Utterly astounded as he was at sight of Kathleen Grigg, and even more so by Ayres having chosen such a messenger, Norton drew her out of earshot of the curious settlers to the canoe, and introduced Red Hugh. The latter stared at the girl, then stretched forth a huge hand and touched the flame of her red-gold hair with trembling fingers, awe in his whole face.
"Kitty Grigg!" he muttered thickly, as the half-frightened girl shrank back to Norton's arm. "Kitty Grigg! Yet she has the face of my own Mary—oh, God in heaven!"
Abruptly, he turned his back upon them and stood leaning on his rifle, his shoulders shaking. Norton realized swiftly that the old man had found some resemblance in her to that wife whom he had lost in such tragic fashion, and in quick pity he gave the girl a warning look and hastened to change the current of Red Hugh's thoughts.
"But, Kitty—how on earth came Ayres to send you, of all people?" he cried in half-anger, half-wonder. "He knew there was danger in it——"
"Listen, please," she broke in, her hand on his arm and her eyes searching his face hungrily. "After you left me, that day, I saw Colonel Boone and told him what you had said. He knew nothing about the pin, but he said to trust you and—and I do. Then father went off on a month's hunt, so I was going to visit with Mistress Zach Taylor had not Mr. Ayres and Mr. Audubon come to see me——"
"Audubon? When was this?" queried Norton, frowning.
"Four days since—directly he returned after leaving you with him"—and she nodded toward Red Hugh, flushing slightly as she did so. "Mr. Audubon related all that had happened to you and him, but as he was going away with Mr. Ayres they were not sure whom to send here until they thought of me. You see, I would not be suspected or watched, and there was a skiff all ready to——"
"But—then you must know——" Norton broke off suddenly, staring into her level grey eyes, wondering if she had been told who Blacknose really was. She looked steadily at him, read his thought, and her face went pale.
"Yes," she nodded quietly. "Mr. Audubon told me all about it. I do not quite believe it can be possible, despite what you and Mr. Audubon heard. You see, sir, Mr. Duval has exerted some influence over my fa——"
"Over Abel Grigg, you mean," interrupted Norton gravely. He was all the more astonished that she had come on this mission, knowing what she did.
"Over—him," she went on, avoiding the issue. "But he's not bad at heart, really! And I came here partly to ask you to help him—I mean, if you find there is a gang of pirates, don't be too harsh with him until he is proven guilty——"
"I promise you that, sweet Kitty," smiled Norton. Then of a sudden the warmth died out of his brown eyes, and his face went hard. "Perhaps you were not told how he agreed to sell you to Duval, eh?"
"Yes," she almost whispered. "I—I—oh, I do not know what to think or say! But never mind that now, Mr. Norton; Mr. Ayres said that you were to return to Louisville at once——"
"You just said he and Audubon were going away?" broke in the puzzled Norton.
"They'll be back when you get there. Mr. Ayres has a plan about some boat, and has gone up-river to get some men he can trust. The riverman who was murdered had two brothers——"
"Hold on," laughed Norton. "How can I go back when everyone thinks I committed that murder? Straighten me out little by little, Kitty!"
"Nobody thinks you did it. Mr. Ayres found that the knife with which the man was murdered belonged to someone else, and also established the fact that you had been outside the tavern all the while. So that is all right. The owner of the knife escaped in a canoe."
"And I'll wager his name was Tobin," exclaimed Norton quickly. She looked at him, surprised.
"What—how did you know that?"
"Because I met Mr. Tobin myself." Norton smiled grimly and glanced at his powder-horn. "Well, that's a relief, Kitty! Now, how about getting back?"
"I came down in a skiff that was going to Henderson," she explained. "That was day before yesterday, and the skiff was to start back this morning and stop for me. Mr. Ayres knew there was no tavern here, but that was why he used the name, in case of suspicion."
"So—I am beginning to understand! This Mr. Ayres is a sly fox, eh?"
Norton whistled softly. In asking for Dodd's Tavern he had merely made use of a password which was known to the vacuous-eyed settler, and had thus precluded any possibility of mistake.
"Wait here, Kitty," he said, and crossed to Red Hugh. The latter swung about, showing his usual grim searching expression. "You heard it all, Hugh?"
"Yes." The big man nodded.
