed on the guard line and stood in the[Pg 28] shadow of death when my match created the diversion in his favor. It was a lucky thought, and I would not have cared if the feathers of the fine bird in yon blackened cage had shriveled in the flames my match made. It is only vengeance. But I've left him for Riggs, the detective. I only want to teach Belle Demona that one woman cannot rule all hearts with a rod of iron in this part of the world." Waters, who had dropped Stareyes' arm, stepped back, but the girl eagerly followed him. "The game is up," she went on. "Riggs is unmasked, and they know that he came out after Merle Macray. By their shrewdness he is in the jaws of death, and unless he closes in on Merle now he will end his trail in darkness." "Where is he?" "Ask me not." "You saw him fighting the fire?" "I did, but suddenly he vanished as if the hands of fate had shut upon him." "Still he cannot be far away." Waters looked toward the ranch and the gaze of Stareyes followed him. "Wait! I'll go back and spy out the land," said the girl. "You? Why, they'll see you and then your career will end." "When they catch Stareyes there will be a sting in her hand," she hissed. "Merle is for Riggs, Belle Demona for me!" She started off, and in a second Waters lost sight of her. He heard her steps in the path after she had vanished, and then he looked toward the ranch house in vain to hear something of Old Broadbrim. Let us follow the Australian girl. She went back to the house like a bat in the night. When near the half-burned structure she stopped and listened. The fire had been totally extinguished and the voices of the guard came from the little house nearby which had escaped destruction. Stareyes drew nearer and stood in the shadow of Ranch Robin. The beautiful porch no longer had its network of vines, and burned wood lay everywhere. She stepped upon the porch and leaned toward the door of the main dwelling. A strange silence rested beyond it. The avenger listened and heard at last the opening and shutting of a door. A light gleamed for a moment in the house and Stareyes drew back. Belle Demona stood before her. The striking figure of the mistress of the ranch stood before her deadly foe. The Australian breathed hard. Her bosom rose and fell like the waves of the sea and she could hardly keep her eager hands off the creature before her. What a chance it was. Suddenly Belle Demona stepped toward the end of the porch and cast a glance toward the guard house. A call issued from her throat, and Stareyes started. In another instant a man appeared leading a magnificent black horse. "Thanks, Burke. Keep them in ignorance of my departure," she said. "I'll pay you with your weight in gold. Good-night!" She sprang into the saddle, gathered up the reins, and in another moment was riding toward Perth. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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