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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10066-0.txt b/10066-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..359998a --- /dev/null +++ b/10066-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10261 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10066 *** + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + +By + +Max Brand + + + +1921 + + + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + + + +1 + + +The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road +bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring +and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the +locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a +freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a +stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary +tone--it is an overtone of conversation, one might say--and it is +distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of +course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on +the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and +staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places +as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had +touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since +the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money +the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance +with their talk. + +"It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to +play this line when you jumped from coast to coast." + +"Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side +of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched +eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's +been many a time." + +"Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising +in the world." + +He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe +was sufficiently concealed by the dark. + +"Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the +brakie. + +"Yeh?" + +"Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that." + +"Yeh?" + +"But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway." + +"Yep," agreed Lefty. + +The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced +him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. +He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty. + +"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; +you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they +said you was, and all that--well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em +that." + +"You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all +straight." + +The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period +to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst. + +"Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently. + +Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was +in the mood for talk. + +"Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all +with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!" + +What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus +of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. +The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names. + +"Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?" + +"Even Suds!" + +The brakie stirred a little, wabbling from side to side as he found a +more comfortable position; instead of looking straight before him, he +kept a side-glance steadily upon his companion, and one could see that +he intended to remember what was said on this night. + +"Even Suds," echoed the brakie. "Good heavens, and ain't he a man for +you?" + +"He was a man," replied Lefty Joe with an indescribable emphasis. + +"Huh?" + +"He ain't a man any more." + +"Get bumped off?" + +"No. Busted." + +The brakie considered this bit of news and rolled it back and forth and +tried its flavor against his gossiping palate. + +"Did you fix him after he left you?" + +"No." + +"I see. You busted him while he was still with you. Then Kennebec Lou +and the Clipper get sore at the way you treat Suds. So here you are back +on the road with your gang all gone bust. Hard luck, Lefty." + +But Lefty whined with rage at this careless diagnosis of his downfall. + +"You're all wrong," he said. "You're all wrong. You don't know nothin'." + +The brakie waited, grinning securely into the night, and preparing his +mind for the story. But the story consisted of one word, flung bitterly +into the rushing air. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Him?" cried the brakie, starting in his place. + +"Donnegan!" cried Lefty, and his voice made the word into a curse. + +The brakie nodded. + +"Them that get tangled with Donnegan don't last long. You ought to know +that." + +At this the grief, hate, and rage in Lefty Joe were blended and caused +an explosion. + +"Confound Donnegan. Who's Donnegan? I ask you, who's Donnegan?" + +"A guy that makes trouble," replied the brakie, evidently hard put to it +to find a definition. + +"Oh, don't he make it, though? Confound him!" + +"You ought to of stayed shut of him, Lefty." + +"Did I hunt him up, I ask you? Am I a nut? No, I ain't. Do I go along +stepping on the tail of a rattlesnake? No more do I look up Donnegan." + +He groaned as he remembered. + +"I was going fine. Nothing could of been better. I had the boys +together. We was doing so well that I was riding the cushions and I went +around planning the jobs. Nice, clean work. No cans tied to it. But one +day I had to meet Suds down in the Meriton Jungle. You know?" + +"I've heard--plenty," said the brakie. + +"Oh, it ain't so bad--the Meriton. I've seen a lot worse. Found Suds +there, and Suds was playing Black Jack with an ol gink. He was trimmin' +him close. Get Suds going good and he could read 'em three down and bury +'em as fast as they came under the bottom card. Takes a hand to do that +sort of work. And that's the sort of work Suds was doing for the old +man. Pretty soon the game was over and the old man was busted. He took +up his pack and beat it, saying nothing and looking sick. I started +talking to Suds. + +"And while he was talking, along comes a bo and gives us a once-over. He +knew me. 'Is this here a friend of yours, Lefty? he says. + +"'Sure,' says I. + +"'Then, he's in Dutch. He trimmed that old dad, and the dad is one of +Donnegan's pals. Wait till Donnegan hears how your friend made the cards +talk while he was skinning the old boy! + +"He passes me the wink and goes on. Made me sick. I turned to Suds, and +the fool hadn't batted an eye. Never even heard of Donnegan. You know +how it is? Half the road never heard of it; part of the roads don't know +nothin' else. He's like a jumpin tornado; hits every ten miles and don't +bend a blade of grass in between. + +"Took me about five minutes to tell Suds about Donnegan. Then Suds let +out a grunt and started down the trail for the old dad. Missed him. Dad +had got out of the Jungle and copped a rattler. Suds come back half +green and half yeller. + +"'I've done it; I've spilled the beans,' he says. + +"'That ain't half sayin' it,' says I. + +"Well, we lit out after that and beat it down the line as fast as we +could. We got the rest of the boys together; I had a swell job planned +up. Everything staked. Then, the first news come that Donnegan was after +Suds. + +"News just dropped on us out of the sky. Suds, you know how he is. +Strong bluff. Didn't bat an eye. Laughed at this Donnegan. Got a hold of +an old pal of his, named Levine, and he is a mighty hot scrapper. From a +knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a +fight. Suds sent him out to cross Donnegan's trail. + +"He crossed it, well enough. Suds got a telegram a couple days later +saying that Levine had run into a wild cat and was considerable chawed +and would Suds send him a stake to pay the doctor? + +"Well, after that Suds got sort of nervous. Didn't take no interest in +his work no more. Kept a weather eye out watching for the coming of +Donnegan. And pretty soon he up and cleaned out of camp. + +"Next day, sure enough, along comes Donnegan and asks for Suds. We kept +still--all but Kennebec Lou. Kennebec is some fighter himself. Two +hundred pounds of mule muscle with the brain of a devil to tell what to +do--yes, you can lay it ten to one that Kennebec is some fighter. That +day he had a good edge from a bottle of rye he was trying for a friend. + +"He didn't need to go far to find trouble in Donnegan. A wink and a grin +was all they needed for a password, and then they went at each other's +throats. Kennebec made the first pass and hit thin air; and before he +got back on his heels, Donnegan had hit him four times. Then Kennebec +jumped back and took a fresh start with a knife." + +Here Lefty Joe paused and sighed. + +He continued, after a long interval: "Five minutes later we was all busy +tyin' up what was left of Kennebec; Donnegan was down the road whistlin' +like a bird. And that was the end of my gang. What with Kennebec Lou and +Suds both gone, what chance did I have to hold the boys together?" + + + + +2 + + +The brakie heard this recital with the keenest interest, nodding from +time to time. + +"What beats me, Lefty," he said at the end of the story, "is why you +didn't knife into the fight yourself and take a hand with Donnegan" + +At this Lefty was silent. It was rather the silence of one which cannot +tell whether or not it is worth while to speak than it was the silence +of one who needs time for thought. + +"I'll tell you why, bo. It's because when I take a trail like that it +only has one end I'm going to bump off the other bird or he's going to +bump off me" + +The brakie cleared his throat + +"Look here," he said, "looks to me like a queer thing that you're on +this train" + +"Does it" queried Lefty softly "Why?" + +"Because Donnegan is two cars back, asleep." + +"The devil you say!" + +The brakie broke into laughter + +"Don't kid yourself along," he warned. "Don't do it. It ain't +wise--with me." + +"What you mean?" + +"Come on, Lefty. Come clean. You better do a fade off this train." + +"Why, you fool--" + +"It don't work, Joe. Why, the minute I seen you I knew why you was here. +I knew you meant to croak Donnegan." + +"Me croak him? Why should I croak him?" + +"Because you been trailing him two thousand miles. Because you ain't got +the nerve to meet him face to face and you got to sneak in and take a +crack at him while he's lying asleep. That's you, Lefty Joe!" + +He saw Lefty sway toward him; but, all stories aside, it is a very bold +tramp that cares for argument of a serious nature with a brakie. And +even Lefty Joe was deterred from violent action. In the darkness his +upper lip twitched, but he carefully smoothed his voice. + +"You don't know nothing, pal," he declared. + +"Don't I?" + +"Nothing," repeated Lefty. + +He reached into his clothes and produced something which rustled in the +rush of wind. He fumbled, and finally passed a scrap of the paper into +the hand of the brakie. + +"My heavens," drawled the latter. "D'you think you can fix me with a +buck for a job like this? You can't bribe me to stand around while you +bump off Donnegan. Can't be done, Lefty!" + +"One buck, did you say?" + +Lefty Joe expertly lighted a match in spite of the roaring wind, and by +this wild light the brakie read the denomination of the bill with a +gasp. He rolled up his face and was in time to catch the sneer on the +face of Lefty before a gust snatched away the light of the match. + +They had topped the highest point in Jericho Pass and now the long train +dropped into the down grade with terrific speed. The wind became a +hurricane. But to the brakie all this was no more than a calm night. His +thoughts were raging in him, and if he looked back far enough he +remembered the dollar which Donnegan had given him; and how he had +promised Donnegan to give the warning before anything went wrong. He +thought of this, but rustling against the palm of his right hand was +the bill whose denomination he had read, and that figure ate into his +memory, ate into his brain. + +After all what was Donnegan to him? What was Donnegan but a worthless +tramp? Without any answer to that last monosyllabic query, the brakie +hunched forward, and began to work his way up the train. + +The tramp watched him go with laughter. It was silent laughter. In the +most quiet room it would not have sounded louder than a continual, light +hissing noise. Then he, in turn, moved from his place, and worked his +way along the train in the opposite direction to that in which the +brakie had disappeared. + +He went expertly, swinging from car to car with apelike clumsiness--and +surety. Two cars back. It was not so easy to reach the sliding side door +of that empty car. Considering the fact that it was night, that the +train was bucking furiously over the old roadbed, Lefty had a not +altogether simple task before him. But he managed it with the same +apelike adroitness. He could climb with his feet as well as his hands. +He would trust a ledge as well as he would trust the rung of a ladder. + +Under his discreet manipulations from above the door loosened and it +became possible to work it back. But even this the tramp did with +considerable care. He took advantage of the lurching of the train, and +every time the car jerked he forced the door to roll a little, so that +it might seem for all the world as though the motion of the train alone +were operating it. + +For suppose that Donnegan wakened out of his sound sleep and observed +the motion of the door; he would be suspicious if the door opened in a +single continued motion; but if it worked in these degrees he would be +hypersuspicious if he dreamed of danger. So the tramp gave five whole +minutes to that work. + +When it was done he waited for a time, another five minutes, perhaps, to +see if the door would be moved back. And when it was not disturbed, but +allowed to stand open, he knew that Donnegan still slept. + +It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into +the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this +moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man +might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping +foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome +by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought +that he was about to rid himself of this pest. + +True, the gang was broken up. But it might rise again. Donnegan had +fallen upon it like a blight. But with Donnegan out of the way would not +Suds come back to him instantly? And would not Kennebec Lou himself +return in admiration of a man who had done what he, Kennebec, could not +do? With those two as a nucleus, how greatly might he not build! + +Justice must be done to Lefty Joe. He approached this murder as a +statesman approaches the removal of a foe from the path of public +prosperity. There was no more rancor in his attitude. It was rather the +blissful largeness of the heart that comes to the politician when he +unearths the scandal which will blight the race of his rival. + +With the peaceful smile of a child, therefore, Lefty Joe lay stretched +at full length along the top of the car and made his choice of weapons. +On the whole, his usual preference, day or night, was for a revolver. +Give him a gat and Lefty was at home in any company. But he had reasons +for transferring his alliance on this occasion. In the first place, a +box car which is reeling and pitching to and fro, from side to side, is +not a very good shooting platform--even for a snapshot like Lefty Joe. +Also, the pitch darkness in the car would be a further annoyance to good +aim. And in the third and most decisive place, if he were to miss his +first shot he would not be extremely apt to place his second bullet. For +Donnegan had a reputation with his own revolver. Indeed, it was said +that he rarely carried the weapon, because when he did he was always +tempted too strongly to use it. So that the chances were large that +Donnegan would not have the gun now. Yet if he did have it--if he, +Lefty, did miss his first shot--then the story would be brief and bitter +indeed. + +On the other hand, a knife offered advantages almost too numerous to be +listed. It gave one the deadly assurance which only comes with the +knowledge of an edge of steel in one's hand. And when the knife reaches +its mark it ends a battle at a stroke. + +Of course these doubts and considerations pro and con went through the +mind of the tramp in about the same space of time that it requires for a +dog to waken, snap at a fly, and drowse again. Eventually, he took out +his knife. It was a sheath knife which he wore from a noose of silk +around his throat, and it always lay closest to his heart. The blade of +the knife was of the finest Spanish steel, in the days when Spanish +smiths knew how to draw out steel to a streak of light; the handle of +the knife was from Milan. On the whole, it was a delicate and beautiful +weapon--and it had the durable suppleness of--say--hatred itself. + +Lefty Joe, like a pirate in a tale, took this weapon between his teeth; +allowed his squat, heavy bulk to swing down and dangle at arm's length +for an instant, and then he swung himself a little and landed softly on +the floor of the car. + +Who has not heard snow drop from the branch upon other snow beneath? +That was the way Lefty Joe dropped to the floor of the car. He remained +as he had fallen; crouched, alert, with one hand spread out on the +boards to balance him and give him a leverage and a start in case he +should wish to spring in any direction. + +Then he began to probe the darkness in every direction; with every +glance he allowed his head to dart out a little. The movement was like a +chicken pecking at imaginary grains of corn. But eventually he satisfied +himself that his quarry lay in the forward end of the car; that he was +prone; that he, Lefty, had accomplished nine-tenths of his purpose by +entering the place of his enemy unobserved. + + + + +3 + + +But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe +was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise. The +roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those +of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though +he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house. He could see a vague +shadow--Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of +direction which some people possess in a dim light. The blind, of +course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even +those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted +sense of direction. + +With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first +and most dangerous stage of his journey. That is, he got away from the +square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve +to silhouette his body. After this, it was easier work. + +Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been +transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress +forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not +yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon. Just as a prize fighter +keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears +to lose his intimate touch with them. + +This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds. Now Lefty Joe rose +slowly. He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll +of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left +hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for +the leap. He had already taken the last preliminary movement--he had +swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, +had thrown all his weight upon the right--in fact, his body was +literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the +shadow which was Donnegan came to life. + +The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a +stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some +eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe. + +It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under +those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have +frustrated Lefty's spring so completely. Instead of launching out in a +compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty +crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife +hand to save his balance. + +It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men. Animals +fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet. +They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even +while they are dropping through the air. But man needs poise and balance +before he can act. What is speed in a fighter? It is not so much an +affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself +instantly to each new move and put the body in a state of balance. In +the prize ring speed does not mean the ability to strike one lightning +blow, but rather that, having finished one drive, the fighter is in +position to hit again, and then again, so that no matter where the +impetus of his last lunge has placed him he is ready and poised to shoot +all his weight behind his fist again and drive it accurately at a +vulnerable spot. Individually the actions may be slow; but the series of +efforts seem rapid. That is why a superior boxer seems to hypnotize his +antagonist with movements which to the spectator seem perfectly easy, +slow, and sure. + +But if Lefty lacked much in agility, he had an animallike sense of +balance. Sprawling, helpless, he saw the convulsed shadow that was +Donnegan take form as a straight shooting body that plunged through the +air above him. Lefty Joe dug his left elbow into the floor of the car +and whirled back upon his shoulders, bunching his knees high over his +stomach. Nine chances out of ten, if Donnegan had fallen flatwise upon +this alert enemy, he would have received those knees in the pit of his +own stomach and instantly been paralyzed. But in the jumping, rattling +car even Donnegan was capable of making mistakes. His mistake in this +instance saved his life, for springing too far, he came down not in +reaching distance of Lefty's throat, but with his chest on the knees of +the older tramp. + +As a result, Donnegan was promptly kicked head over heels and tumbled +the length of the car. Lefty was on his feet and plunging after the +tumbling form in the twinkling of an eye, literally speaking, and he was +only kept from burying his knife in the flesh of his foe by a sway of +the car that staggered him in the act of striking. Donnegan, the next +instant, was beyond reach. He had struck the end of the car and +rebounded like a ball of rubber at a tangent. He slid into the shadows, +and Lefty, putting his own shoulders to the wall, felt for his revolver +and knew that he was lost. He had failed in his first surprise attack, +and without surprise to help him now he was gone. He weighed his +revolver, decided that it would be madness to use it, for if he missed, +Donnegan would instantly be guided by the flash to shoot him full of +holes. + +Something slipped by the open door--something that glimmered faintly; +and Lefty Joe knew that it was the red head of Donnegan. Donnegan, +soft-footed as a shadow among shadows. Donnegan on a blood trail. It +lowered the heartbeat of Lefty Joe to a tremendous, slow pulse. In that +moment he gave up hope and, resigning himself to die, determined to +fight to the last gasp, as became one of his reputation and national +celebrity on "the road." + +Yet Lefty Joe was no common man and no common fighter. No, let the shade +of Rusty Dick, whom Lefty met and beat in his glorious prime--let this +shade arise and speak for the prowess of Lefty Joe. In fact it was +because he was such a good fighter himself that he recognized his +helplessness in the hands of Donnegan. + +The faint glimmer of color had passed the door. It was dissolved in +deeper shadows at once, and soundlessly; Lefty knew that Donnegan was +closer and closer. + +Of one thing he felt more and more confident, that Donnegan did not have +his revolver with him. Otherwise, he would have used it before. For what +was darkness to this devil, Donnegan. He walked like a cat, and most +likely he could see like a cat in the dark. Instinctively the older +tramp braced himself with his right hand held at a guard before his +breast and the knife poised in his left, just as a man would prepare to +meet the attack of a panther. He even took to probing the darkness in a +strange hope to catch the glimmer of the eyes of Donnegan as he moved to +the attack. If there were a hair's breadth of light, then Donnegan +himself must go down. A single blow would do it. + +But the devil had instructed his favorite Donnegan how to fight. He did +not come lunging through the shadows to meet the point of that knife. +Instead, he had worked a snaky way along the floor and now he leaped in +and up at Lefty, taking him under the arms. + +A dozen hands, it seemed, laid hold on Lefty. He fought like a demon and +tore himself away, but the multitude of hands pursued him. They were +small hands. Where they closed they tore the clothes and bit into his +very flesh. Once a hand had him by the throat, and when Lefty jerked +himself away it was with a feeling that his flesh had been seared by +five points of red-hot iron. All this time his knife was darting; once +it ripped through cloth, but never once did it find the target. And half +a second later Donnegan got his hold. The flash of the knife as Lefty +raised it must have guided the other. He shot his right hand up behind +the left shoulder of the other and imprisoned the wrist. Not only did it +make the knife hand helpless, but by bearing down with his own weight +Donnegan could put his enemy in most exquisite torture. + +For an instant they whirled; then they went down, and Lefty was on top. +Only for a moment. The impetus which had sent him to the floor was used +by Donnegan to turn them over, and once fairly on top his left hand was +instantly at the throat of Lefty. + +Twice Lefty made enormous efforts, but then he was done. About his body +the limbs of Donnegan were twisted, tightening with incredible force; +just as hot iron bands sink resistlessly into place. The strangle-hold +cut away life at its source. Once he strove to bury his teeth in the arm +of Donnegan. Once, as the horror caught at him, he strove to shriek for +help. All he succeeded in doing was in raising an awful, sobbing +whisper. Then, looking death in the face, Lefty plunged into the great +darkness. + + + + +4 + + +When he wakened, he jumped at a stride into the full possession of his +faculties. He had been placed near the open door, and the rush of night +air had done its work in reviving him. But Lefty, drawn back to life, +felt only a vague wonder that his life had not been taken. Perhaps he +was being reserved by the victor for an Indian death of torment. He felt +cautiously and found that not only were his hands free, but his revolver +had not been taken from him. A familiar weight was on his chest--the +very knife had been returned to its sheath. + +Had Donnegan returned these things to show how perfectly he despised his +enemy? + +"He's gone!" groaned the tramp, sitting up quickly. + +"He's here," said a voice that cut easily through the roar of the train. +"Waiting for you, Lefty." + +The tramp was staggered again. But then, who had ever been able to +fathom the ways of Donnegan? + +"Donnegan!" he cried with a sudden recklessness. + +"Yes?" + +"You're a fool!" + +"Yes?" + +"For not finishing the job." + +Donnegan began to laugh. In the uproar of the train it was impossible +really to hear the sound, but Lefty caught the pulse of it. He fingered +his bruised throat; swallowing was a painful effort. And an +indescribable feeling came over him as he realized that he sat armed to +the teeth within a yard of the man he wanted to kill, and yet he was as +effectively rendered helpless as though iron shackles had been locked on +his wrists and legs. The night light came through the doorway, and he +could make out the slender outline of Donnegan and again he caught the +faint luster of that red hair; and out of the shadowy form a singular +power emanated and sapped his strength at the root. + +Yet he went on viciously: "Sooner or later, Donnegan, I'll get you!" + +The red head of Donnegan moved, and Lefty Joe knew that the younger man +was laughing again. + +"Why are you after me?" he asked at length. + +It was another blow in the face of Lefty. He sat for a time blinking +with owlish stupidity. + +"Why?" he echoed. And he spoke his astonishment from the heart. + +"Why am I after you?" he said again. "Why, confound you, ain't you +Donnegan?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't the whole road know that I'm after you and you after me?" + +"The whole road is crazy. I'm not after you." + +Lefty choked. + +"Maybe I been dreaming. Maybe you didn't bust up the gang? Maybe you +didn't clean up on Suds and Kennebec?" + +"Suds? Kennebec? I sort of remember meeting them." + +"You sort of--the devil!" Lefty Joe sputtered the words. "And after you +cleaned up my crowd, ain't it natural and good sense for you to go on +and try to clean up on me?" + +"Sounds like it." + +"But I figured to beat you to it. I cut in on your trail, Donnegan, and +before I leave it you'll know a lot more about me." + +"You're warning me ahead of time?" + +"You've played this game square with me; I'll play square with you. +Next time there'll be no slips, Donnegan. I dunno why you should of +picked on me, though. Just the natural devil in you." + +"I haven't picked on you," said Donnegan. + +"What?" + +"I'll give you my word." + +A tingle ran through the blood of Lefty Joe. Somewhere he had heard, in +rumor, that the word of Donnegan was as good as gold. He recalled that +rumor now and something of dignity in the manner with which Donnegan +made his announcement carried a heavy weight. As a rule, the tramps +vowed with many oaths; here was one of the nights of the road who made +his bare word sufficient. And Lefty Joe heard with great wonder. + +"All I ask," he said, "is why you hounded my gang, if you wasn't after +me?" + +"I didn't hound them. I ran into Suds by accident. We had trouble. Then +Levine. Then Kennebec Lou tried to take a fall out of me." + +A note of whimsical protest crept into the voice of Donnegan. + +"Somehow there's always a fight wherever I go," he said. "Fights just +sort of grow up around me." + +Lefty Joe snarled. + +"You didn't mean nothing by just 'happening' to run into three of my +boys one after another?" + +"Not a thing." + +Lefty rocked himself back and forth in an ecstasy of impatience. + +"Why don't you stay put?" he complained. "Why don't you stake out your +own ground and stay put in it? You cut in on every guy's territory. +There ain't any privacy any more since you hit the road. What you got? A +roving commission?" + +Donnegan waited for a moment before he answered. And when he spoke his +voice had altered. Indeed, he had remarkable ability to pitch his voice +into the roar of the freight train, and above or beneath it, and give it +a quality such as he pleased. + +"I'm following a trail, but not yours," he admitted at length. "I'm +following a trail. I've been at it these two years and nothing has +come of it." + +"Who you after?" + +"A man with red hair." + +"That tells me a lot." + +Donnegan refused to explain. + +"What you got against him--the color of his hair?" + +And Lefty roared contentedly at his own stale jest. + +"It's no good," replied Donnegan. "I'll never get on the trail." + +Lefty broke in: "You mean to say you've been working two solid years and +all on a trail that you ain't even found?" + +The silence answered him in the affirmative. + +"Ain't nobody been able to tip you off to him?" went on Lefty, intensely +interested. + +"Nobody. You see, he's a hard sort to describe. Red hair, that's all +there was about him for a clue. But if any one ever saw him stripped +they'd remember him by a big blotchy birthmark on his left shoulder." + +"Eh?" grunted Lefty Joe. + +He added: "What was his name?" + +"Don't know. He changed monikers when he took to the road." + +"What was he to you?" + +"A man I'm going to find." + +"No matter where the trail takes you?" + +"No matter where." + +At this Lefty was seized with unaccountable laughter. He literally +strained his lungs with that Homeric outburst. When he wiped the tears +from his eyes, at length, the shadow on the opposite side of the doorway +had disappeared. He found his companion leaning over him, and this time +he could catch the dull glint of starlight on both hair and eyes. + +"What d'you know?" asked Donnegan. + +"How do you stand toward this bird with the birthmark and the red hair?" +queried Lefty with caution. + +"What d'you know?" insisted Donnegan. + +All at once passion shook him; he fastened his grip in the shoulder of +the larger man, and his fingertips worked toward the bone. + +"What do you know?" he repeated for the third time, and now there was no +hint of laughter in the hard voice of Lefty. + +"You fool, if you follow that trail you'll go to the devil. It was +Rusty Dick; and he's dead!" + +His triumphant laughter came again, but Donnegan cut into it. + +"Rusty Dick was the one you--killed!" + +"Sure. What of it? We fought fair and square." + +"Then Rusty wasn't the man I want. The man I want would of eaten two +like you, Lefty." + +"What about the birthmark? It sure was on his shoulder; Donnegan." + +"Heavens!" whispered Donnegan. + +"What's the matter?" + +"Rusty Dick," gasped Donnegan. "Yes, it must have been he." + +"Sure it was. What did you have against him?" + +"It was a matter of blood--between us," stammered Donnegan. + +His voice rose in a peculiar manner, so that Lefty shrank involuntarily. + +"You killed Rusty?" + +"Ask any of the boys. But between you and me, it was the booze that +licked Rusty Dick. I just finished up the job and surprised everybody." + +The train was out of the mountains and in a country of scattering hills, +but here it struck a steep grade and settled down to a grind of slow +labor; the rails hummed, and suspense filled the freight car. + +"Hey," cried Lefty suddenly. "You fool, you'll do a flop out the door in +about a minute!" + +He even reached out to steady the toppling figure, but Donnegan pitched +straight out into the night. Lefty craned his neck from the door, +studying the roadbed, but at that moment the locomotive topped the +little rise and the whole train lurched forward. + +"After all," murmured Lefty Joe, "it sounds like Donnegan. Hated a guy +so bad that he hadn't any use for livin' when he heard the other guy was +dead. But I'm never goin' to cross his path again, I hope." + + + + +5 + + +But Donnegan had leaped clear of the roadbed, and he struck almost to +the knees in a drift of sand. Otherwise, he might well have broken his +legs with that foolhardy chance. As it was, the fall whirled him over +and over, and by the time he had picked himself up the lighted caboose +of the train was rocking past him. Donnegan watched it grow small in the +distance, and then, when it was only a red, uncertain star far down the +track, he turned to the vast country around him. + +The mountains were to his right, not far away, but caught up behind the +shadows so that it seemed a great distance. Like all huge, half-seen +things they seemed in motion toward him. For the rest, he was in bare, +rolling country. The sky line everywhere was clean; there was hardly a +sign of a tree. He knew, by a little reflection, that this must be +cattle country, for the brakie had intimated as much in their talk just +before dusk. Now it was early night, and a wind began to rise, blowing +down the valley with a keen motion and a rapidly lessening temperature, +so that Donnegan saw he must get to a shelter. He could, if necessary, +endure any privation, but his tastes were for luxurious comfort. +Accordingly he considered the landscape with gloomy disapproval. He was +almost inclined to regret his plunge from the lumbering freight train. +Two things had governed him in making that move. First, when he +discovered that the long trail he followed was definitely fruitless, he +was filled with a great desire to cut himself away from his past and +make a new start. Secondly, when he learned that Rusty Dick had been +killed by Joe, he wanted desperately to get the throttle of the latter +under his thumb. If ever a man risked his life to avoid a sin, it was +Donnegan jumping from the train to keep from murder. + +He stooped to sight along the ground, for this is the best way at night +and often horizon lights are revealed in this manner. But now Donnegan +saw nothing to serve as a guide. He therefore drew in his belt until it +fitted snug about his gaunt waist, settled his cap firmly, and headed +straight into the wind. + +Nothing could have shown his character more distinctly. + +When in doubt, head into the wind. + +With a jaunty, swinging step he sauntered along, and this time, at +least, his tactics found an early reward. Topping the first large rise +of ground, he saw in the hollow beneath him the outline of a large +building. And as he approached it, the wind clearing a high blowing mist +from the stars, he saw a jumble of outlying houses. Sheds, barns, +corrals--it was the nucleus of a big ranch. It is a maxim that, if you +wish to know a man look at his library and if you wish to know a +rancher, look at his barn. Donnegan made a small detour to the left and +headed for the largest of the barns. + +He entered it by the big, sliding door, which stood open; he looked up, +and saw the stars shining through a gap in the roof. And then he stood +quietly for a time, listening to the voices of the wind in the ruin. +Oddly enough, it was pleasant to Donnegan. His own troubles and sorrow +had poured upon him so thickly in the past hour or so that it was +soothing to find evidence of the distress of others. But perhaps this +meant that the entire establishment was deserted. + +He left the barn and went toward the house. Not until he was close under +its wall did he come to appreciate its size. It was one of those great, +rambling, two-storied structures which the cattle kings of the past +generation were fond of building. Standing close to it, he heard none of +the intimate sounds of the storm blowing through cracks and broken +walls; no matter into what disrepair the barns had fallen, the house was +still solid; only about the edges of the building the storm kept +murmuring. + +Yet there was not a light, neither above nor below. He came to the front +of the house. Still no sign of life. He stood at the door and knocked +loudly upon it, and though, when he tried the knob, he found that the +door was latched, yet no one came in response. He knocked again, and +putting his ear close he heard the echoes walk through the interior of +the building. + +After this, the wind rose in sudden strength and deafened him with +rattlings; above him, a shutter was swung open and then crashed to, so +that the opening of the door was a shock of surprise to Donnegan. A dim +light from a source which he could not direct suffused the interior of +the hall; the door itself was worked open a matter of inches and +Donnegan was aware of two keen old eyes glittering out at him. Beyond +this he could distinguish nothing. + +"Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "And what do you want?" + +"I'm a stranger, and I want something to eat and a place to sleep. This +house looks as if it might have spare rooms." + +"Where d'you come from?" + +"Yonder," said Donnegan, with a sufficiently noncommittal gesture. + +"What's your name?" + +"Donnegan." + +"I don't know you. Be off with you, Mr. Donnegan!" + +He inserted his foot in the closing crack of the door. + +"Tell me where I'm to go?" he persisted. + +At this her voice rose in pitch, with squeaky rage. + +"I'll raise the house on you!" + +"Raise 'em. Call down the man of the house. I can talk to him better +than I can to you; but I won't walk off like this. If you can feed me, +I'll pay you for what I eat." + +A shrill cackling--he could not make out the words. And since patience +was not the first of Donnegan's virtues, he seized on the knob of the +door and deliberately pressed it wide. Standing in the hall, now, and +closing the door slowly behind him, he saw a woman with old, keen eyes +shrinking away toward the staircase. She was evidently in great fear, +but there was something infinitely malicious in the manner in which she +kept working her lips soundlessly. She was shrinking, and half turned +away, yet there was a suggestion that in an instant she might whirl and +fly at his face. The door now clicked, and with the windstorm shut away +Donnegan had a queer feeling of being trapped. + +"Now call the man of the house," he repeated. "See if I can't come to +terms with him." + +"He'd make short work of you if he came," she replied. She broke into a +shrill laughter, and Donnegan thought he had never seen a face so ugly. +"If he came," she said, "you'd rue the day." + +"Well, I'll talk to you, then. I'm not asking charity. I want to pay for +what I get." + +"This ain't a hotel. You go on down the road. Inside eight miles you'll +come to the town." + +"Eight miles!" + +"That's nothing for a man to ride." + +"Not at all, if I had something to ride." + +"You ain't got a horse?" + +"No." + +"Then how do you come here?" + +"I walked." + +If this sharpened her suspicions, it sharpened her fear also. She put +one foot on the lowest step of the stairs. + +"Be off with you, Mr. Donnegally, or whatever your outlandish name is. +You'll get nothing here. What brings you--" + +A door closed and a footstep sounded lightly on the floor above. And +Donnegan, already alert in the strange atmosphere of this house, gave +back a pace so as to get an honest wall behind him. He noted that the +step was quick and small, and preparing himself to meet a wisp of +manhood--which, for that matter, was the type he was most inclined to +fear--Donnegan kept a corner glance upon the old woman at the foot of +the stairs and steadily surveyed the shadows at the head of the rise. + +Out of that darkness a foot slipped; not even a boy's foot--a very +child's. The shock of it made Donnegan relax his caution for an instant, +and in that instant she came into the reach of the light. It was a +wretched light at best, for it came from a lamp with smoky chimney +which the old hag carried, and at the raising and lowering of her hand +the flame jumped and died in the throat of the chimney and set the hall +awash with shadows. Falling away to a point of yellow, the lamp allowed +the hall to assume a certain indefinite dignity of height and breadth +and calm proportions; but when the flame rose Donnegan could see the +broken balusters of the balustrade, the carpet, faded past any design +and worn to rattiness, wall paper which had rotted or dried away and +hung in crisp tatters here and there, and on the ceiling an irregular +patch from which the plaster had fallen and exposed the lathwork. But at +the coming of the girl the old woman had turned, and as she did the +flame tossed up in the lamp and Donnegan could see the newcomer +distinctly. + +Once before his heart had risen as it rose now. It had been the fag end +of a long party, and Donnegan, rousing from a drunken sleep, staggered +to the window. Leaning there to get the freshness of the night air +against his hot face, he had looked up, and saw the white face of the +moon going up the sky; and a sudden sense of the blackness and loathing +against the city had come upon Donnegan, and the murky color of his own +life; and when he turned away from the window he was sober. And so it +was that he now stared up at the girl. At her breast she held a cloak +together with one hand and the other hand touched the railing of the +stairs. He saw one foot suspended for the next step, as though the sight +of him kept her back in fear. To the miserable soul of Donnegan she +seemed all that was lovely, young, and pure; and her hair, old gold in +the shadow and pale gold where the lamp struck it, was to Donnegan like +a miraculous light about her face. + +Indeed, that little pause was a great and awful moment. For considering +that Donnegan, who had gone through his whole life with his eyes ready +either to mock or hate, and who had rarely used his hand except to make +a fist of it; Donnegan who had never, so far as is known, had a +companion; who had asked the world for action, not kindness; this +Donnegan now stood straight with his back against the wall, and poured +out the story of his wayward life to a mere slip of a girl. + + + + +6 + + +Even the old woman, whose eyes were sharpened by her habit of looking +constantly for the weaknesses and vices of men, could not guess what was +going on behind the thin, rather ugly face of Donnegan; the girl, +perhaps, may have seen more. For she caught the glitter of his active +eyes even at that distance. The hag began to explain with vicious +gestures that set the light flaring up and down. + +"He ain't come from nowhere, Lou," she said. "He ain't going nowhere; he +wants to stay here for the night." + +The foot which had been suspended to take the next step was now +withdrawn. Donnegan, remembered at last, whipped off his cap, and at +once the light flared and burned upon his hair. It was a wonderful red; +it shone, and it had a terrible blood tinge so that his face seemed pale +beneath it. There were three things that made up the peculiar dominance +of Donnegan's countenance. The three things were the hair, the uneasy, +bright eyes, and the rather thin, compressed lips. When Donnegan slept +he seemed about to waken from a vigorous dream; when he sat down he +seemed about to leap to his feet; and when he was standing he gave that +impression of a poise which is ready for anything. It was no wonder that +the girl, seeing that face and that alert, aggressive body, shrank a +little on the stairs. Donnegan, that instant, knew that these two women +were really alone in the house as far as fighting men were concerned. + +And the fact disturbed him more than a leveled gun would have done. He +went to the foot of the stairs, even past the old woman, and, raising +his head, he spoke to the girl. + +"My name's Donnegan. I came over from the railroad--walked. I don't want +to walk that other eight miles unless there's a real need for it. I--" +Why did he pause? "I'll pay for anything I get here." + +His voice was not too certain; behind his teeth there was knocking a +desire to cry out to her the truth. "I am Donnegan. Donnegan the tramp. +Donnegan the shiftless. Donnegan the fighter. Donnegan the killer. +Donnegan the penniless, worthless. But for heaven's sake let me stay +until morning and let me look at you--from a distance!" + +But, after all, perhaps he did not need to say all these things. His +clothes were rags, upon his face there was a stubble of unshaven red, +which made the pallor about his eyes more pronounced. If the girl had +been half blind she must have felt that here was a man of fire. He saw +her gather the wrap a little closer about her shoulders, and that sign +of fear made him sick at heart. + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the girl. "I am sorry. We cannot take you into the +house. Eight miles--" + +Did she expect to turn a sinner from the gates of heaven with a mere +phrase? He cast out his hand, and she winced as though he had shaken his +fist at her. + +"Are you afraid?" cried Donnegan. + +"I don't control the house." + +He paused, not that her reply had baffled him, but the mere pleasure of +hearing her speak accounted for it. It was one of those low, light +voices which are apt to have very little range or volume, and which +break and tremble absurdly under any stress of emotion; and often they +become shrill in a higher register; but inside conversational limits, if +such a term may be used, there is no fiber so delightful, so purely +musical. Suppose the word "velvet" applied to a sound. That voice came +soothingly and delightfully upon the ear of Donnegan, from which the +roar and rattle of the empty freight train had not quite departed. He +smiled at her. + +"But," he protested, "this is west of the Rockies--and I don't see any +other way out." + +The girl, all this time, was studying him intently, a little sadly, he +thought. Now she shook her head, but there was more warmth in her voice. + +"I'm sorry. I can't ask you to stay without first consulting my father." + +"Go ahead. Ask him." + +She raised her hand a little; the thought seemed to bring her to the +verge of trembling, as though he were asking a sacrilege. + +"Why not?" he urged. + +She did not answer, but, instead, her eyes sought the old, woman, as if +to gain her interposition; she burst instantly into speech. + +"Which there's no good talking any more," declared the ancient vixen. +"Are you wanting to make trouble for her with the colonel? Be off, young +man. It ain't the first time I've told you you'd get nowhere in this +house!" + +There was no possible answer left to Donnegan, and he did as usual the +surprising thing. He broke into laughter of such clear and ringing +tone--such infectious laughter--that the old woman blinked in the midst +of her wrath as though she were seeing a new man, and he saw the lips of +the girl parted in wonder. + +"My father is an invalid," said the girl. "And he lives by strict rules. +I could not break in on him at this time of the evening." + +"If that's all"--Donnegan actually began to mount the steps--"I'll go in +and talk to your father myself." + +She had retired one pace as he began advancing, but as the import of +what he said became clear to her she was rooted to one position by +astonishment. + +"Colonel Macon--my father--" she began. Then: "Do you really wish to see +him?" + +The hushed voice made Donnegan smile--it was such a voice as one boy +uses when he asks the other if he really dares enter the pasture of the +red bull. He chuckled again, and this time she smiled, and her eyes were +widened, partly by fear of his purpose and partly from his nearness. +They seemed to be suddenly closer together. As though they were on one +side against a common enemy, and that enemy was her father. The old +woman was cackling sharply from the bottom of the stairs, and then +bobbing in pursuit and calling on Donnegan to come back. At length the +girl raised her hand and silenced her with a gesture. + +Donnegan was now hardly a pace away; and he saw that she lived up to all +the promise of that first glance. Yet still she seemed unreal. There is +a quality of the unearthly about a girl's beauty; it is, after all, only +a gay moment between the formlessness of childhood and the hardness of +middle age. This girl was pale, Donnegan saw, and yet she had color. She +had the luster, say, of a white rose, and the same bloom. Lou, the old +woman had called her, and Macon was her father's name. Lou Macon--the +name fitted her, Donnegan thought. For that matter, if her name had been +Sally Smith, Donnegan would probably have thought it beautiful. The +keener a man's mind is and the more he knows about men and women and the +ways of the world, the more apt he is to be intoxicated by a touch of +grace and thoughtfulness; and all these age-long seconds the perfume of +girlhood had been striking up to Donnegan's brain. + +She brushed her timidity away and with the same gesture accepted +Donnegan as something more than a dangerous vagrant. She took the lamp +from the hands of the crone and sent her about her business, +disregarding the mutterings and the warnings which trailed behind the +departing form. Now she faced Donnegan, screening the light from her +eyes with