CHAPTER XXIII.

A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.

The old man looked startled, and the girl showed signs of alarm.

"Quick, Drew!" she whispered. "Is the door fastened?"

"Yes!" quavered the old man.

"My revolver--where is it?"

"On the shelf--where you placed it."

With a spring that reminded the boys of the leap of a young pantheress, she reached the shelf and snatched a gleaming pistol from it. Then she faced the door again, the weapon half raised.

The boys were on their feet.

"Land ob wartermillions!" chattered Toots, his eyes rolling. "Looks lek dar am gwan teh be a rucshun fo' suah!"

Then he looked around for some place of concealment.

"What is it?" asked Frank. "Is there danger?"

"To me--yes," nodded Isa. "But you do not care! I expect no aid from you, sir."

"Who is at the door?"

"It may be Bill Higgins, the sheriff!"

"Come to arrest you?"

"Perhaps."

"He can't do it!" hissed Diamond, as he caught up a heavy chair and held it poised. "We won't let him!"

The girl actually laughed.

"At least, I have one champion," she said.

"To the death!" Diamond heroically declared.

The knock was repeated, and this time it was given in a peculiar manner, as if it were a special signal.

An expression of relief came to the faces of the old man and the girl, but they seemed very much surprised.

"Who can it be?" Isa asked, doubtingly.

"It is the secret signal," said the man with the gray hair.

"That is true, but who should come here to give the signal?"

"It must be all right."

"Wait. I will go into the back room. If it is repeated, open the door. Should it be an enemy or enemies, give me time to get away. That's all. Hold them from rushing into the back room."

"We will do that," declared Diamond.

In a moment Isa disappeared.

The knock was given for the third time, and the old man approached the door, which he slowly and deliberately opened.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked.

The reply was muffled and indistinct, but something like an exclamation of relief escaped the man, and he flung the door wide open.

Into the room walked a young man with a smooth-shaved face and a swaggering air.

"Hello, Drew!" he called, and then he stopped and stared at the boys. "I didn't know you had visitors," he said.

"So it's you, Kent--so it's you!" exclaimed the old man, with relief. "I didn't know--I reckoned it might be somebody else."

"You knew I was coming."

"Yes; but I didn't 'low you'd get here so soon. It's a long distance to Carson, and----"

"Never mind that," quickly spoke the man, interrupting Drew, as if he feared he would say something it were better the boys did not hear. "My horse is outside. Where shall I put him?"

"In the shed. I'll show ye. Come on."

The old man went out, followed by the newcomer, and the door was left open slightly. Toots quietly slipped out after them.

Isa Isban came back into the room.

"I do not care to be seen here by everybody who may come along," she explained; "but this person is all right, for Drew knows him."

This was rather strange to all of the boys except Frank, but Merry instantly divined that she was afraid of Higgins and more than half expected the big sheriff would follow her there.

The secret signal and the air of mystery and apprehension shown by the girl and the old man convinced Merriwell that all was not right.

Isa had at one time "shoved the queer" for a band of men who made counterfeit money, and Bart Hodge had told Frank quite enough to convince Merriwell that she was still in the same dangerous and unlawful business.

The thoughts which ran riot in Merry's head were of a startling nature, but his face was calm and passive, betraying nothing of what was passing in his mind.

Once more Diamond set about making himself agreeable to Isa, and she met him more than halfway. She laughed and chatted with him, seeming to have forgotten that such a person as Frank Merriwell existed.

Browning sat down in a comfortable position where he could lean against the wall, and proceeded to fall asleep.

After a short time Toots came slipping into the cabin, his eyes rolling, and his whole manner betraying excitement and fear. He would have blurted out something, but Frank gave him a signal that caused him to be silent.

At the first opportunity the colored boy whispered in Merry's ear:

"Marser Frank, de bes' fing we can do is teh git out ob dis 'bout as soon as we kin do it, sar."

"What makes you think that?" asked Merriwell, cautiously.

"We am in a po'erful ba-ad scrape, sar."

"What do you mean?"

"It am mighty ba-ad folks dat libs heah, sar."

"Bad? In what way?"

"Dey hab done suffin' dat meks dem skeered ob de ossifers ob de law."

"How do you know?"

"I done hears de ol' man and de young man talkin'."

"What did they say?"

"Say dat ossifers am arter 'em. De young man say dat he have to run from Carson City to 'scape arrest, sar."

"He is the horseman I saw ahead of us in the valley," said Frank. "He must have seen us coming and concealed himself, expecting we would pass him. It is plain he did not wish to be seen."

