Chapter VI: One Hundred Against One

Chuckling as he saw the angry flushes his taunts brought to the faces of his prisoners, the desperado wheeled his mount and once more resumed his way.

Not far had he ridden, however, when he met Rose, who, alarmed at the whistling and patter of the shells, had started back to learn if her pals had been injured.

"Any wounds?" she asked, surveying Red and Pedro, anxiously.

"Narry a scratch. Pedro's shield stopped a couple of pills, though. But they didn't hit him in the vitals.

"I'll take the lead, now. Keep your eyes and ears open, but don't shoot unless I give the word."

And with Red in the van and Pedro bringing up the rear, the outlaws resumed their ride down the mountainside.

And, while they descended, the troopers were swarming up the trail, just as the notorious outlaw had anticipated, eager to close in upon the fugitives.

When word had been received at the Fort, thirty hours before, that Red Rogers had literally shot his way to freedom, leaving three corpses besides that of the telegraph operator to mark his departure, the excitement had been intense.

Summoning his officers, the colonel had bidden them each to take an hundred men and, riding in the form of a half moon, to scour every nook and cranny of the foothills, keeping in touch with one another during the day by heliograph signals and at night by rockets.

Quickly the orders had been given and as the troopers assembled, Colonel Edwards had addressed them.

"Remember, you have no rum-crazed Indian to deal with," he said. "The man you are after is not only an expert in woodcraft and familiar with every section of the 'Bad Lands,' but one who knows no fear and brings down his men when he shoots.

"The Governor has offered ten thousand dollars reward for Red Rogers alive. The sheriff and the United States marshal, with their deputies, are leading posses in pursuit.

"I want the honor of the capture to come to Fort Griswold. As an incentive, I promise that the reward shall be divided equally among the men who catch Red Rogers.

"_Don't come back without him!_ Captain Smythe, you may start now."

And as the command had rung out, columns of cavalry had galloped from the post.

During the forenoon of the previous day, runners had informed each column that the outlaw had been assisted in his escape by Rose Landon, his sweetheart, and Pedro, a former member of his gang of cut-throats, and that the trio had headed straight north from Keno.

Believing that the escaped desperado was striving with all speed possible to reach the border and cross into Canada, the colonel had ordered three of the columns to ride by forced marches to the boundary and then to form a cordon; three other columns had been instructed to enter the foothills at the "Death Trail" and beat the forests as they worked North, while the seventh, as a precautionary measure, had been detailed to start the man hunt at the Southern end of the "Bad Lands."

As the outlaw's destination was the Old Stockade, which was in the Southern portion of the mountains, it was this seventh column, whose men and officers had cursed their luck at being kept from the Northern dash, that had so unexpectedly sighted the quarry.

The officer in command was Lieutenant Harry Fox, and with him at the head of the troops rode a half-breed scout whom the soldiers had dubbed Alkali, because of his insatiable thirst.

"Funny we ain't seen nothing of Jennings' patrol," the scout was saying, when suddenly his keen eyes discerned the "broken staff" signal.

Quickly communicating his discovery to his superiors, the two men spurred their horses forward and soon were in possession of Shaw's note.

"Well, if that ain't just Red's luck," growled Alkali, as the lieutenant read the message aloud.

"It strikes me it's our luck. What do you mean?" demanded Fox.

"I mean six hundred troopers and goodness knows how many posses are hunting for Red to the North and here he is to the South with only a hundred--and them the boniest heads in the bunch--to dodge."

The lieutenant was young, and this contemptuous allusion to the scouting ability of his command and the half-breed's assurance that the outlaw would elude them, angered him.

"Well, if my hundred men can't run one outlaw to cover, especially when our three mounted scouts are trailing him, I'll shoot the whole blooming lot!" he retorted, hotly.

"Keerful! Steady in the ranks! Don't go to making no rash promises!" cautioned Alkali. "Remember, you ain't been up against Red before.

"By the time you're through with him, you're liable to know you've been on a real manhunt."

"That may be. But, I'm not going to begin by whining because I haven't a man for every rock and tree," rejoined the young officer. "If Red Rogers is such a tricky customer, here's the chance for you to show some of your cleverness, Alkali--and win fame and money into the bargain."

Before the lieutenant had ceased speaking, several of the troopers had come up and as they heard their superior's sarcastic words, they grinned appreciatively, for the half-breed was not popular, and was always boasting of his prowess on the trail.

With the arrival of his men, Fox became every inch the officer.

"Sergeant, tell the signal man to flash his heliograph and say we've located Rogers," he commanded. "Alkali, pick up Jennings' trail."

And as the men obeyed, he drew forth his field glasses and swept the mountainside.

Stung by the lieutenant's taunts and the troopers' glee, the half-breed employed his woodcraft to the best of his ability, and in less than ten minutes returned to the boulder, announcing that he had found the trail.

Surprised, but delighted at such quick work, the young officer gave the command to advance and the troopers, elated to think that they had a chance at the prize money after all, took up the trail eagerly.

But the going was rough and the trail tortuous.

At the end of three hours' toilsome climbing, the troopers were rewarded by a shout from Alkali, who was pointing excitedly to the plateau where the outlaw had come so near death at the hands of the brave scout.

Quickly the lieutenant focussed his glasses upon the shelf of rock.

"It's horses! Yes, cavalry horses!" he exclaimed, excitedly.

"Boys, give 'em a few shots. We may be able to scare 'em out."

And how well the troopers succeeded, the reader already knows.

As the outlaw had anticipated, Rose's dash had taken the cavalrymen by surprise, but they were prepared for Red and Pedro when they appeared.

After the girl's escape, the lieutenant had trained his field glasses on the trail.

"It's Red, all right! It must be from his shirt! He's got some one behind him. A hundred dollars to the man who drops him!" cried Fox, excitedly, as the outlaw raced along the trail.

After Pedro had passed, the troopers waited several minutes.

"There's no more of 'em," opined Alkali. "We're only losing time here. Better strike for them woods, sir."

But the young officer was of a different mind.

"That's just what Red would expect us to do," returned the lieutenant. "Up the trail, men."