a cupped hand and by the same device focusing it upon the face +of Donnegan. He mutely noted the small maneuver and gave her credit; but +for the pleasure of seeing the white of her fingers and the way they +tapered to a pink transparency at the tips, he forgot the poor figure he +must make with his soiled, ragged shirt, his unshaven face, his gaunt +cheeks. + +Indeed, he looked so straight at her that in spite of her advantage with +the light she had to avoid his glance. + +"I am sorry," said Lou Macon, "and ashamed because we can't take you in. +The only house on the range where you wouldn't be welcome, I know. But +my father leads a very close life; he has set ways. The ways of an +invalid, Mr. Donnegan." + +"And you're bothered about speaking to him of me?" + +"I'm almost afraid of letting you go in yourself." + +"Let me take the risk." + +She considered him again for a moment, and then turned with a nod and he +followed her up the stairs into the upper hall. The moment they stepped +into it he heard her clothes flutter and a small gale poured on them. It +was criminal to allow such a building to fall into this ruinous +condition. And a gloomy picture rose in Donnegan's mind of the invalid, +thin-faced, sallow-eyed, white-haired, lying in his bed listening to the +storm and silently gathering bitterness out of the pain of living. Lou +Macon paused again in the hall, close to a door on the right. + +"I'm going to send you in to speak to my father," she said gravely. +"First I have to tell you that he's different." + +Donnegan replied by looking straight at her, and this time she did not +wince from the glance. Indeed, she seemed to be probing him, searching +with a peculiar hope. What could she expect to find in him? What that +was useful to her? Not once in all his life had such a sense of +impotence descended upon Donnegan. Her father? Bah! Invalid or no +invalid he would handle that fellow, and if the old man had an acrid +temper, Donnegan at will could file his own speech to a point. But the +girl! In the meager hand which held the lamp there was a power which all +the muscles of Donnegan could not compass; and in his weakness he looked +wistfully at her. + +"I hope your talk will be pleasant. I hope so." She laid her hand on the +knob of the door and withdrew it hastily; then, summoning great +resolution, she opened the door and showed Donnegan in. + +"Father," she said, "this is Mr. Donnegan. He wishes to speak to you." + +The door closed behind Donnegan, and hearing that whishing sound which +the door of a heavy safe will make, he looked down at this, and saw that +it was actually inches thick! Once more the sense of being in a trap +descended upon him. + + + + +7 + + +He found himself in a large room which, before he could examine a single +feature of it, was effectively curtained from his sight. Straight into +his face shot a current of violent white light that made him blink. +There was the natural recoil, but in Donnegan recoils were generally +protected by several strata of willpower and seldom showed in any +physical action. On the present occasion his first dismay was swiftly +overwhelmed by a cold anger at the insulting trick. This was not the +trick of a helpless invalid; Donnegan could not see a single thing +before him, but he obeyed a very deep instinct and advanced straight +into the current of light. + +He was glad to see the light switched away. The comparative darkness +washed across his eyes in a pleasant wave and he was now able to +distinguish a few things in the room. It was, as he had first surmised, +quite large. The ceiling was high; the proportions comfortably spacious; +but what astounded Donnegan was the real elegance of the furnishings. +There was no mistaking the deep, silken texture of the rug upon which he +stepped; the glow of light barely reached the wall, and there showed +faintly in streaks along yellowish hangings. Beside a table which +supported a big reading lamp--gasoline, no doubt, from the intensity of +its light--sat Colonel Macon with a large volume spread across his +knees. Donnegan saw two highlights--fine silver hair that covered the +head of the invalid and a pair of white hands fallen idly upon the +surface of the big book, for if the silver hair suggested age the +smoothly finished hands suggested perennial youth. They were strong, +carefully tended, complacent hands. They suggested to Donnegan a man +sufficient unto himself. + +"Mr. Donnegan, I am sorry that I cannot rise to receive you. Now, what +pleasant accident has brought me the favor of this call?" + +Donnegan was taken aback again, and this time more strongly than by the +flare of light against his eyes. For in the voice he recognized the +quality of the girl--the same softness, the same velvety richness, +though the pitch was a bass. In the voice of this man there was the same +suggestion that the tone would crack if it were forced either up or +down. With this great difference, one could hardly conceive of a +situation which would push that man's voice beyond its monotone. It +flowed with deadly, all-embracing softness. It clung about one; it +fascinated and baffled the mind of the listener. + +But Donnegan was not in the habit of being baffled by voices. Neither +was he a lover of formality. He looked about for a place to sit down, +and immediately discovered that while the invalid sat in an enormous +easy-chair bordered by shelves and supplied with wheels for raising and +lowering the back and for propelling the chair about the room on its +rubber tires, it was the only chair in the room which could make any +pretensions toward comfort. As a matter of fact, aside from this one +immense chair, devoted to the pleasure of the invalid, there was nothing +in the room for his visitors to sit upon except two or three miserable +backless stools. + +But Donnegan was not long taken aback. He tucked his cap under his arm, +bowed profoundly in honor of the colonel's compliments, and brought one +of the stools to a place where it was no nearer the rather ominous +circle of the lamplight than was the invalid himself. With his eyes +accustomed to the new light, Donnegan could now take better stock of his +host. He saw a rather handsome face, with eyes exceedingly blue, young, +and active; but the features of Macon as well as his body were blurred +and obscured by a great fatness. He was truly a prodigious man, and one +could understand the stoutness with which the invalid chair was made. +His great wrist dimpled like the wrist of a healthy baby, and his face +was so enlarged with superfluous flesh that the lower part of it quite +dwarfed the upper. He seemed, at first glance, a man with a low forehead +and bright, careless eyes and a body made immobile by flesh and +sickness. A man whose spirits despised and defied pain. Yet a second +glance showed that the forehead was, after all, a nobly proportioned +one, and for all the bulk of that figure, for all the cripple-chair, +Donnegan would not have been surprised to see the bulk spring lightly +out of the chair to meet him. + +For his own part, sitting back on the stool with his cap tucked under +his arm and his hands folded about one knee, he met the faint, cold +smile of the colonel with a broad grin of his own. + +"I can put it in a nutshell," said Donnegan. "I was tired; dead beat; +needed a handout, and rapped at your door. Along comes a mystery in the +shape of an ugly-looking woman and opens the door to me. Tries to shut +me out; I decided to come in. She insists on keeping me outside; all at +once I see that I have to get into the house. I am brought in; your +daughter tries to steer me off, sees that the job is more than she can +get away with, and shelves me off upon you. And that, Colonel Macon, is +the pleasant accident which brings you the favor of this call." + +It would have been a speech both stupid and pert in the mouth of +another; but Donnegan knew how to flavor words with a touch of mockery +of himself as well as another. There were two manners in which this +speech could have been received--with a wink or with a smile. But it +would have been impossible to hear it and grow frigid. As for the +colonel, he smiled. + +It was a tricky smile, however, as Donnegan felt. It spread easily upon +that vast face and again went out and left all to the dominion of the +cold, bright eyes. + +"A case of curiosity," commented the colonel. + +"A case of hunger," said Donnegan. + +"My dear Mr. Donnegan, put it that way if you wish!" + +"And a case of blankets needed for one night." + +"Really? Have you ventured into such a country as this without any +equipment?" + +"Outside of my purse, my equipment is of the invisible kind." + +"Wits," suggested the colonel. + +"Thank you." + +"Not at all. You hinted at it yourself." + +"However, a hint is harder to take than to make." + +The colonel raised his faultless right hand--and oddly enough his great +corpulence did not extend in the slightest degree to his hand, but +stopped short at the wrists--and stroked his immense chin. His skin was +like Lou Macon's, except that in place of the white-flower bloom his was +a parchment, dead pallor. He lowered his hand with the same slow +precision and folded it with the other, all the time probing Donnegan +with his difficult eyes. + +"Unfortunately--most unfortunately, it is impossible for me to +accommodate you, Mr. Donnegan." + +The reply was not flippant, but quick. "Not at all. I am the easiest +person in the world to accommodate." + +The big man smiled sadly. + +"My fortune has fallen upon evil days, sir. It is no longer what it was. +There are in this house three habitable rooms; this one; my daughter's +apartment; the kitchen where old Haggie sleeps. Otherwise you are in a +rat trap of a place." + +He shook his head, a slow, decisive motion. + +"A spare blanket," said Donnegan, "will be enough." + +There was another sigh and another shake of the head. + +"Even a corner of a rug to roll up in will do perfectly." + +"You see, it is impossible for me to entertain you." + +"Bare boards will do well enough for me, Colonel Macon. And if I have a +piece of bread, a plate of cold beans--anything--I can entertain +myself." + +"I am sorry to see you so compliant, Mr. Donnegan, because that makes my +refusal seem the more unkind. But I cannot have you sleeping on the bare +floor. Not on such a night. Pneumonia comes on one like a cat in the +dark in such weather. It is really impossible to keep you here, sir." + +"H'm-m," said Donnegan. He began to feel that he was stumped, and it was +a most unusual feeling for him. + +"Besides, for a young fellow like you, with your agility, what is eight +miles? Walk down the road and you will come to a place where you will be +made at home and fed like a king." + +"Eight miles, that's not much! But on such a night as this?" + +There was a faint glint in the eyes of the colonel; was he not +sharpening his wits for his contest of words, and enjoying it? + +"The wind will be at your back and buoy your steps. It will shorten the +eight miles to four." + +Very definitely Donnegan felt that the other was reading him. What was +it that he saw as he turned the pages? + +"There is one thing you fail to take into your accounting." + +"Ah?" + +"I have an irresistible aversion to walking." + +"Ah?" repeated Macon. + +"Or exercise in any form." + +"Then you are unfortunate to be in this country without a horse." + +"Unfortunate, perhaps, but the fact is that I'm here. Very sorry to +trouble you, though, colonel." + +"I am rarely troubled," said the colonel coldly. "And since I have no +means of accommodation, the laws of hospitality rest light on my +shoulders." + +"Yet I have an odd thought," replied Donnegan. + +"Well? You have expressed a number already, it seems to me." + +"It's this: that you've already made up your mind to keep me here." + + + + +8 + + +The colonel stiffened in his chair, and under his bulk even those +ponderous timbers quaked a little. Once more Donnegan gained an +impression of chained activity ready to rise to any emergency. The +colonel's jaw set and the last vestige of the smile left his eyes. Yet +it was not anger that showed in its place. Instead, it was rather a +hungry searching. He looked keenly into the face and the soul of +Donnegan as a searchlight sweeps over waters by night. + +"You are a mind reader, Mr. Donnegan." + +"No more of a mind reader than a Chinaman is." + +"Ah, they are great readers of mind, my friend." + +Donnegan grinned, and at this the colonel frowned. + +"A great and mysterious people, sir. I keep evidences of them always +about me. Look!" + +He swept the shaft of the reading light up and it fell upon a red vase +against the yellow hangings. Even Donnegan's inexperienced eye read a +price into that shimmering vase. + +"Queer color," he said. + +"Dusty claret. Ah, they have the only names for their colors. Think! +Peach bloom--liquid dawn--ripe cherry--oil green--green of powdered +tea--blue of the sky after rain--what names for color! What other land +possesses such a tongue that goes straight to the heart!" + +The colonel waved his faultless hands and then dropped them back upon +the book with the tenderness of a benediction. + +"And their terms for texture--pear's rind--lime peel--millet seed! Do +not scoff at China, Mr. Donnegan. She is the fairy godmother, and we are +the poor children." + +He changed the direction of the light; Donnegan watched him, fascinated. + +"But what convinced you that I wished to keep you here?" + +"To amuse you, Colonel Macon." + +The colonel exposed gleaming white teeth and laughed in that soft, +smooth-flowing voice. + +"Amuse me? For fifteen years I have sat in this room and amused myself +by taking in what I would and shutting out the rest of the world. I have +made the walls thick and padded them to keep out all sound. You observe +that there is no evidence here of the storm that is going on tonight. +Amuse me? Indeed!" + +And Donnegan thought of Lou Macon in her old, drab dress, huddling the +poor cloak around her shoulders to keep out the cold, while her father +lounged here in luxury. He could gladly have buried his lean fingers in +that fat throat. From the first he had had an aversion to this man. + +"Very well, I shall go. It has been a pleasant chat, colonel." + +"Very pleasant. And thank you. But before you go, taste this whisky. It +will help you when you enter the wind." + +He opened a cabinet in the side of the chair and brought out a black +bottle and a pair of glasses and put them on the broad arm of the chair. +Donnegan sauntered back. + +"You see," he murmured, "you will not let me go." + +At this the colonel raised his head suddenly and glared into the eyes of +his guest, and yet so perfect was his muscular and nerve control that he +did not interrupt the thin stream of amber which trickled into one of +the glasses. Looking down again, he finished pouring the drinks. They +pledged each other with a motion, and drank. It was very old, very oily. +And Donnegan smiled as he put down the empty glass. + +"Sit down," said the colonel in a new voice. + +Donnegan obeyed. + +"Fate," went on the colonel, "rules our lives. We give our honest +endeavors, but the deciding touch is the hand of Fate." + +He garnished this absurd truism with a wave of his hand so solemn that +Donnegan was chilled; as though the fat man were actually conversant +with the Three Sisters. + +"Fate has brought you to me; therefore, I intend to keep you." + +"Here?" + +"In my service. I am about to place a great mission and a great trust in +your hands." + +"In the hands of a man you know nothing about?" + +"I know you as if I had raised you." + +Donnegan smiled, and shaking his head, the red hair flashed and +shimmered. + +"As long as there is no work attached to the mission, it may be +agreeable to me." + +"But there is work." + +"Then the contract is broken before it is made." + +"You are rash. But I had rather begin with a dissent and then work +upward." + +Donnegan waited. + +"To balance against work--" + +"Excuse me. Nothing balances against work for me." + +"To balance against work," continued the colonel, raising a white hand +and by that gesture crushing the protest of Donnegan, "there is a great +reward." + +"Colonel Macon, I have never worked for money before and I shall not +work for it now." + +"You trouble me with interruptions. Who mentioned money? You shall not +have a penny!" + +"No?" + +"The reward shall grow out of the work." + +"And the work?" + +"Is fighting." + +At this Donnegan narrowed his eyes and searched the fat man thoroughly. +It sounded like the talk of a charlatan, and yet there was a crispness +to these sentences that made him suspect something underneath. For that +matter, in certain districts his name and his career were known. He had +never dreamed that that reputation could have come within a thousand +miles of this part of the mountain desert. + +"You should have told me in the first place," he said with some anger, +"that you knew me." + +"Mr. Donnegan, upon my honor, I never heard your name before my daughter +uttered it." + +Donnegan waited soberly. + +"I despise charlatanry as much as the next man. You shall see the steps +by which I judged you. When you entered the room I threw a strong light +upon you. You did not blanch; you immediately walked straight into the +shaft of light although you could not see a foot before you." + +"And that proved?" + +"A combative instinct, and coolness; not the sort of brute +vindictiveness that fights for a rage, for a cool-minded love of +conflict. Is that clear?" + +Donnegan shrugged his shoulders. + +"And above all, I need a fighter. Then I watched your eyes and your +hands. The first were direct and yet they were alert. And your hands +were perfectly steady." + +"Qualifications for a fighter, eh?" + +"Do you wish further proof?" + +"Well?" + +"What of the fight to the death which you went through this same night?" + +Donnegan started. It was a small movement, that flinching, and he +covered it by continuing the upward gesture of his hand to his coat; he +drew out tobacco and cigarette papers and commenced to roll his smoke. +Looking up, he saw that the eyes of Colonel Macon were smiling, although +his face was grave. + +A glint of understanding passed between the two men, but not a spoken +word. + +"I assure you, there was no death tonight," said Donnegan at length. + +"Tush! Of course not! But the tear on the shoulder of your coat--ah, +that is too smooth edged for a tear, too long for the bite of a +scissors. Am I right? Tush! Not a word!" + +The colonel beamed with an almost tender pride, and Donnegan, knowing +that the fat man looked upon him as a murderer, newly come from a +death, considered the beaming face and thought many things in silence. + +"So it was easy to see that in coolness, courage, fighting instinct, +skill, you were probably what I want. Yet something more than all these +qualifications is necessary for the task which lies ahead of you." + +"You pile up the bad features, eh?" + +"To entice you, Donnegan. For one man, paint a rosy beginning, and once +under way he will manage the hard parts. For you, show you the hard +shell and you will trust it contains the choice flesh. I was saying, +that I waited to see other qualities in you; qualities of the judgment. +And suddenly you flashed upon me a single glance; I felt it clash +against my willpower. I felt your look go past my guard like a rapier +slipping around my blade. I, Colonel Macon, was for the first time +outfaced, out-maneuvered. I admit it, for I rejoice in meeting such a +man. And the next instant you told me that I should keep you here out of +my own wish! Admirable!" + +The admiration of the colonel, indeed, almost overwhelmed Donnegan, but +he saw that in spite of the genial smile, the face suffused with warmth, +the colonel was watching him every instant, flinty-eyed. Donnegan did as +he had done on the stairs; he burst into laughter. + +When he had done, the colonel was leaning forward in his chair with his +fingers interlacing, examining his guest from beneath somber brows. As +he sat lurched forward he gave a terrible impression of that reserved +energy which Donnegan had sensed before. + +"Donnegan," said the colonel, "I shall talk no more nonsense to you. You +are a terrible fellow!" + +And Donnegan knew that, for the first time in the colonel's life, he was +meeting another man upon equal ground. + + + + +9 + + +In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him: +that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absolute +evil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face of +Macon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would have +left the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou. + +"I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at once +Donnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense. + +"Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. A +waste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the first +man who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snapped +them on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last. + +"So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you. +Donnegan, we have met each other just in time." + +"True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot of +fighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night." + +"Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action in +which you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and in +the battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sad +past which lies behind you." + +Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; and +he stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and, +his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a panther +enduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape. + +"You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon his +stool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast, +and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyes +dull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from the +perspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossible +ten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallen +upon him. + +All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction. +Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well. + +"I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as the +voice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than I +wished to say." + +Donnegan brushed the apology aside. + +His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I am +eager to learn from you, colonel." + +"Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interests +in this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised you +before, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into small +details. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all men +of mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heart +of it is perfectly clear to them." + +He settled into his narrative. + +"You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a few +weeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddy +and Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand, +and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from the +headwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meets +the other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sands +are rich--very rich!" + +He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to cover +his emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor beside +him and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word. + +"Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was brought +to my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them. +But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom should +I select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozen +years ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortune +was then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I could +have shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and--" + +Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing that +this hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest, +he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the need +for a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able to +take care of himself." + +At this Donnegan pricked his ears. + +"He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filed +them as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It panned +out in nuggets." + +He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingers +Donnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring. + +"But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone. +This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as a +scoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimed +that he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claim +that I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump the +claims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lester +down. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded. + +"In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was a +village; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner had +become the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint. +He sent me back a mere souvenir." + +The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow and +with a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly, +so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. But +his hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. He +found in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces, +and he flicked it back to the colonel. + +"He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I have +waited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that Jack +Landis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirable +woman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which I +had sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind is +hardened against adversity. + +"Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engaged +to marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in his +disaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. The +scoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!" + +Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?" + +The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more +safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the +distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the +colonel read something that set him beaming. + +"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with +his selfishness." + +"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan. + +The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he +believed that things were getting on very well. + +"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the +wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He +belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows +very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and +handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions. +They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the +cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool +fighters--the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters--all celebrated names in +the cattle country. + +"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and +partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and +even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within +the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first +establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else; +if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is the +aggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devil +knows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists the +hearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is the +leader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members. +He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had his +followers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, and +made Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the mines +to the gang--of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At the +same time, Lord Nick attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adopted +father, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolen +the claims from this wretched Lester!" + +He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hateful +softness. + +"The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines. +Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives him +absolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably will +continue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it on +this woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comes +through to me!" + +Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon a +great distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins of +Donnegan. + +"Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove with +Lord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so that +nine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back through +the hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. He +struts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and with +the power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gambling +houses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come to +consider himself a great man. Is it clear?" + +Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance. + +"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must +be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be +brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress +and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long +Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully +their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him +from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp--send +Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby +prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!" + +At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see. + +"Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling +spirit; you are willing to take great chances!" + +"So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should +never send her except with an adequate protector." + +"An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the +camp as you have already admitted?" + +"An adequate protector--you are the man!" + +Donnegan shivered. + +"I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun +to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?" + +"It is." + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, +white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety. + +"She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing. + +"A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they +were children." + +"Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are +not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs." + +The colonel writhed in his chair. + +"But Lou--you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked +closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not +suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't +written for weeks." + +He saw Donnegan wince under the whip. + +"It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven +knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with +the sight of Lou?" + +The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would +undertake the journey. + +"In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you +astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away +from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In +that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you +also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis--namely, myself. And +in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure--oh, be sure that I should not +forget who brought the mines into my hands!" + + + + +10 + + +Fifty miles over any sort of going is a stiff march. Fifty miles uphill +and down and mostly over districts where there was only a rough cow path +in lieu of a road made a prodigious day's work; and certainly it was an +almost incredible feat for one who professed to hate work with a +consuming passion and who had looked upon an eight-mile jaunt the night +before as an insuperable burden. Yet such was the distance which +Donnegan had covered, and now he drove the pack mule out on the shoulder +of the hill in full view of The Corner with the triangle of the Young +Muddy and Christobel Rivers embracing the little town. Even the gaunt, +leggy mule was tired to the dropping point, and the tough buckskin which +trailed up behind went with downward head. When Louise Macon turned to +him, he had reached the point where he swung his head around first and +then grudgingly followed the movement with his body. The girl was tired, +also, in spite of the fact that she had covered every inch of the +distance in the saddle. There was that violet shade of weariness under +her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward. Only Donnegan, the hater of +labor, was fresh. + +They had started in the first dusk of the coming day; it was now the +yellow time of the slant afternoon sunlight; between these two points +there had been a body of steady plodding. The girl had looked askance at +that gaunt form of Donnegan's when they began; but before three hours, +seeing that the spring never left his step nor the swinging rhythm his +stride, she began to wonder. This afternoon, nothing he did could have +surprised her. From the moment he entered the house the night before he +had been a mystery. Till her death day she would not forget the fire +with which he had stared up at her from the foot of the stairs. But when +he came out of her father's room--not cowed and whipped as most men left +it--he had looked at her with a veiled glance, and since that moment +there had always been a mist of indifference over his eyes when he +looked at her. + +In the beginning of that day's march all she knew was that her father +trusted her to this stranger, Donnegan, to take her to The Corner, where +he was to find Jack Landis and bring Jack back to his old allegiance and +find what he was doing with his time and his money. It was a quite +natural proceeding, for Jack was a wild sort, and he was probably +gambling away all the gold that was dug in his mines. It was perfectly +natural throughout, except that she should have been trusted so entirely +to a stranger. That was a remarkable thing, but, then, her father was a +remarkable man, and it was not the first time that his actions had been +inscrutable, whether concerning her or the affairs of other people. She +had heard men come into their house cursing Colonel Macon with death in +their faces; she had seen them sneak out after a soft-voiced interview +and never appear again. In her eyes, her father was invincible, +all-powerful. When she thought of superlatives, she thought of him. Her +conception of mystery was the smile of the colonel, and her conception +of tenderness was bounded by the gentle voice of the same man. +Therefore, it was entirely sufficient to her that the colonel had said: +"Go, and trust everything to Donnegan. He has the power to command you +and you must obey--until Jack comes back to you." + +That was odd, for, as far as she knew, Jack had never left her. But she +had early discarded any will to question her father. Curiosity was a +thing which the fat man hated above all else. + +Therefore, it was really not strange to her that throughout the journey +her guide did not speak half a dozen words to her. Once or twice when +she attempted to open the conversation he had replied with crushing +monosyllables, and there was an end. For the rest, he was always +swinging down the trail ahead of her at a steady, unchanging, rapid +stride. Uphill and down it never varied. And so they came out upon the +shoulder of the hill and saw the storm center of The Corner. They were +in the hills behind the town; two miles would bring them into it. And +now Donnegan came back to her from the mule. He took off his hat and +shook the dust away; he brushed a hand across his face. He was still +unshaven. The red stubble made him hideous, and the dust and +perspiration covered his face as with a mask. Only his eyes were rimmed +with white skin. + +"You'd better get off the horse, here," said Donnegan. + +He held her stirrup, and she obeyed without a word. + +"Sit down." + +She sat down on the flat-topped boulder which he designated, and, +looking up, observed the first sign of emotion in his face. He was +frowning, and his face was drawn a little. + +"You are tired," he stated. + +"A little." + +"You are tired," said the wanderer in a tone that implied dislike of any +denial. Therefore she made no answer. "I'm going down into the town to +look things over. I don't want to parade you through the streets until I +know where Landis is to be found and how he'll receive you. The Corner +is a wild town; you understand?" + +"Yes," she said blankly, and noted nervously that the reply did not +please him. He actually scowled at her. + +"You'll be all right here. I'll leave the pack mule with you; if +anything should happen--but nothing is going to happen, I'll be back in +an hour or so. There's a pool of water. You can get a cold drink there +and wash up if you want to while I'm gone. But don't go to sleep!" + +"Why not?" + +"A place like this is sure to have a lot of stragglers hunting around +it. Bad characters. You understand?" + +She could not understand why he should make a mystery of it; but then, +he was almost as strange as her father. His careful English and his +ragged clothes were typical of him inside and out. + +"You have a gun there in your holster. Can you use it?" + +"Yes." + +"Try it." + +It was a thirty-two, a woman's light weapon. She took it out and +balanced it in her hand. + +"The blue rock down the hillside. Let me see you chip it." + +Her hand went up, and without pausing to sight along the barrel, she +fired; fire flew from the rock, and there appeared a white, small scar. +Donnegan sighed with relief. + +"If you squeezed the butt rather than pulled the trigger," he commented, +"you would have made a bull's-eye that time. Now, I don't mean that in +any likelihood you'll have to defend yourself. I simply want you to be +aware that there's plenty of trouble around The Corner." + +"Yes," said the girl. + +"You're not afraid?" + +"Oh, no." + +Donnegan settled his hat a little more firmly upon his head. He had been +on the verge of attributing her gentleness to a blank, stupid mind; he +began to realize that there was metal under the surface. He felt that +some of the qualities of the father were echoed faintly, and at a +distance, in the child. In a way, she made him think of an unawakened +creature. When she was roused, if the time ever came, it might be that +her eye could become a thing alternately of fire and ice, and her voice +might carry with a ring. + +"This business has to be gotten through quickly," he went on. "One +meeting with Jack Landis will be enough." + +She wondered why he set his jaw when he said this, but he was wondering +how deeply the colonel's ward had fallen into the clutches of Nelly +Lebrun. If that first meeting did not bring Landis to his senses, what +followed? One of two things. Either the girl must stay on in The Corner +and try her hand with her fiancé again, or else the final brutal +suggestion of the colonel must be followed; he must kill Landis. It was +a cold-blooded suggestion, but Donnegan was a cold-blooded man. As he +looked at the girl, where she sat on the boulder, he knew definitely, +first and last, that he loved her, and that he would never again love +any other woman. Every instinct drew him toward the necessity of +destroying Landis. There was his stumbling block. But what if she truly +loved Landis? + +He would have to wait in order to find that out. And as he stood there +with the sun shining on the red stubble on his face he made a resolution +the more profound because it was formed in silence: if she truly loved +Landis he would serve her hand and foot until she had her will. + +But all he said was simply: "I shall be back before it's dark." + +"I shall be comfortable here," replied the girl, and smiled farewell at +him. + +And while Donnegan went down the slope full of darkness he thought of +that smile. + +The Corner spread more clearly before him with every step he made. It +was a type of the gold-rush town. Of course most of the dwellings were +tents--dog tents many of them; but there was a surprising sprinkling of +wooden shacks, some of them of considerable size. Beginning at the very +edge of the town and spread over the sand flats were the mines and the +black sprinkling of laborers. And the town itself was roughly jumbled +around one street. Over to the left the main road into The Corner +crossed the wide, shallow ford of the Young Muddy River and up this road +he saw half a dozen wagons coming, wagons of all sizes; but nothing went +out of The Corner. People who came stayed there, it seemed. + +He dropped over the lower hills, and the voice of the gold town rose to +him. It was a murmur like that of an army preparing for battle. Now and +then a blast exploded, for what purpose he could not imagine in this +school of mining. But as a rule the sounds were subdued by the distance. +He caught the muttering of many voices, in which laughter and shouts +were brought to the level of a whisper at close hand; and through all +this there was a persistent clangor of metallic sounds. No doubt from +the blacksmith shops where picks and other implements were made or +sharpened and all sorts of repairing carried on. But the predominant +tone of the voice of The Corner was this persistent ringing of metal. It +suggested to Donnegan that here was a town filled with men of iron and +all the gentler parts of their natures forgotten. An odd place to bring +such a woman as Lou Macon, surely! + +He reached the level, and entered the town. + + + + +11 + + +Hunting for news, he went naturally to the news emporium which took the +place of the daily paper--namely, he went to the saloons. But on the way +he ran through a liberal cross-section of The Corner's populace. First +of all, the tents and the ruder shacks. He saw little sheet-iron stoves +with the tin dishes piled, unwashed, upon the tops of them when the +miners rushed back to their work; broken handles of picks and shovels; +worn-out shirts and overalls lay where they had been tossed; here was a +flat strip of canvas supported by four four-foot poles and without +shelter at the sides, and the belongings of one careless miner tumbled +beneath this miserable shelter; another man had striven for some +semblance of a home and he had framed a five-foot walk leading up to the +closed flap of his tent with stones of a regular size. But nowhere was +there a sign of life, and would not be until semidarkness brought the +unwilling workers back to the tents. + +Out of this district he passed quickly onto the main street, and here +there was a different atmosphere. The first thing he saw was a man +dressed as a cowpuncher from belt to spurs--spurs on a miner--but above +the waist he blossomed in a frock coat and a silk hat. Around the coat +he had fastened his belt, and the shirt beneath the coat was common +flannel, open at the throat. He walked, or rather staggered, on the arm +of an equally strange companion who was arrayed in a white silk shirt, +white flannel trousers, white dancing pumps, and a vast sombrero! But as +if this was not sufficient protection for his head, he carried a parasol +of the most brilliant green silk and twirled it above his head. The two +held a wavering course and went blindly past Donnegan. + +It was sufficiently clear that the storekeeper had followed the gold. + +He noted a cowboy sitting in his saddle while he rolled a cigarette. +Obviously he had come in to look things over rather than to share in the +mining, and he made the one sane, critical note in the carnival of noise +and color. Donnegan began to pass stores. There was the jeweler's; the +gent's furnishing; a real estate office--what could real estate be doing +on the Young Muddy's desert? Here was the pawnshop, the windows of which +were already packed. The blacksmith had a great establishment, and the +roar of the anvils never died away; feed and grain and a dozen +lunch-counter restaurants. All this had come to The Corner within six +weeks. + +Liquor seemed to be plentiful, too. In the entire length of the street +he hardly saw a sober man, except the cowboy. Half a dozen in one group +pitched silver dollars at a mark. But he was in the saloon district now, +and dominant among the rest was the big, unpainted front of a building +before which hung an enormous sign: + +LEBRUN'S JOY EMPORIUM + +Donnegan turned in under the sign. + +It was one big room. The bar stretched completely around two sides of +it. The floor was dirt, but packed to the hardness of wood. The low roof +was supported by a scattering of wooden pillars, and across the floor +the gaming tables were spread. At that vast bar not ten men were +drinking now; at the crowding tables there were not half a dozen +players; yet behind the bar stood a dozen tenders ready to meet the +evening rush from the mines. And at the tables waited an equal number of +the professional gamblers of the house. + +From the door Donnegan observed these things with one sweeping glance, +and then proceeded to transform himself. One jerk at the visor of his +cap brought it down over his eyes and covered his face with shadow; a +single shrug bunched the ragged coat high around his shoulders, and the +shoulders themselves he allowed to drop forward. With his hands in his +pockets he glided slowly across the room toward the bar, for all the +world a picture of the guttersnipe who had been kicked from pillar to +post until self-respect is dead in him. And pausing in his advance, he +leaned against one of the pillars and looked hungrily toward the bar. + +He was immediately hailed from behind the bar with: "Hey, you. No tramps +in here. Pay and stay in Lebrun's!" + +The command brought an immediate protest. A big fellow stepped from the +bar, his sombrero pushed to the back of his head, his shirt sleeves +rolled to the elbow away from vast hairy forearms. One of his long arms +swept out and brought Donnegan to the bar. + +"I ain't no prophet," declared the giant, "but I can spot a man that's +dry. What'll you have, bud?" And to the bartender he added: "Leave him +be, pardner, unless you're all set for considerable noise in here." + +"Long as his drinks are paid for," muttered the bartender, "here he +stays. But these floaters do make me tired!" + +He jabbed the bottle across the bar at Donnegan and spun a glass noisily +at him, and the "floater" observed the angry bartender with a frightened +side glance, and then poured his drink gingerly. When the glass was half +full he hesitated and sought the face of the bartender again, for +permission to go on. + +"Fill her up!" commanded the giant. "Fill her up, lad, and drink +hearty." + +"I never yet," observed the bartender darkly, "seen a beggar that wasn't +a hog." + +At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a +little more forward on his thigh. + +"Son," he said, "how long you been in these parts?" + +"Long enough," declared the other, and lowered his black brows. "Long +enough to be sick of it." + +"Maybe, maybe," returned the cowpuncher-miner, "meantime you tie to +this. We got queer ways out here. When a gent drinks with us he's our +friend. This lad here is my pardner, just now. If I was him I would of +knocked your head off before now for what you've said--" + +"I don't want no trouble," Donnegan said whiningly. + +At this the bartender chuckled, and the miner showed his teeth in his +disgust. + +"Every gent has got his own way," he said sourly. "But while you drink +with Hal Stern you drink with your chin up, bud. And don't forget it. +And them that tries to run over you got to run over me." + +Saying this, he laid his large left hand on the bar and leaned a little +toward the bartender, but his right hand remained hanging loosely at his +side. It was near the holster, as Donnegan noticed. And the bartender, +having met the boring glance of the big man for a moment, turned surlily +away. The giant looked to Donnegan and observed: "Know a good definition +of the word, skunk?" + +"Nope," said Donnegan, brightening now that the stern eye, of the +bartender was turned away. + +"Here's one that might do. A skunk is a critter that bites when your +back is turned and runs when you look it in the eye. Here's how!" + +He drained his own glass, and Donnegan dexterously followed the example. + +"And what might you be doing around these parts?" asked the big man, +veiling his contempt under a mild geniality. + +"Me? Oh, nothing." + +"Looking for a job, eh?" + +Donnegan shrugged. + +"Work ain't my line," he confided. + +"H'm-m-m," said Hal Stern. "Well, you don't make no bones about it." + +"But just now," continued Donnegan, "I thought maybe I'd pick up some +sort of a job for a while." He looked ruefully at the palms of his hands +which were as tender as the hands of a woman. "Heard a fellow say that +Jack Landis was a good sort to work for--didn't rush his men none. They +said I might find him here." + +The big man grunted. + +"Too early for him. He don't circulate around much till the sun goes +down. Kind of hard on his skin, the sun, maybe. So you're going to work +for him?" + +"I was figuring on it." + +"Well, tie to this, bud. If you work for him you won't have him over +you." + +"No?" + +"No, you'll have"--he glanced a little uneasily around him--"Lord Nick." + +"Who's he?" + +"Who's he?" The big man started in astonishment. "Sufferin' catamounts! +Who is he?" He laughed in a disagreeable manner. "Well, son, you'll +find out, right enough!" + +"The way you talk, he don't sound none too good." + +Hal Stern grew anxious. "The way I talk? Have I said anything agin' him? +Not a word! He's--he's--well, there ain't ever been trouble between us +and there never ain't going to be." He flushed and looked steadily at +Donnegan. "Maybe he sent you to talk to me?" he asked coldly. + +But Donnegan's eyes took on a childish wideness. + +"Why, I never seen him," he declared. Hall Stern allowed the muscles of +his face to relax. "All right," he said, "they's no harm done. But Lord +Nick is a name that ain't handled none too free in these here parts. +Remember that!" + +"But how," pondered Donnegan, "can I be working for Lord Nick when I +sign up to work under Jack Landis?" + +"I'll tell you how. Nick and Lebrun work together. Split profits. And +Nelly Lebrun works Landis for his dust. So the stuff goes in a +circle--Landis to Nelly to Lebrun to Nick. That clear?" + +"I don't quite see it," murmured Donnegan. + +"I didn't think you would," declared the other, and snorted his disgust. +"But that's all I'm going to say. Here come the boys--and dead dry!" + +For the afternoon was verging upon evening, and the first drift of +laborers from the mines was pouring into The Corner. One thing at least +was clear to Donnegan: that everyone knew how infatuated Landis had +become with Nelly Lebrun and that Landis had not built up an +extraordinarily good name for himself. + + + + +12 + + +By the time absolute darkness had set in, Donnegan, in the new role of +lady's chaperon, sat before a dying fire with Louise Macon beside him. +He had easily seen from his talk with Stern that Landis was a public +figure, whether from the richness of his claims or his relations with +Lord Nick and Lebrun, or because of all these things; but as a public +figure it would be impossible to see him alone in his own tent, and +unless Louise could meet him alone half her power over him--supposing +that she still retained any--would be lost. Better by far that Landis +should come to her than that she should come to him, so Donnegan had +rented two tents by the day at an outrageous figure from the +enterprising real estate company of The Corner and to this new home he +brought the girl. + +She accepted the arrangement with surprising equanimity. It seemed that +her father's training had eliminated from her mind any questioning of +the motives of others. She became even cheerful as she set about +arranging the pack which Donnegan put in her tent. Afterward she cooked +their supper over the fire which he built for her. Never was there such +a quick house-settling. And by the time it was absolutely dark they had +washed the dishes and sat before Lou's tent looking over the night +lights of The Corner and hearing the voice of its Great White Way +opening. + +She had not even asked why he did not bring her straight to Jack Landis. +She had looked into Donnegan's tent, furnished with a single blanket and +his canvas kit, and had offered to share her pack with him. And now they +sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about +what was to come. + +Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard +rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose +in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew +that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to +the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose--the death of Jack +Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his +mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership +which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do +all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was +only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home. + +A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him +and the girl lay a dead body. + +He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going +down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to +watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!" + +It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she +was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining +camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet +never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he +went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for +their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town. +Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her +voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred +could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question +to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis? + +The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same +rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of +lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of +those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing +sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to +mock at The Corner and all it contained. + +He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance +hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of +dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was +quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the merriment +was under way in the dance hall. If Lebrun's was the sun of the +amusement world in The Corner, Milligan's was the moon. Everybody who +had money to lose went to Lebrun's. Every one who was out for gayety +went to Milligan's. Milligan was a plunger. He had brought up an +orchestra which demanded fifteen dollars a day and he paid them that and +more. He not only was able to do this, but he established a bar at the +entrance from which all who entered were served with a free drink. The +entrance, also, was not subject to charge. The initial drink at the door +was spiced to encourage thirst, so Milligan made money as fast, and far +more easily, than if he had been digging it out of the ground. + +To the door of this pleasure emporium came Donnegan. He had transformed +himself into the ragged hobo by the jerking down of his cap again, and +the hunching of his shoulders. And shrinking past the bar with a hungry +sidewise glance, as one who did not dare present himself for free +liquor, he entered Milligan's. + +That is, he had put his foot across the threshold when he was caught +roughly by the shoulder and dragged to one side. He found himself +looking up into the face of a strapping fellow who served Milligan as +bouncer. Milligan had an eye for color. Andy Lewis was tolerably well +known as a fighting man of parts, who not only wore two guns but could +use them both at once, which is much more difficult than is generally +understood. But far more than for his fighting parts Milligan hired his +bouncer for the sake of his face. It was a countenance made to +discourage trouble makers. A mule had kicked Lewis in the chin, and a +great white welt deformed his lower lip. Scars of smallpox added to his +decorative effect, and he had those extremely bushy brows which for some +reason are generally considered to denote ferocity. Now, Donnegan was +not above middle height at best, and in his present shrinking attitude +he found himself looking up a full head into the formidable face of the +bouncer. + +"And what are you doing in here?" asked the genial Andy. "Don't you know +this joint is for white folks?" + +"I ain't colored," murmured Donnegan. + +"You took considerable yaller to me," declared Lewis. He straightway +chuckled, and his own keen appreciation of his wit softened his +expression. "What you want?" + +Donnegan shivered under his rags. + +"I want to see Jack Landis," he said. + +It had a wonderful effect upon the doorkeeper. Donnegan found that the +very name of Landis was a charm of power in The Corner. + +"You want to see him?" he queried in amazement. "You?" + +He looked Donnegan over again, and then grinned broadly, as if in +anticipation. "Well, go ahead. There he sits--no, he's dancing." + +The music was in full swing; it was chiefly brass; but now and then, in +softer moments, one could hear a violin squeaking uncertainly. At least +it went along with a marked, regular rhythm, and the dancers swirled +industriously around the floor. A very gay crowd; color was apparently +appreciated in The Corner. And Donnegan, standing modestly out of sight +behind a pillar until the dance ended, noted twenty phases of life in +twenty faces. And Donnegan saw the flushes of liquor, and heard the loud +voices of happy fellows who had made their "strikes"; but in all that +brilliant crew he had no trouble in picking out Jack Landis and Nelly +Lebrun. + +They danced together, and where they passed, the others steered a little +off so as to give them room on the dance floor, as if the men feared +that they might cross the formidable Landis, and as if the women feared +to be brought into too close comparison with Nelly Lebrun. She was, +indeed, a brilliant figure. She had eyes of the Creole duskiness, a +delicate olive skin, with a pastel coloring. The hand on the shoulder of +Landis was a thing of fairy beauty. And her eyes had that peculiar +quality of seeming to see everything, and rest on every face +particularly. So that, as she whirled toward Donnegan, he winced, +feeling that she had found him out among the shadows. + +She had a glorious partner to set her off. And Donnegan saw bitterly +why Lou Macon could love him. Height without clumsiness, bulk and a +light foot at once, a fine head, well poised, blond hair and a Grecian +profile--such was Jack Landis. He wore a vest of fawn skin; his boots +were black in the foot and finished with the softest red leather for the +leg. And he had yellow buckskin trousers, laced in a Mexican fashion +with silver at the sides; a narrow belt, a long, red silk handkerchief +flying from behind his neck in cowboy fashion. So much flashing +splendor, even in that gay assembly, would have been childishly +conspicuous on another man. But in big Jack Landis there was patently a +great deal of the unaffected child. He was having a glorious time on +this evening, and his eye roved the room challenging admiration in a +manner that was amusing rather than offensive. He was so overflowingly +proud of having the prettiest girl in The Corner upon his arm and so +conscious of being himself probably the finest-looking man that he +escaped conceit, it might almost be said, by his very excess of it. + +Upon this splendid individual, then, the obscure Donnegan bent his gaze. +He saw the dancers pause and scatter as the music ended, saw them drift +to the tables along the edges of the room, saw the scurry of waiters +hurrying drinks up in the interval, saw Nelly Lebrun sip a lemonade, saw +Jack Landis toss off something stronger. And then Donnegan skirted +around the room and came to the table of Jack Landis at the very moment +when the latter was tossing a gold piece to the waiter and giving a new +order. + +Prodigal sons in the distance of thought are apt to be both silly: and +disgusting, but at close hand they usually dazzle the eye. Even the cold +brain of Donnegan was daunted a little as he drew near. + +He came behind the chair of the tall master of The Corner, and while +Nelly Lebrun stopped her glass halfway to her lips and stared at the +ragged stranger, Donnegan was whispering in the ear of Jack Landis: +"I've got to see you alone." + +Landis turned his head slowly and his eye darkened a little as he met +the reddish, unshaven face of the stranger. Then, with a careless shrug +of distaste, he drew out a few coins and poured them into Donnegan's +palm; the latter pocketed them. + +"Lou Macon," said Donnegan. + +Jack Landis rose from his chair, and it was not until he stood so close +to Donnegan that the latter realized the truly Herculean proportions of +the young fellow. He bowed his excuses to Nelly Lebrun, not without +grace of manner, and then huddled Donnegan into a corner with a wave of +his vast arm. + +"Now what do you want? Who are you? Who put that name in your mouth?" + +"She's in The Corner," said Donnegan, and he dwelt upon the face of Jack +Landis with feverish suspense. A moment later a great weight had slipped +from his heart. If Lou Macon loved Landis it was beyond peradventure +that Landis was not breaking his heart because of the girl. For at her +name he flushed darkly, and then, that rush of color fading, he was left +with a white spot in the center of each cheek. + + + + +13 + + +First his glance plunged into vacancy; then it flicked over his shoulder +at Nelly Lebrun and he bit his lip. Plainly, it was not the most welcome +news that Jack Landis had ever heard. + +"Where is she?" he asked nervously of Donnegan, and he looked over the +ragged fellow again. + +"I'll take you to her." + +The big man swayed back and forth from foot to foot, balancing in his +hesitation. "Wait a moment." + +He strode to Nelly Lebrun and bent over her; Donnegan saw her eyes flash +up--oh, heart of the south, what eyes of shadow and fire! Jack Landis +trembled under the glance; yes, he was deeply in love with the girl. And +Donnegan watched her face shade with suspicion, stiffen with cold anger, +warm and soften again under the explanations of Jack Landis. + +Donnegan, looking from the distance, could read everything; it is +nearness that bewitches a man when he talks to a woman. When Odysseus +talked to Circe, no doubt he stood on the farther side of the room! + +When Landis came again, he was perspiring from the trial of fire +through which he had just passed. + +"Come," he ordered, and set out at a sweeping stride. + +Plainly he was anxious to get this matter done with as soon as possible. +As for Donnegan, he saw a man whom Landis had summoned to take his place +sit down at the table with Nelly Lebrun. She was laughing with the +newcomer as though nothing troubled her at all, but over his shoulder +her glance probed the distance and followed Jack Landis. She wanted to +see the messenger again, the man who had called her companion away; but +in this it was fox challenging fox. Donnegan took note and was careful +to place between him and the girl every pillar and every group of +people. As far as he was concerned, her first glance must do to read and +judge and remember him by. + +Outside Landis shot several questions at him in swift succession; he +wanted to know how the girl had happened to make the trip. Above all, +what the colonel was thinking and doing and if the colonel himself had +come. But Donnegan replied with monosyllables, and Landis, apparently +reconciling himself to the fact that the messenger was a fool, ceased +his questions. They kept close to a run all the way out of the camp and +up the hillside to the two detached tents where Donnegan and the girl +slept that night. A lantern burned in both the tents. + +"She has made things ready for me," thought Donnegan, his heart opening. +"She has kept house for me!" + +He pointed out Lou's tent to his companion and the big man, with a +single low word of warning, threw open the flap of the tent and strode +in. + +There was only the split part of a second between the rising and the +fall of the canvas, but in that swift interval, Donnegan saw the girl +starting up to receive Landis. Her calm was broken at last. Her cheeks +were flushed; her eyes were starry with what? Expectancy? Love? + +It stopped Donnegan like a blow in the face and turned his heart to +lead; and then, shamelessly, he glided around the tent and dropped down +beside it to eavesdrop. After all, there was some excuse. If she loved +the man he, Donnegan, would let him live; if she did not love him, he, +Donnegan, would kill him like a worthless rat under heel. That is, if he +could. No wonder that the wanderer listened with heart and soul! + +He missed the first greeting. It was only a jumble of exclamations, but +now he heard: "But, Lou, what a wild idea. Across the mountains--with +whom?" + +"The man who brought you here." + +"Who's he?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't know? He looks like a shifty little rat to me." + +"He's big enough, Jack." + +Such small praise was enough to set Donnegan's heart thumping. + +"Besides, father told me to go with him, to trust him." + +"Ah!" There was an abrupt chilling and lowering of Landis' voice. "The +colonel knows him? He's one of the colonel's men?" + +Plainly the colonel was to him as the rod to the child. + +"Why didn't you come directly to me?" + +"We thought it would be better not to." + +"H'm-m. Your guide--well, what was the colonel's idea in sending you +here? Heavens above, doesn't he know that a mining camp is no place for +a young girl? And you haven't a sign of a chaperon, Lou! What the devil +can I do? What was in his mind?" + +"You haven't written for a long time." + +"Good Lord! Written! Letters! Does he think I have time for letters?" +The lie came smoothly enough. "Working day and night?" + +Donnegan smoothed his whiskers and grinned into the night. Landis might +prove better game than he had anticipated. + +"He worried," said the girl, and her voice was as even as ever. "He +worried, and sent me to find out if anything is wrong." + +Then: "Nonsense! What is there to worry about? Lou, I'm half inclined to +think that the colonel doesn't trust me!" + +She did not answer. Was she reading beneath the boisterous assurance of +Landis? + +"One thing is clear to me--and to you, too, I hope. The first thing is +to send you back in a hurry." + +Still no answer. + +"Lou, do you distrust me?" + +At length she managed to speak, but it was with some difficulty: "There +is another reason for sending me." + +"Tell me." + +"Can't you guess, Jack?" + +"I'm not a mind reader." + +"The cad," said Donnegan through his teeth. + +"It's the old reason." + +"Money?" + +"Yes." + +A shadow swept across the side of the tent; it was Landis waving his arm +carelessly. + +"If that's all, I can fix you up and send you back with enough to carry +the colonel along. Look here--why, I have five hundred with me. Take it, +Lou. There's more behind it, but the colonel mustn't think that there's +as much money in the mines as people say. No idea how much living costs +up here. Heavens, no! And the prices for labor! And then they shirk the +job from dawn to dark. I have to watch 'em every minute, I tell you!" + +He sighed noisily. + +"But the end of it is, dear"--how that small word tore into the heart of +Donnegan, who crouched outside--"that you must go back tomorrow morning. +I'd send you tonight, if I could. As a matter of fact, I don't trust the +red-haired rat who--" + +The girl interrupted while Donnegan still had control of his +hair-trigger temper. + +"You forget, Jack. Father sent me here, but he did not tell me to come +back." + +At this Jack Landis burst into an enormous laughter. + +"You don't mean, Lou, that you actually intend to stay on?" + +"What else can I mean?" + +"Of course it makes it awkward if the colonel didn't expressly tell you +just what to do. I suppose he left it to my discretion, and I decide +definitely that you must go back at once." + +"I can't do it." + +"Lou, don't you hear me saying that I'll take the responsibility? If +your father blames you let him tell me--" + +He broke down in the middle of his sentence and another of those +uncomfortable little pauses ensued. Donnegan knew that their eyes were +miserably upon each other; the man tongue-tied by his guilt; the girl +wretchedly guessing at the things which lay behind her fiancé's words. + +"I'm sorry you don't want me here." + +"It isn't that, but--" + +He apparently expected to be interrupted, but she waited coolly for him +to finish the sentence, and, of course, he could not. After all, for a +helpless girl she had a devilish effective way of muzzling Landis. +Donnegan chuckled softly in admiration. + +All at once she broke through the scene; her voice did not rise or +harden, but it was filled with finality, as though she were weary of the +interview. + +"I'm tired out; it's been a hard ride, Jack. You go home now and look me +up again any time tomorrow." + +"I--Lou--I feel mighty bad about having you up here in this infernal +tent, when the camp is full, and--": + +"You can't lie across the entrance to my tent and guard me, Jack. +Besides, I don't need you for that. The man who's with me will protect +me." + +"He doesn't look capable of protecting a cat!" + +"My father said that in any circumstances he would be able to take care +of me." + +This reply seemed to overwhelm Landis. + +"The colonel trusts him as far as all that?" he muttered. "Then I +suppose you're safe enough. But what about comfort, Lou?" + +"I've done without comfort all my life. Run along, Jack. And take this +money with you. I can't have it." + +"But, didn't the colonel send--" + +"You can express it through to him. To me it's--not pleasant to take +it." + +"Why, Lou, you don't mean--" + +"Good night, Jack. I don't mean anything, except that I'm tired." + +The shadow swept along the wall of the tent again. Donnegan, with a +shaking pulse, saw the profile of the girl and the man approach as he +strove to take her in his arms and kiss her good night. And then one +slender bar of shadow checked Landis. + +"Not tonight." + +"Lou, you aren't angry with me?" + +"No. But you know I have queer ways. Just put this down as one of them. +I can't explain." + +There was a muffled exclamation and Landis went from the tent and strode +down the hill; he was instantly lost in the night. But Donnegan, turning +to the entrance flap, called softly. He was bidden to come in, and when +he raised the flap he saw her sitting with her hands clasped loosely and +resting upon her knees. Her lips were a little parted, and colorless; +her eyes were dull with a mist; and though she rallied herself a little, +the wanderer could see that she was only half-aware of him. + +The face which he saw was a milestone in his life. For he had loved her +jealously, fiercely before; but seeing her now, dazed, hurt, and +uncomplaining, tenderness came into Donnegan. It spread to his heart +with a strange pain and made his hands tremble. + +All that he said was: "Is there anything you need?" + +"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away. + +But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay, +selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this--if she loved him so +truly--then Jack Landis she should have. + +There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most +nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and +looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys. +What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in +such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as +a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out +his heart's blood on the snow. + +Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night. +Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out +of his place and give him to the girl. + + + + +14 + + +The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that, +Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a +plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly +under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's +place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas. + +Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth +of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The +pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he +took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room. +For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate +more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the +cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic +loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair, +with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely +into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have +observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan. + +Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play +of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one +table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the +gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it +with precision upon the wheel. + +He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his +clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not +play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came +back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so +easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan +greatly. + +It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat +was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards! + +Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to +the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his +chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be +about the height and build of Donnegan. + +Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man, +harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would +probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that +he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract +astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace +of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he +had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily +toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and +understood. + +Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the +kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood +brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance, +just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was +weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players +themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference +between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey +poker, but the man in the linen coat did more--he stacked the cards! + +For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a +slight faltering in the deal--an infinitely small hesitation which only +a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed--that he was +sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that. +He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand +but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards. + +And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the +smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a +straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his +consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been +exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table--a small fortune! + +The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks. +They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the +call. + +Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It +was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all +prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected +according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But +the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the +winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough +to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis. +They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led +the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest +conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was. +They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting +their mental notes on the game together. + +But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his +victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on +the way--it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he +broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would +be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers. + +The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads +close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the +genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd +and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless +saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making +himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace. + +At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his +arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which +stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of +the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the +line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This +Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the +horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on +horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a +neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were +both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro +throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught +the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped +into his saddle. + +It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst +of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the +building, shooting out the lights, if possible--trusting to the +confusion to help him--and there he would find his horse held ready for +him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no +doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others. + +At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor +grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into +the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal +broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden +at once. + +For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had +been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had +slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for +a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been +noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one +accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan +racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the +saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid +him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air, +and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the +linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle +jabbed into the back of the gambler. + +The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the +pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their +gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street. + +"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back; +the gun already gleamed in his hand. + +A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the +fellow continued to fall back. + +"Tell him to ride ahead." + +"Keep in front, George." + +"And not too far." + +"Very well. And now?" + +"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond +the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!" + +"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of +the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest +attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they +rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the +card, eh?" + +"You saw, eh?" muttered the other. + +"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward." + +"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one +of us, pal?" + +But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler +to gambler should fail. + +"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on." + + + + +15 + + +Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the +starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees. + +"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground." + +There was a flash and faint thud. + +"Now the other gun." + +"They ain't any more, sir." + +"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan. + +A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at +length, and a second weapon fell. + +"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on +Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss +you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take +chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then +dismount." + +He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was +now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his +right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground. + +Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that +I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous +to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be +careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife +throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than +a bullet. We understand each other?" + +"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And +suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was +impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to +this forced--touch. Now, if half--" + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question +is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is +now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin +was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles +me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I +fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail; +there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I +think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body +is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master +for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think +that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the +starlight shine through you!" + +The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the +meantime, had not spoken. + +"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause. + +"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared." + +There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was +able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble +by fear. + +"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here--he's a devil. If you +let him live he'll kill you--as sure as you're standing here. You don't +know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as +bad as the devil's name. He--he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man, +you and I could team it together. But George--not--" + +Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt. + +"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan. +"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close +together. A coward's eyes--a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George--have +you heard what he said?" + +No answer from George but a snarl. + +"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?" + +Dead silence. + +"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of +your clothes." + +The other fell on his knees. + +"For heaven's sake," he pleaded. + +"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never +intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting +the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes." + +He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he +succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly +steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who +accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly +into the clothes of his victim. + +"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased, +here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the +weight." + +Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse. + +"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of +those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers." + +"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?" + +"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes +in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to +dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!" + +The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along +with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move +to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong; +and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man. + +"Come here," said Donnegan. + +George Washington Green rode slowly closer. + +"If I let you go what would you do?" + +There was a glint of teeth. + +"I'd find him." + +"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where +you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something +about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if +you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very +well together. You hear?" + +The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing. + +"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go." + +He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two +tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll +of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and +Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to +a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not +be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in +possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew. + +A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek +down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while +the big Negro silently tended to the horses--removing the packs and +preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small +lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time--the skin +ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face +almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a +cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair +of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles, +and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of +fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength. + +At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more +commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single +room this had two compartments--one for the kitchen and another for the +living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of +the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the +corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer +appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's +winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on +the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the +papers. + +He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched +with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him. +He saw--rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in +waves--that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused, +and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again. + +Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his +head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious +humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled +him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very +act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body. +There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated, +balanced--and then slowly drew himself erect. + +He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would +have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan +and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and +yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was +the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple +explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole +incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and +Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small +link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was +necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew +the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade +had sunk into the wood--a mute tribute to the force and speed of +George's hand--and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the +point and gave it back to the other. + +"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you +have a better chance of sending the point home." + +He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken +box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a +sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve +and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have +wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last +lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again +cross his new master. + +At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine +farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first." + +"Yes--sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him. + +And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things. + +Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish" +of the blankets being unrolled--and then a slight pause. It seemed to +him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly +back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed +thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll. + +And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of +the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George +the canvas sack and its small treasure. + +"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and +go over every part." + +He could actually feel the start of George. + +Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper. + +If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident +had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his +head. + +And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the +hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away. + + + + +16 + + +His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of +nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring +Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty +eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one +way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough +and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun, +he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to +Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how +remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis +for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly +off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and +if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride +would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou +Macon. + +All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of +Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him +shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made +him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in +Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few +notorious escapades behind him--yes, Donnegan with such a flying start +might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have +the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle +The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, +feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish +all these things beginning at a literal zero. + +It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the +paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting +at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with +him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the +next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee +which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the +details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were +now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin +contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment, +for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and +his feet were encased in slippers. + +But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner, +and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, +overshadowing Jack Landis--that was the thing! But to startle The +Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just +now--where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now +averaged nearly three a day--to startle The Corner was like trying to +startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this +parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor +and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a +headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in +thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the +moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows. + +"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?" + +"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally +subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was +conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not +untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had +wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack +of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no +doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk, +the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally +George returned to his own place--softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the +master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that +he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the +first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected +provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed. + +"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways." + +The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the +sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently +altered his opinion of the gambler. + +"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should +never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that +happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface +cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the +grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You +understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And concerning the frying of bacon--" + +At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open +door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer, +who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The +Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was +patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the +unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents. + +"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in +the background. + +Donnegan looked at him and through him. + +"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why +you're in it." + +"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are +scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I +intend to stay in it on purpose." + +George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a +vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face +crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The +Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a +giant. + +"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented +this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and +they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I +want. Thirty minutes will--" + +"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft +voice. + +The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a +cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like +him." + +George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three. + +"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough +to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose--" + +He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a +kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown +himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he +approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached +easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play, +mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?" + +"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his +voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man +in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee. + +"It's Donnegan," whispered George. + +"Don--who's he?" + +"You don't know Donnegan?" + +The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing +of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three. + +"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law--and law's a +lame lady in these parts--or throw him out. Say which?" + +The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan, +absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood +exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too +much for them. + +There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and +that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the +rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy +passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners +receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of +womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning +coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked +at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but +to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of +them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left +Gloster both relieved and gloomy. + +"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the +shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price." + +The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George. +Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the +town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top +still untied--as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any +of the gold. + +"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep +money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll +get more." + +If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins +had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free +spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one +who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same +roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be +allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was +singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the +hill to the tent of Lou Macon. + +She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had +cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before; +and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold, +semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect +of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content +of which people were aware. + +"You missed me?" + +"Yes." + +"You were worried?" + +"No." + +He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to +her new home--the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast. +When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side. + +"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is +worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye. +And if a hair of her head is ever harmed--you see that fire burning +yonder--the bed of coals?" + +"Sir?" + +"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it--by +inches!" + +And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon. +George Washington Green saw, and never forgot. + +Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the +horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both +leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of +sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often +necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him +from getting into his problem. + +How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had +fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners? + +He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon, +informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun +and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the +colonel had suggestions to offer. + +The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before +midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do. + + + + +17 + + +The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar +in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed +to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at +two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion. +There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So +Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the +claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold +mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact +that furnished Donnegan with his idea. + +He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes--a riding suit in +which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions. +Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt, +the big man came before Donnegan for instructions. + +"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored +people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar. +They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come +from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep. +Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out." + +George showed his teeth. + +"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't +get in, come back here. Now, ride." + +So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and +dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into +the street to see the brilliant horseman pass. + +Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to +Andy, except an easier target. + +"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in +Milligan's? Get out!" + +Big George did not move. + +"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to +make a julep." + +"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his +cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?" + +And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons. + +"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George. + +"Who's he?" + +"Donnegan." + +"And who's Donnegan?" + +It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an +explanation. "Donnegan is--Donnegan," he explained. + +"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing +group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill." + +"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites +at Milligan's." + +"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this +heah place, but--don't make me go back and bring Donnegan." + +Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance. + +"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go." + +Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse. + +"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say +that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent +for Donnegan; it's him!" + +He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in +anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which +comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word +went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered. +The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch +the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered +and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through +the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town +appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On +the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made +up in intense interest. + +For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun, +most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the +offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a +conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising. +The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill +his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before +such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed +now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner. + +A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away +to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming. + +He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving +course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and +the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding +suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as +unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park +where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a +careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either +side. + +"That's Donnegan. There he comes!" + +"Who's Donnegan?" + +"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others." + +"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with +a chunk of lead." + +"D'you mean that?" + +"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?" + +"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money." + +"Looks like a confounded dude." + +"We'll see his hand in a minute." + +Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand +touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight +at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the +other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the +door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein +behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin. + +As who should say: "I promised you lightning; now watch it strike!" + +If the crowd had been expectant before, it was now reduced to wire-drawn +tenseness. + +"Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" asked Donnegan. + +His quiet voice fell coldly upon the soul of Andy. He strove to warm +himself by an outbreak of temper. + +"They ain't any poor fool dude can call me a fellow!" he shouted. + +The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not +occurred. The hand of Andy was relaxing from the butt of his gun and an +expression of astonishment and contempt was growing upon his face. + +"I haven't come to curse you," said the rider, still occupying his hands +with crop and reins. "I've come to ask you a question and get an answer. +Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" + +"I guess you ain't the kind I was expectin' to call on me," drawled +Andy, his fear gone, and he winked at the crowd. But the others were not +yet ready to laugh. Something about the calm face of Donnegan had +impressed them. "Sure, I'm the one that kicked him out. He ain't allowed +in there." + +"It's the last of my thoughts to break in upon a convention in your +city," replied the grave rider, "but my man was sent on an errand and +therefore he had a right to expect courtesy. George, get off your horse +and go into Milligan's place. I want that mint!" + +For a moment Andy was too stunned to answer. Then his voice came harshly +and he swayed from side to side, gathering and summoning his wrath. + +"Keep out boy! Keep out, or you're buzzard meat. I'm warnin'--" + +For the first time his glance left the rider to find George, and that +instant was fatal. The hand of Donnegan licked out as the snake's tongue +darts--the loaded quirt slipped over in his hand, and holding it by the +lash he brought the butt of it thudding on the head of Andy. + +Even then the instinct to fight remained in the stunned man; while he +fell, he was drawing the revolver; he lay in a crumpling heap at the +feet of Donnegan's horse with the revolver shoved muzzle first into the +sand. + +Donnegan's voice did not rise. + +"Go in and get that mint, George," he ordered. "And hurry. This rascal +has kept me waiting until I'm thirsty." + +Big George hesitated only one instant--it was to sweep the crowd for the +second time with his confident grin--and he strode through the door of +the dance hall. As for Donnegan, his only movement was to swing his +horse around and shift riding crop and reins into the grip of his left +hand. His other hand was dropped carelessly upon his hip. Now, both +these things were very simple maneuvers, but The Corner noted that his +change of face had enabled Donnegan to bring the crowd under his eye, +and that his right hand was now ready for a more serious bit of work if +need be. Moreover, he was probing faces with his glance. And every armed +man in that group felt that the eye of the rider was directed +particularly toward him. + +There had been one brief murmur; then the silence lay heavily again, for +it was seen that Andy had been only slightly stunned--knocked out, as a +boxer might be. Now his sturdy brains were clearing. His body stiffened +into a human semblance once more; he fumbled, found the butt of his gun +with his first move. He pushed his hat straight: and so doing he raked +the welt which the blow had left on his head. The pain finished clearing +the mist from his mind; in an instant he was on his feet, maddened with +shame. He saw the semicircle of white faces, and the whole episode +flashed back on him. He had been knocked down like a dog. + +For a moment he looked into the blank faces of the crowd; someone noted +that there was no gun strapped at the side of Donnegan. A voice shouted +a warning. + +"Stop, Lewis. The dude ain't got a gun. It's murder!" + +It was now that Lewis saw Donnegan sitting the saddle directly behind +him, and he whirled with a moan of fury. It was a twist of his body--in +his eagerness--rather than a turning upon his feet. And he was half +around before the rider moved. Then he conjured a gun from somewhere in +his clothes. There was the flash of the steel, an explosion, and +Scar-faced Lewis was on his knees with a scream of pain holding his +right forearm with his left hand. + +The crowd hesitated still for a second, as though it feared to +interfere; but Donnegan had already put up his weapon. A wave of the +curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the +injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of +the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to +the bone all the way to the elbow. It was a grisly wound. + +Big George Washington Green came running to the door of the dance hall +with a sprig of something green in his hand; one glance assured him that +all was well; and once more that wide, confident grin spread upon his +face. He came to the master and offered the mint; and Donnegan, raising +it to his face, inhaled the scent deeply. + +"Good," he said. "And now for a julep, George! Let's go home!" + +Across the street a dark-eyed girl had clasped the arm of her companion +in hysterical excitement. + +"Did you see?" she asked of her tall companion. + +"I saw a murderer shoot down a man; he ought to be hung for it!" + +"But the mint! Did you see him smile over it? Oh, what a devil he is; +and what a man!" + +Jack Landis flashed a glance of suspicion down at her, but her dancing +eyes had quite forgotten him. They were following the progress of +Donnegan down the street. He rode slowly, and George kept that formal +distance, just a length behind. + + + + +18 + + +Before Milligan's the crowd began to buzz like murmuring hornets around +a nest that has been tapped, when they pour out and cannot find the +disturber. It was a rather helpless milling around the wounded man, and +Nelly Lebrun was the one who worked her way through the crowd and came +to Andy Lewis. She did not like Andy. She had been known to refer to him +as a cowardly hawk of a man; but now she bullied the crowd in a shrill +voice and made them bring water and cloth. Then she cleansed and +bandaged the wound in Andy Lewis' arm and had some of them take him +away. + +By this time the outskirts of the crowd had melted away; but those who +had really seen all parts of the little drama remained to talk. The +subject was a real one. Had Donnegan aimed at the hand of Andy and +risked his own life on his ability to disable the other without killing +him? Or had he fired at Lewis' body and struck the hand and arm only by +a random lucky chance? + +If the second were the case, he was only a fair shot with plenty of +nerve and a great deal of luck. If the first were true, then this was a +nerve of ice-tempered steel, an eye vulture-sharp, and a hand, +miraculous, fast, and certain. To strike that swinging hand with a snap +shot, when a miss meant a bullet fired at his own body at deadly short +range--truly it would take a credulous man to believe that Donnegan had +coldly planned to disable his man without killing him. + +"A murderer by intention," exclaimed Milligan. He had hunted long and +hard before he found a man with a face like that of Lewis, capable of +maintaining order by a glance; now he wanted revenge. "A murder by +intention!" he cried to the crowd, standing beside the place where the +imprint of Andy's knees was still in the sand. "And like a murderer he +ought to be treated. He aimed to kill Andy; he had luck and only broke +his hand. Now, boys, I say it ain't so much what he's done as the way +he's done it. He's given us the laugh. He's come in here in his dude +clothes and tried to walk over us. But it don't work. Not in The Corner. +If Andy was dead, I'd say lynch the dude. But he ain't, and all I say +is: Run him out of town." + +Here there was a brief outburst of applause, but when it ended, it was +observed that there was a low, soft laughter. The crowd gave way between +Milligan and the mocker. It was seen that he who laughed was old Lebrun, +rubbing his olive-skinned hands together and showing his teeth in his +mirth. There was no love lost between Lebrun and Milligan, even if Nelly +was often in the dance hall and the center of its merriment. + +"It takes a thief to catch a thief," said Lebrun enigmatically, when he +saw that he had the ear of the crowd, "and it takes a man to catch a +man." + +"What the devil do you mean by that?" a dozen voices asked. + +"I mean, that if you got men enough to run out this man Donnegan, The +Corner is a better town than I think." + +It brought a growl, but no answer. Lebrun had never been seen to lift +his hand, but he was more dreaded than a rattler. + +"We'll try," said Milligan dryly. "I ain't much of a man myself"--there +were dark rumors about Milligan's past and the crowd chuckled at this +modesty--"but I'll try my hand agin' him with a bit of backing. And +first I want to tell you boys that they ain't any danger of him having +aimed at Andy's hand. I tell you, it ain't possible, hardly, for him to +have planned to hit a swingin' target like that. Maybe some could do it. +I dunno." + +"How about Lord Nick?" + +"Sure, Lord Nick might do anything. But Donnegan ain't Lord Nick." + +"Not by twenty pounds and three inches." + +This brought a laugh. And by comparison with the terrible and familiar +name of Lord Nick, Donnegan became a smaller danger. Besides, as +Milligan said, it was undoubtedly luck. And when he called for +volunteers, three or four stepped up at once. The others made a general +milling, as though each were trying to get forward and each were +prevented by the crowd in front. But in the background big Jack Landis +was seriously trying to get to the firing line. He was encumbered with +the clinging weight of Nelly Lebrun. + +"Don't go, Jack," she pleaded. "Please! Please! Be sensible. For my +sake!" + +She backed this appeal with a lifting of her eyes and a parting of her +lips, and Jack Landis paused. + +"You won't go, dear Jack?" + +Now, Jack knew perfectly well that the girl was only half sincere. It is +the peculiar fate of men that they always know when a woman is playing +with them, but, from Samson down, they always go to the slaughter with +open eyes, hoping each moment that the girl has been seriously impressed +at last. As for Jack Landis, his slow mind did not readily get under the +surface of the arts of Nelly, but he knew that there was at least a +tinge of real concern in the girl's desire to keep him from the posse +which Milligan was raising. + +"But they's something about him that I don't like, Nelly. Something sort +of familiar that I don't like." For naturally enough he did not +recognize the transformed Donnegan, and the name he had never heard +before. "A gunfighter, that's what he is!" + +"Why, Jack, sometimes they call you the same thing; say that you hunt +for trouble now and then!" + +"Do they say that?" asked the young chap quickly, flushing with vanity. +"Oh, I aim to take care of myself. And I'd like to take a hand with this +murdering Donnegan." + +"Jack, listen! Don't go; keep away from him!" + +"Why do you look like that? As if I was a dead one already." + +"I tell you, Jack, he'd kill you!" + +Something in her terrible assurance whitened the cheeks of Landis, but +he was also angered. When a very young man becomes both afraid and angry +he is apt to be dangerous. "What do you know of him?" he asked +suspiciously. + +"You silly! But I saw his face when he lifted that mint. He'd already +forgotten about the man he had just shot down. He was thinking of +nothing but the scent of the mint. And did you notice his giant servant? +He never had a moment's doubt of Donnegan's ability to handle the entire +crowd. I tell you, it gave me a chill of ghosts to see the big black +fellow's eyes. He knew that Donnegan would win. And Donnegan won! Jack, +you're a big man and a strong man and a brave man, and we all know it. +But don't be foolish. Stay away from Donnegan!" + +He wavered just an instant. If she could have sustained her pleading +gaze a moment longer she would have won him, but at the critical instant +her gaze became distant. She was seeing the calm face of Donnegan as he +raised the mint. And as though he understood, Jack Landis hardened. + +"I'm glad you don't want me shot up, Nelly," he said coldly. "Mighty +good of you to watch out for me. But--I'm going to run this Donnegan out +of town!" + +"He's never harmed you; why--" + +"I don't like his looks. For a man like me that's enough!" + +And he strode away toward Milligan. He was greeted by a cheer just as +the girl reached the side of her father. + +"Jack is going," she said. "Make him come back!" + +But the old man was still rubbing his hands; there seemed to be a +perpetual chill in the tips of the fingers. + +"He is a jackass. The moment I first saw his face I knew that he was +meant for gun fodder--buzzard food! Let him go. Bah!" + +The girl shivered. "And then the mines?" she asked, changing her +tactics. + +"Ah, yes. The mines! But leave that to Lord Nick. He'll handle it well +enough!" + +So Jack Landis strode up the hill first and foremost of the six stalwart +men who wished to correct the stranger's apparent misunderstandings of +the status of The Corner. They were each armed to the teeth and each +provided with enough bullets to disturb a small city. All this in honor +of Donnegan. + +They found the shack wrapped in the warm, mellow light of the late +afternoon; and on a flat-topped rock outside it big George sat +whittling a stick into a grotesque imitation of a snake coiled. He did +not rise when the posse approached. He merely rocked back upon the rock, +embraced his knees in both of his enormous arms, and, in a word, +transformed himself into a round ball of mirth. But having hugged away +his laughter he was able to convert his joy into a vast grin. That smile +stopped the posse. When a mob starts for a scene of violence the least +exhibition of fear incenses it, but mockery is apt to pour water on its +flames of anger. + +Decidedly the fury of the posse was chilled by the grin of George. +Milligan, who had lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, stepped up to +impress George properly. + +"Boy," he said, frowning, "go in and tell your man that we've come for +him. Tell him to step right out here and get ready to talk. We don't +mean him no harm less'n he can't explain one or two things. Hop along!" + +The "boy" did not stir. Only he shifted his eyes from face to face and +his grin broadened. Ripples of mirth waved along his chest and convulsed +his face, but still he did not laugh. "Go in and tell them things to +Donnegan," he said. "But don't ask me to wake him up. He's sleepin' +soun' an' fas'. Like a baby; mostly, he sleeps every day to get rested +up for the night. Now, can't you-all wait till Donnegan wakes up +tonight? No? Then step right in, gen'lemen; but if you-all is set on +wakin' him up now, George will jus' step over the hill, because he don't +want to be near the explosion." + +At this, he allowed his mirth free rein. His laughter shook up to his +throat, to his enormous mouth; it rolled and bellowed across the +hillside; and the posse stood, each man in his place, and looked +frigidly upon one another. But having been laughed at, they felt it +necessary to go on, and do or die. So they strode across the hill and +were almost to the door when another phenomenon occurred. A girl in a +cheap calico dress of blue was seen to run out of a neighboring shack +and spring up before the door of Donnegan's hut. When she faced the +crowd it stopped again. + +The soft wind was blowing the blue dress into lovely, long, curving +lines; about her throat a white collar of some sheer stuff was being +lifted into waves, or curling against her cheek; and the golden hair, in +disorder, was tousled low upon her forehead. + +Whirling thus upon the crowd, she shocked them to a pause, with her +parted lips, her flare of delicate color. + +"Have you come here," she cried, "for--for Donnegan?" + +"Lady," began someone, and then looked about for Jack Landis, who was +considered quite a hand with the ladies. But Jack Landis was discovered +fading out of view down the hillside. One glance at that blue dress had +quite routed him, for now he remembered the red-haired man who had +escorted Lou Macon to The Corner--and the colonel's singular trust in +this fellow. It explained much, and he fled before he should be noticed. + +Before the spokesman could continue his speech, the girl had whipped +inside the door. And the posse was dumbfounded. Milligan saw that the +advance was ruined. "Boys," he said, "we came to fight a man; not to +storm a house with a woman in it. Let's go back. We'll tend to Donnegan +later on." + +"We'll drill him clean!" muttered the others furiously, and straightway +the posse departed down the hill. + +But inside the girl had found, to her astonishment, that Donnegan was +stretched upon his bunk wrapped again in the silken dressing gown and +with a smile upon his lips. He looked much younger, as he slept, and +perhaps it was this that made the girl steal forward upon tiptoe and +touch his shoulder so gently. + +He was up on his feet in an instant. Alas, vanity, vanity! Donnegan in +shoes was one thing, for his shoes were of a particular kind; but +Donnegan in his slippers was a full two inches shorter. He was hardly +taller than the girl; he was, if the bitter truth must be known, almost +a small man. And Donnegan was furious at having been found by her in +such careless attire--and without those dignity-building shoes. First +he wanted to cut the throat of big George. + +"What have you done, what have you done?" cried the girl, in one of +those heart-piercing whispers of fear. "They have come for you--a whole +crowd--of armed men--they're outside the door! What have you done? It +was something done for me, I know!" + +Donnegan suddenly transferred his wrath from big George to the mob. + +"Outside my door?" he asked. And as he spoke he slipped on a belt at +which a heavy holster tugged down on one side, and buckled it around +him. + +"Oh, no, no, no!" she pleaded, and caught him in her arms. + +Donnegan allowed her to stop him with that soft power for a moment, +until his face went white--as if with pain. Then he adroitly gathered +both her wrists into one of his bony hands; and having rendered her +powerless, he slipped by her and cast open the door. + +It was an empty scene upon which they looked, with big George rocking +back and forth upon a rock, convulsed with silent laughter. Donnegan +looked sternly at the girl and swallowed. He was fearfully susceptible +to mockery. + +"There seems to have been a jest?" he said. + +But she lifted him a happy, tearful face. + +"Ah, thank heaven!" she cried gently. + +Oddly enough, Donnegan at this set his teeth and turned upon his heel, +and the girl stole out the door again, and closed it softly behind her. +As a matter of fact, not even the terrible colonel inspired in her quite +the fear which Donnegan instilled. + + + + +19 + + +"Big Landis lost his nerve and sidestepped at the last minute, and then +the whole gang faded." + +That was the way the rumors of the affair always ended at each +repetition in Lebrun's and Milligan's that night. The Corner had had +many things to talk about during its brief existence, but nothing to +compare with a man who entered a shooting scrape with such a fellow as +Scar-faced Lewis all for the sake of a spray of mint. And the main topic +of conversation was: Did Donnegan aim at the body or the hand of the +bouncer? + +On the whole, it was an excellent thing for Milligan's. The place was +fairly well crowded, with a few vacant tables. For everyone wanted to +hear Milligan's version of the affair. He had a short and vigorous one, +trimmed with neat oaths. It was all the girl in the blue calico dress, +according to him. The posse couldn't storm a house with a woman in it or +even conduct a proper lynching in her presence. And no one was able to +smile when Milligan said this. Neither was anyone nervy enough to +question the courage of Landis. It looked strange, that sudden flight of +his, but then, he was a proven man. Everyone remembered the affair of +Lester. It had been a clean-cut fight, and Jack Landis had won cleanly +on his merits. + +Nevertheless some of the whispers had not failed to come to the big man, +and his brow was black. + +The most terribly heartless and selfish passion of all is shame in a +young man. To repay the sidelong glances which he met on every side, +Jack Landis would have willingly crowded every living soul in The Corner +into one house and touched a match to it. And chiefly because he felt +the injustice of the suspicion. He had no fear of Donnegan. + +He had a theory that little men had little souls. Not that he ever +formulated the theory in words, but he vaguely felt it and adhered to +it. He had more fear of one man of six two than a dozen under five ten. +He reserved in his heart of hearts a place of awe for one man whom he +had never seen. That was for Lord Nick, for that celebrated character +was said to be as tall and as finely built as Jack Landis himself. But +as for Donnegan--Landis wished there were three Donnegans instead of +one. + +Tonight his cue was surly silence. For Nelly Lebrun had been warned by +her father, and she was making desperate efforts to recover any ground +she might have lost. Besides, to lose Jack Landis would be to lose the +most spectacular fellow in The Corner, to say nothing of the one who +held the largest and the choicest of the mines. The blond, good looks of +Landis made a perfect background for her dark beauty. With all these +stakes to play for, Nelly outdid herself. If she were attractive enough +ordinarily, when she exerted herself to fascinate, Nelly was +intoxicating. What chance had poor Jack Landis against her? He did not +call for her that night but went to play gloomily at Lebrun's until +Nelly walked into Lebrun's and drew him away from a table. Half an hour +later she had him whirling through a dance in Milligan's and had danced +the gloom out of his mind for the moment. Before the evening was well +under way, Landis was making love to her openly, and Nelly was in the +position of one who had roused the bear. + +It was a dangerous flirtation and it was growing clumsy. In any place +other than The Corner it would have been embarrassing long ago; and when +Jack Landis, after a dance, put his one big hand over both of Nelly's +and held her moveless while he poured out a passionate declaration, +Nelly realized that something must be done. Just what she could not +tell. + +And it was at this very moment that a wave of silence, beginning at the +door, rushed across Milligan's dance floor. It stopped the bartenders in +the act of mixing drinks; it put the musicians out of key, and in the +midst of a waltz phrase they broke down and came to a discordant pause. + +What was it? + +The men faced the door, wondering, and then the swift rumor passed from +lip to lip--almost from eye to eye, so rapidly it sped--Donnegan is +coming! Donnegan, and big George with him. + +"Someone tell Milligan!" + +But Milligan had already heard; he was back of the bar giving +directions; guns were actually unlimbering. What would happen? + +"Shall I get you out of this?" Landis asked the girl. + +"Leave now?" She laughed fiercely and silently. "I'm just beginning to +live! Miss Donnegan in action? No, sir!" + +She would have given a good deal to retract that sentence, for it washed +the face of Landis white with jealousy. + +Surely Donnegan had built greater than he knew. + +And suddenly he was there in the midst of the house. No one had stopped +him--at least, no one had interfered with his servant. Big George had on +a white suit and a dappled green necktie; he stood directly behind his +master and made him look like a small boy. For Donnegan was in black, +and he had a white neckcloth wrapped as high and stiffly as an +old-fashioned stock. Altogether he was a queer, drab figure compared +with the brilliant Donnegan of that afternoon. He looked older, more +weary. His lean face was pale; and his hair flamed with redoubled ardor +on that account. Never was hair as red as that, not even the hair of +Lord Nick, said the people in Milligan's this night. + +He was perfectly calm even in the midst of that deadly silence. He stood +looking about him. He saw Gloster, the real estate man, and bowed to him +deliberately. + +For some reason that drew a gasp. + +Then he observed a table which was apparently to his fancy and crossed +the floor with a light, noiseless step, big George padding heavily +behind him. At the little round table he waited until George had drawn +out the chair for him and then he sat down. He folded his arms lightly +upon his breast and once more surveyed the scene, and big George drew +himself up behind Donnegan. Just once his eyes rolled and flashed +savagely in delight at the sensation that they were making, then the +face of George was once again impassive. + +If Donnegan had not carried it off with a certain air, the whole +entrance would have seemed decidedly stagey, but The Corner, as it was, +found much to wonder at and little to criticize. And in the West grown +men are as shrewd judges of affectation as children are in other places. + +"Putting on a lot of style, eh?" said Jack Landis, and with fierce +intensity he watched the face of Nelly Lebrun. + +For once she was unguarded. + +"He's superb!" she exclaimed. "The big fellow is going to bring a drink +for him." + +She looked up, surprised by the silence of Landis, and found that his +face was actually yellow. + +"I'll tell you something. Do you remember the little red-headed tramp +who came in here the other night and spoke to me?" + +"Very well. You seemed to be bothered." + +"Maybe. I dunno. But that's the man--the one who's sitting over there +now all dressed up--the man The Corner is talking about--Donnegan! A +tramp!" + +She caught her breath. + +"Is that the one?" A pause. "Well, I believe it. He's capable of +anything!" + +"I think you like him all the better for knowing that." + +"Jack, you're angry." + +"Why should I be? I hate to see you fooled by the bluff of a tramp, +though." + +"Tush! Do you think I'm fooled by it? But it's an interesting bluff, +Jack, don't you think?" + +"Nelly, he's interesting enough to make you blush; by heaven, the hound +is lookin' right at you now, Nelly!" + +He had pressed her suddenly against the wall and she struck back +desperately in self-defense. + +"By the way, what did he want to see you about?" + +It spiked the guns of Landis for the time being, at least. And the girl +followed by striving to prove that her interest in Donnegan was purely +impersonal. + +"He's clever," she ran on, not daring to look at the set face of her +companion. "See how he fails to notice that he's making a sensation? +You'd think he was in a big restaurant in a city. He takes the drink off +the tray from that fellow as if it were a common thing to be waited on +by a body-servant in The Corner. Jack, I'll wager that there's something +crooked about him. A professional gambler, say!" + +Jack Landis thawed a little under this careless chatter. He still did +not quite trust her. + +"Do you know what they're whispering? That I was afraid to face him!" + +She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, +and she broke into laughter. + +"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to +The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all +the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest +of them. By the way, what was the reason?" + +She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but +the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the +query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and +covered up his confusion for him. + +"See how the girls are making eyes at him." + +"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man +who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that +out!" + +She shrugged that comment away. + +"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. +"He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?" + + + + +20 + + +It should be understood that before this the men in Milligan's had +reached a subtly unspoken agreement that red-haired Donnegan was not one +of them. In a word, they did not like him because he made a mystery of +himself. And, also, because he was different. Yet there was a growing +feeling that the shooting of Lewis through the hand had not been an +accident, for the whole demeanor of Donnegan composed the action of a +man who is a professional trouble maker. There was no reason why he +should go to Milligan's and take his servant with him unless he wished a +fight. And why a man should wish to fight the entire Corner was +something no one could guess. + +That he should have done all this merely to focus all eyes upon him, and +particularly the eyes of a girl, did not occur to anyone. It looked +rather like the bravado of a man who lived for the sake of fighting. +Now, men who hunt trouble in the mountain desert generally find all that +they may desire, but for the time being everyone held back, wolfishly, +waiting for another to take the first step toward Donnegan. Indeed, +there was an unspoken conviction that the man who took the first step +would probably not live to take another. In the meantime both men and +women gave Donnegan the lion's share of their attention. There was only +one who was clever enough to conceal it, and that one was the pair of +eyes to which the red-haired man was playing--Nelly Lebrun. She confined +herself strictly to Jack Landis. + +So it was that when Milligan announced a tag dance and the couples +swirled onto the floor gayly, Donnegan decided to take matters into his +own hands and offer the first overt act. It was clumsy; he did not like +it; but he hated this delay. And he knew that every moment he stayed on +there with big George behind his chair was another red rag flaunted in +the face of The Corner. + +He saw the men who had no girl with them brighten at the announcement of +the tag dance. And when the dance began he saw the prettiest girls +tagged quickly, one after the other. All except Nelly Lebrun. She swung +securely around the circle in the big arms of Jack Landis. She seemed to +be set apart and protected from the common touch by his size, and by his +formidable, challenging eye. Donnegan felt as never before the +unassailable position of this fellow; not only from his own fighting +qualities, but because he had behind him the whole unfathomable power of +Lord Nick and his gang. + +Nelly approached in the arms of Landis in making the first circle of the +dance floor; her eyes, grown dull as she surrendered herself wholly to +the rhythm of the waltz, saw nothing. They were blank as unlighted +charcoal. She came opposite Donnegan, her back was toward him; she swung +in the arms of Landis, and then, past the shoulder of her partner, she +flashed a glance at Donnegan. The spark had fallen on the charcoal, and +her eyes were aflame. Aflame to Donnegan; the next instant the veil had +dropped across her face once more. + +She was carried on, leaving Donnegan tingling. + +A wise man upon whom that look had fallen might have seen, not Nelly +Lebrun in the cheap dance hall, but Helen of Sparta and all Troy's dead. +But Donnegan was clever, not wise. And he saw only Nelly Lebrun and the +broad shoulders of Jack Landis. + +Let the critic deal gently with Donnegan. He loved Lou Macon with all +his heart and his soul, and yet because another beautiful girl had +looked at him, there he sat at his table with his jaw set and the devil +in his eye. And while she and Landis were whirling through the next +circumference of the room, Donnegan was seeing all sides of the problem. +If he tagged Landis it would be casting the glove in the face of the big +man--and in the face of old Lebrun--and in the face of that mysterious +and evil power, Lord Nick himself. And consider, that besides these he +had already insulted all of The Corner. + +Why not let things go on as they were? Suppose he were to allow Landis +to plunge deeper into his infatuation? Suppose he were to bring Lou +Macon to this place and let her see Landis sitting with Nelly, making +love to her with every tone in his voice, every light in his eye? Would +not that cure Lou? And would not that open the door to Donnegan? + +And remember, in considering how Donnegan was tempted, that he was not a +conscientious man. He was in fact what he seemed to be--a wanderer, a +careless vagrant, living by his wits. For all this, he had been touched +by the divine fire--a love that is greater than self. And the more +deeply he hated Landis, the more profoundly he determined that he should +be discarded by Nelly and forced back to Lou Macon. In the meantime, +Nelly and Jack were coming again. They were close; they were passing; +and this time her eye had no spark for Donnegan. + +Yet he rose from his table, reached the floor with a few steps, and +touched Landis lightly on the shoulder. The challenge was passed. Landis +stopped abruptly and turned his head; his face showed merely dull +astonishment. The current of dancers split and washed past on either +side of the motionless trio, and on every face there was a glittering +curiosity. What would Landis do? + +Nothing. He was too stupefied to act. He, Jack Landis, had actually been +tagged while he was dancing with the woman which all The Corner knew to +be his girl! And before his befogged senses cleared the girl was in the +arms of the red-haired man and was lost in the crowd. + +What a buzz went around the room! For a moment Landis could no more move +than he could think; then he sent a sullen glance toward the girl and +retreated to their table. A childish sullenness clouded his face while +he sat there; only one decision came clearly to him: he must kill +Donnegan! + +In the meantime people noted two things. The first was that Donnegan +danced very well with Nelly Lebrun; and his red hair beside the silken +black of the girl's was a startling contrast. It was not a common red. +It flamed, as though with phosphoric properties of its own. But they +danced well; and the eyes of both of them were gleaming. Another thing: +men did not tag Donnegan any more than they had offered to tag Landis. +One or two slipped out from the outskirts of the floor, but something in +the face of Donnegan discouraged them and made them turn elsewhere as +though they had never started for Nelly Lebrun in the first place. +Indeed, to a two-year-old child it would have been apparent that Nelly +and the red-headed chap were interested in each other. + +As a matter of fact they did not speak a single syllable until they had +gone around the floor one complete turn and the dance was coming toward +an end. + +It was he who spoke first, gloomily: "I shouldn't have done it; I +shouldn't have tagged him!" + +At this she drew back a little so that she could meet his eyes. + +"Why not?" + +"The whole crew will be on my trail." + +"What crew?" + +"Beginning with Lord Nick!" + +This shook her completely out of the thrall of the dance. + +"Lord Nick? What makes you think that?" + +"I know he's thick with Landis. It'll mean trouble." + +He was so simple about it that she began to laugh. It was not such a +voice as Lou Macon's. It was high and light, and one could suspect that +it might become shrill under a stress. + +"And yet it looks as though you've been hunting trouble," she said. + +"I couldn't help it," said Donnegan naïvely. + +It was a very subtle flattery, this frankness from a man who had puzzled +all The Corner. Nelly Lebrun felt that she was about to look behind the +scenes and she tingled with delight. + +"Tell me," she said. "Why not?" + +"Well," said Donnegan. "I had to make a noise because I wanted to be +noticed." + +She glanced about her; every eye was upon them. + +"You've made your point," she murmured. "The whole town is talking of +nothing else." + +"I don't care an ounce of lead about the rest of the town." + +"Then--" + +She stopped abruptly, seeing toward what he was tending. And the heart +of Nelly Lebrun fluttered for the first time in many a month. She +believed him implicitly. It was for her sake that he had made all this +commotion; to draw her attention. For every lovely girl, no matter how +cool-headed, has a foolish belief in the power of her beauty. As a +matter of fact Donnegan had told her the truth. It had all been to win +her attention, from the fight for the mint to the tagging for the dance. +How could she dream that it sprang out of anything other than a wild +devotion to her? And while Donnegan coldly calculated every effect, +Nelly Lebrun began to see in him the man of a dream, a spirit out of a +dead age, a soul of knightly, reckless chivalry. In that small +confession he cast a halo about himself which no other hand could ever +remove entirely so far as Nelly Lebrun was concerned. + +"You understand?" he was saying quietly. + +She countered with a question as direct as his confession. + +"What are you, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"A wanderer," said Donnegan instantly, "and an avoider of work." + +At that they laughed together. The strain was broken and in its place +there was a mutual excitement. She saw Landis in the distance watching +their laughter with a face contorted with anger, but it only increased +her unreasoning happiness. + +"Mr. Donnegan, let me give you friendly advice. I like you: I know you +have courage; and I saw you meet Scar-faced Lewis. But if I were you I'd +leave The Corner tonight and never come back. You've set every man +against you. You've stepped on the toes of Landis and he's a big man +here. And even if you were to prove too much for Jack you'd come against +Lord Nick, as you say yourself. Do you know Nick?" + +"No." + +"Then, Mr. Donnegan, leave The Corner!" + +The music, ending, left them face to face as he dropped his arm from +about her. And she could appreciate now, for the first time, that he was +smaller than he had seemed at a distance, or while he was dancing. He +seemed a frail figure indeed to face the entire banded Corner--and Lord +Nick. + +"Don't you see," said Donnegan, "that I can't stop now?" + +There was a double meaning that sent her color flaring. + +He added in a low, tense voice, "I've gone too far. Besides, I'm +beginning to hope!" + +She paused, then made a little gesture of abandon. + +"Then stay, stay!" she whispered with eyes on fire. "And good luck to +you, Mr. Donnegan!" + + + + +21 + + +As they went back, toward Nelly's table, where Jack Landis was trying to +appear carelessly at ease, the face of Donnegan was pale. One might have +thought that excitement and fear caused his pallor; but as a matter of +fact it was in him an unfailing sign of happiness and success. Landis +had manners enough to rise as they approached. He found himself being +presented to the smaller man. He heard the cool, precise voice of +Donnegan acknowledging the introduction; and then the red-headed man +went back to his table; and Jack Landis was alone with Nelly Lebrun +again. + +He scowled at her, and she tried to look repentant, but since she could +not keep the dancing light out of her eyes, she compromised by looking +steadfastly down at the table. Which convinced Landis that she was +thinking of her late partner. He made a great effort, swallowed, and was +able to speak smoothly enough. + +"Looked as if you were having a pretty good time with that--tramp." + +The color in her cheeks was anger; Landis took it for shame. + +"He dances beautifully," she replied. + +"Yeh; he's pretty smooth. Take a gent like that, it's hard for a girl +to see through him." + +"Let's not talk about him, Jack." + +"All right. Is he going to dance with you again?" + +"I promised him the third dance after this." + +For a time Landis could not trust his voice. Then: "Kind of sorry about +that. Because I'll be going home before then." + +At this she raised her eyes for the first time. He was astonished and a +little horrified to see that she was not in the least flustered, but +very angry. + +"You'll go home before I have a chance for that dance?" she asked. +"You're acting like a two-year-old, Jack. You are!" + +He flushed. Burning would be too easy a death for Donnegan. + +"He's making a laughingstock out of me; look around the room!" + +"Nobody's thinking about you at all, Jack. You're just self-conscious." + +Of course, it was pouring acid upon an open wound. But she was past the +point of caution. + +"Maybe they ain't," said Landis, controlling his rage. "I don't figure +that I amount to much. But I rate myself as high as a skunk like him!" + +It may have been a smile that she gave him. At any rate, he caught the +glint of teeth, and her eyes were as cold as steel points. If she had +actually defended the stranger she would not have infuriated Landis so +much. + +"Well, what does he say about himself?" + +"He says frankly that he's a vagrant." + +"And you don't believe him?" + +She did not speak. + +"Makin' a play for sympathy. Confound a man like that, I say!" + +Still she did not answer; and now Landis became alarmed. + +"D'you really like him, Nelly?" + +"I liked him well enough to introduce him to you, Jack." + +"I'm sorry I talked so plain if you put it that way," he admitted +heavily. "I didn't know you picked up friends so fast as all that!" He +could not avoid adding this last touch of the poison point. + +His back was to Donnegan, and consequently the girl, facing him, could +look straight across the room at the red-headed man. She allowed herself +one brief glance, and she saw that he was sitting with his elbow on the +table, his chin in his hand, looking fixedly at her. It was the gaze of +one who forgets all else and wraps himself in a dream. Other people in +the room were noting that changeless stare and the whisper buzzed more +and more loudly, but Donnegan had forgotten the rest of the world, it +seemed. It was a very cunning piece of acting, not too much overdone, +and once more the heart of Nelly Lebrun fluttered. + +She remembered that in spite of his frankness he had not talked with +insolent presumption to her. He had merely answered her individual +questions with an astonishing, childlike frankness. He had laid his +heart before her, it seemed. And now he sat at a distance looking at her +with the white, intense face of one who sees a dream. + +Nelly Lebrun was recalled by the heavy breathing of Jack Landis and she +discovered that she had allowed her eyes to rest too long on the +red-headed stranger. She had forgotten; her eyes had widened; and even +Jack Landis was able to look into her mind and see things that startled +him. For the first time he sensed that this was more than a careless +flirtation. And he sat stiffly at the table, looking at her and through +her with a fixed smile. Nelly, horrified, strove to cover her tracks. + +"You're right, Jack," she said. "I--I think there was something brazen +in the way he tagged you. And--let's go home together!" + +Too late. The mind of Landis was not oversharp, but now jealousy gave it +a point. He nodded his assent, and they got up, but there was no +increase in his color. She read as plain as day in his face that he +intended murder this night and Nelly was truly frightened. + +So she tried different tactics. All the way to the substantial little +house which Lebrun had built at a little distance from the gambling +hall, she kept up a running fire of steady conversation. But when she +said good night to him, his face was still set. She had not deceived +him. When he turned, she saw him go back into the night with long +strides, and within half an hour she knew, as clearly as if she were +remembering the picture instead of foreseeing it, that Jack and Donnegan +would face each other gun in hand on the floor of Milligan's dance hall. + +Still, she was not foolish enough to run after Jack, take his arm, and +make a direct appeal. It would be too much like begging for Donnegan, +and even if Jack forgave her for this interest in his rival, she had +sense enough to feel that Donnegan himself never would. Something, +however, must be done to prevent the fight, and she took the straightest +course. + +She went as fast as a run would carry her straight behind the +intervening houses and came to the back entrance to the gaming hall. +There she entered and stepped into the little office of her father. +Black Lebrun was not there. She did not want him. In his place there sat +the Pedlar and Joe Rix; they were members of Lord Nick's chosen crew, +and since Nick's temporary alliance with Lebrun for the sake of +plundering Jack Landis, Nick's men were Nelly's men. Indeed, this was a +formidable pair. They were the kind of men about whom many whispers and +no facts circulate: and yet the facts are far worse than the whispers. +It was said that Joe Rix, who was a fat little man with a great aversion +to a razor and a pair of shallow, pale blue eyes, was in reality a +merciless fiend. He was; and he was more than that, if there be a +stronger superlative. If Lord Nick had dirty work to be done, there was +the man who did it with a relish. The Pedlar, on the other hand, was an +exact opposite. He was long, lean, raw-boned, and prodigiously strong in +spite of his lack of flesh. He had vast hands, all loose skin and +outstanding tendons; he had a fleshless face over which his smile was +capable of extending limitlessly. He was the sort of a man from whom one +would expect shrewdness, some cunning, stubbornness, a dry humor, and +many principles. All of which, except the last, was true of the Pedlar. + +There was this peculiarity about the Pedlar. In spite of his broad grins +and his wise, bright eyes, none, even of Lord Nick's gang, extended a +friendship or familiarity toward him. When they spoke of the Pedlar they +never used his name. They referred to him as "him" or they indicated him +with gestures. If he had a fondness for any living creature it was for +fat Joe Rix. + +Yet on seeing this ominous pair, Nelly Lebrun cried out softly in +delight. She ran to them, and dropped a hand on the bony shoulder of the +Pedlar and one on the plump shoulder of Joe Rix, whose loose flesh +rolled under her finger tips. + +"It's Jack Landis!" she cried. "He's gone to Milligan's to fight the +new man. Stop him!" + +"Donnegan?" said Joe, and did not rise. + +"Him?" said the Pedlar, and moistened his broad lips like one on the +verge of starvation. + +"Are you going to sit here?" she cried. "What will Lord Nick say if he +finds out you've let Jack get into a fight?" + +"We ain't nursin' mothers," declared the Pedlar. "But I'd kind of like +to look on!" + +And he rose. Unkinking joint after joint, straightening his legs, his +back, his shoulders, his neck, he soared up and up until he stood a +prodigious height. The girl controlled a shudder of disgust. + +"Joe!" she appealed. + +"You want us to clean up Donnegan?" he asked, rising, but without +interest in his voice. + +To his surprise, she slipped back to the door and blocked it with her +outcast arms. + +"Not a hair of his head!" she said fiercely. "Swear that you won't harm +him, boys!" + +"What the devil!" ejaculated Joe, who was a blunt man in spite of his +fat. "You want us to keep Jack from fightin', but you don't want us to +hurt the other gent. What you want? Hogtie 'em both?" + +"Yes, yes; keep Jack out of Milligan's; but for heaven's sake don't try +to put a hand on Donnegan." + +"Why not?" + +"For your sakes; he'd kill you, Joe!" + +At this they both gaped in unison, and as one man they drawled in vast +admiration: "Good heavens!" + +"But go, go, go!" cried the girl. + +And she shoved them through the door and into the night. + + + + +22 + + +To the people in Milligan's it had been most incredible that Jack Landis +should withdraw from a competition of any sort. And though the girls +were able to understand his motives in taking Nelly Lebrun away they +were not able to explain this fully to their men companions. For one and +all they admitted that Jack was imperiling his hold on the girl in +question if he allowed her to stay near this red-headed fiend. But one +and all they swore that Jack Landis had ruined himself with her by +taking her away. And this was a paradox which made masculine heads in +The Corner spin. The main point was that Jack Landis had backed down +before a rival; and this fact was stunning enough. Donnegan, however, +was not confused. He sent big George to ask Milligan to come to him for +a moment. + +Milligan, at this, cursed George, but he was drawn by curiosity to +consent. A moment later he was seated at Donnegan's table, drinking his +own liquor as it was served to him from the hands of big George. If the +first emotions of the dance-hall proprietor were anger and intense +curiosity, his second emotion was that never-failing surprise which all +who came close to the wanderer felt. For he had that rare faculty of +seeming larger when in action, even when actually near much bigger men. +Only when one came close to Donnegan one stepped, as it were, through a +veil, and saw the almost fragile reality. When Milligan had caught his +breath and adjusted himself, he began as follows: + +"Now, Bud," he said, "you've made a pretty play. Not bad at all. But no +more bluffs in Milligan's." + +"Bluff!" Donnegan repeated gently. + +"About your servant. I let it pass for one night, but not for another." + +"My dear Mr. Milligan! However"--changing the subject easily--"what I +wish to speak to you about is a bit of trouble which I foresee. I think, +sir, that Jack Landis is coming back." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"It's a feeling I have. I have queer premonitions, Mr. Milligan, I'm +sure he's coming and I'm sure he's going to attempt a murder." + +Milligan's thick lips framed his question but he did not speak: fear +made his face ludicrous. + +"Right here?" + +"Yes." + +"A shootin' scrape here! You?" + +"He has me in mind. That's why I'm speaking to you." + +"Don't wait to speak to me about it. Get up and get out!" + +"Mr. Milligan, you're wrong. I'm going to stay here and you're going to +protect me." + +"Well, confound your soul! They ain't much nerve about you, is there?" + +"You run a public place. You have to protect your patrons from insult." + +"And who began it, then? Who started walkin' on Jack's toes? Now you +come whinin' to me! By heck, I hope Jack gets you!" + +"You're a genial soul," said Donnegan. "Here's to you!" + +But something in his smile as he sipped his liquor made Milligan sit +straighter in his chair. + +As for Donnegan, he was thinking hard and fast. If there were a shooting +affair and he won, he would nevertheless run a close chance of being +hung by a mob. He must dispose that mob to look upon him as the +defendant and Landis as the aggressor. He had not foreseen the crisis +until it was fairly upon him. He had thought of Nelly playing Landis +along more gradually and carefully, so that, while he was slowly +learning that she was growing cold to him, he would have a chance to +grow fond of Lou Macon once more. But even across the width of the room +he had seen the girl fire up, and from that moment he knew the result. +Landis already suspected him; Landis, with the feeling that he had been +robbed, would do his best to kill the thief. He might take a chance with +Landis, if it came to a fight, just as he had taken a chance with Lewis. +But how different this case would be! Landis was no dull-nerved ruffian +and drunkard. He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a +gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all. Of all this +Donnegan was fully aware. Either he must place his own life in terrible +hazard or else he must shoot to kill; and if he killed, what of Lou +Macon? + +While he smiled into the face of Milligan, perspiration was bursting out +under his armpits. + +"Mr. Milligan, I implore you to give me your aid." + +"What's the difference?" Milligan asked in a changed tone. "If he don't +fight you here he'll fight you later." + +"You're wrong, Mr. Milligan. He isn't the sort to hold malice. He'll +come here tonight and try to get at me like a bulldog straining on a +leash. If he is kept away he'll get over his bad temper." + +Milligan pushed back his chair. + +"You've tried to force yourself down the throat of The Corner," he said, +"and now you yell for help when you see the teeth." + +He had raised his voice. Now he got up and strode noisily away. Donnegan +waited until he was halfway across the dance floor and then rose in +turn. + +"Gentlemen," he said. + +The quiet voice cut into every conversation; the musicians lowered the +instruments. + +"I have just told Mr. Milligan that I am sure Jack Landis is coming back +here to try to kill me. I have asked for his protection. He has refused +it. I intend to stay here and wait for him, Jack Landis. In the meantime +I ask any able-bodied man who will do so, to try to stop Landis when he +enters." + +He sat down, raised his glass, and sipped the drink. Two hundred pairs +of eyes were fastened with hawklike intensity upon him, and they could +perceive no quiver of his hand. + +The sipping of his liquor was not an affectation. For he was drinking, +at incredible cost, liquors from Milligan's store of rareties. + +The effect of Donnegan's announcement was first a silence, then a hum, +then loud voices of protest, curiosity--and finally a scurrying toward +the doors. + +Yet really very few left. The rest valued a chance to see the fight +beyond the fear of random slugs of lead which might fly their way. +Besides, where such men as Donnegan and big Jack Landis were concerned, +there was not apt to be much wild shooting. The dancing stopped, of +course. The music was ordered by Milligan to play, in a frantic endeavor +to rouse custom again; but the music of its own accord fell away in the +middle of the piece. For the musicians could not watch the notes and the +door at the same time. + +As for Donnegan, he found that it was one thing to wait and another to +be waited for. He, too, wished to turn and watch that door until it +should be filled by the bulk of Jack Landis. Yet he fought the desire. + +And in the midst of this torturing suspense an idea came to him, and at +the same instant Jack Landis entered the doorway. He stood there looking +vast against the night. One glance around was sufficient to teach him +the meaning of the silence. The stage was set, and the way opened to +Donnegan. Without a word, big George stole to one side. + +Straight to the middle of the dance floor went Jack Landis, red-faced, +with long, heavy steps. He faced Donnegan. + +"You skunk!" shouted Landis. "I've come for you!" + +And he went for his gun. Donnegan, too, stirred. But when the revolver +leaped into the hand of Landis, it was seen that the hands of Donnegan +rose past the line of his waist, past his shoulders, and presently +locked easily behind his head. A terrible chance, for Landis had come +within a breath of shooting. So great was the impulse that, as he +checked the pressure of his forefinger, he stumbled a whole pace +forward. He walked on. + +"You need cause to fight?" he cried, striking Donnegan across the face +with the back of his left hand, jerking up the muzzle of the gun in his +right. + +Now a dark trickle was seen to come from the broken lips of Donnegan, +yet he was smiling faintly. + +Jack Landis muttered a curse and said sneeringly: "Are you afraid?" + +There were sick faces in that room; men turned their heads, for nothing +is so ghastly as the sight of a man who is taking water. + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "I'm going to kill you, Jack. But I want to kill +you fairly and squarely. There's no pleasure, you see, in beating a +youngster like you to the draw. I want to give you a fighting chance. +Besides"--he removed one hand from behind his head and waved it +carelessly to where the men of The Corner crouched in the shadow--"you +people have seen me drill one chap already, and I'd like to shoot you in +a new way. Is that agreeable?" + +Two terrible, known figures detached themselves from the gloom near the +door. + +"Hark to this gent sing," said one, and his name was the Pedlar. "Hark +to him sing, Jack, and we'll see that you get fair play." + +"Good," said his friend, Joe Rix. "Let him take his try, Jack." + +As a matter of fact, had Donnegan reached for a gun, he would have been +shot before even Landis could bring out a weapon, for the steady eye of +Joe Rix, hidden behind the Pedlar, had been looking down a revolver +barrel at the forehead of Donnegan, waiting for that first move. But +something about the coolness of Donnegan fascinated them. + +"Don't shoot, Joe," the Pedlar had said. "That bird is the chief over +again. Don't plug him!" + +And that was why Donnegan lived. + + + + +23 + + +If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, +he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for +his proposal to Jack Landis. + +He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken +out a handkerchief and wiped his chin. + +"I'm a methodical fellow, Landis," he said. "I hate to do an untidy +piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling +out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but +instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I +don't like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise +job. One that I'll be proud of." + +A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, +who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and was crooning softly, with +unspeakable joy: "Hark to him sing! Hark to him sing! A ringer for the +chief!" + +"Why should we be in such a hurry?" continued Donnegan. "You see that +clock in the corner? Tut, tut! Turn your head and look. Do you think +I'll drop you while you look around?" + +Landis flung one glance over his shoulder at the big clock, whose +pendulum worked solemnly back and forth. + +"In five minutes," said Donnegan, "it will be eleven o'clock. And when +it's eleven o'clock the clock will chime. Now, Landis, you and I shall +sit down here like gentlemen and drink our liquor and think our last +thoughts. Heavens, man, is there anything more disagreeable than being +hurried out of life? But when the clock chimes, we draw our guns and +shoot each other through the heart--the brain--wherever we have chosen. +But, Landis, if one of us should inadvertently--or through +nervousness--beat the clock's chime by the split part of a second, the +good people of The Corner will fill that one of us promptly full of +lead." + +He turned to the crowd. + +"Gentlemen, is it a good plan?" + +As well as a Roman crowd if it wanted to see a gladiator die, the frayed +nerves of The Corner responded to the stimulus of this delightful +entertainment. There was a joyous chorus of approval. + +"When the clock strikes, then," said Landis, and flung himself down in a +chair, setting his teeth over his rage. + +Donnegan smiled benevolently upon him; then he turned again and beckoned +to George. The big man strode closer and leaned. + +"George," he said. "I'm not going to kill this fellow." + +"No, sir; certainly, sir," whispered the other. "George can kill him for +you, sir." + +Donnegan smiled wanly. + +"I'm not going to kill him, George, on account of the girl on the hill. +You know? And the reason is that she's fond of the lubber. I'll try to +break his nerve, George, and drill him through the arm, say. No, I can't +take chances like that. But if I have him shaking in time, I'll shoot +him through the right shoulder, George. + +"But if I miss and he gets me instead, mind you, never raise a hand +against him. If you so much as touch his skin, I'll rise out of my grave +and haunt you. You hear? Good-by, George." + +But big George withdrew without a word, and the reason for his +speechlessness was the glistening of his eyes. + +"If I live," said Donnegan, "I'll show that George that I appreciate +him." + +He went on aloud to Landis: "So glum, my boy? Tush! We have still four +minutes left. Are you going to spend your last four minutes hating me?" + +He turned: "Another liqueur, George. Two of them." + +The big man brought the drinks, and having put one on the table of +Donnegan, he was directed to take the other to Landis. + +"It's really good stuff," said Donnegan. "I'm not an expert on these +matters; but I like the taste. Will you try it?" + +It seemed that Landis dared not trust himself to speech. As though a +vast and deadly hatred were gathered in him, and he feared lest it +should escape in words the first time he parted his teeth. + +He took the glass of liqueur and slowly poured it upon the floor. From +the crowd there was a deep murmur of disapproval. And Landis, feeling +that he had advanced the wrong foot in the matter, glowered scornfully +about him and then stared once more at Donnegan. + +"Just as you please," said Donnegan, sipping his glass. "But remember +this, my young friend, that a fool is a fool, drunk or sober." + +Landis showed his teeth, but made no other answer. And Donnegan +anxiously flashed a glance at the clock. He still had three minutes. +Three minutes in which he must reduce this stalwart fellow to a +trembling, nervous wreck. Otherwise, he must shoot to kill, or else sit +there and become a certain sacrifice for the sake of Lou Macon. Yet he +controlled the muscles of his face and was still able to smile as he +turned again to Landis. + +"Three minutes left," he said. "Three minutes for you to compose +yourself, Landis. Think of it, man! All the good life behind you. Have +you nothing to remember? Nothing to soften your mind? Why die, Landis, +with a curse in your heart and a scowl on your lips?" + +Once more Landis stirred his lips; but there was only the flash of his +teeth; he maintained his resolute silence. + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan, "I am sorry to see this. And before all your +admirers, Landis. Before all your friends. Look at them scattered there +under the lights and in the shadows. No farewell word for them? Nothing +kindly to say? Are you going to leave them without a syllable of +goodfellowship?" + +"Confound you!" muttered Landis. + +There was another hum from the crowd; it was partly wonder, partly +anger. Plainly they were not pleased with Jack Landis on this day. + +Donnegan shook his head sadly. + +"I hoped," he said, "that I could teach you how to die. But I fail. And +yet you should be grateful to me for one thing, Jack. I have kept you +from being a murderer in cold blood. I kept you from killing a +defenseless man as you intended to do when you walked up to me a moment +ago." + +He smiled genially in mockery, and there was a scowl on the face of +Landis. + +"Two minutes," said Donnegan. + +Leaning back in his chair, he yawned. For a whole minute he did not +stir. + +"One minute?" he murmured inquisitively. + +And there was a convulsive shudder through the limbs of Landis. It was +the first sign that he was breaking down under the strain. There +remained only one minute in which to reduce him to a nervous wreck! + +The strain was telling in other places. Donnegan turned and saw in the +shadow and about the edges of the room a host of drawn, tense faces and +burning eyes. Never while they lived would they forget that scene. + +"And now that the time is close," said Donnegan, "I must look to my +gun." + +He made a gesture; how it was, no one was swift enough of eye to tell, +but a gun appeared in his hand. At the flash of it, Landis' weapon +leaped up to the mark and his face convulsed. But Donnegan calmly spun +the cylinder of his revolver and held it toward Landis, dangling from +his forefinger under the guard. + +"You see?" he said to Landis. "Clean as a whistle, and easy as a girl's +smile. I hate a stiff action, Jack." + +And Landis slowly allowed the muzzle of his own gun to sink. For the +first time his eyes left the eyes of Donnegan, and sinking, inch by +inch, stared fascinated at the gun in the hand of the enemy. + +"Thirty seconds," said Donnegan by way of conversation. + +Landis jerked up his head and his eyes once more met the eyes of +Donnegan, but this time they were wide, and the pointed glance of +Donnegan sank into them. The lips of Landis parted. His tongue +tremblingly moistened them. + +"Keep your nerve," said Donnegan in an undertone. + +"You hound!" gasped Landis. + +"I knew it," said Donnegan sadly. "You'll die with a curse on your +lips." + +He added: "Ten seconds, Landis!" + +And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked +his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung +back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep +breath. + +And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and +crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would +send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming +through the big room. + +But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With +the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver +still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd. + +And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking +suspense. + +It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles +of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in +imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering. + +And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long +and reverberant clanging. + +With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the +weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a +distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan, +sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure, +unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through +the right shoulder of Jack Landis. + +The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the +victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?" + + + + +24 + + +That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a +flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of +this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They +greeted him with expectant glances. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?" + +They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group. + +"I have to thank you," said Donnegan. + +"For what?" + +"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them. + +And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye, +Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'." + +"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when +you get stirred up about a thing." + +"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely. + +"Ay, he's rare." + +"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?" + +The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil. + +"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of +been in politics." + +In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed. +It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and +sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be +useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound, +and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for +the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short +distance making nothing of its target. + +A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed +upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a +very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He +went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised +one finger as he looked at them. + +"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear." + +Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and +lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for +Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis. + +In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him. +Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near +Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled +against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered +him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible +for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple. + +"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan." + +Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split +before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew, +among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be +shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have +shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went +easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly. + +For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat +down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind +forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens, +the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of +Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly +upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing--that +Donnegan was capable of affection. + +The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for +many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the +outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The +one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst +with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and +he heard voices--the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something +was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly. + +What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon, +ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou +Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the +liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once. + +"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel. + +"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick +color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I +thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking +down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not +see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him. + +"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable +in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter +came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our +friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the +feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to +rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one +thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him +for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to +it." + +She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard +the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with +half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen +stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass +voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan. + +"And now for facts," he began. + +"But," said Donnegan, "how--that chair--how in the world have you come +here?" + +The colonel shook his head. + +"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing +is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for +my small mystery--a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon +stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for +your work here, lad?" + +"Bad," said Donnegan. + +"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?" + +"You have heard?" + +"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the +face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider, +glazed with the other thing." + +"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis." + +He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained +parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the +spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed +them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner +that made the blood of Donnegan run cold. + +"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I +underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were +qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and +from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done +it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the +mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He +misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick +and his compatriots!" + +"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead." + +Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his +face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It +was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a +single conversation. + +"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had +punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?" + +Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against +the point of his chin. + +"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as +good--it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and +having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under +your surveillance--this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook--for me +and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by +having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position +to excite all the sympathies of Lou?" + +Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there +existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He +looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but +with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins +something akin to admiration from more common people. + +"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent +scrutiny--silence was almost the only thing in the world that could +trouble him--"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?" + +"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him +back to health hold a gun--metaphorically speaking--to his head and make +him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?" + +The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair, +brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled +benevolently upon Donnegan. + +"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are +exquisite!" + +"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel." + +"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can +speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body, +and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw +Donnegan come to his feet. + +"Eh?" he called. + +"Good-by," said Donnegan. + +"But where--Landis--Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?" + +"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my +work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon +Jack Landis." + +The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping +silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear +foolish. + +"In heaven's name, Donnegan!" + +The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came +from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright +and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob +of the door. + +"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute." + + + + +25 + + +Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held +it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time +limit was taken literally. + +"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of +Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in +any way." + +"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile. + +"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I +have given to you?" + +The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the +eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the +two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan +slipped the watch into his pocket. + +"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of +his strong hands across his forehead. + +"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of +your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since +you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the +first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took +it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of +your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools +cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very +well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not +pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder +why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to +him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I +intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through +a legal act signed by the hand of Jack." + +"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly. + +A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan +caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel +possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he, +Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man. + +"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!" + +"Without force?" + +"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and +therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what +may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I +have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger +against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear +may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I +dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite +schools of action." + +The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the +colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of +the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be +very apt to do as the colonel wished. + +"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly. +"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the +self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would. +In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that +would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well--win her away +from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was +flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull. +I had to strike him down in self-defense. + +"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you +omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important--to me. +What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?" + +"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou, +though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well, +Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your +gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a +snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight, +and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into +my--er--paternal care--her sentiments may change. No, they will +change." + +Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more +self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the +presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's +insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan +after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in +his own way. At length, Donnegan paused. + +"What's the next step?" he asked. + +The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could +tell. + +"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step, +Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house." + +"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from +the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight. +A bad set, Colonel Macon." + +"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly. + +"Ah?" + +"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on. +"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away +to this house." + +"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that +she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and +tend him and grow to hate me?" + +"Grow to fear you," said the colonel. + +"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly. + +"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette. + +He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his +lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan. +Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but +fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned +without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his +hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and +slam the door behind him--to put a bar between him and the eye of the +colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and +closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to +compel himself to move with proper dignity. + +When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing +compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's +advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the +power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had +followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself +had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience? + +He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings, +he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed +the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference +lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one +corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little +table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent +livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her +art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity. +He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman. + +"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the +door. + +"Nothing." + +"Good night." + +"Wait." + +She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had +delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and +without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan. +What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these +dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a +soldier obeys a commander. + +"There has been trouble," said Donnegan. + +"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face. + +"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting +affair." + +There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes, +and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before +sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same +contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual +expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl. + +"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity +for them." + +For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her +confidence in his prowess as a fighting man? + +"It was only one man," he said huskily. + +Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she +shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both +his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him; +she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself, +and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He +found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager +lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble. + +"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?" + +And he said to himself: "She loves him with all her heart and soul!" + +"It is he," said Donnegan in an agony. Pain may be like a fire that +tempers some strong men; and now Donnegan, because he was in torment, +smiled, and his eye was as cold as steel. + +The girl flung away his hands. + +"You bought murderer!" she cried at him. + +"He is not dead." + +"But you shot him down!" + +"He attacked me; it was self-defense." + +She broke into a low-pitched, mirthless laughter. Where was the +filmy-eyed girl he had known? The laughter broke off short--like a sob. + +"Don't you suppose I've known?" she said. "That I've read my father? +That I knew he was sending a bloodhound when he sent you? But, oh, I +thought you had a touch of the other thing!" + +He cringed under her tone. + +"I'll bring him to you," said Donnegan desperately. "I'll bring him here +so that you can take care of him." + +"You'll take him away from Lord Nick--and Lebrun--and the rest?" And it +was the cold smile of her father with which she mocked him. + +"I'll do it." + +"You play a deep game," said the girl bitterly. "Why would you do it?" + +"Because," said Donnegan faintly. "I love you." + +Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and +was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled +eyes. + +"As if I were a leper," muttered Donnegan. "By heaven, she looked at me +as if I were unclean!" + +But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her +face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, +and her face tipped up. + +Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen +the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves. + + + + +26 + + +Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and +he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single +step, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrown +himself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly out +before him, his teeth set, his eyes closed. + +For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force when +he could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of all +was gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms to +take that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which could +encompass her. + +Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender form +of the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power of +one hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closed +his fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and sat +with his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he had +seen a ghost. + +But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, until +big George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure that +he slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for it +was the chill, gray time of the night. + +But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, he +found the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightly +across his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy. + +He spent the day in that chair. + +It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared face +and a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to see +him. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence as +acquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to see +you, sir." + +Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow with +sandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw. + +"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester. + +Donnegan did not reply. + +"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued the +sandy-haired man. + +There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work, +Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been in +The Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon. +Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because he +played crooked with me. You hear me talk?" + +Still Donnegan considered him without a word. + +"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we can +get you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with the +colonel." + +He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnerved +him. He even took a step back toward the door. + +"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behind +me. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't alone +yourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan, +you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but I +ask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?" + +He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you're +done!" + +For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George a +significant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However, +Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormous +oath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door and +slammed it after him. + +"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir." + +And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and the +evening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hills +around The Corner. + +Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to his +revolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, and +walked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping, +hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quiet +departure did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across the +threshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars. + +"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. He +ain't happy." + +And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle with +knife and gun. + +He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heart +of the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hour +vigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyes +with shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife, +competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had two +places in mind--Lebrun's and Milligan's. + +It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly, +he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; it +was like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realized +that in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl and +bring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear of +Donnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donnegan +wanted to tear Landis to shreds. + +It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to a +gambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan was +not a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wanted +something that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made him +a good deal of a boy. + +So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. A +murmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened for +him. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watched +it double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in the +winnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rose +disconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs it +never fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones she +punishes. + +In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner. + +"Donnegan is out hunting trouble." + +About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evil +she has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongues +wagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get the +meaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness of +his mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him more +sedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that The +Corner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, but +cornered, he will fight like a wildcat. + +So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed. + +He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him, +and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumor +was there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbed +cow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan had +occupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint and +sought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra, +and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of the +gunman. + +As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him. +Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes of +women brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him, +and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Not +that he had forethought in going toward it, but he was moving +absent-mindedly. + +Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner, +and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, he +let his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than one +brave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiled +back at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face of +Nelly Lebrun. + +She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted except +for the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly. +Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; but +that would have been too pointed. + +A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor to +Nelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hat +under his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he made +an old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightened +again. + +"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquired. + +Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She felt +that she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest which +surrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other hand +that her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with the +man. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, being +forbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lips +and eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement. + +"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things. + +"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute." + +"If I should--what would people say?"; + +"Let's find out." + +"It would be--daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night." + +"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us." + +She went a pace closer to it with him. + +"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sit +down with you, Mr. Donnegan." + +And she immediately slipped into the chair. + + + + +27 + + +She qualified her surrender, of course, by sitting on the very edge of +the chair. She had on a wine-colored dress, and, with the excitement +whipping color into her cheeks and her eyes dancing, Nelly Lebrun was a +lovely picture. + +"I must go at once," said Nelly. + +"Of course, I can't expect you to stay." + +She dropped one hand on the edge of the table. One would have thought +that she was in the very act of rising. + +"Do you know that you frighten me?" + +"I?" said Donnegan, with appropriate inflection. + +"As if I were a man and you were angry." + +"But you see?" And he made a gesture with both of his palms turned up. +"People have slandered me. I am harmless." + +"The minute is up, Mr. Donnegan. What is it you wish?" + +"Another minute." + +"Now you laugh at me." + +"No, no!" + +"And in the next minute?" + +"I hope to persuade you to stay till the third minute." + +"Of course, I can't." + +"I know; it's impossible." + +"Quite." She settled into the chair. "See how people stare at me! They +remember poor Jack Landis and they think--the whole crowd--" + +"A crowd is always foolish. In the meantime, I'm happy." + +"You?" + +"To be here; to sit close to you; to watch you." + +Her glance was like the tip of a rapier, searching him through for some +iota of seriousness under this banter. + +"Ah?" and Nelly Lebrun laughed. + +"Don't you see that I mean it?" + +"You can watch me from a distance, Mr. Donnegan." + +"May I say a bold thing?" + +"You have said several." + +"No one can really watch you from a distance." + +She canted her head a little to one side; such an encounter of personal +quips was a seventh heaven to her. + +"That's a riddle, Mr. Donnegan." + +"A simple one. The answer is, because there's too much to watch." + +He joined her when she laughed, but the laughter of Donnegan made not a +sound, and he broke in on her mirth suddenly. + +"Ah, don't you see I'm serious?" + +Her glance flicked on either side, as though she feared someone might +have read his lips. + +"Not a soul can hear me," murmured Donnegan, "and I'm going to be bolder +still, and tell you the truth." + +"It's the last thing I dare stay to hear." + +"You are too lovely to watch from a distance, Nelly Lebrun." + +He was so direct that even Nelly Lebrun, expert in flirtations, was +given pause, and became sober. She shook her head and raised a +cautioning finger. But Donnegan was not shaken. + +"Because there is a glamour about a beautiful girl," he said gravely. +"One has to step into the halo to see her, to know her. Are you +contented to look at a flower from a distance? That's an old comparison, +isn't it? But there is something like a fragrance about you, Nelly +Lebrun. Don't be afraid. No one can hear; no one shall ever dream I've +said such bold things to you. In the meantime, we have a truth party. +There is a fragrance, I say. It must be breathed. There is a glow which +must touch one. As it touches me now, you see?" + +Indeed, there was a faint color in his cheeks. And the girl flushed more +deeply; her eyes were still bright, but they no longer sharpened to such +a penetrating point. She was believing at least a little part of what he +said, and her disbelief only heightened her joy in what was real in this +strangest of lovemakings. + +"I shall stay here to learn one thing," she said. "What deviltry is +behind all this talk, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"Is that fair to me? Besides, I only follow a beaten trail in The +Corner." + +"And that?" + +"Toward Nelly Lebrun." + +"A beaten trail? You?" she cried, with just a touch of anger. "I'm not a +child, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You are not; and that's why I am frank." + +"You have done all these things--following this trail you speak of?" + +"Remember," said Donnegan soberly. "What have I done?" + +"Shot down two men; played like an actor on a stage a couple of times at +least, if I must be blunt; hunted danger like--like a reckless madman; +dared all The Corner to cross you; flaunted the red rag in the face of +the bull. Those are a few things you have done, sir! And all on one +trail? That trail you spoke of?" + +"Nelly Lebrun--" + +"I'm listening; and do you know I'm persuading myself to believe you?" + +"It's because you feel the truth before I speak it. Truth speaks for +itself, you know." + +"I have closed my eyes--you see? I have stepped into a masquerade. Now +you can talk." + +"Masquerades are exciting," murmured Donnegan. + +"And they are sometimes beautiful." + +"But this sober truth of mine--" + +"Well?" + +"I came here unknown--and I saw you, Nelly Lebrun." + +He paused; she was looking a little past him. + +"I came in rags; no friends; no following. And I saw that I should have +to make you notice me." + +"And why? No, I shouldn't have asked that." + +"You shouldn't ask that," agreed Donnegan. "But I saw you the queen of +The Corner, worshiped by all men. What could I do? I am not rich. I am +not big. You see?" + +He drew her attention to his smallness with a flush which never failed +to touch the face of Donnegan when he thought of his size; and he seemed +to swell and grow greater in the very instant she glanced at him. + +"What could I do? One thing; fight. I have fought. I fought to get the +eye of The Corner, but most of all to attract your attention. I came +closer to you. I saw that one man blocked the way--mostly. I decided to +brush him aside. How?" + +"By fighting?" She had not been carried away by his argument. She was +watching him like a lynx every moment. + +"Not by that. By bluffing. You see, I was not fool enough to think that +you would--particularly notice a fighting bully." + +He laid his open hand on the table. It was like exposing both strength +and weakness; and into such a trap it would have been a singularly +hard-minded woman who might not have stepped. Nelly Lebrun leaned a +little closer. She forgot to criticize. + +"It was bluff. I saw that Landis was big and good-looking. And what was +I beside him? Nothing. I could only hope that he was hollow; yellow--you +see? So I tried the bluff. You know about it. The clock, and all that +claptrap. But Landis wasn't yellow. He didn't crumble. He lasted long +enough to call my bluff, and I had to shoot in self-defense. And then, +when he lay on the floor, I saw that I had failed." + +"Failed?" + +He lowered his eyes for fear that she would catch the glitter of them. + +"I knew that you would hate me for what I had done because I had only +proved that Landis was a brave youngster with enough nerve for nine out +of ten. And I came tonight--to ask you to forgive me. No, not that--only +to ask you to understand. Do you?" + +He raised his glance suddenly at that, and their eyes met with one of +these electric shocks which will go tingling through two people. And +when the lips of Nelly Lebrun parted a little, he knew that she was in +the trap. He closed his hand that lay on the table--curling the fingers +slowly. In that way he expressed all his exultation. + +"There is something wrong," said the girl, in a tone of one who argues +with herself. "It's all too logical to be real." + +"Ah?" + +"Was that your only reason for fighting Jack Landis?" + +"Do I have to confess even that?" + +She smiled in the triumph of her penetration, but it was a brief, +unhappy smile. One might have thought that she would have been glad to +be deceived. + +"I came to serve a girl who was unhappy," said Donnegan. "Her fiancé had +left her; her fiancé was Jack Landis. And she's now in a hut up the hill +waiting for him. And I thought that if I ruined him in your eyes he'd go +back to a girl who wouldn't care so much about bravery. Who'd forgive +him for having left her. But you see what a fool I was and how clumsily +I worked? My bluff failed, and I only wounded him, put him in your +house, under your care, where he'll be happiest, and where there'll +never be a chance for this girl to get him back." + +Nelly Lebrun, with her folded hands under her chin, studied him. + +"Mr. Donnegan," she said, "I wish I knew whether you are the most +chivalrous, self-sacrificing of men, or simply the most gorgeous liar in +the desert." + +"And it's hardly fair," said Donnegan, "to expect me to tell you that." + + + + +28 + + +It gave them both a welcome opportunity to laugh, welcome to the girl +because it broke into an excitement which was rapidly telling upon her, +and welcome to Donnegan because the strain of so many distortions of the +truth was telling upon him as well. They laughed together. One hasty +glance told Donnegan that half the couples in the room were whispering +about Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun; but when he looked across the table he +saw that Nelly Lebrun had not a thought for what might be going on in +the minds of others. She was quite content. + +"And the girl?" she said. + +Donnegan rested his forehead upon his hand in thought. He dared not let +Nelly see his face at this moment, for the mention of Lou Macon had +poured the old flood of sorrow back upon him And therefore, when he +looked up, he was sneering. + +"You know these blond, pretty girls?" he said. + +"Oh, they are adorable!" + +"With dull eyes," said Donnegan coldly, and a twinkle came into the +responsive eye of Nelly Lebrun. "The sort of a girl who sees a hero in +such a fellow as Jack Landis." + +"And Jack is brave." + +"I shouldn't have said that." + +"Never mind. Brave, but such a boy." + +"Are you serious?" + +She looked questioningly at Donnegan and they smiled together, slowly. + +"I--I'm glad it's that way," and Donnegan sighed. + +"And did you really think it could be any other way?" + +"I didn't know. I'm afraid I was blind." + +"But the poor girl on the hill; I wish I could see her." + +She was watching Donnegan very sharply again. + +"A good idea. Why don't you?" + +"You seem to like her?" + +"Yes," said Donnegan judiciously. "She has an appealing way; I'm very +sorry for her. But I've done my best; I can't help her." + +"Isn't there some way?" + +"Of what?" + +"Of helping her." + +Donnegan laughed. "Go to your father and persuade him to send Landis +back to her." + +She shook her head. + +"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you +know." + +"Business? Well, I guessed at that." + +"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly. + +Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets. + +"They made me--flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!" + +How much the past tense may mean! + +"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with +gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? +Why couldn't you get him away from the house?" + +"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?" + +"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night." + +"But Jack would wake up and make a noise." + +"There are things that would make him sleep through anything." + +"But how could he be moved?" + +"On a horse litter kept ready outside." + +"And how carried to the litter?" + +"I would carry him." The girl looked at him with a question and then +with a faint smile beginning. "Easily," said Donnegan, stiffening in his +chair. "Very easily." + +It pleased her to find this weakness in the pride of the invincible +Donnegan. It gave her a secure feeling of mastery. So she controlled her +smile and looked with a sort of superior kindliness upon the red-headed +little man. + +"It's no good," Nelly Lebrun said with a sigh. "Even if he were taken +away--and then it would get you into a bad mess." + +"Would it? Worse than I'm in?" + +"Hush! Lord Nick is coming to The Corner; and no matter what you've done +so far--I think I could quiet him. But if you were to take Landis +away--then nothing could stop him." + +Donnegan sneered. + +"I begin to think Lord Nick is a bogie," he said. "Everyone whispers +when they speak of him." He leaned forward. "I should like to meet him, +Nelly Lebrun!" + +It staggered Nelly. "Do you mean that?" she cried softly. + +"I do." + +She caught her breath and then a spark of deviltry gleamed. "I wonder!" +said Nelly Lebrun, and her glance weighed Donnegan. + +"All I ask is a fair chance," he said. + +"He is a big man," said the girl maliciously. + +The never-failing blush burned in the face of Donnegan. + +"A large target is more easily hit," he said through his teeth. + +Her thoughts played back and forth in her eyes. + +"I can't do it," she said. + +Donnegan played a random card. + +"I was mistaken," he said darkly. "Jack was not the man I should have +faced. Lord Nick!" + +"No, no, no, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You can't persuade me. Well, I was a fool not to guess it!" + +"I really think," said the girl gloomily, "that as soon as Lord Nick +comes, you'll hunt him out!" + +He bowed to her with cold politeness. "In spite of his size," said +Donnegan through his teeth once more. + +And at this the girl's face softened and grew merry. + +"I'm going to help you to take Jack away," she said, "on one +condition." + +"And that?" + +"That you won't make a step toward Lord Nick when he comes." + +"I shall not avoid him," said Donnegan. + +"You're unreasonable! Well, not avoid him, but simply not provoke him. +I'll arrange it so that Lord Nick won't come hunting trouble." + +"And he'll let Jack stay with the girl and her father?" + +"Perhaps he'll persuade them to let him go of their own free will." + +Donnegan thought of the colonel and smiled. + +"In that case, of course, I shouldn't care at all." He added: "But do +you mean all this?" + +"You shall see." + +They talked only a moment longer and then Donnegan left the hall with +the girl on his arm. Certainly the thoughts of all in Milligan's +followed that pair; and it was seen that Donnegan took her to the door +of her house and then went away through the town and up the hill. And +big George followed him like a shadow cast from a lantern behind a man +walking in a fog. + +In the hut on the hill, Donnegan put George quickly to work, and with a +door and some bedding, a litter was hastily constructed and swung +between the two horses. In the meantime, Donnegan climbed higher up the +hill and watched steadily over the town until, in a house beneath him, +two lights were shown. He came back at that and hurried down the hill +with George behind and around the houses until they came to the +pretentious cabin of the gambler, Lebrun. + +Once there, Donnegan went straight to an unlighted window, tapped; and +it was opened from within, softly. Nelly Lebrun stood within. + +"It's done," she said. "Joe and the Pedlar are sound asleep. They drank +too much." + +"Your father." + +"Hasn't come home." + +"And Jack Landis?" + +"No matter what you do, he won't wake up; but be careful of his +shoulder. It's badly torn. How can you carry him?" + +She could not see Donnegan's flush, but she heard his teeth grit. And +he slipped through the window, gesturing to George to come close. It was +still darker inside the room--far darker than the starlit night outside. +And the one path of lighter gray was the bed of Jack Landis. His heavy +breathing was the only sound. Donnegan kneeled beside him and worked his +arms under the limp figure. + +And while he kneeled there a door in the house was opened and closed +softly. Donnegan stood up. + +"Is the door locked?" + +"No," whispered the girl. + +"Quick!" + +"Too late. It's father, and he'd hear the turning of the key." + +They waited, while the light, quick step came down the hall of the +cabin. It came to the door, it went past; and then the steps retraced +and the door was opened gently. + +There was a light in the hall; the form of Lebrun was outlined black and +distinct.. + +"Jack!" he whispered. + +No sound; he made as if to enter, and then he heard the heavy breathing +of the sleeper, apparently. + +"Asleep, poor fool," murmured the gambler, and closed the door. + +The door was no sooner closed than Donnegan had raised the body of the +sleeper. Once, as he rose, straining, it nearly slipped from his arms; +and when he stood erect he staggered. But once he had gained his +equilibrium, he carried the wounded man easily enough to the window +through which George reached his long arms and lifted out the burden. + +"You see?" said Donnegan, panting, to the girl. + +"Yes; it was really wonderful!" + +"You are laughing, now." + +"I? But hurry. My father has a fox's ear for noises." + +"He will not hear this, I think." There was a swift scuffle, very soft +of movement. + +"Nelly!" called a far-off voice. + +"Hurry, hurry! Don't you hear?" + +"You forgive me?" + +"No--yes--but hurry!" + +"You will remember me?" + +"Mr. Donnegan!" + +"Adieu!" + +She caught a picture of him sitting in the window for the split part of +a second, with his hat off, bowing to her. Then he was gone. And she +went into the hall, panting with excitement. + +"Heavens!" Nelly Lebrun murmured. "I feel as if I had been hunted, and I +must look it. What if he--" Whatever the thought was she did not +complete it. "It may have been for the best," added Nelly Lebrun. + + + + +29 + + +It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but an +active mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun roused +herself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand was +still rapping. + +"Yes?" she called drowsily. + +"This is Nick. May I come in?" + +"This is who?" + +The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she was +out of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped a +dressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was a +luxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of the +lynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, and +the soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threw +back the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place, +transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror. + +And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes, +Nick. May I come in?" + +She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on her +lips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; had +dipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awake +and brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into her +cheeks. + +Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock, +Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall. + +The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with the +pressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; and +while he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one hand +pressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expression +halfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did not +even smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentle +expressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominance +over all around him, his habitual expression was a proud +self-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in Lord +Nick it was rather leonine. + +He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily, +and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside another +man he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed by +the depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appear +quite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown and +set off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had the +combination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable in +Donnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the two +men; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, and +above all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from them +both. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of all +spirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terribly +mated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that the +mountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of the +careless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires an +exceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takes +a genius to make law-breaking glorious. + +No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek, +looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about his +immediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch, +and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had to +do with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, and +waited expectantly. + +"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frank +admirer. + +The girl merely looked at him. + +"Well?" he insisted. + +"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly. + +"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to the +contrary but that he was restraining himself--it was not worthwhile to +bother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tangle +since I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a father +has let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all this +was going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?" + +He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully. + +"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog." + +He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth I +suppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest. +Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint." + +"I suppose you'll get him back?" + +"First, I want to find out how he got away." + +"I know how." + +"Ah?" + +"Donnegan." + +"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he did +not raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softly +so that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger. +"Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as one +of them! You, too!" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terrible +voice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis; +Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him. +Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!" + +She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice. + +"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she asked +coldly. + +"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications; +have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheads +are beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas." + +"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come to +it; and you'll never come to it." + +"Never. Because I don't want him killed." + +"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?" + +"Because he's in love--with me." + +"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rare +fellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house without +help. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had to +find out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; not +the Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone who +doesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're the +one!" + +She hesitated a breathless instant. + +"Yes," she said. "I am." + +She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl in +the case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with her +once. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint; +haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kept +on with it." + +"No?" + +"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. I +haven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I got +rid of him." + +"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?" + +She flushed and then set her teeth. + +"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring +him back." + +"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it." + +"I suppose so." + +"You don't understand, Nick. He's different." + +"Eh?" + +"He's like you." + +"What are you driving at?" + +"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible +fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair +and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such a +man--except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fight +Donnegan!" + +For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little +forward. + +"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal, +Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you--" + +The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank. + +"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?" + +"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too. +And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?" + +"For your own sake." + +He stood up. + +"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him; +but I'm going to have Landis back!" + +She, also, rose. + +"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll get Donnegan to +leave the house." + +"I don't care what you do about that." + +"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunt +him out afterward?" + +"I never make promises, Nell." + +"But I'll trust you, Nick." + +"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long." + + + + +30 + + +The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the +north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly +Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She +sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, +which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to +the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave +him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took +the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The +Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance. + +She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her +appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was +in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her +that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is +touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of +it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have +really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he +had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan's. And that, +as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom. + +Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the +hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour +had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street +below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy +swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding +crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it +Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked +more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle. + +He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and +his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen +stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance. + +"There's no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought +you might agree with me." + +He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his +attitude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that +house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some +few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road--the chestnut at a +long-strided canter and Nelly's black at a soft and choppy pace--the +wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things +one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the +first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from +The Corner--and Lord Nick. + +The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had +Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a +violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the +lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared +with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her +make the comparison at all. + +"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a +hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could +be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, +and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away. + +"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and +see this." + +She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy. + +"You see, I'm a lazy man." + +"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?" + +"Two days, I think." + +"What's wrong?" + +He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought +his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even +in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under +his look. + +"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question." + +And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her +breath. The imp of perversity made her go on. + +"And why dangerous?" + +It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, +but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her. + +"You are not frank," he remarked. + +She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in +her excitement. + +"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm's length. After +last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for--days and +days." + +"That's why I'm curious," said Donnegan, "and not flattered. I'm trying +to find what purpose you have in taking me riding." + +"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if you will." + +And since such fencing with the wits delighted her, she let all her +delight come with a sparkle in her eyes. + +"I have one clue." + +"Yes?" + +"And that is that you may have the old-woman curiosity to find out how +many ways a man can tell her that he's fond of her." + +Though she flushed a little she kept her poise admirably. + +"I suppose that is part of my interest," she admitted. + +"I can think of a great many ways of saying it," said Donnegan. "I am +the dry desert, you are the rain, and yet I remain dry and produce no +grass." "A very pretty comparison," said the girl with a smile. + +"A very green one," and Donnegan smiled. "I am the wind and you are the +wild geese, and yet I keep on blowing after you are gone and do not +carry away a feather of you." + +"Pretty again." + +"And silly. But, really, you are very kind to me, and I shall try not to +take too much advantage of it." + +"Will you answer a question?" + +"I had rather ask one: but go on." + +"What made you so dry a desert, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"There is a very leading question again." + +"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the +first time I saw you--when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly +disguise." + +"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of +me; I am a beggarly person." + +"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an +education." + +"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and +long ago learned not to take myself too seriously." + +"Which leads to--" + +"The reason why I have wandered so much." + +"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?" + +"A chance to sit in a saddle--or a chair--and talk as we are talking." + +"Which seems to be idly." + +"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire." + +"Or ice." + +At the random hit he glanced sharply at her, but she was looking a +little past him, thinking. + +"I have tried to get at the reason behind all your reasons," she said. +"You came on me in a haphazard fashion, and yet you are not a haphazard +sort." + +"Do you see nothing serious about me?" + +"I see that you are unhappy," said the girl gently. "And I am sorry." + +Once again Donnegan was jarred, and he came within an ace of opening +his mind to her, of pouring out the truth about Lou Macon. Love is a +talking madness in all men and he came within an ace of confessing his +troubles. + +"Let's go on," she said, loosening her rein. + +"Why not cut back in a semicircle toward The Corner?" + +"Toward The Corner? No, no!" + +There was a brightening of his eye as he noted her shudder of distaste +or fear, and she strove to cover her traces. + +"I'm sick of the place," she said eagerly. "Let's get as far from it as +we may." + +"But yonder is a very good trail leading past it." + +"Of course we'll ride that way if you wish, but I'd rather go straight +ahead." + +If she had insisted stubbornly he would have thought nothing, but the +moment she became politic he was on his guard. + +"You dislike something in The Corner," he said, thinking carelessly and +aloud. "You are afraid of something back there. But what could you be +afraid of? Then you may be afraid of something for me. Ah, I have it! +They have decided to 'get' me for taking Jack Landis away; Joe Rix and +the Pedlar are waiting for me to come back!" + +He looked steadily and she attempted to laugh. + +"Joe Rix and the Pedlar? I would not stack ten like them against you!" + +"Then it is someone else." + +"I haven't said so. Of course there's no one." + +She shook her rein again, but Donnegan sat still in his saddle and +looked fixedly at her. + +"That's why you brought me out here," he announced. "Oh, Nelly Lebrun, +what's behind your mind? Who is it? By heaven, it's this Lord Nick!" + +"Mr. Donnegan, you're letting your imagination run wild." + +"It's gone straight to the point. But I'm not angry. I think I may get +back in time." + +He turned his horse, and the girl swung hers beside him and caught his +arm. + +"Don't go!" she pleaded. "You're right; it's Nick, and it's suicide to +face him!" + +The face of Donnegan set cruelly. + +"The main obstacle," he said. "Come and watch me handle it!" + +But she dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, and, sitting +there for a long time, she heard his careless whistling blow back to her +as he galloped toward The Corner. + + + + +31 + + +If Nelly Lebrun had consigned him mentally to the worms, that thought +made not the slightest impression upon Donnegan. A chance for action was +opening before him, and above all a chance of action in the eye of Lou +Macon; and he welcomed with open arms the thought that he would have an +opportunity to strike for her, and keep Landis with her. He went arrowy +straight and arrowy fast to the cabin on the hill, and he found ample +evidence that it had become a center of attention in The Corner. There +was a scattering of people in the distance, apparently loitering with no +particular purpose, but undoubtedly because they awaited an explosion of +some sort. He went by a group at which the chestnut shied, and as +Donnegan straightened out the horse again he caught a look of both +interest and pity on the faces of the men. + +Did they give him up so soon as it was known that Lord Nick had entered +the lists against him? Had all his display in The Corner gone for +nothing as against the repute of this terrible mystery man? His vanity +made him set his teeth again. + +Dismounting before the cabin of the colonel, he found that worthy in +his invalid chair, enjoying a sun bath in front of his house. But there +was no sign of Lord Nick--no sign of Lou. A grim fear came to Donnegan +that he might have to attack Nick in his own stronghold, for Jack Landis +might already have been taken away to the Lebrun house. + +So he went straight to the colonel, and when he came close he saw that +the fat man was apparently in the grip of a chill. He had gathered a +vast blanket about his shoulders and kept drawing it tighter; beneath +his eyes, which looked down to the ground, there were violet shadows. + +"I've lost," said Donnegan through his teeth. "Lord Nick has been here?" + +The invalid lifted his eyes, and Donnegan saw a terrible thing--that the +nerve of the fat man had been crushed. The folds of his face quivered as +he answered huskily: "He has been here!" + +"And Landis is gone?" + +"No." + +"Not gone? Then--" + +"Nick has gone to get a horse litter. He came up just to clear the way." + +"When he comes back he'll find me!" + +The glance of the colonel cleared long enough to survey Donnegan slowly +from head to foot, and his amusement sent the familiar hot flush over +the face of the little man. He straightened to his full height, which, +in his high heels, was not insignificant. But the colonel was apparently +so desperate that he was willing to throw caution away. + +"Compared with Lord Nick, Donnegan," he said, "you don't look half a +man--even with those heels." + +And he smiled calmly at Donnegan in the manner of one who, having +escaped the lightning bolt itself, does not fear mere thunder. + +"There is no fool like a fat fool," said Donnegan with childish +viciousness. "What did Lord Nick, as you call him, do to you? He's +brought out the yellow, my friend." + +The colonel accepted the insult without the quiver of an eyelid. +Throughout he seemed to be looking expectantly beyond Donnegan. + +"My young friend," he said, "you have been very useful to me. But I +must confess that you are no longer a tool equal to the task. I dismiss +you. I thank you cordially for your efforts. They are worthless. You see +that crowd gathering yonder? They have come to see Lord Nick prepare you +for a hole in the ground. And make no mistake: if you are here when he +returns that hole will have to be dug--unless they throw you out for the +claws of the buzzards. In the meantime, our efforts have been wasted +completely. I hadn't enough time. I had thrown the fear of sudden death +into Landis, and in another hour he would have signed away his soul to +me for fear of poison." + +The colonel paused to chuckle at some enjoyable memory. + +"Then Nick came. You see, I know all about Nick." + +"And Nick knows all about you?" + +For a moment the agate, catlike eyes of the colonel clouded and cleared +again in their unfathomable manner. + +"At moments, Donnegan," he said, "you have rare perceptions. That is +exactly it--Nick knows just about everything concerning me. And so--roll +your pack and climb on your horse and get away. I think you may have +another five minutes before he comes." + +Donnegan turned on his heel. He went to the door of the hut and threw it +open. Lou sat beside Landis holding his hand, and the murmur of her +voice was still pleasant as an echo through the room when she looked and +saw Donnegan. At that she rose and her face hardened as she looked at +him. Landis, also, lifted his head, and his face was convulsed with +hatred. So Donnegan closed the door and went softly away to his own +shack. + +She hated him even as Landis hated him, it seemed. He should have known +that he would not be thanked for bringing back her lover to her with a +bullet through his shoulder. Sitting in his cabin, he took his head +between his hands and thought of life and death, and made up his mind. +He was afraid. If Lord Nick had been the devil himself Donnegan could +not have been more afraid. But if the big stranger had been ten devils +instead of one Donnegan would not have found it in his soul to run away. + +Nothing remained for him in The Corner, it seemed, except his position +as a man of power--a dangerous fighter. It was a less than worthless +position, and yet, once having taken it up, he could not abandon it. +More than one gunfighter has been in the same place, forced to act as a +public menace long after he has ceased to feel any desire to fight. Of +selfish motives there remained not a scruple to him, but there was still +the happiness of Lou Macon. If the boy were taken back to Lebrun's, it +would be fatal to her. For even if Nelly wished, she could not teach her +eyes new habits, and she would ceaselessly play on the heart of the +wounded man. + +It was the cessation of all talk from the gathering crowd outside that +made Donnegan lift his head at length, and know that Lord Nick had come. +But before he had time to prepare himself, the door was cast open and +into it, filling it from side to side, stepped Lord Nick. + +There was no need of an introduction. Donnegan knew him by the aptness +with which the name fitted that glorious figure of a man and by the +calm, confident eye which now was looking him slowly over, from head to +foot. Lord Nick closed the door carefully behind him. + +"The colonel told me," he said in his deep, smooth voice, "that you were +waiting for me here." + +And Donnegan recognized the snakelike malice of the fat man in drawing +him into the fight. But he dismissed that quickly from his mind. He was +staring, fascinated, into the face of the other. He was a reader of men, +was Donnegan; he was a reader of mind, too. In his life of battle he had +learned to judge the prowess of others at a glance, just as a musician +can tell the quality of a violin by the first note he hears played upon +it. So Donnegan judged the quality of fighting men, and, looking into +the face of Lord Nick, he knew that he had met his equal at last. + +It was a great and a bitter moment to him. The sense of physical +smallness he had banished a thousand times by the recollection of his +speed of hand and his surety with weapons. He had looked at men +muscularly great and despised them in the knowledge that a gun or a +knife would make him their master. But in Lord Nick he recognized his +own nerveless speed of hand, his own hair-trigger balance, his own +deadly seriousness and contempt of life. The experience in battle was +there, too. And he began to feel that the size of the other crushed him +to the floor and made him hopeless. It was unnatural, it was wrong, that +this giant in the body should be a giant in adroitness also. + +Already Donnegan had died one death before he rose from his chair and +stood to the full of his height ready to die again and summoning his +nervous force to meet the enemy. He had seen that the big man had +followed his own example and had measured him at a glance. + +Indeed the history of some lives of action held less than the +concentrated silence of these two men during that second's space. + +And now Donnegan felt the cold eye of the other eating into his own, +striving to beat him down, break his nerve. For an instant panic got +hold on Donnegan. He, himself, had broken the nerve of other men by the +weight of his unaided eye. Had he not reduced poor Jack Landis to a +trembling wreck by five minutes of silence? And had he not seen other +brave men become trembling cowards unable to face the light, and all +because of that terrible power which lies in the eye of some? He fought +away the panic, though perspiration was pouring out upon his forehead +and beneath his armpits. + +"The colonel is very kind," said Donnegan. + +And that moment he sent up a prayer of thankfulness that his voice was +smooth as silk, and that he was able to smile into the face of Lord +Nick. The brow of the other clouded and then smoothed itself deftly. +Perhaps he, too, recognized the clang of steel upon steel and knew the +metal of his enemy. + +"And therefore," said Lord Nick, "since most of The Corner expects +business from us, it seems much as if one of us must kill the other +before we part." + +"As a matter of fact," said Donnegan, "I have been keeping that in +mind." He added, with that deadly smile of his that never reached his +eyes: "I never disappoint the public when it's possible to satisfy +them." + +"No," and Lord Nick nodded, "you seem to have most of the habits of an +actor--including an inclination to make up for your part." + +Donnegan bit his lip until it bled, and then smiled. + +"I have been playing to fools," he said. "Now I shall enjoy a +discriminating critic." + +"Yes," remarked Lord Nick, "actors generally desire an intelligent +audience for the death scene." + +"I applaud your penetration and I shall speak well of you when this +disagreeable duty is finished." + +"Come," and Lord Nick smiled genially, "you are a game little cock!" + +The telltale flush crimsoned Donnegan's face. And if the fight had begun +at that moment no power under heaven could have saved Lord Nick from the +frenzy of the little man. + +"My size keeps me from stooping," said Donnegan, "I shall look up to +you, sir, until the moment you fall." + +"Well hit again! You are also a wit, I see! Donnegan, I am almost sorry +for the necessity of this meeting. And if it weren't for the audience--" + +"Say no more," said Donnegan, bowing. "I read your heart and appreciate +all you intend." + +He had touched his stock as he bowed, and now he turned to the mirror +and carefully adjusted it, for it was a little awry from the ride; but +in reality he used that moment to examine his own face, and the set of +his jaw and the clearness of his eye reassured him. Turning again, he +surprised a glint of admiration in the glance of Lord Nick. + +"We are at one, sir, it appears," he said. "And there is no other way +out of this disagreeable necessity?" + +"Unfortunately not. I have a certain position in these parts. People are +apt to expect a good deal of me. And for my part I see no way out except +a gunplay--no way out between the devil and the moon!" + +Astonishment swept suddenly across the face of the big man, for +Donnegan, turning white as death, shrank toward the wall as though he +had that moment received cold steel in his body. + +"Say that again!" said Donnegan hoarsely. + +"I said there was no way out," repeated Lord Nick, and though he kept +his right hand in readiness, he passed his left through his red hair and +stared at Donnegan with a tinge of contempt; he had seen men buckle like +this at the last moment when their backs were to the wall. + +"Between--" repeated Donnegan. + +"The devil and the moon. Do you see a way yourself?" + +He was astonished again to see Donnegan wince as if from a blow. His +lips were trembling and they writhed stiffly over his words. + +"Who taught you that expression?" said Donnegan. + +"A gentleman," said Lord Nick. + +"Ah?" + +"My father, sir!" + +"Oh, heaven," moaned Donnegan, catching his hands to his breast. "Oh, +heaven, forgive us!" + +"What the devil is in you?" asked Lord Nick. + +The little man stood erect again and his eyes were now on fire. + +"You are Henry Nicholas Reardon," he said. + +Lord Nick set his teeth. + +"Now," he said, "it is certain that you must die!" + +But Donnegan cast out his arms and broke into a wild laughter. + +"Oh, you fool, you fool!" he cried. "Don't you know me? I am the +cripple!" + + + + +32 + + +The big man crossed the floor with one vast stride, and, seizing +Donnegan by both shoulders, dragged him under the full light of the +window; and still the crazy laughter shook Donnegan and made him +helpless. + +"They tied me to a board--like a papoose," said Donnegan, "and they +straightened my back--but they left me this way--wizened up." He was +stammering; hysterical, and the words tumbled from his lips in a jumble. +"That was a month after you ran away from home. I was going to find you. +Got bigger. Took the road. Kept hunting. Then I met a yegg who told +about Rusty Dick--described him like you--I thought--I thought you were +dead!" + +And the tears rolled down his face; he sobbed like a woman. + +A strange thing happened then. Lord Nick lifted the little man in his +arms as if he were a child and literally carried him in that fashion to +the bunk. He put him down tenderly, still with one mighty arm around his +back. + +"You are Garry? You!" + +"Garrison Donnegan Reardon. Aye, that's what I am. Henry, don't say +that you don't know me!" + +"But--your back--I thought--" + +"I know--hopeless they said I was. But they brought in a young doctor. +Now look at me. Little. I never grew big--but hard, Henry, as leather!" + +And he sprang to his feet. And knowing that Donnegan had begun life as a +cripple it was easy to appreciate certain things about his expression--a +cold wistfulness, and his manner of reading the minds of men. Lord Nick +was like a man in a dream. He dragged Donnegan back to the bunk and +forced him to sit down with the weight of his arms. And he could not +keep his hands from his younger brother. As though he were blind and had +to use the sense of touch to reassure him. + +"I heard lies. They said everybody was dead. I thought--" + +"The fever killed them all, except me. Uncle Toby took me in. He was a +devil. Helped me along, but I left him when I could. And--" + +"Don't tell me any more. All that matters is that I have you at last, +Garry. Heaven knows it's a horrible thing to be kithless and kinless, +but I have you now! Ah, lad, but the old pain has left its mark on you. +Poor Garry!" + +Donnegan shuddered. + +"I've forgotten it. Don't bring it back." + +"I keep feeling that you should be in that chair." + +"I know. But I'm not. I'm hard as nails, I tell you." + +He leaped to his feet again. + +"And not so small as you might think, Henry!" + +"Oh, big enough, Garry. Big enough to paralyze The Corner, from what +I've heard." + +"I've been playing a game with 'em, Henry. And now--if one of us could +clear the road, what will we do together? Eh?" + +The smile of Lord Nick showed his teeth. + +"Haven't I been hungry all my life for a man like you, lad? Somebody to +stand and guard my back while I faced the rest of the world?" + +"And I'll do my share of the facing, too." + +"You will, Garry. But I'm your elder." + +"Man, man! Nobody's my elder except one that's spent half his life--as I +have done!" + +"We'll teach you to forget the pain I'll make life roses for you, +Garry." + +"And the fools outside thought--" + +Donnegan broke into a soundless laughter, and, running to the door, +opened it a fraction of an inch and peeped out. + +"They're standing about in a circle. I can see 'em gaping. Even from +here. What will they think, Henry?" + +Lord Nick ground his teeth. + +"They'll think I've backed down from you," he said gloomily. "They'll +think I've taken water for the first time." + +"Why, confound 'em, the first man that opens his head--" + +"I know, I know. You'd fill his mouth with lead, and so would I. But if +it ever gets about--as it's sure to--that Lord, Nick, as they call me, +has been bluffed down without a fight, I'll have every Chinaman that +cooks on the range talking back to me. I'll have to start all over +again." + +"Don't say that, Henry. Don't you see that I'll go out and explain that +I'm your brother?" + +"What good will that do? No, do we look alike?" + +Donnegan stopped short. + +"I'm not very big," he said rather coldly, "but then I'm not so very +small, either. I've found myself big enough, speaking in general. +Besides, we have the same hair and eyes." + +"Why, man, people will laugh when they hear that we call ourselves +brothers." + +Donnegan ground his teeth and the old flush burned upon his face. + +"I'll cut some throats if they do," he said, trembling with his passion. + +"I can hear them say it. 'Lord Nick walked in on Donnegan prepared to +eat him up. He measured him up and down, saw that he was a fighting +wildcat in spite of his size, and decided to back out. And Donnegan was +willing. They couldn't come out without a story of some kind--with the +whole world expecting a death in that cabin--so they framed a crazy +cock-and-bull story about being brothers.' I can hear them say that, +Donnegan, and it makes me wild!" + +"Do you call me Donnegan?" said Donnegan sadly. + +"No, no. Garry, don't be so touchy. You've never got over that, I see. +Still all pride and fire." + +"You're not very humble yourself, Henry." + +"Maybe not, maybe not. But I've been in a certain position around these +parts, Don--Garry. And it's hard to see it go!" + +Donnegan closed his eyes in deep reverie. And then he forced out the +words one by one. + +"Henry, I'll let everybody know that it was I who backed down. That we +were about to fight." He was unable to speak; he tore the stock loose at +his throat and went on: "We were about to fight; I lost my nerve; you +couldn't shoot a helpless man. We began to talk. We found out we are +brothers--" + +"Damnation!" broke out Lord Nick, and he struck himself violently across +the forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm a skunk, Garry, lad. Why, +for a minute I was about to let you do it. No. no, no! A thousand times +no!" + +It was plain to be seen that he was arguing himself away from the +temptation. + +"What do I care what they say? We'll cram the words back down their +throats and be hanged to 'em. Here I am worrying about myself like a +selfish dog without letting myself be happy over finding you. But I am +happy, Garry. Heaven knows it. And you don't doubt it, do you, old +fellow?" + +"Ah," said Donnegan, and he smiled to cover a touch of sadness. "I hope +not. No, I don't doubt you, of course. I've spent my life wishing for +you since you left us, you see. And then I followed you for three years +on the road, hunting everywhere." + +"You did that?" + +"Yes. Three years. I liked the careless life. For to tell you the truth, +I'm not worth much, Henry. I'm a loafer by instinct, and--" + +"Not another word." There were tears in the eyes of Lord Nick, and he +frowned them away. "Confound it, Garry, you unman me. I'll be weeping +like a woman in a minute. But now, sit down. We still have some things +to talk over. And we'll get to a quick conclusion." + +"Ah, yes," said Donnegan, and at the emotion which had come in the face +of Lord Nick, his own expression softened wonderfully. A light seemed to +stand in his face. "We'll brush over the incidentals. And everything is +incidental aside from the fact that we're together again. They can +chisel iron chain apart, but we'll never be separated again, God +willing!" He looked up as he spoke, and his face was for the moment as +pure as the face of a child--Donnegan, the thief, the beggar, the liar +by gift, and the man-killer by trade and artistry. + +But Lord Nick in the meantime was looking down to the floor and +mustering his thoughts. + +"The main thing is entirely simple," he said. "You'll make one +concession to my pride, Garry, boy?" + +"Can you ask me?" said Donnegan softly, and he cast out his hands in a +gesture that offered his heart and his soul. "Can you ask me? Anything I +have is yours!" + +"Don't say that," answered Lord Nick tenderly. "But this small thing--my +pride, you know--I despise myself for caring what people think, but I'm +weak. I admit it, but I can't help it." + +"Talk out, man. You'll see if there's a bottom to things that I can +give!" + +"Well, it's this. Everyone knows that I came up here to get young Jack +Landis and bring him back to Lebrun's--from which you stole him, you +clever young devil! Well, I'll simply take him back there, Garry; and +then I'll never have to ask another favor of you." + +He was astonished by a sudden silence, and looking up again, he saw that +Donnegan sat with his hand at his breast. It was a singularly feminine +gesture to which he resorted. It was a habit which had come to him in +his youth in the invalid chair, when the ceaseless torment of his +crippled back became too great for him to bear. + +And clearly, indeed, those days were brought home to Lord Nick as he +glanced up, for Donnegan was staring at him in the same old, familiar +agony, mute and helpless. + + + + +33 + + +At this Lord Nick very frankly frowned in turn. And when he frowned his +face grew marvelously dark, like some wrathful god, for there was a +noble, a Grecian purity to the profile of Henry Nicholas Reardon, and +when he frowned he seemed to be scorning, from a distance, ignoble, +earthly things which troubled him. + +"I know it isn't exactly easy for you, Garry," he admitted. "You have +your own pride; you have your own position here in The Corner. But I +want you to notice that mine is different. You've spent a day for what +you have in The Corner, here. I've spent ten years. You've played a +prank, acted a part, and cast a jest for what you have. But for the +place which I hold, brother mine, I've schemed with my wits, played fast +and loose, and killed men. Do you hear? I've bought it with blood, and +things you buy at such a price ought to stick, eh?" + +He banished his frown; the smile played suddenly across his features. + +"Why, I'm arguing with myself. But that look you gave me a minute ago +had me worried for a little while." + +At this Donnegan, who had allowed his head to fall, so that he seemed +to be nodding in acquiescence, now raised his face and Lord Nick +perceived the same white pain upon it. The same look which had been on +the face of the cripple so often in the other days. + +"Henry," said the younger brother, "I give you my oath that my pride has +nothing to do with this. I'd let you drive me barefoot before you +through the street yonder. I'd let every soul in The Corner know that I +have no pride where you're concerned. I'll do whatever you wish--with +one exception--and that one is the unlucky thing you ask. Pardner, you +mustn't ask for Jack Landis! Anything else I'll work like a slave to get +for you: I'll fight your battles, I'll serve you in any way you name: +but don't take Landis back!" + +He had talked eagerly, the words coming with a rush, and he found at the +end that Lord Nick was looking at him in bewilderment. + +"When a man is condemned to death," said Lord Nick slowly, "suppose +somebody offers him anything in the world that he wants--palaces, +riches, power--everything except his life. What would the condemned man +say to a friend who made such an offer? He'd laugh at him and then call +him a traitor. Eh? But I don't laugh at you, Garry. I simply explain to +you why I have to have Landis back. Listen!" + +He counted off his points upon the tips of his fingers, in the confident +manner of a teacher who deals with a stupid child, waiting patiently for +the young mind to comprehend. + +"We've been bleeding Jack Landis. Do you know why? Because it was Lester +who made the strike up here. He started out to file his claim. He +stopped at the house of Colonel Macon. That old devil learned the +location, learned everything; detained Lester with a trick, and rushed +young Landis away to file the claims for himself. Then when Lester came +up here he found that his claims had been jumped, and when he went to +the law there was no law that could help him. He had nothing but his +naked word for what he had discovered. And naturally the word of a +ruffian like Lester had no weight against the word of Landis. And, you +see, Landis thought that he was entirely in the right. Lester tried the +other way; tried to jump the claims; and was shot down by Landis. So +Lester sent for me. What was I to do? Kill Landis? The mine would go to +his heirs. I tried a different way--bleeding him of his profits, after +I'd explained to him that he was in the wrong. He half admitted that, +but he naturally wouldn't give up the mines even after we'd almost +proved to him that Lester had the first right. So Landis has been mining +the gold and we've been drawing it away from him. It looks tricky, but +really it's only just. And Lester and Lebrun split with me. + +"But I tell you, Garry, that I'd give up everything without an +afterthought. I'll give up the money and I'll make Lebrun and Lester +shut up without a word. I'll make them play square and not try to knife +Landis in the back. I'll do all that willingly--for you! But, Garry, I +can't give up taking Landis back to Lebrun's and keeping him there until +he's well. Why, man, I saw him in the hut just now. He wants to go. He's +afraid of the old colonel as if he were poison--and I think he's wise in +being afraid." + +"The colonel won't touch him," said Donnegan. + +"No?" + +"No. I've told him what would happen if he does." + +"Tush. Garry, Colonel Macon is the coldest-blooded murderer I've ever +known. But come out in the open, lad. You see that I'm ready to listen +to reason--except on one point. Tell me why you're so set on this +keeping of Landis here against my will and even against the lad's own +will? I'm reasonable, Garry. Do you doubt that?" + +Explaining his own mildness, the voice of Lord Nick swelled again and +filled the room, and he frowned on his brother. But Donnegan looked on +him sadly. + +"There is a girl--" he began. + +"Why didn't I guess it?" exclaimed Lord Nick. "If ever you find a man +unreasonable, stubborn and foolish, you'll always find a woman behind +it! All this trouble because of a piece of calico?" + +He leaned back, laughing thunderously in his relief. + +"Come, come! I was prepared for a tragedy. Now tell me about this girl. +Who and what is she?" + +"The daughter of the colonel." + +"You're in love with her? I'm glad to hear it, Garry. As a matter of +fact I've been afraid that you were hunting in my own preserve, but if +it's the colonel's daughter, you're welcome to her. So you love the +girl? She's pretty, lad!" + +"I love her?" said Donnegan in an indescribably tender voice. "I love +her? Who am I to love her? A thief, a man-killer, a miserable play +actor, a gambler, a drunkard. I love her? Bah!" + +If there was one quality of the mind with which Lord Nick was less +familiar than with all others, it was humbleness of spirit. He now +abased his magnificent head, and resting his chin in the mighty palm of +his hand, he stared with astonishment and commiseration into the face of +Donnegan. He seemed to be learning new things every moment about his +brother. + +"Leave me out of the question," said Donnegan. + +"Can't be done. If I leave you out, dear boy, there's not one of them +that I care a hang about; I'd ride roughshod over the whole lot. I've +done it before to better men than these!" + +"Then you'll change, I know. This is the fact of the matter. She loves +Landis. And if you take Landis away where will you put him?" + +"Where he was stolen away. In Lebrun's." + +"And what will be in Lebrun's?" + +"Joe Rix to guard him and the old negress to nurse him."' + +"No, no! Nelly Lebrun will be there!" + +"Eh? Are you glancing at her, now?" + +"Henry, you yourself know that Landis is mad about that girl." + +"Oh, she's flirted a bit with him. Turned the fool's head. He'll come +out of it safe. She won't break his heart. I've seen her work on +others!" + +He chuckled at the memory. + +"What do I care about Landis?" said Donnegan with unutterable scorn. +"It's the girl. You'll break her heart, Henry; and if you do I'll never +forgive you." + +"Steady, lad. This is a good deal like a threat." + +"No, no, no! Not a threat, heaven knows!" + +"By heaven!