"Suah's yeh bawn, boy! He has been doin' suffin' mighty ba-ad, an' he's dangerous. He said he wouldn't be 'rested alive, sar."

"This is very interesting," nodded Frank. "It seems that we are in for one more exciting adventure before we finish the tour."

"I don' like it, sar--'deed I don'! No tellin' what such folks will do. He am feelin' po'erful ugly, fo' he say suffin' 'bout trubble wif his wife an' 'bout habbin' her follerin' him. Dat am how it happen he wur comin' from de wes' 'stead ob de eas'. He done dodge roun' teh git 'way from his wife, sar."

"He is a brave and gallant young man," smiled Merriwell. "I admire him very much--nit!"

"Now don' yeh go teh bein' brash wif dat chap, Marser Frank. Dar ain't no tellin' what he might do."

"Don't worry. Keep cool, and wait till I take a fancy to move. I want to look him over some more. He will be coming back with Drew in a moment, and---- Here they come now!"

Into the cabin came the old man, and the young man was at his heels. There was a sullen, unpleasant look on the face of the latter, and he glared at the boys as if he considered them intruders.

Isa looked up and arose as they entered.

The light of the lamp fell fairly on her face, and the newcomer saw her plainly.

He uttered a shout of astonishment and staggered back, his eyes opened to their widest and his manner betraying the utmost consternation.

"Is it possible!" he grated.

Then he clutched the old man by the shoulder, snarling:

"Confound your treacherous old hide! You have betrayed me. You said the woman was Isa Isban, and she is----"

The girl interrupted him with a laugh.

"You seem excited," she said. "I am Isa Isban, and no one else."

He took a step toward her, his face working and his hands clinched.

"How did you get here ahead of me?" he hoarsely demanded.

"In the most natural manner possible," she answered. "A friend brought me, Mr. Kent."

"You know my real name--you know everything! I suppose you are here to secure evidence against me. You are looking for a divorce."

"A divorce?"

"Exactly."

"I do not understand you."

"You understand well enough. We have not been married so very long, and our married life hasn't been any too happy. You have accused me of abusing you--you have threatened to leave me."

The girl looked bewildered.

"What is the matter with the man?" she murmured. "Is he crazy?"

The man seemed puzzled by her manner, and the witnesses of the remarkable scene were absolutely at sea; they could not understand what it was about.

"I am not crazy," said the young man; "but I was a fool to marry you. You were not worth the trouble I took to get you. I should have let the other fool have you, instead of plotting to disgrace him in the eyes of your uncle and aunt, so I could get you."

A great light dawned on Frank Merriwell.

"Great fortune!" he mentally exclaimed. "This is the fellow who married Vida Melburn, Isa's half-sister, and he thinks this girl is his wife! They used to look so much alike that it was difficult to tell one from the other.

"Married--married to you?" cried the girl. "Not on your life! Why, I never saw you before, although I have heard of you."

The man seemed staggered for a moment, and then, with a cry of anger, he leaped upon her.

"What is your game?" he hissed, as he shook her savagely. "What are you up to? I thought you a soft, innocent little girl, and now you are showing yourself something quite different. I believe you played me for a sucker! And you want a divorce! Well, here is cause for it!"

Then he choked her.

Frank went at him like a cyclone.

"You infernal villain!" he cried, as his hands fell on the man, and he tore the gasping girl from his clutches. "No one but a brute ever lays hands on a woman in anger, and a brute deserves a good drubbing almost any time. Here is where you get it!"

Then he proceeded to polish off the girl's assailant in a most scientific manner, ending by flinging him in a limp and battered condition into a corner of the room.

Diamond had hastened to support the girl when Frank snatched her from her assailant, but she repulsed him and flung him off, saying, hoarsely:

"Let me alone! I am all right! I want to see this fight!"

With interest she watched Frank whip the man whom she had called Kent, though she swayed and panted with every blow, her eyes glittering and her cheeks flushed.

As Merriwell flung the fellow into the corner, the girl straightened up and threw back her head, laughing:

"Well, he was a soft thing, and that is a fact! Think of being thrashed by a boy! Drew, is it possible this is our Carson City agent, whom you called 'a good man,' when you were speaking of him this evening? Such a chap would blow the whole game if he were pinched. I wouldn't trust him."

The old man stood rubbing his shaking hands together, greatly agitated and unable to say a word.

Then there came a thunderous knock on the door, and a hoarse voice demanded admittance.