Mine of Distress

"Turn around," a voice ordered, "Slowly".

The two cousins obeyed. They turned to face the two intruders.

"They the same from the other day?" Becky whispered.

"I think so." Julia replied. "They sound the same."

Mr. Blue pointed his revolver at the pair while Mr. Red fetched two chairs.

Becky turned to Magda. "Have you hurt her in any way?" she asked. Mr. Blue denied it, and Magda shook her head to signal that she had not been harmed.

"What do you want from us, you ruffians?!" Julia demanded.

"Why, to give up any silly notions you girls have of running the mine, of course." Mr. Blue replied. "Give it up, and you shall live." His partner had, by now, brought up the chairs. Like Magda's, they were wooden chairs with straight backs and brightly polished arms. Julia and Becky were made to sit in the chairs. First, they had each arm tied to one of the chair's arms. As they expected no interruptions, the two villains took their time to carefully secure the arms.

"Don't you two worry your pretty heads." Mr. Red joked. "We have plenty of rope to go around." As if to emphasise his point, he and his cohort left for several minutes, then returned with longer pieces of rope. They wound the vast coils of rope around the two captives. The rope used on Julia was so long it encircled her from elbows to shoulders. The taller Becky lacked this problem, but was still restrained by an ample coil. Securing their ankles was a more difficult problem. Their long skirts precluded binding each ankle individually to a chair leg, so the two intruders bound each captives' ankles together and looped some of the excess rope on the crossover support underneath either chair.

"All right, you've done what you intended." Becky said, "now leave us in peace."

"Only after we take care of one minor detai,." Mr Blue said. "We thought these might be appropriate." He and Mr. Red each flourished a lady's handkerchief with lace trim. The cloths were folded over, then the two thugs tightly secured them around the cousins' mouths. Without any further word, they were on their way.

Becky and Julia tried to struggle, but even the smallest movement took a monumental effort. It's no use, Julia thought. We're stuck here until the ranch hands start returning tonight. A clock chimed on the mantelpiece, signaling the half-hour. That one chimes every fifteen minutes. Four chimes each hour we're trapped here.

Becky took note of her fellow captives' plight. Julia seemed to be holding out well, but Magda began sobbing.

One hour passed, then a knock came at the door. It was repeated and a man's voice called "Is anybody here?"

Julia's surprised reaction told Becky that her cousin had recognized the voice, but it wasn't Fulton's. Julia tried to shout through her gag. Becky, then Magda, joined in, hoping that the three of them together could make enough noise to be heard.

"I'm coming in," the voice stated. The door opened and in stepped a well-dressed young man. He had glossy brown hair and a neatly trimmed moustache. He raced toward the captives and exclaimed, "Good heavens! I'm glad I came!" Becky then realized this newcomer had the same New England accent as Julia. He pulled the gag from Julia's mouth. As soon as she was able, Julia said hoarsely "Magda. She's been tied up longer." The man determined the captive in the plain dress was Magda. Once she was free, and had shaken some circulation back into her extremities after the man had helped her up, she untied Julia while the newcomer released Becky.

"Who are you?" Becky asked of the mystery rescuer. "Didn't Julia tell you? You and I are practically related."

"What?"

"This is my step brother," Julia said. "Becky Carson, meet Charles Bradford."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Charles said, then kissed the knuckles on Becky's right hand.

"Why are you here?" Asked Julia.

"Mother and Father were worried so about you. I was in Chicago, negotiating freight rates for the railroad I work for, so I decided look in on you."

Julia was dubious. Chicago was a good thousand miles away, hardly a pleasure jaunt, as she knew well. Nevertheless, she said nothing. "I'm glad you decided to come." Becky said.

"As I am," he said. "Perhaps now, Julia will dissuade herself about this nonsense of running a gold mine."