"Well, I fancy that Ayres is going to load up a boat and use it as a lure," went on Norton in a low voice. "It may well be Brookfield's horse-boat, of which we heard Duval and Grigg speaking, and which will leave Louisville in two or three weeks. Hold on!" And he turned to the watching girl again. "What did you say about Ayres going away to raise some men?"
"I'm not quite sure myself," she answered, "but I gathered that he was going for that purpose—he spoke about some men whose relatives had disappeared with the vanished boats——"
"That's it, then," said Norton quickly. "He'll get a few men he can rely upon implicitly and stow them aboard the boat. Then, when Blacknose attacks, he'll find what he hadn't bargained for, Hugh! Now will you come back to Louisville? That skiff ought to be along in an hour or two, if she left Henderson this morning——"
"No," broke in Red Hugh decisively. "You stay here and take Madam Grigg back, Norton. I'll scout through the woods for a bit, then will pick up your boat at Henderson when she comes down. You'll be aboard her?"
Norton assented with a nod.
"Good. If there's no sign of me at Henderson, I'll signal you from Diamond Island, just below—be sure and take the left-hand channel, for I'll be on the Kentucky side. Brookfield's boat, eh? All right—I'll watch out for you."
With a final look at Kitty Grigg, Red Hugh touched his cap and went to the canoe with Norton. The latter took out his rifle and equipment; then Red Hugh stepped into the craft and shoved off. A wave of the hand, and he paddled off upstream in the direction whence they had come that morning. Norton stood watching him out of sight, a most unwelcome feeling of loneliness stealing upon him; despite the man's glum silences and bloodthirsty pursuit, he had a strange fascination for Norton.
"Who is that man? Is he the—the Red Hugh of whom Mr. Audubon spoke?"
The Louisianian turned, and smiled into the girl's wondering grey eyes.
"I doubt if there be two of that name, Kitty! Aye, he's the man, and an odd one. Come—let's sit on the bank over here where we can watch the river. I trust your skiff will return as she promised, for a night in this place would be little to my liking."
"Oh, they're kindly folk enough, but terribly poor," she returned, as Norton led her down the bank under the shade of a clump of cottonwood. "And such wretched, happy, dirty little babies! I wish I could do something for them."
He watched her, fascinated by her fresh beauty, wondering anew how this pearl of womanhood came to be fixed in the squat cabin of Abel Grigg. For a space they sat in silence; she gazed out over the river, hands clasped in her lap, while Norton filled his pipe and smoked, feeling suddenly content with all things.
It was coming out all right, he felt, despite the failure to trail Grigg down and trap the whole gang. Of the relation between Grigg and the girl beside him, he never bothered, being perfectly convinced in his own mind that she was another man's daughter. He remembered the promise he had given her, but the deeper memory of that verbal bill of sale had impressed him with a hatred and contempt for both Grigg and Duval, which nothing would eradicate from his mind.
He recalled the vow he had taken upon that golden eagle, and perhaps the thought leaped to Kathleen's mind, for she turned with a sudden little laugh.
"Oh, I forgot! Have you still got that gold eagle pin?"
"Yes." Norton put his hand to his breast. "Why?"
He could not understand the half-smile that lay in her eyes as she looked at him. Knowing that he was puzzled, she laughed again.
"Haven't you looked at it since that day?"
"No—but I will now."
He reached inside his shirt and unfastened the pin. As the sunlight fell on it, he frowned slightly; the broken enamel on its face did not seem—suddenly he turned it over, and read the initials "H.E.M."
"By thunder!" he exclaimed, looking up at the laughing girl. "I handed you the wrong pin, eh? It was a mistake, Kathleen——"
She nodded. "Yes. I discovered it after you had gone, so when I came I brought this one of yours with me."
Norton looked at the pin she held out, recognizing it for his own. Yet he made no move to take it. Much as it meant to him, being his only memorial from the father he could not remember, he only looked at it and admired the slim beauty of the palm on which it lay. Hers was not the hand of a backwoods woman, he thought.
"Listen, Kitty," he said slowly. "Just as soon as I've cleared up this Blacknose affair here, I'm going to Cincinnati and find out who the owner of this pin of yours really was. A number of the Cincinnati are there or in the neighbourhood, and they will have records of the Order. Let me keep your eagle until then, and you keep mine as an earnest that I will return yours."
