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"This is all very interesting," said Major Norton as he rifled through his cluttered desk in search of the pipe he sometimes smoked.
Seaten in the carved back armchair in front of his desk was Catherine Hare. Her husband stood behind the chair, one hand resting on a section of carving.
"Can we," asked the slim blond girl, "see this man Morisson?"
"That's an even more interesting aspect of this situation," the major said. "Morisson is no longer with us."
"He's been executed?"
"No, no. He's escaped."
Hare said, "That stockade of yours looks quite sturdy, major."
"So we've always believed," he replied. "However, last night, sometime between eight and nine, Morisson and a fellow prisoner escaped."
Katherine asked, "This other man, who was he?"
"That's something interesting, too," said Major Norton. "The other man, a young fellow who looked to be wholly or at least part Oriental, claimed he was the son of John Robinson."
"One of the men who was working the gold claim with my brother?"
"Exactly," said the plump major, locating his pipe. "It developed that this Robinson is wanted by the federal government for a murder he committed in Korea."
“I’ve never heard of Korea,” said Hare. “And why is our government interested in someone who murdered in this place called Korea?”
Katherine explained to Milton, "I think he's referring to the Korean Punitive Expedition of 1871. He must have killed one of our Marines."
"Indeed he did, mam," Major Norton said. "One Corporal James Anderson, dead at this hill's savage hands."
Hare laughed. "This all certainly sounds like Ollie's kind of affair," he said. "He has a real knack for getting himself involved with oddball types."
"There's nothing to indicate," said Katherine, frowning back at her husband, "that Ollie even knew this man." She returned her attention to the major. "Why was he locked up with Morisson, anyway?"
Puffing on the unlit pipe, the major felt the papers atop his desk. He located the wanted poster, unfurled it, and handed it across to the girl. "According to this his name is Ji-Hoon Robinson," he said. "He showed up here yesterday and asked our Provost Marshal for permission to speak to Morisson. His story was that he was searching for this father of his, John Robinson." He paused, puffed. "While he was in the stockade with the giant, Sergeant Crawford, the Provost Marshal, remembered this circular. He summoned me and we went into the stockade to confront the young man."
Hare had taken the poster from his wife's hand and was studying it. "Did he admit to being Ji-Hoon Robinson?"
"Oh yes," answered the major. "He's an odd sort of young fellow, very soft-spoken and gracious. I asked him why, knowing there were posters out on him, he walked right in here. He told me, 'It had to be done.'"
"How," asked Catherine, "did they manage to escape?"
"As far as we can tell, this young Robinson was able to get some kind of stranglehold on their guard, forcing him to open the cell and let them out. We're still uncertain as to how they got out of the fort itself."
"Very mysterious," said Hare. "Is it possible that Robinson came here expressly to get the other man free?"
"The thought has occurred to me," admitted the major.
"Would this Sergeant Crawford be able to tell us anything more about Morisson, or my brother?"
"He might," said the major, "except he left early this morning on the trail of those two."
Katherine asked, "Does he have any idea where they might go?"
"It's Crawford's opinion they'll head up into the mountains."
Katherine glanced at her husband. "That's where the gold claim is."
"Where it might be," corrected the major. "This Morisson, I don't imagine you know much about him, Mrs. Hare. He's a brute of a fellow, big and wild. Not much more than an animal. He's more at home in the wilds than among men."
"What about Robinson?" asked the girl. "Are you sure he's still with Morisson?"
"He must be. They're chained together at the wrists and ankles."
Katherine rested her hands on her knees for a second, then rose out of the ornate chair. "Thank you for your time, major."
"It's a shame I couldn't be of more help," he said as he stood. "Well, I suppose you'll be thinking about going back to Boston now."
Katherine shook her head. "We're going up into the mountains," she said.
"But...." began the major.233Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtxwHFNebA
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"Shucks now. It's a real longshot," said Craig. He was squatting on the orange-brown ground, partly shaded by a giant multi-armed cactus.
Smokes was standing near their resting horses. He removed his spectacles, rubbed them on the front of his beadless vest. "From what we been able to find out, this Morisson killed one of his partners."
"Don't necessarily mean," pointed out Hopalong," they found any gold."
"When four men been huntin' for gold an' they start killin' each other," said Smokes, "it's a pretty good sign they found somethin'."
"I ain't too partial to the idea o' takin' off after them shike-pokes," said Hopalong.
"Me either," said Craig. "Seems kinda foolhardy t' be headin' up into them mountains at this time especial. We'll have Utes to worry about and God knows...."
"That's where they's all a'goin', though, ain't it?" said Smokes, readjusting his specs. "Morisson an' th' hill, now the yellow-haired gal an' her hubby. All goin' up that a'way. Might jus' be 'cause they knows somethin'. An' that's what we're a'gonna find out."
The three men had followed Katherine and her husband from Tightbutte to Fort Lonestar. While the Hares were having their interview with the major, Hopalong had been able to strike up a conversation with a couple of the Garisson troops. He was the most amiable of the three and he was the best at casually getting information. What he'd learned had given Smokes his current notion.
"Them soldiers I talked with," Hopalong put in now, "they say as how this Morisson is mighty wild. I mean to say, he's some kinda big hulkin' madman. It took 'em somethin' like a half-dozen o' their toughest boys t' get him locked up. Even then he broke right outta th' stockade."
Smokes said, "My experience with wild men has been they ain't too smart in th' head. They ain't got th' brains God gave a grizzly bear. I got no doubts I can outsmart our friend Morisson."
"That's still gonna leave," said Hopalong, "the hill to worry about. I dunno how exactly he managed t' do what he done back in Rustic Springs, but...."
"He ain't gonna get no chance t' pull any more o' them heathen tricks," Smokes assured the fat man. "No sir, that ain't a'gonna happen no more."
"Shucks now," Craig said. "I still figure the odds are way 'gainst us finding any gold."
Smokes mounted his roan horse. "Even if we don't find any gold," he said, chuckling, "I'll maybe git t'know that yeller-haired honey better. Now c'mon, before they get too much of a lead on us."
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