w, what the ----" began Williams, when he was answered--there was a
crash, the sight of rocks and sand flying, and a thunderous
reverberation.

"The mutts have blown up the track!" burst from the engineer, furiously.

"They would," replied Scott, sourly. "Want to cut us off from Conejo till
they've made their getaway! Probably cut the wires, too. Go and see,
Miller. If they haven't, get Morgan and tell him Pachuca's on the rampage.
Did he say what was up? What he was doing this for?" he asked.

"Not him," said O'Grady, disgustedly. "Bring out your dead--that's Johnny
Pachuca--no flourishes about him."

"You come in here with me and look at Joe Williams' arm," commanded Mrs.
Van. "It don't look to me as if it was broke, do you think so?"

"I'll see to Adams," said Scott. "Johnson, you go down to the arroyo and
get the girl." And he went down the street to the cabin.

"Well, did he get everything?" demanded Adams, as Scott entered.

"All he could carry. He left the victrola for you, Jimmy, and the stove
for Mrs. Van."

"Gosh! What did you do with Miss Polly?"

"Left her with the horses in the arroyo."

"That was smart of you, Scotty. I'll bet she wanted to come?"

"I'll bet she did, but she didn't get to come. Let's have another look at
the leg, Jimmy."

They bathed it as well as they could. It had stopped bleeding and they
bandaged it carefully with another towel.

"I don't believe the bone's broke, Jimmy, but I don't like the looks of
it," said the amateur surgeon. "You need a doctor."

"There ain't any except that greaser over at Conejo," said Adams,
gloomily. "Morgan says he's so dirty he won't let him touch his kids. I
don't want blood poisoning, you bet. Did they blow up the track?"

Scott nodded. "There's Johnson," he exclaimed, looking out of the window.
"He's got the horses but not the girl. Hey, there, Tom, where's Miss
Polly?" he cried as the engineer dismounted and came into the house.

"She wasn't there, Scotty. I found the horses tied to a branch of a tree
that grew out of the side of the arroyo but there wasn't no sign of the
girl anywhere."

Scott's face darkened. "She was scared and went further up," he said. "Did
you look?"

"Looked and hollered and then some, but she was clean gone."

Scott muttered something, flung out of the house and threw himself on his
horse. In a moment he was tearing up the road.

"Where's that ugly devil going?" said Johnson, disgustedly. "Didn't I tell
h