He found her face suddenly grave.
"I do not want to lose it," she said quietly. "It means a good deal to me, after what you have said——"
"Nor do I want to lose mine," he broke in, smiling. "Oh, you are not so easily rid of me, Kitty! I will find your true name for you, and that's a promise; until then, I will keep your eagle and do you keep mine in pledge of my return. Not that you need the pledge, since it would be a far harder matter to keep away from your eyes——"
"Fie, sir!" And she interrupted merrily enough. "And how many pledges have you left behind in Louisiana?"
"Two," returned Norton, so that for a moment her face became as serious as his own. "One to my friend, Davy Crockett, in shape of my finest rifle; and one to the traders who sent me hither, in shape of a promise that I would wipe out Blacknose. Tell me, Kitty, do you wish to marry Charles Duval?"
"Do you think I wish it?" And she inspected him with half-frightened eyes.
"Well"—Norton shifted his rifle uneasily,—"he is a person of note, is a gentleman of family—and is able to buy you with money."
"So much might be said for the Indian Tecumthe," she returned, flushing at the brutality of his last words. "No, I shall not marry him."
"Bravely said," nodded Norton, and felt tremendously relieved. Of course, he told himself, his only interest lay in saving this helpless girl from two scoundrels. "Well, even if Abel Grigg swears you're under age——"
"There's the skiff coming!" she cried quickly. "Just crossing over."
Norton glanced up. Perhaps a mile down the river and with her eight sweeps bringing her slowly across in a long slant for the Kentucky side, was a large boat. There was no hurry, he calculated, for she would require a good fifteen or twenty minutes to head over across the swift current of the Ohio——
"——then you take this horse and rejoin the boys. I'll get back in that boat."
The cold, commanding words rang out clearly from somewhere behind and above.
Norton stiffened; with one quick motion he unstopped his powderhorn and poured some black grains into the pan of his rifle, as it lay across his knees.
"The durned spy must ha' lit out," came the growl of Abel Grigg's voice. "Tobin ain't showed up, neither."
The Louisianian glanced swiftly at Kathleen. She was staring at him wide-eyed, her face ghastly in its sudden pallor. He knew that she must have realized instantly what had occurred—Duval, on his way home from Henderson, had met Grigg and intended to turn over his horse to the backwoodsman and catch this skiff back to Louisville. Cursing the mischance of fate which had led to such a happening, and thinking only of keeping the girl unseen, Norton leaned forward and whispered, with a gesture toward the trees:
"I'll back them into the woods. Get under those trees, and when the boat comes get aboard."
"No," she returned, with a shake of the head. "Why should I be afraid?"
Reading determination in her eyes, Norton cursed again, silently, and leaped up. Discovery was certain; his only chance now lay in holding up the two men and surprising some confession from them. With Audubon as sole witness, he could hardly hope to force Duval into court; but with Kathleen's testimony and that of the settlers, there was a bare chance. His rifle ready, he left the girl and sprang up the bank.
A curious scene greeted him, and one which showed that Elisha Ayres had not selected this settler's cabin by any vagary. The squalid woman and babies had vanished; the settler himself sat in the doorway of his shack with his rifle ostentatiously in hand; paying no heed to him, Duval and Grigg were standing near the landing, the latter holding the horse's bridle in one hand, his rifle in the other. Duval had a pair of pistols in his belt.
"Hands up, gentlemen!" commanded Norton sharply. "Drop that rifle, Blacknose!"
As Norton levelled his weapon, the settler in the doorway rose also, watching the other two. Duval, whirling with one terrible convulsion of his features, looked into Norton's rifle and forced the look from his face; Grigg obeyed the command with a snarl, his powerful, hook-nosed face grimacing in surprise and consternation.
"Why—sir! What is the meaning of this, Mr. Norton?"
Duval's expression of astonishment was an excellent counterfeit. His virile, dark, thin-lipped face showed only blank surprise, but this did not deceive Norton.
"You're a pretty pair of scoundrels!" he said grimly. "Your game's up, Duval, so no need to play innocent. Grigg, you're known for Blacknose. I think you'll both go to Louisville on that boat, but you'll go bound."
He saw Grigg's eyes widen and his jaw fall in astonishment, and needed not the step behind him to know that Kathleen had come up. Duval, however, maintained his cold poise.
