Chapter 5

"Josh, we've hit the jackpot!" John Randall practically shouted as Josh came in the door.

"What do you mean, John? I have no idea what you're talkin' about."

"You know about the gold strike up north of Santa Rosa, don't you? They've got a tent "city" set up and runnin' an' the miners' association wants us to extend our line up there an' carry out the gold for them. They're offerin' a pretty penny to us if we'll take the job. I agreed to it, but you have to be willin' to guard the shipments. I'm willin' to offer you a full partnership in the stage line if you will take on the duty of protectin' the gold shipment between the mines and Smithville. They want us to make a special gold run every two weeks. We'll be carryin' about $30,000 worth of gold on every trip, so we can expect that every bandit within 200 miles will want to take a bite. Will you take on the job?"

"Sure I will, but I have to get Alice to agree. If you want, I'll go talk to her right now."

"Please go! I'll wait here for your answer. Please don't disappoint me!"

Josh returned home and told Alice of John's offer of a full partnership in the stage line if he would take on the job of guarding the gold.

"Does that mean that you would be away from home overnight?"

"Only one night every two weeks. Otherwise, it'll be about like it is now."

"You really want to do this, don't you? All right, I'm willin' to give it a try. Go tell John that you will take him up on his offer."

John was practically dancing with happiness when Josh told him that the offer was acceptable to Alice and him. John promised to have his lawyer draw up the legal papers and have them ready by the end of the week. In the meantime, he suggested that Josh start looking for the extra guards that he would need.

He was running late, so Josh tried to hurry his trip to DP1. He just made it as the stagecoach came into sight. There was no trouble; in fact, there was no trouble at any of the danger points on this day, so Josh was able to get back to Smithville in time to do a little personnel searching in the most obvious place: the two saloons.

Josh saw two potential employees at the first saloon and three at the second one. He told them that if they were interested in jobs as guards with the stage line, they should be at the office at 4:00 PM on Friday. They all said that they would be there.

The first man to show up was Jim Badger, a tough-as-nails outdoorsman type, who looked like he had wrestled a grizzly and won. Josh liked him at their first meeting and hoped to use Badger as his replacement on DP1, DP2, and DP3. Their conversation convinced Josh that Badger was as conscientious as he needed to be to watch over this section of the route.

Elias Simpson was short and wide, built like a barrel cactus. His arms were so strong that Josh believed him even before he demonstrated that he could bend a horseshoe in his bare hands. With arms like that, Josh knew that Elias could swing a shotgun around as easily as most men handled a pistol, so Josh wanted him as a gold-coach guard.

Beanpole Wilson was so tall and thin that his nickname fit perfectly. He claimed to be a former Texas Ranger who got tired of the low pay and was looking for something better. He was capable of independent operation, so Josh thought that he could handle guarding the other end of the stage route, from DP4 to the eventual DP6.

Tubby Smith was too short to be called "Beanpole," but he was thin enough. He was wiry and quick. He had a quick sense of humor, but a serious turn of mind. He was the only potential employee who was married, but his wife was willing for him to take on a guard job, so Josh hired him to be a gold-coach guard.

The last man to show up was Edgar Bartholomew, who came riding up in a cloud of dust. He had stopped to help a stranger change a broken wagon wheel, so he was a couple of minutes late. Ed was of average size and average looks, certainly not somebody you'd pick out in a crowd. But he had a determined air about him that impressed Josh, so he was also hired as a gold-stage guard.

Elias, Tubby, and Ed were told to show up on Monday to start work, but Jim and Beanpole were to meet Josh for his regular guard run tomorrow. Josh was going to give the two men a quick run through the route and put them on their own, come Monday.

Saturday morning, Jim and Beanpole were ready to leave when Josh got to the stage office so they left at a quick lope for DP5. Beanpole had no problem memorizing the route to DP5 that Josh had worked out and they arrived in plenty of time to be ready for the stagecoach which was still leaving from Santa Rosa.

Temporarily, the stage route would be from Smithville, through Santa Rosa, to the gold camp and back to overnight at the established terminal at Santa Rosa. The next day, it would return directly to Smithville. If there was enough business to warrant the full stage run every other day to the gold camp, they would move the stage terminal from Santa Rosa to the gold camp; otherwise, they would just run the biweekly gold-coach to and from the gold camp as a separate operation. Time would tell.

Josh told Beanpole and Jim that they could feel free to rig any sort of watch station they were comfortable with; the stage line would support whatever they thought they needed. Beanpole was pleased to hear this and said that he would think about it; Jim didn't say anything, but looked happy.

The stagecoach was on time and there was no trouble, so they quickly rode to DP4. They had the same experience at DP4 as at DP5; indeed, this was a dull day and they had no trouble at DP3 or DP2.

When they reached DP1, Jim remarked that he was impressed with Josh's route from DP2, but even more so, with the accommodations at DP1. "So this is where the famous 'Battle of Smithville Road' took place," he grinned. "You picked the perfect spot for a fort. I don't think that I can improve on it."

They returned to Smithville well before supper time, so Josh bought a beer for Jim and Beanpole at their favorite saloon. While they were drinking, Josh said, "Beanpole, if you want to relocate to Santa Rosa, you can. The trip to DP5 can get to be a pain, so you may want to shorten it by spending your nights in Santa Rosa. I'll drop by to see you every once in a while and somebody, either me or the stage driver, will bring your pay every week. Let me know what you decide."

"OK, Josh, I may do that."

"Jim, I expect that you will want to stay in Smithville, but that's up to you."

"Yeah, that's my plan."

"Well, good night, gentlemen."

Monday morning, Josh met Ed, Elias, and Tubby at the stage office in Smithville and told them, "Good morning, gentlemen. Today, I want us to ride to the gold camp and survey the route the gold-stage will have to take. Please get your horses and prepare for a long ride. I'll meet you back here in an hour."

An hour later, they were riding at a fast lope toward Santa Rosa. When they got there, they ate lunch and got back on the road to the gold camp, which had recently been named Rio del Oro (River of gold) by an Anglo whose Spanish was suspect.

The road along here was adequate, but nothing to brag about. The intention was to make the run from Rio del Oro to Smithville in one day, but this section of road was going to make that a close run thing. Josh guessed that it would take at least two, maybe three, hours to get from Rio del Oro to Santa Rosa, and another five hours to get to Smithville where the gold was scheduled to be stored in the bank's vault.

Josh's main concern about the trip from Rio del Oro to Santa Rosa was centered around the quality of the road. If the gold stage was attacked, the road was too rough for the stage to run away from its attackers. The only option was to stand and fight. Beanpole might need help in patrolling this section of road.

There were three places along the road where an attack might be most successfully mounted; fortunately, they were close enough together that one man could cover them all. However, it began to look like the route guards for the gold stage and for the regular stagecoach might have to be two different crews.

It was quite late when they got back to Smithville and all four were dead tired. They parted quickly with a promise to meet the next morning at the office to discuss what they had seen and what to do about it. Alice had waited supper for Josh and he really appreciated it, but he was so tired that he barely finished eating before Alice had to help him to bed. He was asleep by the time he lay down!