Chapter 14

"I swear to Goshen, Ezra, I don't know what to do about that sabotage they got planned fer Sunday. We don't know who we kin trust. We can't send a telegram cuz that's too public, an' a letter would take too long."

"Maybe the two of us can hit them on Sunday. All we need to do is scare 'em off. They might run off ifen we were to shoot at 'em after they git to the track."

"Yeah, I don't see nothin' else we kin do. Our shotguns oughta scare hell outa them ifen we blast away as hard as we kin. They ain't nothin' but a bunch of amateurs, so they won't know what to make of a lota shootin'."

"What're we goin' to do 'bout the leader of this foolishness?"

"It looks to me like the best thin' to do'll be to foller 'im wherever he goes. That way, he's bound to lead us to his boss one of these days."

Since neither Sean or Ezra knew the territory around Hopkin's Crossing, they figured that the best thing for them to do would be to follow the leader and let him lead them to the action. Thus, they were ready when the leader left the hotel after Sunday breakfast. In order to keep out of sight, Ezra trailed him from a safe distance; it was easy, because the man made no effort to hide his movements.

They arrived at the rendezvous well before 3:00 o'clock, so that Sean and Ezra had plenty of time to set up their ambush. They decided to move a goodly distance from each other to give the impression of a larger attacking force than just the two men. Once they found their places, they settled down and waited for the festivities to start. They had agreed not to shoot until the men had actually approached the track to do their mischief. Since there are always stragglers at this sort of gathering, it was 3:30 before the meeting was called to order and the clowns walked toward the track.

As soon as the leader set his prybar against a spike, Sean and Ezra started shooting. At this point, the men were about 40 yards away from the shooters, so they were out of effective range of the shotguns. Of course, this bunch of amateur troublemakers didn't realize that and they panicked. They ran for their horses, which actually shortened the range, making it more likely that they would be hit by the buckshot. One or two of the men were hit by buckshot, more by accident than anything else, but it was enough to complete the demoralization of the vandals. They scattered in every direction and left the vicinity as fast as their horses could run.

Ezra and Sean quit shooting as soon as they were sure the stampede was on. They ran to their horses and mounted, ready to follow the leader wherever he went. As it turned out, he led them back to Jasper in nearly a straight line. He put up his horse and headed for the nearest saloon where he calmed his nerves with ample application of strong drink. Sean and Ezra had a beer and then left, as they were sure that the leader was locked into place until he was ready for bed.

After supper, Sean verified that he was still in the saloon consuming a liquid supper, so Sean and Ezra sat on the bench in front of the hotel and smoked cigars until the man staggered into the hotel and to bed. The two Rangers then did the same.

The leader never showed up for breakfast; the Rangers assumed that he was suffering from a monumental hangover. The man moped around the hotel all day and evening, not even getting in sight of a saloon! The next morning was different! The leader marched into breakfast with a spring in his step and ate a hearty meal.

After breakfast, he went to the railroad station and bought a ticket to Eagle Pass. Once he was safely aboard, Sean and Ezra boarded the train and showed their letter from Maj. MacGregor to the conductor. They sat in the car behind the one occupied by their man and followed him to Eagle Pass.

At Eagle Pass, their quarry left the train and walked into town, where he entered a lawyer's office. The two Rangers ducked into the alley behind the office, hoping to find an open window where they could hear any conversation. They were lucky and found an open window just as their man entered the office.

"Good day, Mr. Atkins, sir."

"Good day, Snodgrass. What do ya have to report?"

"We've had nothin' but problems the last week or so, Mr. Atkins, sir. Our last two raids against the railroad have been met with stiff resistance. I lost 3 men in the last robbery attempt and 3 more in the attempt to burn the trestle. And Sunday, we were attacked by at least 20 men, but managed to escape with no casualties. We're runnin' into more expert defense than we can handle with our untrained men. We need to change tactics, Mr. Atkins, sir."

