I arrived home with the box of papers and eagerly sat down to read, but first I had to sort through them to make sure they were in order. As I was shuffling the pages, a small scrap of paper fell to the floor. I picked it up to see what it was. The printing on the paper was in a childish scrawl and it said: "I know a secret so heed the tale, of gold left by Blackjack and buried on the trail". What in the world did THAT mean?When I had satisfied myself that the pages of the manuscript were in a readable state, I began.
After Sourdough grabbed Blackjack's journal, he took off down the street to catch up with Tracinda. She had run straight to the Serendipity Boarding House, and Frenchie and Molly had pulled her inside. Sourdough arrived a scant few minutes behind her, out of breath from running, and also from being scared out of his wits. The four nervous people had peeked through the curtains covering the front windows, trying to see what was happening at the saloon, but it was just too dark. Sourdough decided that he had to go back to get his friend Marsh.
He left through the rear door of the boarding house and snuck up the street, ducking in and out of the spaces between buildings until he reached a spot where he could see the walkway in front of The Capricorn. From his vantage point he could see Blackjack resting against the wall with Doc and Stampede Norman leaning over him. Runaway came flying out of the saloon, helped Doc and Stampede put Blackjack into a wagon that was nearby, and they took off as fast as the horses could go pulling the wagon.
Sourdough then felt safe about going into the saloon, so he crossed the street, looked through the window to make sure Marsh was still there, straightened his strange looking little hat and reached for the door. Just about that same time Sheriff McAlister came out leading Kid Hawpe, followed by his deputy, Sure-Shot Hughes, with an indignant Demetera Woods in tow. Sourdough knew that he and Marsh had to get out of there fast. Blackjack's gang would be back, and when they returned they would have rounded up some of their renegade friends.
By the time the two men reached the Serendipity Tracinda had told Frenchie and Molly most of the story of her harrowing experience, and Molly had told Tracinda what she already knew; that the Beale letter had been lost in the fire. When Sourdough heard about the letter, he was beside himself. He was positive it had something to do with the hoard of gold rumored to have been buried out on Deadman's Trail by Blackjack's band of thieves. Tracinda told him that she didn't think so. She had overheard quite a bit while being held captive by Kid Hawpe and the Boughton gang, and as she began to tell the exhausted group of people assembled in the parlor of the Serendipity what she had heard, the ones who were most attentive and wide-eyed were Frenchie and Molly. The adventurous women were always fascinated by tales of buried treasure, and if there was any to be found around Brisbee, they wanted in on it!
Tracinda said that when she and Sourdough intercepted the key to the coded letter, they had, in effect, stopped Blackjack and his henchmen from learning the location of the astonishing Beale treasure and claiming it for themselves. Tracinda continued with the story of how Blackjack had drawn a map leading to his cache of gold, and how he had made notations on the map, and in his journal, according to the accounts of his men who had worked at concealing the gold. She told Sourdough that Blackjack had sworn revenge on him, and that she feared for her life as well.
Sourdough, aware of the significance of the page he had torn from Blackjack's journal, knew he had to return to the spot where he had hidden it. Too many people knew about the gold and the map now, and though he didn't know what it was, Marsh had seen him hide it. Sourdough would have to think of something fast or his plans for being a very wealthy man could be ruined. He signaled Tracinda, made an excuse for departing, and lit out for the cemetery, leaving the others puzzling over what to do next.