"You are making a grievous mistake, Captain Norton," he returned, softly. "You must either be out of your senses or——"
"So?" chuckled Norton easily. "You remember how you and Blacknose there paused on your way to Henderson a few days ago, and held a conversation just before you parted company? There were witnesses to that conversation, my friend."
Grigg went livid, and his bushy grizzled beard quivered as he stared at Norton. Duval, however, showed no sign of emotion beyond a tightening of his lips; his dark eyes glittered ominously, and the cruel curve of his nostrils deepened. In that moment Norton knew that he had lost his play, and would get nothing out of this man. Grigg opened his mouth to speak, but Duval shut him up sharply.
"I said, sir, that you were mistaken," returned the lawyer coldly. "The tenor of that conversation must have been misunderstood by you. Madam Grigg, your servant."
He bowed slightly to the girl. With an inward groan, Norton lowered his rifle. If he brought the matter to an issue, he knew well that he would fail; neither Duval nor Grigg had mentioned Blacknose by name, and the conversation was incriminating only by inference. And inference counted for nothing in the Kentucky courts.
"Duval, I'm going to get you." And Norton suppressed the rage within him, his voice as cold and level as that of the lawyer. "You're the man behind this Blacknose gang, and Grigg there is Blacknose. I know that much, and I'm going to prove it some day."
"You will have far to travel before that day, sir," returned Duval with a thinly veiled sneer.
"Perhaps." And Norton smiled a little as their eyes clinched. "Not as far, however, as the road your friend Tobin has already travelled."
The shot told. Duval's eyes narrowed suddenly; then a hoarse cry broke from Grigg, who pointed at Norton's waist.
"Look thar! The cuss has got Tobin's horn——"
"What is that to us?" Duval whirled on him, with so terrible a face that Grigg fell back. "What is Tobin to us, you fool? Do you know him?"
"No," stammered Grigg, giving Norton a furious look. "No, I don't know him."
The Louisianian smiled in contempt. Duval had outguessed him shrewdly, and he would now get no evidence out of either man.
"Captain Norton"—Duval turned to him with a smooth smile—"I trust you perceive your mistake."
"Yes," returned Norton quietly, giving the man a hard look. "You're smarter than I thought, Duval. But you'll swing yet—mark that!"
The lawyer made no reply, beyond a cold sneer. A glance showed Norton that the settler's rifle had vanished, and knowing that Duval would not dare shoot him down with the approaching boat so near, he lowered his own rifle and stood leaning on it. Grigg, however, stepped forward with an oath.
"I got a word to say here," he cried savagely, glaring past Norton at the girl. "What you doin' here, Kitty? You and him was settin' under the bank makin' love, eh? What you doin' here?"
Norton turned with a helpless gesture. The girl did not heed him, but looked at Grigg, pale but calm.
"Be careful what you say"—and her voice trembled a little. "I came here with a message for Mr. Norton. Further than that, it is no business of yours."
"Hey! No business o' mine, ain't it?" shot out Grigg, his gaunt head flung forward until with his keen-hooked nose he looked uncommonly like the bird of prey that he was. "Looky here, gal, don't you talk to your o' dad like that! Now you're here, you'll come along o' me into the woods fer a spell——"
The girl drew herself up angrily.
"You're no father of mine, Abel Grigg," she cried out, and Norton could not but admire the proud spirit of her. "I know that now, and you've no authority over me!"
Grigg stood as though paralysed. Duval stared at the girl for a moment, then turned and whispered a few low words to his companion. Norton would have given much to know what they were, but their effect was evident.
With a complete change of manner, Grigg forced the anger from his face and spoke in a low wheedling voice which yet had a ring of sincerity in it.
"Looky here, Kitty! You ain't meanin' that——"
"I mean what I say," she flashed back at him. "I know you're not my father, and so does Captain Norton. That's enough."
Grigg flung Norton one malignant glance.
"Well, gal," he said slowly, "that's true. I ain't your dad."
"Who am I, then?" demanded Kathleen swiftly.