"Snodgrass, I'm tired of hearin' these negative reports and excuses from ya. Ifen ya don't do better, I'll have to replace ya! Ya're jus' diggin' yerself a deeper an' deeper hole. Now, straighten up and start doin' a better job, or ya'll be replaced. An' ya know what that means."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Atkins, sir. I'll do better! Ya'll see!"

"I'd better. Now, git outa my office!"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Atkins, sir."

Sean waved Ezra away from the window. "Let's git to the Ranger office an' report what we know."

Three hours later, they staggered out of the Ranger office looking as if they had just undergone three hours of the most grueling torture imaginable. "I swear to Goshen, I hate to write them there reports!

"Yeah, me, too, pardner. Sometimes I think there must be a better way to make a livin', then I remember punchin' cows! When I do that, that there paper work don't look so damned bad!"

"Hey, there's Atkins! I wonder where he's goin'. Let's foller 'im an' find out." Atkins led them to a restaurant much swankier than any they were used to. He went in and joined another well dressed man for supper. The two Rangers went in and flashed their badges at the maitre d. They explained that they wanted to stand just inside the door and watch one of their patrons. The determined look on their faces was enough to convince the maitre d not to argue with them.

They couldn't hear the conversation, but it looked like Atkins was getting an earful! He appeared a bit crestfallen as he left the restaurant; they decided to follow the other man to see what they could learn. A few minutes later, he left the restaurant and took a cab to an elegant home on the outskirts of Eagle Pass. The Rangers noted the address and had their cab turn around and take them to the Ranger barracks where they spent the night.

The next morning they went to see Capt. Joe Sanderson, the man in charge of the Eagle Pass Ranger post, to ask for help in identifying the man they had followed from the restaurant the previous night. They were informed that he was Jason Bartholomew, a respected banker, and there was no reason to bother him. But they had seen Bartholomew's tattoo! Sean and Ezra saluted and left the office.

"Pardner, let's take the train back to Jasper an' pick up our stuff. I don't care what the Cap'n says, I think Bartholomew's worth follerin' some more."

Sean agreed, "Ifen we hurry, we kin git the train back to Jasper this mornin'." They made it in time to catch the train and were back in Jasper shortly after noon. They ate lunch, checked out of the hotel, and were on the road to Eagle Pass in short order.

They didn't get back to Eagle Pass until the next afternoon; they turned in their horses and stored their tack at the Ranger station. Sean and Ezra spent the next two weeks and three days in a long, boring stake-out at Bartholomew's bank, hoping to get some lead on the next level of The Brotherhood. Finally, something different happened! Bartholomew caught the morning flier to Austin, and Sean and Ezra managed to catch the same train.

Bartholomew engaged a suite at the fanciest hotel in Austin and spent the evening in the hotel's gentleman's club. Sean and Ezra didn't try to get in, but they did keep a close eye on the place. They spent the night in the Ranger barracks after Bartholomew went to bed.

Bartholomew ate breakfast in his suite and left for an appointment before 9:00 AM. The Rangers followed him to an office in one of the finest office buildings in Austin. He entered an office on the top floor and spent two hours in conference with seven other men. Sean and Ezra managed to "innocently" stroll by the office often enough to get considerable information about its occupants. Unfortunately, they were not able to get a name for any of the other conference attendees. When the meeting broke up, Bartholomew went to the train station and bought a ticket on the first train back to Eagle Pass.

Sean and Ezra decided that their time could be better spent in haunting the Austin office, trying to identify the other men who had attended the meeting with Bartholomew. They were very careful to be inconspicuous in their surveillance and did not appear to be noticed. They did catch a glimpse of a dark smudge at the base of one man's thumb as one might see as the remnant of an old tattoo, but they did not see any more like it among the other men. They did find out that this office belonged to a brokerage firm that spent most of its time speculating on various stock exchanges.

Ezra and Sean were at an impasse! What could they do to gain more information? They could always kidnap and torture information from Bartholomew or the man they suspected in Austin, but they rejected that out of hand; torture was just not their style! Their only option was to keep shadowing the Austin suspect, Samson Towers, and wait for a break.