"I dunno." The backwoodsman shook his head, and Norton could not but believe he spoke the truth. "I found ye nigh on twenty year back, Kitty, in an Injun camp. Wyandots, they was, an' I bought ye fer a new horn o' powder an' a gun. That thar's God's truth, gal. They wouldn't say nothin' 'bout ye. Now I've told, gal, you won't go back on the ol' man? Come 'long into the woods a spell——"
"I think not," broke in Norton drily. "Grigg, we know all about how you want to sell Kitty to this skunk of a Duval. She'll have nothing more to do with you. That's flat."
"You've been an' set her up to this, hey?" snarled Grigg suddenly, turning on the Louisianian. "All right! I'll make ye pay afore I'm done with ye!"
Duval gave the angry man a look, and again Grigg flung off his rage swiftly.
"Kitty, won't ye go with me?" he said slowly, picking up his rifle.
"No."
Duval stood aside, watching, a shadowy sneer on his powerful features. A glance at the river showed Norton the skiff some three hundred yards away and slowly approaching the landing. Grigg, leaning on his rifle and clawing his grizzled beard, looked at the girl with a sudden sadness in his deep eyes.
"Kitty," he said very slowly, the harsh timbre of his voice accentuating his words and lending them sincerity, "I've brung ye up as best I could. When the ol' woman died ten year back, it was you helped to bury her. 'Member that? Ye allus called me Dad, didn't ye? I've done right by ye, gal, accordin' to my lights. Ain't I give ye the best I could? Ain't I paid ol' Elisha Ayres to give ye learnin'? You ain't lacked fer nothin', Kitty, even if I am poor."
Norton, listening, forbore to interfere. It occurred to him that Grigg was making a desperate fight for a valuable piece of property, yet there was truth in what the man said. And Kathleen knew it. Struggle sat in her face.
"Kitty, gal," went on Grigg with renewed earnestness, "I ain't askin' much of ye. I've allus give ye the best I had, ain't I? Now, looky here. Fur's anyone knows, you're my daughter an' I could force ye any ways I wanted to. But I don't. I love ye, gal, an' all I want is fer you to stick by me a bit longer. I'm gettin' old, Kitty, an' ain't as well able to take care o' myself as I used to be. If you're mixed up with that spy feller, Kitty, ye've done me a mighty bad turn, but I ain't carin' fer that. Now ain't you a-goin' to come along o' me, little gal? You ain't a-goin' to leave the ol' man, be ye?"
"What do you want of me?" Sorely shaken, the girl looked at him. "Why shouldn't I go back home, then?"
"Because I need ye, gal," returned Grigg earnestly. "I'd 'a' brung ye afore, only I didn't know as I'd need ye. They's a camp down-river a piece, where I aim to set out quite a spell, an' I want ye to cook an' take care o' things fer us. Kitty, don't go back on me after I done brung ye up all them years! Even if ye don't love me, don't ye reckon ye owe me somethin'? I've took good care on ye, gal——"
Terribly pale, the girl turned to Norton. He read the weariness of her eyes, and started to speak, but she stopped him:
"No—he's right, Mr. Norton. I owe him some duty, though it will never go so far as marrying that man." And she flashed Duval one contemptuous glance. "Good-bye, Mr. Norton—and God bless you!"
Norton bowed over her hand, bringing it to his lips. The touch thrilled him, and for a long moment he looked down into her grey eyes, not trusting himself to speak.
"Good-bye, for the present," he said huskily, his finely-chiselled face very tender, "And remember—I shall see you again."
With no more words she turned to Grigg, who helped her to the saddle of Duval's horse, and they started away. Norton gazed after them, feeling the girl's high character grip at his heart-strings; then he turned at a hail from the river landing.
"Hey, you fellers! Who's fer Louisville?"
"All right!" replied the Louisianian. He looked at Duval, and his eyes flamed out like a sword. "Duval," he said softly, "you're a yellow dog! You've tried murder and failed; now play your last card and do it soon, or you're gone!"
Immobile, his face set as though carven in stone, Duval gazed at him. Then his strong white teeth flashed out in a slow smile. "If you wish to make your last will and testament, Captain Norton, anyone in Louisville can direct you to my office. Sir, your servant!"
And with a bow he passed down to the waiting boat. Norton followed, smiling a little, his heart sore within him for Kitty Grigg.
"But, by gad, it's in the open now!" he thought. "Duval is smart, but his craft has sprung a leak—and the tide will swamp him whether I live or die!”