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "I begin to be irritated to see you +stick on a silly point like this. Listen to me, lad. Do you mean to say +that you are making all! this trouble about a slip of a girl?" + +"The heart of a girl," said Donnegan calmly. + +"Let Landis go; then take her in your arms and kiss her worries away. I +warrant you can do it! I gather from Nell that you're not tongue-tied +around women!" + +"I?" echoed Donnegan, turning pale. "Don't jest at this, Henry. I'm as +serious as death. She's the type of woman made to love one man, and one +man only. Landis may be common as dirt; but she doesn't see it. She's +fastened her heart on him. I looked in on her a little while ago. She +turned white when she saw me. I brought Landis to her, but she hates me +because I had to shoot him down." + +"Garry," said the big man with a twinkle in his eye, "you're in love!" + +It shook Donnegan to the core, but he replied instantly; "If I were in +love, don't you suppose that I would have shot to kill when I met +Landis?" + +At this his brother blinked, frowned, and shook his head. The point was +apparently plain to him and wiped out his previous convictions. Also, it +eased his mind. + +"Then you don't love the girl?" + +"I?" + +"Either way, my hands are cleared of the worry. If you want her, let me +take Landis. If you don't want her, what difference does it make to you +except silly sentiment?" + +Donnegan made no answer. + +"If she comes to Lebrun's house, I'll see that Nell doesn't bother him +too much." + +"Can you control her? If she wants to see this fool can you keep her +away, and if she goes to him can you control her smiling?" + +"Certainly," said Lord Nick, but he flushed heavily. + +Donnegan smiled. + +"She's a devil of a girl," admitted Henry Reardon. "But this is beside +the point: which is, that you're sticking on a matter that means +everything to me, and which is only a secondhand interest to you--a +point of sentiment. You pity the girl. What's pity? Bah! I pity a dog in +the street, but would I cross you, Garry, lad, to save the dog? +Sentiment, I say, silly sentiment." + +Donnegan rose. + +"It was a silly sentiment," he said hoarsely, "that put me on the road +following you, Henry. It was a silly sentiment that turned me into a +wastrel, a wanderer, a man without a home and without friends." + +"It's wrong to throw that in my face," muttered Lord Nick. + +"It is. And I'm sorry for it. But I want you to see that matters of +sentiment may be matters of life and death with me." + +"Aye, if it were for you it would be different. I might see my way +clear--but for a girl you have only a distant interest in--" + +"It is a matter of whether or not her heart shall be broken." + +"Come, come. Let's talk man talk. Besides, girls' hearts don't break in +this country. You're old-fashioned." + +"I tell you the question of her happiness is worth more than a dozen +lives like yours and mine." + +There had been a gathering impatience in Lord Nick. Now he, also, leaped +to his feet; a giant. + +"Tell me in one word: You stick on this point?" + +"In one word--yes!" + +"Then you deny me, Garry. You set me aside for a silly purpose of your +own--a matter that really doesn't mean much to you. It shows me where I +stand in your eyes--and nothing between the devil and the moon shall +make me sidestep!" + +They remained silent, staring at each other. Lord Nick stood with a +flush of anger growing; Donnegan became whiter than ever, and he +stiffened himself to his full height, which, in all who knew him well, +was the danger signal. + +"You take Landis?" he said softly. + +"I do." + +"Not," said Donnegan, "while I live!" + +"You mean--" cried Lord Nick. + +"I mean it!" + +They had been swept back to the point at which that strangest of scenes +began, but this time there was an added element--horror. + +"You'd fight?" + +"To the death, Henry!" + +"Garry, if one of us should kill the other, he'd be cursed forever!" + +"I know it." + +"And she's worth even this?" + +"A thousand times more! What are we? Dust in the wind; dust in the wind. +But a woman like that is divine, Henry!" + +Lord Nick swayed a little, setting himself in balance like an animal +preparing for the leap. + +"If it comes to the pinch, it is you who will die," he said. + +"You've no chance against me, Garry. And I swear to you that I won't +weaken. You prove that you don't care for me. You put another above me. +It's my pride, my life, that you'd sacrifice to the whim of a girl!" His +passion choked him. + +"Are you ready?" said Donnegan. + +"Yes!" + +"Move first!" + +"I have never formed the habit." + +"Nor I! You fool, take what little advantage you can, because it won't +help you in the end." + +"You shall see. I have a second sight, Henry, and it shows me you dead +on the floor there, looking bigger than ever, and I see the gun smoking +in my hand and my heart as dead as ashes! Oh, Henry, if there were only +some other way!" + +They were both pale now. + +"Aye," murmured Lord Nick, "if we could find a judge. My hand turns to +lead when I think of fighting you, Garry." + +Perspiration stood on the face of Donnegan. + +"Name a judge; I'll abide by the decision." + +"Some man--" + +"No, no. What man could understand me? A woman, Henry!" + +"Nell Lebrun." + +"The girl who loves you? You want me to plead before her?" + +"Put her on her honor and she'll be as straight as a string with both of +us." + +For a moment Donnegan considered, and at length: "She loves you, Henry. +You have that advantage. You have only to let her know that this is a +vital matter to you and she'll speak as you wish her to speak." + +"Nonsense. You don't know her. You've seen yourself that no man can +control her absolutely." + +"Make a concession." + +"A thousand, Garry, dear boy, if they'll get us clear from this horrible +mess." + +"Only this. Leave The Corner for a few hours. Give me until--tonight. +Let me see Nelly during that time. You've had years to work on her. I +want only this time to put my own case before her." + +"Thank heaven that we're coming to see light and a way out!" + +"Aye, Henry." + +The big man wiped his forehead and sighed in his relief. + +"A minute ago I was ready--but we'll forget all this. What will you do? +How will you persuade Nelly? I almost think that you intend to make love +to her, Garry!" + +The little man turned paler still. + +"It is exactly what I intend," he said quietly. + +The brow of Lord Nick darkened solemnly, and then he forced a laugh. + +"She'll be afraid to turn me down, Garry. But try your own way." He bit +his lips. "Why, if you influence her that way--do it. What's a fickle +jade to me? Nothing!" + +"However I do it, you'll stick by her judgment, Henry?" + +The perspiration had started on Lord Nick's forehead again. Doubt swayed +him, but pride forced him on. + +"I'll come again tonight," he said gloomily. "I'll meet you +in--Milligan's?" + +"In Milligan's, then." + +Lord Nick, without a word of farewell, stamped across the hut and out. + +As for Donnegan, he stepped backward, his legs buckled beneath him, and +when big George entered, with a scared face, he found the little man +half sitting on the bunk, half lying against the wall with the face and +the staring eyes of a dead man. + + + + +34 + + +It was a long time before Donnegan left the hut, and when he came out +the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight, or at least to mark the +reports of the guns when those two terrible warriors met, was scattered. +There remained before Donnegan only the colonel in his invalid's chair. +Even from the distance one could see that his expression was changed, +and when the little red-headed man came near the colonel looked up to +him with something akin to humility. + +"Donnegan," he said, stopping the other as Donnegan headed for the door +of the hut, "Donnegan, don't go in there just now." + +Donnegan turned and came slowly toward him. + +"The reason," said the colonel, "is that you probably won't receive a +very cheery reception. Unfortunate--very unfortunate. Lou has turned +wrong-headed for the first time in her life and she won't listen to +reason." + +He chuckled softly. + +"I never dreamed there was so much of my metal in her. Blood will tell, +my boy; blood will tell. And when you finally get her you'll find that +she's worth waiting for." + +"Let me tell you a secret," said Donnegan dryly. "I am no longer waiting +for her!" + +"Ah?" smiled the colonel. "Of course not. This bringing of Landis to +her--it was all pure self-sacrifice. It was not an attempt to soften her +heart. It was not a cunning maneuver. Tush! Of course not!" + +"I am about to make a profound remark," said Donnegan carelessly. + +"By all means." + +"You read the minds of other people through a colored glass, colonel. +You see yourself everywhere." + +"In other words I put my own motives into the actions and behind the +actions of people? Perhaps. I am full of weaknesses. Very full. In the +meantime let me tell you one important thing--if you have not made the +heart of Lou tender toward you, you have at least frightened her." + +The jaw on Donnegan set. + +"Excellent!" he said huskily. + +"Perhaps better than you think; and to keep you abreast with the times, +you must know another thing. Lou has a silly idea that you are a lost +soul, Donnegan, but she attributes your fall entirely to my weakness. +Nothing can convince her that you did not intend to kill Landis; nothing +can convince her that you did not act on my inspiration. I have tried +arguing. Bah! she overwhelmed me with her scorn. You are a villain, says +Lou, and I have made you one. And for the first time in my memory of +her, her eyes fill with tears." + +"Tears?" + +"Upon my honor, and when a girl begins to weep about a man I don't need +to say he is close to her heart." + +"You are full of maxims, Colonel Macon." + +"As a nut is full of meat. Old experience, you know. In the meantime Lou +is perfectly certain that I intend to make away with Landis. Ha, ha, +ha!" The laughter of the colonel was a cheery thunder, and soft as with +distance. "Landis is equally convinced. He begs Lou not to fall asleep +lest I should steal in on him. She hardly dares leave him to cook his +food. I actually think she would have been glad to see that fiend, Lord +Nick, take Landis away!" + +Donnegan smiled wanly. But could he tell her, poor girl, the story of +Nelly Lebrun? Landis, in fear of his life, was no doubt at this moment +pouring out protestations of deathless affection. + +"And they both consider you an archdemon for keeping Lord Nick away!" + +Again Donnegan winced, and coughed behind his hand to cover it. + +"However," went on the colonel, "when it comes to matters with the +hearts of women, I trust to time. Time alone will show her that Landis +is a puppy." + +"In the meantime, colonel, she keeps you from coming near Landis?" + +"Not at all! You fail to understand me and my methods, dear boy. I have +only to roll my chair into the room and sit and smile at Jack in order +to send him into an hysteria of terror. It is amusing to watch. And I +can be there while Lou is in the room and through a few careful +innuendoes convey to Landis my undying determination to either remove +him from my path and automatically become his heir, or else secure from +him a legal transfer of his rights to the mines." + +"I have learned," said Donnegan, "that Landis has not the slightest +claim to them himself. And that you set him on the trail of the claims +by trickery." + +The colonel did not wince. + +"Of course not," said the fat trickster. "Not the slightest right. My +claim is a claim of superior wits, you see. And in the end all your +labor shall be rewarded, for my share will go to Lou and through her it +shall come to you. No?" + +"Quite logical." + +The colonel disregarded the other's smile. + +"But I have a painful confession to make." + +"Well?" + +"I misjudged you, Donnegan. A moment since, when I was nearly distraught +with disappointment, I said some most unpleasant things to you." + +"I have forgotten them." + +But the colonel raised his strong forefinger and shook his head, +smiling. + +"No, no, Donnegan. If you deny it, I shall know that you are harboring +the most undying grudge against me. As a matter of fact, I have just +had an interview with Lord Nick, and the cursed fellow put my nerves on +edge." + +The colonel made a wry face. + +"And when you came, I saw no manner in which you could possibly thwart +him." + +His eyes grew wistful. + +"Between friends--as a son to his future father," he said softly, "can't +you tell me what the charm was that you used on. Nick to send him away? +I watched him come out of the shack. He was in a fury. I could see that +by the way his head thrust out between his big shoulders. And when he +went down the hill he was striding like a giant, but every now and then +he would stop short, and his head would go up as if he were tempted to +turn around and go back, but didn't quite have the nerve. Donnegan, tell +me the trick of it?" + +"Willingly. I appealed to his gambling instinct." + +"Which leaves me as much in the dark as ever." + +But Donnegan smiled in his own peculiar and mirthless manner and he went +on to the hut. Not that he expected a cheery greeting from Lou Macon, +but he was drawn by the same perverse instinct which tempts a man to +throw himself from a great height. At the door he paused a moment. He +could distinguish no words, but he caught the murmur of Lou's voice as +she talked to Jack Landis, and it had that infinitely gentle quality +which only a woman's voice can have, and only when she nurses the sick. +It was a pleasant torture to Donnegan to hear it. At length he summoned +his resolution and tapped at the door. + +The voice of Lou Macon stopped. He heard a hurried and whispered +consultation. What did they expect? Then swift foot-falls on the floor, +and she opened the door. There was a smile of expectancy on her lips; +her eyes were bright; but when she saw Donnegan her lips pinched in. She +stared at him as if he were a ghost. + +"I knew; I knew!" she said piteously, falling back a step but still +keeping her hand upon the knob of the door as if to block the way to +Donnegan. "Oh, Jack, he has killed Lord Nick and now he is here--" + +To do what? To kill Landis in turn? Her horrified eyes implied as much. +He saw Landis in the distance raise himself upon one elbow and his face +was gray, not with pain but with dread. + +"It can't be!" groaned Landis. + +"Lord Nick is alive," said Donnegan. "And I have not come here to +torment you; I have only come to ask that you let me speak with you +alone for a moment, Lou!" + +He watched her face intently. All the cabin was in deep shadow, but the +golden hair of the girl glowed as if with an inherent light of its own, +and the same light touched her face. Jack Landis was stricken with +panic: he stammered in a dreadful eagerness of fear. + +"Don't leave me, Lou. You know what it means. He wants to get you out of +the way so that the colonel can be alone with me. Don't go, Lou! Don't +go!" + +As though she saw how hopeless it was to try to bar Donnegan by closing +the door against him, she fell back to the bed. She kept her eye on the +little man, as if to watch against a surprise attack, and, fumbling +behind her, her hand found the hand of Landis and closed over it with +the reassurance of a mother. + +"Don't be afraid, Jack. I won't leave you. Not unless they carry me away +by force." + +"I give you my solemn word." said Donnegan in torment, "that the colonel +shall not come near Landis while you're away with me." + +"Your word!" murmured the girl with a sort of horrified wonder. "Your +word!" + +And Donnegan bowed his head. + +But all at once she cast out her free hand toward him, while the other +still cherished the weakness of Jack Landis. + +"Oh, give them up!" she cried. "Give up my father and all his wicked +plans. There is something good in you. Give him up; come with us; +stand for us: and we shall be grateful all our lives!" + +The little man had removed his hat, so that the sunshine burned brightly +on his red hair. Indeed, there was always a flamelike quality about him. +In inaction he seemed femininely frail and pale; but when his spirit was +roused his eyes blazed as his hair burned in the sunlight. + +"You shall learn in the end," he said to the girl, "that everything I +do, I do for you." + +She cried out as if he had struck her. + +"It's not worthy of you," she said bitterly. "You are keeping Jack +here--in peril--for my sake?" + +"For your sake," said Donnegan. + +She looked at him with a queer pain in her eyes. + +"To keep you from needless lying," she said, "let me tell you that Jack +has told me everything. I am not angry because you come and pretend that +you do all these horrible things for my sake. I know my father has +tempted you with a promise of a great deal of money. But in the end you +will get nothing. No, he will twist everything away from you and leave +you nothing! But as for me--I know everything; Jack told me." + +"He has told you what? What?" + +"About the woman you love." + +"The woman I love?" echoed Donnegan, stupefied. + +It seemed that Lou Macon could only name her with an effort that left +her trembling. + +"The Lebrun woman," she said. "Jack has told me." + +"Did you tell her that?" he asked Landis. + +"The whole town knows it," stammered the wounded man. + +The cunning hypocrisy spurred Donnegan. He put his foot on the threshold +of the shack, and at this the girl cried out and shrank from him; but +Landis was too paralyzed to stir or speak. For a moment Donnegan was +wildly tempted to pour his torrent of contempt and accusation upon +Landis. To what end? To prove to the girl that the big fellow had coolly +tricked her? That it was to be near Nelly Lebrun as much as to be away +from the colonel that he wished so ardently to leave the shack? After +all, Lou Macon was made happy by an illusion; let her keep it. + +He looked at her sadly again. She stood defiant over Landis; ready to +protect the helpless bulk of the man. + +So Donnegan closed the door softly and turned away with ashes in his +heart. + + + + +35 + + +When Nelly Lebrun raised her head from her hands, Donnegan was a far +figure; yet even in the distance she could catch the lilt and easy sway +of his body; he rode as he walked, lightly, his feet in the stirrups +half taking his weight in a semi-English fashion. For a moment she was +on the verge of spurring after him, but she kept the rein taut and +merely stared until he dipped away among the hills. For one thing she +was quite assured that she could not overtake that hard rider; and, +again, she felt that it was useless to interfere. To step between Lord +Nick and one of his purposes would have been like stepping before an +avalanche and commanding it to halt with a raised hand. + +She watched miserably until even the dust cloud dissolved and the bare, +brown hills alone remained before her. Then she turned away, and hour +after hour let her black jog on. + +To Nelly Lebrun this day was one of those still times which come over +the life of a person, and in which they see themselves in relation to +the rest of the world clearly. It would not be true to say that Nelly +loved Donnegan. Certainly not as yet, for the familiar figure of Lord +Nick filled her imagination. But the little man was different. Lord +Nick commanded respect, admiration, obedience; but there was about +Donnegan something which touched her in an intimate and disturbing +manner. She had felt the will-o'-the-wisp flame which burned in him in +his great moments. It was possible for her to smile at Donnegan; it was +possible even to pity him for his fragility, his touchy pride about his +size; to criticize his fondness for taking the center of the stage even +in a cheap little mining camp like this and strutting about, the center +of all attention. Yet there were qualities in him which escaped her, a +possibility of metallic hardness, a pitiless fire of purpose. + +To Lord Nick, he was as the bull terrier to the mastiff. + +But above all she could not dislodge the memory of his strange talk with +her at Lebrun's. Not that she did not season the odd avowals of Donnegan +with a grain of salt, but even when she had discounted all that he said, +she retained a quivering interest. Somewhere beneath his words she +sensed reality. Somewhere beneath his actions she felt a selfless +willingness to throw himself away. + +As she rode she was comparing him steadily with Lord Nick. And as she +made the comparisons she felt more and more assured that she could pick +and choose between the two. They loved her, both of them. With Nick it +was an old story; with Donnegan it might be equally true in spite of its +newness. And Nelly Lebrun felt rich. Not that she would have been +willing to give up Lord Nick. By no means. But neither was she willing +to throw away Donnegan. Diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. +Which handful must she discard? + +She remained riding an unconscionable length of time, and when she drew +rein again before her father's house, the black was flecked with foam +from his clamped bit, and there was a thick lather under the stirrup +leathers. She threw the reins to the servant who answered her call and +went slowly into the house. + +Donnegan, by this time, was dead. She began to feel that it would be +hard to look Lord Nick in the face again. His other killings had often +seemed to her glorious. She had rejoiced in the invincibility of her +lover. + +Now he suddenly took on the aspect of a murderer. + +She found the house hushed. Perhaps everyone was at the gaming house; +for now it was midafternoon. But when she opened the door to the +apartment which they used as a living room she found Joe Rix and the +Pedlar and Lester sitting side by side, silent. There was no whisky in +sight; there were no cards to be seen. Marvel of marvels, these three +men were spending their time in solemn thought. A sudden thought rushed +over her, and her cry told where her heart really lay, at least at this +time. + +"Lord Nick--has he been--" + +The Pedlar lifted his gaunt head and stared at her without expression. +It was Joe Rix who answered. + +"Nick's upstairs." + +"Safe?" + +"Not a scratch." + +She sank into a chair with a sigh, but was instantly on edge again with +the second thought. + +"Donnegan?" she whispered. + +"Safe and sound," said Lester coldly. + +She could not gather the truth of the statement. + +"Then Nick got Landis back before Donnegan returned?" + +"No." + +Like any other girl, Nelly Lebrun hated a puzzle above all things in the +world, at least a puzzle which affected her new friends. + +"Lester, what's happened?" she demanded. + +At this Lester, who had been brooding upon the floor, raised his eyes +and then switched one leg over the other. He was a typical cowman, was +Lester, from his crimson handkerchief knotted around his throat to his +shop-made boots which fitted slenderly about his instep with the care of +a gloved hand. + +"I dunno what happened," said Lester. "Which looks like what counts is +the things that didn't happen. Landis is still with that devil, Macon. +Donnegan is loose without a scratch, and Lord Nick is in his room with a +face as black as a cloudy night." + +And briefly he described how Lord Nick had gone up the hill, seen the +colonel, come back, taken a horse litter, and gone up the hill again, +while the populace of The Corner waited for a crash. For Donnegan had +arrived in the meantime. And how Nick had gone into the cabin, remained +a singularly long time, and then come out, with a face half white and +half red and an eye that dared anyone to ask questions. He had strode +straight home to Lebrun's and gone to his room; and there he remained, +never making a sound. + +"But I'll give you my way of readin' the sign on that trail," said +Lester. "Nick goes up the hill to clean up on Donnegan. He sees him; +they size each other up in a flash; they figure that if they's a gun it +means a double killin'--and they simply haul off and say a perlite +fare-thee-well." + +The girl paid no attention to these remarks. She was sunk in a brown +study. + +"There's something behind it all," she said, more to herself than to the +men. "Nick is proud as the devil himself. And I can't imagine why he'd +let Donnegan go. Oh, it might have been done if they'd met alone in the +desert. But with the whole town looking on and waiting for Nick to clean +up on Donnegan--no, it isn't possible. There must have been a showdown +of some kind." + +There was a grim little silence after this. + +"Maybe there was," said the Pedlar dryly. "Maybe there was a +showdown--and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a +six-year-old broke down in front." + +She stared at him, first astonished, and then almost frightened. + +"You mean that Nick may have taken water?" + +The three, as one man, shrugged their shoulders, and met her glance with +cold eyes. + +"You fools!" cried the girl, springing to her feet. "He'd rather die!" + +Joe Rix leaned forward, and to emphasize his point he stabbed one dirty +forefinger into the fat palm of his other hand. + +"You just start thinkin' back," he said solemnly, "and you'll remember +that Donnegan has done some pretty slick things." + +Lester added with a touch of contempt: "Like shootin' down Landis one +day and then sittin' down and havin' a nice long chat with you the next. +I dunno how he does it." + +"That hunch of yours," said the girl fiercely, "ought to be roped and +branded--lie! Lester, don't look at me like that. And if you think Nick +has lost his grip on things you're dead wrong. Step light, Lester--and +the rest of you. Or Nick may hear you walk--and think." + +She flung out of the room and raced up the stairs to Lord Nick's room. +There was an interval without response after her first knock. But when +she rapped again he called out to know who was there. At her answer she +heard his heavy stride cross the room, and the door opened slowly. His +face, as she looked up to it, was so changed that she hardly knew him. +His hair was unkempt, on end, where he had sat with his fingers thrust +into it, buried in thought. And the marks of his palms were red upon his +forehead. + +"Nick," she whispered, frightened, "what is it?" + +He looked down half fiercely, half sadly at her. And though his lips +parted they closed again before he spoke. Fear jumped coldly in Nelly +Lebrun. + +"Did Donnegan--" she pleaded, white-faced. "Did he--" + +"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn't. That's what +everybody'll say. I know it, don't I? And that's why I'm staying here by +myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his +face, why--I'll break him in two." + +She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick +should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much +for credence. + +"You know I don't believe it, Nick? You know that I'm not doubting you?" + +But he brushed her hands roughly away. + +"You want to know what it's all about? Then go over to--well, to +Milligan's. Donnegan will be there. He'll explain things to you, I +guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I'll come over later and join +you." + +Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, +she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless. + +"Nick, dear--" she pleaded. + +He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back +across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire +had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had +robbed him of it. + + + + +36 + + +It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because +the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last +moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed +across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great +and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no +more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the +sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from +the first thrill of finding him not devil but man. + +Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick +or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; +for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she +wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the +invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His +love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a +superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly +visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came +to her eyes at the thought. + +Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her +room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no +one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn +to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt +her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most +lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by +this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring +Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale +under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the +love which he offered her? + +She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But +nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that +night. + +As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with +Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness +of the men, were what she pictured. + +In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, +Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and +file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could +readily control and subdue. + +To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At +the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual +murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any +chance. + +"Nelly, there's going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know +why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is +losing his head; he's losing it over you. So play your cards." + +"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly. + +"I've said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again. +But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick's star to be past +its full glory. + +Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan's and left +her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor. + +"I'm waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her +table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner--full of the +subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What +had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they +would all know in time: one thing was certain--Lord Nick had not taken +water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand. + +Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of +some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into +the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun. +Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and +regretted that he had interrupted. + +"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to +the girl. + +She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, +but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her +game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in +his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she +thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, +but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she +felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have +learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan's shack when Lord Nick +was there. + +"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said. +"This time it's five minutes." + +No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly. + +"When I talk about myself, I'm always long-winded." + +"Tonight it's someone else?" + +"Yes." + +She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as +bright as ever. + +"Of course I'm listening." + +"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?" + +"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Yes, she's a lovely child." + +And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had +hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but +he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly. + +He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick." + +"Ah," said the girl a little coldly. + +Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played +it to the full. + +"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick +went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting +for him to bring the youngster down?" + +"Of course." + +"There was only one obstacle--which you had so kindly removed--myself." + +"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Ah, don't you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came +to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so." + +Such frankness shocked her into a new attention. + +Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her +heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times +rather die than give way to any living man. + +"But I threw my case bodily before him--the girl--her love for +Landis--and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you +know, if he were sent back to your father's house. I placed it all +before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed +to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter +be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man +would see in my attitude nothing but foolishness. No man could have +appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named +another referee--yourself." + +She gasped. + +"And so I have come to place the question before you, because I know +that you will decide honestly." + +"Then I shall be honest," said the girl. + +She was thinking: Why not have Landis back? It would keep the three men +revolving around her. Landis on his feet and well would have been +nothing; either of these men would have killed him. But Landis sick she +might balance in turn against them both. Nelly had the instincts of a +fencer; she loved balance. + +But Donnegan was heaping up his effects. For by the shadow in her eyes +he well knew what was passing through her mind, and he dared not let her +speak too quickly. + +"There is more hanging upon it. In the first place, if Landis is left +with the girl it gives the colonel a chance to work on him, and like as +not the colonel will get the young fool to sign away the mines to +him--frighten him, you see, though I've made sure that the colonel will +not actually harm him." + +"How have you made sure? They say the colonel is a devil." + +"I have spoken with him. The colonel is not altogether without +sensibility to fear." + +She caught the glint in the little man's eye and she believed. + +"So much for that. Landis is safe, but his money may not be. Another +thing still hangs upon your decision. Lord Nick wanted to know why I +trusted to you? Because I felt you were honest. Why did I feel that? +There was nothing to do. Besides, how could I conceal myself from such a +man? I spoke frankly and told him that I trusted you because I love +you." + +She closed her hand hard on the edge of the table to steady herself. + +"And he made no move at you?" + +"He restrained himself." + +"Lord Nick?" gasped the incredulous girl. + +"He is a gentleman," said Donnegan with a singular pride which she could +not understand. + +He went on: "And unfortunately I fear that if you decide in favor of my +side of the argument, I fear that Lord Nick will feel that you--that +you--" + +He was apparently unable to complete his sentence. + +"He will feel that you no longer care for him," said Donnegan at length. + +The girl pondered him with cloudy eyes. + +"What is behind all this frankness?" she asked coldly. + +"I shall tell you. Hopelessness is behind it. Last night I poured my +heart at your feet. And I had hope. Today I have seen Lord Nick and I no +longer hope." + +"Ah?" + +"He is worthy of a lovely woman's affection; and I--" He called her +attention to himself with a deprecatory gesture. + +"Do you ask me to hurt him like this?" said the girl. "His pride is the +pride of the fiend. Love me? He would hate me!" + +"It might be true. Still I know you would risk it, because--" he paused. + +"Well?" asked the girl, whispering in her excitement. + +"Because you are a lady." + +He bowed to her. + +"Because you are fair; because you are honest, Nelly Lebrun. Personally +I think that you can win Lord Nick back with one minute of smiling. But +you might not. You might alienate him forever. It will be clumsy to +explain to him that you were influenced not by me, but by justice. He +will make it a personal matter, whereas you and I know that it is only +the right that you are seeing." + +She propped her chin on the tips of her fingers, and her arm was a thing +of grace. For the last moments that clouded expression had not cleared. + +"If I only could read your mind," she murmured now. "There is something +behind it all." + +"I shall tell you what it is. It is the restraint that has fallen upon +me. It is because I wish to lean closer to you across the table and +speak to you of things which are at the other end of the world from +Landis and the other girl. It is because I have to keep my hands gripped +hard to control myself. Because, though I have given up hope, I would +follow a forlorn chance, a lost cause, and tell you again and again that +I love you, Nelly Lebrun!" + +He had half lowered his eyes as he spoke; he had called up a vision, and +the face of Lou Macon hovered dimly between him and Nelly Lebrun. If all +that he spoke was a lie, let him be forgiven for it; it was the +golden-haired girl whom he addressed, and it was she who gave the tremor +and the fiber to his voice. And after all was he not pleading for her +happiness as he believed? + +He covered his eyes with his hand; but when he looked up again she could +see the shadow of the pain which was slowly passing. She had never seen +such emotion in any man's face, and if it was for another, how could she +guess it? Her blood was singing in her veins, and the old, old question +was flying back and forth through her brain like a shuttle through a +loom: Which shall it be? + +She called up the picture of Lord Nick, half-broken, but still terrible, +she well knew. She pitied him, but when did pity wholly rule the heart +of a woman? And as for Nelly Lebrun, she had the ambition of a young +Caesar; she could not fill a second place. He who loved her must stand +first, and she saw Donnegan as the invincible man. She had not believed +half of his explanation. No, he was shielding Lord Nick; behind that +shield the truth was that the big man had quailed before the small. + +Of course she saw that Donnegan, pretending to be constrained by his +agreement with Lord Nick, was in reality cunningly pleading his own +cause. But his passion excused him. When has a woman condemned a man for +loving her beyond the rules of fair play? + +"Whatever you may decide," Donnegan was saying. "I shall be prepared to +stand by it without a murmur. Send Landis back to your father's house +and I submit: I leave The Corner and say farewell. But now, think +quickly. For Lord Nick is coming to receive your answer." + + + + +37 + + +If the meeting between Lord Nick and Donnegan earlier that day had +wrought up the nerves of The Corner to the point of hysteria; if the +singular end of that meeting had piled mystery upon excitement; if the +appearance of Donnegan, sitting calmly at the table of the girl who was +known to be engaged to Nick, had further stimulated public curiosity, +the appearance of Lord Nick was now a crowning burden under which The +Corner staggered. + +Yet not a man or a woman stirred from his chair, for everyone knew that +if the long-delayed battle between these two gunfighters was at length +to take place, neither bullet was apt to fly astray. + +But what happened completed the wreck of The Corner's nerves, for Lord +Nick walked quietly across the floor and sat down with Nelly Lebrun and +his somber rival. + +Oddly enough, he looked at Donnegan, not at the girl, and this token of +the beaten man decided her. + +"Well?" said Lord Nick. + +"I have decided," said the girl. "Landis should stay where he is." + +Neither of the two men stirred hand or eye. But Lord Nick turned gray. +At length he rose and asked Donnegan, quietly, to step aside with him. +Seeing them together, the difference between their sizes was more +apparent: Donnegan seemed hardly larger than a child beside the splendid +bulk of Lord Nick. But she could not overhear their talk. + +"You've won," said Lord Nick, "both Landis and Nelly. And--" + +"Wait," broke in Donnegan eagerly. "Henry, I've persuaded Nelly to see +my side of the case, but that doesn't mean that she has turned from you +to--" + +"Stop!" put in Lord Nick, between his teeth. "I've not come to argue +with you or ask advice or opinions. I've come to state facts. You've +crawled in between me and Nelly like a snake in the grass. Very well. +You're my brother. That keeps me from handling you. You've broken my +reputation just as I said you would do. The bouncer at the door looked +me in the eye and smiled when I came in." + +He had to pause a little, breathing heavily, and avoiding Donnegan's +eyes. Finally he was able to continue. + +"I'm going to roll my blankets and leave The Corner and everything I +have in it. You'll get my share of most things, it seems." He smiled +after a ghastly, mirthless fashion. "I give you a free road. I surrender +everything to you, Donnegan. But there are two things I want to warn you +about. It may be that my men will not agree with me. It may be that +they'll want to put up a fight for the mine. They can't get at it +without getting at Macon. They can't get at him without removing you. +And they'll probably try it. I warn you now. + +"Another thing: from this moment there's no blood tie between us. I've +found a brother and lost him in the same day. And if I ever cross you +again, Donnegan, I'll shoot you on sight. Remember, I'm not threatening. +I simply warn you in advance. If I were you, I'd get out of the country. +Avoid me, Donnegan, as you'd avoid the devil." + +And he turned on his heel. He felt the eyes of the people in the room +follow him by jerks, dwelling on every one of his steps. Near the door, +stepping aside to avoid a group of people coming in, he half turned and +he could not avoid the sight of Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun at the other +end of the room. He was leaning across the table, talking with a smile +on his lips--at that distance he could not mark the pallor of the little +man's face--and Nelly Lebrun was laughing. Laughing already, and +oblivious of the rest of the world. + +Lord Nick turned, a blur coming before his eyes, and made blindly for +the door. A body collided with him; without a word he drew back his +massive right fist and knocked the man down. The stunned body struck +against the wall and collapsed along the floor. Lord Nick felt a great +madness swell in his heart. Yet he set his teeth, controlled himself, +and went on toward the house of Lebrun. He had come within an eyelash of +running amuck, and the quivering hunger for action was still swelling +and ebbing in him when he reached the gambler's house. + +Lebrun was not in the gaming house, no doubt, at this time of night--but +the rest of Nick's chosen men were there. They stood up as he entered +the room--Harry Masters, newly arrived--the Pedlar--Joe Rix--three names +famous in the mountain desert for deeds which were not altogether a +pleasant aroma in the nostrils of the law-abiding, but whose sins had +been deftly covered from legal proof by the cunning of Nick, and whose +bravery itself had half redeemed them. They rose now as three wolves +rise at the coming of the leader. But this time there was a question +behind their eyes, and he read it in gloomy silence. + +"Well?" asked Harry Masters. + +In the old days not one of them would have dared to voice the question, +but now things were changing, and well Lord Nick could read the change +and its causes. + +"Are you talking to me?" asked Nick, and he looked straight between the +eyes of Masters. + +The glance of the other did not falter, and it maddened Nick. + +"I'm talking to you," said Masters coolly enough. "What happened between +you and Donnegan?" + +"What should happen?" asked Lord Nick. + +"Maybe all this is a joke," said Masters bitterly. He was a square-built +man, with a square face and a wrinkled, fleshy forehead. In +intelligence, Nick ranked him first among the men. And if a new leader +were to be chosen there was no doubt as to where the choice of the men +would fall. No doubt that was why Masters put himself forward now, ready +to brave the wrath of the chief. "Maybe we're fooled," went on Masters. +"Maybe they ain't any call for you to fall out with Donnegan?" + +"Maybe there's a call to find out this," answered Lord Nick. "Why did +you leave the mines? What are you doing up here?" + +The other swallowed so hard that he blinked. + +"I left the mines," he declared through his set teeth, "because I was +run off 'em." + +"Ah," said Lord Nick, for the devil was rising in him, "I always had an +idea that you might be yellow, Masters." + +The right hand of Masters swayed toward his gun, hesitated, and then +poised idly. + +"You heard me talk?" persisted Lord Nick brutally. "I call you yellow. +Why don't you draw on me? I called you yellow, you swine, and I call the +rest of you yellow. You think you have me down? Why, curse you, if there +were thirty of your cut, I'd say the same to you!" + +There was a quick shift, the three men faced Lord Nick, but each from a +different angle. And opposing them, he stood superbly indifferent, his +arms folded, his feet braced. His arms were folded, but each hand, for +all they knew, might be grasping the butt of a gun hidden away in his +clothes. Once they flashed a glance from face to face; but there was no +action. They were remembering only too well some of the wild deeds of +this giant. + +"You think I'm through," went on Lord Nick. "Maybe I am--through with +you. You hear me talk?" + +One by one, his eyes dared them, and one by one they took up the +challenge, struggled, and lowered their glances. He was still their +master and in that mute moment the three admitted it, the Pedlar last of +all. + +Masters saw fit to fall back on the last remark. + +"I've swallowed a lot from you, Nick," he said gravely. + +"Maybe there'll be an end to what we take one of these days. But now +I'll tell you how yellow I was. A couple of gents come to me and tell me +I'm through at the mine. I told them they were crazy. They said old +Colonel Macon had sent them down to take charge. I laughed at 'em. They +went away and came back. Who with? With the sheriff. And he flashed a +paper on me. It was all drawn up clean as a whistle. Trimmed up with a +lot of 'whereases' and 'as hereinbefore mentioned' and such like things. +But the sheriff just gimme a look and then he tells me what it's about. +Jack Landis has signed over all the mines to the colonel and the +colonel has taken possession." + +As he stopped, a growl came from the others. + +"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick. "Where do +the rest of you figure in it? Lester had the mines; he lost 'em because +he couldn't drop Landis with his gun. He'd never have had a smell of the +gold if I hadn't come in. Who made Landis see light? I did! Who worked +it so that every nickel that came out of the mines went through the +fingers of Landis and came back to us? I did! But I'm through with you. +You can hunt for yourselves now. I've kept you together to guard one +another's backs. I've kept the law off your trail. You, Masters, you'd +have swung for killing the McKay brothers. Who saved you? Who was it +bribed the jury that tried you for the shooting up of Derbyville, +Pedlar? Who took the marshal off your trail after you'd knifed Lefty +Waller, Joe Rix? I've saved you all a dozen times. Now you whine at me. +I'm through with you forever!" + +Stopping, he glared about him. His knuckles stung from the impact of the +blow he had delivered in Milligan's place. He hungered to have one of +these three stir a hand and get into action. + +And they knew it. All at once they crumbled and became clay in his +hands. + +"Chief," said Joe Rix, the smoothest spoken of the lot, and one who was +supposed to stand specially well with Lord Nick on account of his +ability to bake beans, Spanish. "Chief, you've said a whole pile. You're +worth more'n the rest of us all rolled together. Sure. We know that. +There ain't any argument. But here's just one little point that I want +to make. + +"We was doing fine. The gold was running fine and free. Along comes this +Donnegan. He busts up our good time. He forks in on your girl--" + +A convulsion of the chief's face made Rix waver in his speech and then +he went on: "He shoots Landis, and when he misses killing him--by some +accident, he comes down here and grabs him out of Lebrun's own house. +Smooth, eh? Then he makes Landis sign that deed to the mines. Oh, very +nice work, I say. Too nice. + +"'Now, speakin' man to man, they ain't any doubt that you'd like to get +rid of Donnegan. Why don't you? Because everybody has a jinx, and he's +yours. I ain't easy scared, maybe, but I knew an albino with white eyes +once, and just to look at him made me some sick. Well, chief, they ain't +nobody can say that you ever took water or ever will. But maybe the fact +that this Donnegan has hair just as plumb red as yours may sort of get +you off your feed. I'm just suggesting. Now, what I say is, let the rest +of us take a crack at Donnegan, and you sit back and come in on the +results when we've cleaned up. D'you give us a free road?" + +How much went through the brain of Lord Nick? But in the end he gave his +brother up to death. For he remembered how Nelly Lebrun had sat in +Milligan's laughing. + +"Do what you want," he said suddenly. "But I want to know none of your +plans--and the man that tells me Donnegan is dead gets paid--in lead!" + + + + +38 + + +The smile of Joe Rix was the smile of a diplomat. It could be maintained +upon his face as unwaveringly as if it were wrought out of marble while +Joe heard insult and lie. As a matter of fact Joe had smiled in the face +of death more than once, and this is a school through which even +diplomats rarely pass. Yet it was with an effort that he maintained the +characteristic good-natured expression when the door to Donnegan's shack +opened and he saw big George and, beyond him, Donnegan himself. + +"Booze," said Joe Rix to himself instantly. + +For Donnegan was a wreck. The unshaven beard--it was the middle of +morning--was a reddish mist over his face. His eyes were sunken in +shadow. His hair was uncombed. He sat with his shoulders hunched up like +one who suffers from cold. Altogether his appearance was that of one +whose energy has been utterly sapped. + +"The top of the morning, Mr. Donnegan," said Joe Rix, and put his foot +on the threshold. + +But since big George did not move it was impossible to enter. + +"Who's there?" asked Donnegan. + +It was a strange question to ask, for by raising his eyes he could have +seen. But Donnegan was staring down at the floor. Even his voice was a +weak murmur. + +"What a party! What a party he's had!" thought Joe Rix, and after all, +there was cause for a celebration. Had not the little man in almost one +stroke won the heart of the prettiest girl in The Corner, and also did +he not probably have a working share in the richest of the diggings? + +"I'm Joe Rix," he said. + +"Joe Rix?" murmured Donnegan softly. "Then you're one of Lord Nick's +men?" + +"I was," said Joe Rix, "sort of attached to him, maybe." + +Perhaps this pointed remark won the interest of Donnegan. He raised his +eyes, and Joe Rix beheld the most unhappy face he had ever seen. "A bad +hangover," he decided, "and that makes it bad for me!" + +"Come in," said Donnegan in the same monotonous, lifeless voice. + +Big George reluctantly, it seemed, withdrew to one side, and Rix was +instantly in the room and drawing out a chair so that he could face +Donnegan. + +"I was," he proceeded "sort of tied up with Lord Nick. But"--and here he +winked broadly--"it ain't much of a secret that Nick ain't altogether a +lord any more. Nope. Seems he turned out sort of common, they say." + +"What fool," murmured Donnegan, "has told you that? What ass had told +you that Lord Nick is a common sort?" + +It shocked Joe Rix, but being a diplomat he avoided friction by changing +his tactics. + +"Between you and me," he said calmly enough, "I took what I heard with a +grain of salt. There's something about Nick that ain't common, no matter +what they say. Besides, they's some men that nobody but a fool would +stand up to. It ain't hardly a shame for a man to back down from 'em." + +He pointed this remark with a nod to Donnegan. + +"I'll give you a bit of free information," said the little man, with his +weary eyes lighted a little. "There's no man on the face of the earth +who could make Lord Nick back down." + +Once more Joe Rix was shocked to the verge of gaping, but again he +exercised a power of marvelous self control "About that," he remarked +as pointedly as before, "I got my doubts. Because there's some things +that any gent with sense will always clear away from. Maybe not one +man--but say a bunch of all standin' together." + +Donnegan leaned back in his chair and waited. Both of his hands remained +drooping from the edge of the table, and the tired eyes drifted slowly +across the face of Joe Rix. + +It was obviously not the aftereffects of liquor. The astonishing +possibility occurred to Joe Rix that this seemed to be a man with a +broken spirit and a great sorrow. He blinked that absurdity away. + +"Coming to cases," he went on, "there's yourself, Mr. Donnegan. Now, +you're the sort of a man that don't sidestep nobody. Too proud to do it. +But even you, I guess, would step careful if there was a whole bunch +agin' you." + +"No doubt," remarked Donnegan. + +"I don't mean any ordinary bunch," explained Joe Rix, "but a lot of hard +fellows. Gents that handle their guns like they was born with a holster +on the hip." + +"Fellows like Nick's crowd," suggested Donnegan quietly. + +At this thrust the eyes of Joe narrowed a little. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I see you get my drift." + +"I think so." + +"Two hard fighters would give the best man that ever pulled a gun a lot +of trouble. Eh?" + +"No doubt." + +"And three men--they ain't any question, Mr. Donnegan--would get him +ready for a hole in the ground." + +"I suppose so." + +"And four men would make it no fight--jest a plain butchery." + +"Yes?" + +"Now, I don't mean that Nick's crowd has any hard feeling about you, Mr. +Donnegan." + +"I'm glad to hear that." + +"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things +over. Suppose you look at it this way--" + +"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut +this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand." + +Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley. + +"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester +and the rest of us want--the mines!" + +"Ah?" + +"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get +'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel +while you're around." + +"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's +kind of you to warn me." + +"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in +a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our +side." + +"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?" + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the other, spreading out his hands solemnly on the +table, "you ain't doin' us justice. We don't hanker none for trouble +with you. Any way it comes, a fight with you means somebody dead besides +you. We'd get you. Four to one is too much for any man. But one or two +of us might go down. Who would it be? Maybe the Pedlar, maybe Harry +Masters, maybe Lester, maybe me! Oh, we know all that. No gunplay if we +can keep away from it." + +"You've left out the name of Lord Nick," said Donnegan. + +Joe Rix winked. + +"Seems like you tended to him once and for all when you got him alone in +this cabin. Must have thrown a mighty big scare into him. He won't lift +a hand agin' you now." + +"No?" murmured Donnegan hoarsely. + +"Not him! But that leaves four of us, and four is plenty, eh?" + +"Perhaps." + +"But I'm not here to insist on that point. No, we put a value on keepin' +up good feeling between us and you, Mr. Donnegan. We ain't fools. We +know a man when we see him--and the fastest gunman that ever slid a gun +out of leather ain't the sort of a man that me and the rest of the boys +pass over lightly. Not us! We know you, Mr. Donnegan; we respect you; we +want you with us; we're going to have you with us." + +"You flatter me and I thank you. But I'm glad to see that you are at +last coming to the point." + +"I am, and the point is five thousand dollars that's tied behind the +hoss that stands outside your door." + +He pushed his fat hand a little way across the table, as though the gold +even then were resting in it, a yellow tide of fortune. + +"For which," said Donnegan, "I'm to step aside and let you at the +colonel?" + +"Right." + +Donnegan smiled. + +"Wait," said Joe Rix. "I was makin' a first offer to see how you stood, +but you're right. Five thousand ain't enough and we ain't cheapskates. +Not us. Mr. Donnegan, they's ten thousand cold iron men behind that +saddle out there and every cent of it belongs to you when you come over +on our side." + +But Donnegan merely dropped his chin upon his hand and smiled +mirthlessly at Joe Rix. A wild thought came to the other man. Both of +Donnegan's hands were far from his weapons. Why not a quick draw, a snap +shot, and then the glory of having killed this manslayer in single +battle for Joe Rix? + +The thought rushed red across his brain and then faded slowly. Something +kept him back. Perhaps it was the singular calm of Donnegan; no matter +how quiet he sat he suggested the sleeping cat which can leap out of +dead sleep into fighting action at a touch. By the time a second thought +had come to Joe Rix the idea of an attack was like an idea of suicide. + +"Is that final?" he asked, though Donnegan had not said a word. + +"It is." + +Joe Rix stood up. + +"You put it to us kind of hard. But we want you, Mr. Donnegan. And +here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Come over to us. We'll stand +behind you. Lord Nick is slipping. We'll put you in his place. You won't +even have to face him; we'll get rid of him." + +"You'll kill him and give his place to me?" asked Donnegan. + +"We will. And when you're with us, you cut in on the whole amount of +coin that the mines turn out--and it'll be something tidy. And right +now, to show where we stand and how high we put you, I'll let you in on +the rock-bottom truth. Mr. Donnegan. out there tied behind my saddle +there's thirty thousand dollars in pure gold. You can take it in here +and weigh it out!" + +He stepped back to watch this blow take effect. To his unutterable +astonishment the little man had not moved. His chin still rested upon +the back of his hand, and the smile which was on the lips and not in the +eyes of Donnegan remained there, fixed. + +"Donnegan," muttered Joe Rix, "if we can't get you, we'll get rid of +you. You understand?" + +But the other continued to smile. + +It gave Joe Rix a shuddering feeling that someone was stealing behind +him to block his way to the door. He cast one swift glance over his +shoulder and then, seeing that the way was clear, he slunk back, always +keeping his face to the red-headed man. But when he came to the doorway +his nerve collapsed. He whirled, covered the rest of the distance with a +leap, and emerged from the cabin in a fashion ludicrously like one who +has been kicked through a door. + +His nerve returned as soon as the sunlight fell warmly upon him again; +and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had observed his flight. + +There was no one on the whole hillside except Colonel Macon in the +invalid chair, and the colonel was smiling broadly, beneficently. He had +his perfect hands folded across his breast and seemed to cast a prayer +of peace and goodwill upon Joe Rix. + + + + +39 + + +Nelly Lebrun smelled danger. She sensed it as plainly as the deer when +the puma comes between her and the wind. The many tokens that something +was wrong came to her by small hints which had to be put together before +they assumed any importance. + +First of all, her father, who should have burst out at her in a tirade +for having left Lord Nick for Donnegan said nothing at all, but kept a +dark smile on his face when she was near him. He even insinuated that +Nick's time was done and that another was due to supersede him. + +In the second place, she had passed into a room where Masters, Joe Rix, +and the Pedlar sat cheek by jowl in close conference with a hum of deep +voice. But at her appearance all talk was broken off. + +It was not strange that they should not invite her into their confidence +if they had some dark work ahead of them; but it was exceedingly +suspicious that Joe Rix attempted to pass off their whispers by +immediately breaking off the soft talk and springing into the midst of a +full-fledged jest; also, it was strangest of all that when the jest +ended even the Pedlar, who rarely smiled, now laughed uproariously and +smote Joe soundingly upon the back. + +Even a child could have strung these incidents into a chain of evidence +which pointed toward danger. Obviously the danger was not directly hers, +but then it must be directed at some one near to her. Her father? No, he +was more apt to be the mainspring of their action. Lord Nick? There was +nothing to gain by attacking him. Who was left? Donnegan! + +As the realization came upon her it took her breath away for a moment. +Donnegan was the man. At breakfast everyone had been talking about him. +Lebrun had remarked that he had a face for the cards--emotionless. Joe +Rix had commented upon his speed of hand, and the Pedlar had +complimented the little man on his dress. + +But at lunch not a word was spoken about Donnegan even after she had +dexterously introduced the subject twice. Why the sudden silence? +Between morning and noon Donnegan must have grievously offended them. + +Fear for his sake stimulated her; but above and beyond this, indeed, +there was a mighty feminine curiosity. She smelled the secret; it reeked +through the house, and she was devoured by eagerness to know. She +handpicked Lord Nick's gang in the hope of finding a weakness among +them; some weakness upon which she could play in one of them and draw +out what they were all concealing. The Pedlar was as unapproachable as a +crag on a mountaintop. Masters was wise as an outlaw broncho. Lester was +probably not even in the confidence of the others because since the +affair with Landis his nerve had been shattered to bits and the others +secretly despised him for being beaten by the youngster at the draw. +There remained, therefore, only Joe Rix. + +But Joe Rix was a fox of the first quality. He lied with the smoothness +of silk. He could show a dozen colors in as many moments. Come to the +windward of Joe Rix? It was a delicate business! But since there was +nothing else to do, she fixed her mind upon it, working out this puzzle. +Joe Rix wished to destroy Donnegan for reasons that were evidently +connected with the mines. And she must step into his confidence to +discover his plans. How should it be done? And there was a vital need +for speed, for they might be within a step of executing whatever +mischief it was that they were planning. + +She went down from her room; they were there still, only Joe Rix was +not with them. She went to the apartment where he and the other three of +Nick's gang slept and rapped at the door. He maintained his smile when +he saw her, but there was an uncertain quiver of his eyebrows that told +her much. Plainly he was ill at ease. Suspicious? Ay, there were always +clouds of suspicion drifting over the red, round face of Joe Rix. She +put a tremor of excitement and trouble in her voice. + +"Come into my room, Joe, where we won't be interrupted." + +He followed her without a word, and since she led the way she was able +to relax her expression for a necessary moment. When she closed the door +behind him and faced Joe again she was once more ready to step into her +part. She did not ask him to sit down. She remained for a moment with +her hand on the knob and searched the face of Joe Rix eagerly. + +"Do you think he can hear?" she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder. + +"Who?" + +"Who but Lord Nick!" she exclaimed softly. + +The bewilderment of Joe clouded his face a second and then he was able +to smooth it away. What on earth was the reason of her concern about +Lord Nick he was obviously wondering. + +"I'll tell you why," she said, answering the unspoken question at once. +"He's as jealous as the devil, Joe!" + +The fat little man sighed as he looked at her. + +"He can't hear. Not through that log wall. But we'll talk soft, if you +want." + +"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down. He's already jealous of you, Joe." + +"Of me?" + +"He knows I like you, that I trust you; and just now he's on edge about +everyone I look at." + +The surprising news which the first part of this sentence contained +caused Joe to gape, and the girl looked away in concern, enabling him to +control his expression. For she knew well enough that men hate to appear +foolishly surprised. And particularly a fox like Joe Rix. + +"But what's the trouble, Nelly?" He added with a touch of venom: "I +thought everything was going smoothly with you. And I thought you +weren't worrying much about what Lord Nick had in his mind." + +She stared at him as though astonished. + +"Do you think just the same as the rest of them?" she asked sadly. "Do +you mean to say that you're fooled just the same as Harry Masters and +the Pedlar and the rest of those fools--including Nick himself?" + +Joe Rix was by no means willing to declare himself a fool beforehand. He +now mustered a look of much reserved wisdom. + +"I have my own doubts, Nell, but I'm not talking about them." + +He was so utterly at sea that she had to bite her lip hard to keep from +breaking into ringing laughter. + +"Oh, I knew that you'd seen through it, Joe," she cried softly. "You see +what an awful mess I've gotten into?" + +He passed a hurried hand across his forehead and then looked at her +searchingly. But he could not penetrate her pretense of concern. + +"No matter what I think," said Joe Rix, "you come out with it frankly. +I'll listen." + +"As a friend, Joe?" + +She managed to throw a plea into her voice that made Joe sigh. + +"Sure. You've already said that I'm your friend, and you're right." + +"I'm in terrible, terrible trouble! You know how it happened. I was a +fool. I tried to play with Lord Nick. And now he thinks I was in +earnest." + +As though the strength of his legs had given way, Joe Rix slipped down +into a chair. + +"Go on," he said huskily. "You were playing with Lord Nick?" + +"Can't you put yourself in my place, Joe? It's always been taken for +granted that I'm to marry Nick. And the moment he comes around everybody +else avoids me as if I were poison. I was sick of it. And when he showed +up this time it was the same old story. A man would as soon sign his own +death warrant as ask me for a dance. You know how it is?" + +He nodded, still at sea, but with a light beginning to dawn in his +little eyes. + +"I'm only a girl, Joe. I have all the weakness of other girls. I don't +want to be locked up in a cage just because I--love one man!" + +The avowal made Joe blink. It was the second time that day that he had +been placed in an astonishing scene. But some of his old cunning +remained to him. + +"Nell," he said suddenly, rising from his chair and going to her. "What +are you trying to do to me? Pull the wool over my eyes?" + +It was too much for Nelly Lebrun. She knew that she could not face him +without betraying her guilt and therefore she did not attempt it. She +whirled and flung herself on her bed, face down, and began to sob +violently, suppressing the sounds. And so she waited. + +Presently a hand touched her shoulder lightly. + +"Go away," cried Nelly in a choked voice. "I hate you, Joe Rix. You're +like all the rest!" + +His knee struck the floor with a soft thud. + +"Come on, Nell. Don't be hard on me. I thought you were stringing me a +little. But if you're playing straight, tell me what you want?" + +At that she bounced upright on the bed, and before he could rise she +caught him by both shoulders. + +"I want Donnegan," she said fiercely. + +"What?" + +"I want him dead!" + +Joe Rix gasped. + +"Here's the cause of all my trouble. Just because I flirted with him +once or twice, Nick thought I was in earnest and now he's sulking. And +Donnegan puts on airs and acts as if I belonged to him. I hate him, Joe. +And if he's gone Nick will come back to me. He'll come back to me, Joe; +and I want him so!" + +She found that Joe Rix was staring straight into her eyes, striving to +probe her soul to its depths, and by a great effort she was enabled to +meet that gaze. Finally the fat little man rose slowly to his feet. Her +hands trailed from his shoulders as he stood up and fell helplessly upon +her lap. + +"Well, I'll be hanged, Nell!" exclaimed Joe Rix. + +"What do you mean?" + +"You're not acting a part? No, I can see you mean it. But what a +cold-blooded little--" He checked himself. His face was suddenly +jubilant. "Then we've got him, Nell. We've got him if you're with us. We +had him anyway, but we'll make sure of him if you're with us. Look at +this! You saw me put a paper in my pocket when I opened the door of my +room? Here it is!" + +He displayed before the astonished eyes of Nelly Lebrun a paper covered +with an exact duplicate of her own swift, dainty script. And she read: + + Nick is terribly angry and is making trouble. I have to get + away. It isn't safe for me to stay here. Will you help me? + Will you meet me at the shack by Donnell's ford tomorrow + morning at ten o'clock? + +"But I didn't write it," cried Nelly Lebrun, bewildered. + +"Nelly," Joe Rix chuckled, flushing with pleasure, "you didn't. It was +me. I kind of had an idea that you wanted to get rid of this Donnegan, +and I was going to do it for you and then surprise you with the good +news." + +"Joe, you forged it?" + +"Don't bother sayin' pretty things about me and my pen," said Rix +modestly. "This is nothin'! But if you want to help me, Nelly--" + +His voice faded partly out of her consciousness as she fought against a +tigerish desire to spring at the throat of the little fat man. But +gradually it dawned on her that he was asking her to write out that note +herself. Why? Because it was possible that Donnegan might have seen her +handwriting and in that case, though the imitation had been good enough +to deceive Nelly herself, it probably would not for a moment fool the +keen eyes of Donnegan. But if she herself wrote out the note, Donnegan +was already as good as dead. + +"That is," concluded Joe Rix, "if he really loves you, Nell." + +"The fool!" cried Nelly. "He worships the ground I walk on, Joe. And I +hate him for it." + +Even Joe Rix shivered, for he saw the hate in her eyes and could not +dream that he himself was the cause and the object of it. There was a +red haze of horror and confusion in front of her eyes, and yet she was +able to smile while she copied the note for Joe Rix. + +"But how are you going to work it?" she asked. "How are you going to +kill him, Joe?" + +"Don't bother your pretty head," said the fat man, smiling. "Just wait +till we bring you the good news." + +"But are you sure?" she asked eagerly. "See what he's done already. He's +taken Landis away from us; he's baffled Nick himself, in some manner; +and he's gathered the mines away from all of us. He's a devil, Joe, and +if you want to get him you'd better take ten men for the job." + +"You hate him, Nell, don't you?" queried Joe Rix, and his voice was both +hard and curious. "But how has he harmed you?" + +"Hasn't he taken Nick away from me? Isn't that enough?" + +The fat man shivered again. + +"All right. I'll tell you how it works. Now, listen!" + +And he began to check off the details of his plan. + + + + +40 + + +The day passed and the night, but how very slowly for Nelly Lebrun; she +went up to her room early for she could no longer bear the meaning +glances which Joe Rix cast at her from time to time. But once in her +room it was still harder to bear the suspense as she waited for the +noise to die away in the house. Midnight, and half an hour more went by, +and then, at last, the murmurs and the laughter stopped; she alone was +wakeful in Lebrun's. And when that time came she caught a scarf around +her hair and her shoulders, made of a filmy material which would veil +her face but through which she could see, and ventured out of her room +and down the hall. + +There was no particular need for such caution, however, it seemed. +Nothing stirred. And presently she was outside the house and hurrying +behind the houses and up the hill. Still she met nothing. If The Corner +lived tonight, its life was confined to Milligan's and the gambling +house. + +She found Donnegan's shack and the one next to it, which the terrible +colonel occupied, entirely dark, but only a moment after she tapped at +the door it was opened. Donnegan, fully dressed, stood in the entrance, +outlined blackly by the light which came faintly from the hooded lantern +hanging on the wall. Was he sitting up all the night, unable to sleep +because he waited breathlessly for that false tryst on the morrow? A +great tenderness came over the heart of Nelly Lebrun. + +"It is I," she whispered. + +There was a soft exclamation, then she was drawn into the room. + +"Is there anyone here?" + +"Only big George. But he's in the kitchen and he won't hear. He never +hears anything except what's meant for his ear. Take this chair!" + +He was putting a blanket over the rough wood to make it more +comfortable, and she submitted dumbly to his ministrations. It seemed +terrible and strange to her that one so gentle should be the object of +so much hate--such deadly hate as the members of Nick's gang felt for +him. And now that he was sitting before her she could see that he had +indeed been wakeful for a long time. His face was grimly wasted; the +lips were compressed as one who has endured long pain; and his eyes +gleamed at her out of a profound shadow. He remained in the gloom; the +light from the lantern fell brightly upon his hands alone--meager, +fleshless hands which seemed to represent hardly more strength than that +of a child. Truly this man was all a creature of spirit and nerve. +Therein lay his strength, as also his weakness, and again the cherishing +instinct grew strong and swept over her. + +"There is no one near," he said, "except the colonel and his daughter. +They are up the hillside, somewhere. Did you see them?" + +"No. What in the world are they out for at this time of night?" + +"Because the colonel only wakes up when the sun goes down. And now he's +out there humming to himself and never speaking a word to the girl. But +they won't be far away. They'll stay close to see that no one comes near +the cabin to get at Landis." + +He added: "They must have seen you come into my cabin!" + +And his lips set even harder than before. Was it fear because of her? + +"They may have seen me enter, but they won't know who it was. You have +the note from me?" + +"Yes." + +"It's a lie! It's a ruse. I was forced to write it to save you! For +they're planning to murder you. Oh, my dear!" + +"Hush! Hush! Murder?" + +"I've been nearly hysterical all day and all the night. But. thank +heaven, I'm here to warn you in time! You mustn't go. You mustn't go!" + +"Who is it?" + +He had drawn his chair closer: he had taken her hands, and she noted +that his own were icy cold, but steady as a rock. Their pressure soothed +her infinitely. + +"Joe Rix, the Pedlar, Harry Masters. They'll be at the shack at ten +o'clock, but not I!" + +"Murder, but a very clumsy scheme. Three men leave town and commit a +murder and then expect to go undetected? Not even in the mountain +desert!" + +"But you don't understand, you don't understand! They're wise as foxes. +They'll take no risk. They don't even leave town together or travel by +the same routes. Harry Masters starts first. He rides out at eight +o'clock in the morning and takes the north trail. He rides down the +gulch and winds out of it and strikes for the shack at the ford. At half +past eight the Pedlar starts. He goes past Sandy's place and then over +the trail through the marsh. You know it?" + +"Yes." + +"Last of all, Joe Rix starts at nine o'clock. Half an hour between +them." + +"How does he go to the shack?" + +"By the south trail. He takes the ridge of the hills. But they'll all be +at the shack long before you and they'll shoot you down from a distance +as you come up to it. Plain murder, but even for cowardly murder they +daren't face you except three to one." + +He was thoughtful. + +"Suppose they were to be met on the way?" + +"You're mad to think of it!" + +"But if they fail this time they'll try again. They must be taught a +lesson." + +"Three men? Oh, my dear, my dear! Promise!" + +"Very well. I shall do nothing rash. And I shall never forget that +you've come to tell me this and been in peril, Nell, for if they found +you had come to me--" + +"The Pedlar would cut my throat. I know him!" + +"Ah! But now you must go. I'll take you down the hill, dear." + +"No, no! It's much easier to get back alone. My face will be covered. +But there's no way you could be disguised. You have a way of +walking--good night--and God bless you!" + +She was in his arms, straining him to her; and then she slipped out the +door. + +And sure enough, there was the colonel in his chair not fifty feet away +with a girl pushing him. The moonlight was too dim for Nelly Lebrun to +make out the face of Lou Macon, but even the light which escaped through +the filter of clouds was enough to set her golden hair glowing. The +color was not apparent, but its luster was soft silver in the night. +There was a murmur of the colonel's voice as Nelly came out of the +cabin. + +And then, from the girl, a low cry. + +It brought the blood to the cheeks of Nelly as she hurried down the +hill, for she recognized the pain that was in it; and it occurred to her +that if the girl was in love with Jack Landis she was strangely +interested in Donnegan also. + +The thought came so sharply home to her that she paused abruptly on the +way down the hill. After all, this Macon girl would be a very strange +sort if she were not impressed by the little red-headed man, with his +gentle voice and his fiery ways, and his easy way of making himself a +brilliant spectacle whenever he appeared in public. And Nelly +remembered, also, with the keen suspicion of a woman in love how weakly +Donnegan had responded to her embrace this night. How absent-mindedly +his arms had held her, and how numbly they had fallen away when she +turned at the door. + +But she shook her head and made the suspicion shudder its way out of +her. Lou Macon, she decided, was just the sort of girl who would think +Jack Landis an ideal. Besides, she had never had an opportunity to see +Donnegan in his full glory at Milligan's. And as for Donnegan? He was +wearied out; his nerves relaxed; and for the deeds with which he had +startled The Corner and won her own heart he was now paying the penalty +in the shape of ruined nerves. Pity again swelled in her heart, and a +consuming hatred for the three murderers who lived in her father's +house. + +And when she reached her room again her heart was filled with a singing +happiness and a glorious knowledge that she had saved the man she loved. + +And Donnegan himself? + +He had seen Lou and her father: he had heard that low cry of pain; and +now he sat bowed again over his table, his face in his hands and a +raging devil in his heart. + + + + +41 + + +There was one complication which Nelly Lebrun might have foreseen after +her pretended change of heart and her simulated confession to Joe Rix +that she still loved the lionlike Lord Nick. But strangely enough she +did not think of this phase: and even when her father the next morning +approached her in the hall and tapping her arm whispered: "Good girl! +Nick has just heard and he's hunting for you now!" Even then the full +meaning did not come home to her. It was not until she saw the great +form of Lord Nick stalking swiftly down the hall that she knew. He came +with a glory in his face which the last day had graven with unfamiliar +lines; and when he saw her he threw up his hand so that it almost +brushed the ceiling, and cried out. + +What could she do? Try to push him away; to explain? + +There was nothing to be done. She had to submit when he swept her into +his arms. + +"Rix has told me. Rix has told me. Ah, Nell, you little fox!" + +"Told you what, Nick?" + +Was he, too, a party to the murderous plan? + +But he allowed himself to be pushed away. + +"I've gone through something in the last few days. Why did you do it, +girl?" + +She saw suddenly that she must continue to play her part. + +"Some day I'll tell you why it was that I gave you up so easily, Nell. +You thought I was afraid of Donnegan?" He ground his teeth and turned +pale at the thought. "But that wasn't it. Some day I can tell you. But +after this, the first man who comes between us--Donnegan or any +other--I'll turn him into powder--under my heel!" + +He ground it into the floor as he spoke. She decided that she would see +how much he knew. + +"It will never be Donnegan, at least," she said. "He's done for today. +And I'm almost sorry for him in spite of all that he's done." + +He became suddenly grave. + +"What are you saying, Nell?" + +"Why, Joe told you, didn't he? They've drawn Donnegan out of town, and +now they're lying in wait for him. Yes, they must have him, by this +time. It's ten o'clock!" + +A strangely tense exclamation broke from Lord Nick. "They've gone for +Donnegan?" + +"Yes. Are you angry?" + +The big man staggered; one would have said that he had been stunned with +a blow. + +"Garry!" he whispered. + +"What are you saying?" + +"Nell," he muttered hoarsely, "did you know about it?" + +"But I did it for you, Nick. I knew you hated--" + +"No, no! Don't say it!" He added bitterly, after a moment. "This is for +my sins." + +And then, to her: "But you knew about it and didn't warn him? You hated +him all the time you were laughing with him and smiling at him? Oh, +Nell! What a merciless witch of a woman you are! For the rest of +them--I'll wait till they come back!" + +"What are you going to do, Nick?" + +"I told them I'd pay the man who killed Donnegan--with lead. Did the +fools think I didn't mean it?" + +Truly, no matter what shadow had passed over the big man, he was the +lion again, and Nell shrank from him. + +"We'll wait for them," he said. "We'll wait for them here." + +And they sat down together in the room. She attempted to speak once in a +shaken voice, but he silenced her with a gesture, and after that she sat +and watched in quiet the singular play of varying expressions across his +face. Grief, rage, tenderness, murderous hate--they followed like a +puppet play. + +What was Donnegan to him? And then there was a tremor of fear. Would the +three suspect when they reached the shack by the ford and no Donnegan +came to them? The moments stole on. Then the soft beat of a galloping +horse in the sand. The horse stopped. Presently they saw Joe Rix and +Harry Masters pass in front of the window. And they looked as though a +cyclone had caught them up, juggled them a dizzy distance in the air, +and then flung them down carelessly upon bruising rocks. Their hats were +gone; and the clothes of burly Harry Masters were literally torn from +his back. Joe Rix was evidently far more terribly hurt, for he leaned on +the arm of Masters and they came on together, staggering. + +"They've done the business!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "And now, curse them, +I'll do theirs!" + +But the girl could not speak. A black haze crossed before her eyes. Had +Donnegan gone out madly to fight the three men in spite of her warning? + +The door opened. They stood in the doorway, and if they had seemed a +horrible sight passing the window, they were a deadly picture at close +range. And opposite them stood Lord Nick; in spite of their wounds there +was murder in his face and his revolver was out. + +"You've met him? You've met Donnegan?" he asked angrily. + +Masters literally carried Joe Rix to a chair and placed him in it. He +had been shot through both shoulders, and though tight bandages had +stanched the wound he was still in agony. Then Masters raised his head. + +"We've met him," he said. + +"What happened?" + +But Masters, in spite of the naked gun in the hand of Lord Nick, was +looking straight at Nelly Lebrun. + +"We fought him." + +"Then say your prayers, Masters." + +"Say prayers for the Pedlar, you fool," said Masters bitterly. "He's +dead, and Donnegan's still living!" + +There was a faint cry from Nelly Lebrun. She sank into her chair again. + +"We've been double-crossed," said Masters, still looking at the girl. "I +was going down the gulch the way we planned. I come to the narrow place +where the cliffs almost touch, and right off the wall above me drops a +wildcat. I thought it was a cat at first. And then I found it was +Donnegan. + +"The way he hit me from above knocked me off the horse. Then we hit the +ground. I started for my gun; he got it out of my hand; I pulled my +knife. He got that away, too. His fingers work with steel springs and +act like a cat's claws. Then we fought barehanded. He didn't say a word. +But kept snarling in his throat. Always like a cat. And his face was +devilish. Made me sick inside. Pretty soon he dived under my arms. Got +me up in the air. I came down on my head. + +"Of course I went out cold. When I came to there was still a mist in +front of my eyes and this lump on the back of my head. He'd figured that +my head was cracked and that I was dead. That's the only reason he left +me. Later I climbed on my hoss and fed him the spur. + +"But I was too late. I took the straight cut for the ford, and when I +got there I found that Donnegan had been there before me. Joe Rix was +lyin' on the floor. When he got to the shack Donnegan was waitin' for +him. They went for their guns and Donnegan beat him to it. The hound +didn't shoot to kill. He plugged him through both shoulders, and left +him lyin' helpless. But I got a couple of bandages on him and saved him. + +"Then we cut back for home and crossed the marsh. And there we found the +Pedlar. + +"Too late to help him. Maybe Donnegan knew that the Pedlar was something +of a flash with a gun himself, and he didn't take any chances. He'd met +him face to face the same way he met Joe Rix and killed him. Shot him +clean between the eyes. Think of shooting for the head with a snap shot! +That's what he done and Joe didn't have time to think twice after that +slug hit him. His gun wasn't even fired, he was beat so bad on the draw. + +"So Joe and me come back home. And we come full of questions!" + +"Let me tell you something," muttered Lord Nick, putting up the weapon +which he had kept exposed during all of the recital. "You've got what +was coming to you. If Donnegan hadn't cleaned up on you, you'd have had +to talk turkey with me. Understand?" + +"Wait a minute," protested Harry Masters. + +And Joe Rix, almost too far gone for speech, set his teeth over a groan +and cast a look of hatred at the girl. + +"Wait a minute, chief. There's one thing we all got to get straight. +Somebody had tipped off Donnegan about our whole plan. Was it the Pedlar +or Rix or me? I guess good sense'll tell a man that it wasn't none of +us, eh? Then who was it? The only other person that knew about the +plan--Nell--Nell, the crooked witch--and it's her that murdered the +Pedlar--curse her!" + +He thrust out his bulky arm as he spoke. + +"Her that lied her way into our confidence with a lot of talk about you, +Nick. Then what did she do? She goes runnin' to the gent that she said +she hated. Don't you see her play? She makes fools of us--she makes a +fool out of you!" + +She dared not meet the glance of Lord Nick. Even now she might have +acted out her part and filled in with lies, but she was totally +unnerved. + +"Get Rix to bed," was all he said, and he did not even glance at Nelly +Lebrun. + +Masters glowered at him, and then silently obeyed, lifting Joe as a +helpless bulk, for the fat man was nearly fainting with pain. Not until +they had gone and he had closed the door after them and upon the murmurs +of the servants in the hall did Lord Nick turn to Nelly. + +"Is it true?" he asked shortly. + +Between relief and terror her mind was whirling. + +"Is what true?" + +"You haven't even sense enough to lie, Nell, eh? It's all true, then? +And last night, after you'd wormed it out of Joe, you went to Donnegan?" + +She could only stare miserably at him. + +"And that was why you pushed me away when I kissed you a little while +ago?" + +Once more she was dumb. But she was beginning to be afraid. Not for +herself, but for Donnegan. + +"Nell, I told you I'd never let another man come between us again. I +meant it. I know you're treacherous now; but that doesn't keep me from +wanting you. It's Donnegan again--Donnegan still? Nell, you've killed +him. As sure as if your own finger pulled the trigger when I shoot him. +He's a dead one, and you've done it!" + +If words would only come! But her throat was stiff and cold and aching. +She could not speak. + +"You've done more than kill him," said Lord Nick. "You've put a curse on +me as well. And afterward I'm going to even up with you. You hear me? +Nell, when I shoot Donnegan I'm doing a thing worse than if he was a +girl--or a baby. You can't understand that; I don't want you to know. +But some time when you're happy again and you're through grieving for +Donnegan, I'll tell you the truth and make your heart black for the rest +of your life." + +Still words would not come. She strove to cling to him and stop him, but +he cast her away with a single gesture and strode out the door. + + + + +42 + + +There was no crowd to block the hill at this second meeting of Donnegan +and Lord Nick. There was a blank stretch of brown hillside with the wind +whispering stealthily through the dead grass when Lord Nick thrust open +the door of Donnegan's shack and entered. + +The little man had just finished shaving and was getting back into his +coat while George carried out the basin of water. And Donnegan, as he +buttoned the coat, was nodding slightly to the rhythm of a song which +came from the cabin of the colonel near by. It was a clear, high music, +and though the voice was light it carried the sound far. Donnegan looked +up to Lord Nick; but still he kept the beat of the music. + +He seemed even more fragile this morning than ever before. Yet Lord Nick +was fresh from the sight of the torn bodies of the two fighting men whom +this fellow had struck and left for dead, or dying, as he thought. + +"Dismiss your servant," said Lord Nick. + +"George, you may go out." + +"And keep him out." + +"Don't come back until I call for you." + +Big George disappeared into the kitchen and the outside door was closed. +Yet even with all the doors closed the singing of Lou Macon kept running +through the cabin in a sweet and continuous thread. + + What made the ball so fine? + Robin Adair! + What made the assembly shine? + Robin Adair! + +And no matter what Lord Nick could say, it seemed that with half his +mind Donnegan was listening to the song of the girl. + +"First," said the big man, "I've broken my word." + +Donnegan waved his hand and dismissed the charge. He pointed to a chair, +but Lord Nick paid no heed. + +"I've broken my word," he went on. "I promised that I'd give you a clear +road to win over Nelly Lebrun. I gave you the road and you've won her, +but now I'm taking her back!" + +"Ah, Henry," said Donnegan, and a flash of eagerness came in his eyes. +"You're a thousand times welcome to her." + +Lord Nick quivered. + +"Do you mean it?" + +"Henry, don't you see that I was only playing for a purpose all the +time? And if you've opened the eyes of Nelly to the fact that you truly +love her and I've been only acting out of a heartless sham--why, I'm +glad of it--I rejoice, Henry, I swear I do!" + +He came forward, smiling, and held out his hand; Lord Nick struck it +down, and Donnegan shrank back, holding his wrist tight in the fingers +of his other hand. + +"Is it possible?" murmured Henry Reardon. "Is it possible that she loves +a man who despises her?" + +"Not that! If any other man said this to me, I'd call for an explanation +of his meaning, Henry. No, no! I honor and respect her, I tell you. By +heaven, Nick, she has a thread of pure, generous gold in her nature!" + +"Ah?" + +"She has saved my life no longer ago than this morning." + +"It's perfect," said Lord Nick. And he writhed under a torment. "I am +discarded for the sake of a man who despises her!" + +Donnegan, frowning with thought, watched his older brother. And still +the thin singing entered the room, that matchless old melody of "Robin +Adair;" the day shall never come when that song does not go straight +from heart to heart. But because Donnegan still listened to it, Lord +Nick felt that he was contemptuously received, and a fresh spur was +driven into his tender pride. + +"Donnegan!" he said sharply. + +Donnegan raised his hand slowly. + +"Do you call me by that name?" + +"Aye. You've ceased to be a brother. There's no blood tie between us +now, as I warned you before." + +Donnegan, very white, moved back toward the wall and rested his +shoulders lightly against it, as though he needed the support. He made +no answer. + +"I warned you not to cross me again." exclaimed Lord Nick. + +"I have not." + +"Donnegan, you've murdered my men!" + +"Murder? I've met them fairly. Not murder, Henry." + +"Leave out that name, I say!" + +"If you wish," said Donnegan very faintly. + +The sight of his resistlessness seemed to madden Lord Nick. He made one +of his huge strides and came to the center of the room and dominated all +that was in it, including his brother. + +"You murdered my men," repeated Lord Nick. "You turned my girl against +me with your lying love-making and turned her into a spy. You made her +set the trap and then you saw that it was worked. You showed her how she +could wind me around her finger again." + +"Will you let me speak?" + +"Aye, but be short." + +"I swear to you, Henry, that I've never influenced her to act against +you; except to win her away for just one little time, and she will +return to you again. It is only a fancy that makes her interested in me. +Look at us! How could any woman in her senses prefer me?" + +"Are you done?" + +"No, no! I have more to say: I have a thousand things!" + +"I shall not hear them" + +"Henry, there is a black devil in your face. Beware of it." + +"Who put it there?" + +"It was not I." + +"What power then?" + +"Something over which I have no control." + +"Are you trying to mystify me?" + +"Listen!" And as Donnegan raised his hand, the singing poured clear and +small into the room. + +"That is the power," said Donnegan. + +"You're talking gibberish'" exclaimed the other pettishly. + +"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand." + +"On the other hand, what I have to say is short and to the point. A +child could comprehend it. You've stolen the girl. I tried to let her +go. I can't. I have to have her. Willing or unwilling she has to belong +to me, Donnegan." + +"If you wish, I shall promise that I shall never see her again or speak +to her." + +"You fool' Won't she find you out? Do you think I could trust you? Only +in one place--underground." + +Donnegan had clasped his hands upon his breast and his eyes were wide. + +"What is it you mean, Henry?" + +"I'll trust you--dead!" + +"Henry!" + +"That name means nothing to me I've forgotten it. The worlds has +forgotten it." + +"Henry, I implore you to keep cool--to give me five minutes for talk--" + +"No, not one. I know your cunning tongue!" + +"For the sake of the days when you loved me, my brother. For the sake of +the days when you used to wheel my chair and be kind to me." + +"You're wasting your time. You're torturing us both for nothing. +Donnegan, my will is a rock. It won't change." + +And drawing closer his right hand gripped his gun and the trembling +passion of the gunfighter set him shuddering. + +"You're armed, Garry. Go for your gun!" + +"No, no!" + +"Then I'll give you cause to fight." + +And as he spoke, he drew back his massive arm and with his open hand +smote Donnegan heavily across the face. The weight of that blow crushed +the little man against the wall. + +"Your gun!" cried Lord Nick, swaying from side to side as the passion +choked him. + +Donnegan fell upon his knees and raised his arms. + +"God have mercy on me, and on yourself!" + +At that the blackness cleared slowly on the face of the big man; he +thrust his revolver into the holster. + +"This time," he said, "there's no death. But sooner or later we meet, +Donnegan, and then, I swear by all that lives, I'll shoot you +down--without mercy--like a mad dog. You've robbed me; you've hounded +me: you've killed my men: you've taken the heart of the woman I love. +And now nothing can save you from the end." + +He turned on his heel and left the room. + +And Donnegan remained kneeling, holding a stained handkerchief to his +face. + +All at once his strength seemed to desert him like a tree chopped at the +root, and he wilted down against the wall with closed eyes. + +But the music still came out of the throat and the heart of Lou, and it +entered the room and came into the ears of Donnegan. He became aware +that there was a strength beyond himself which had sustained him, and +then he knew it had been the singing of Lou from first to last which had +kept the murder out of his own heart and restrained the hand of Lord +Nick. + +Perhaps of all Donnegan's life, this was the first moment of true +humility. + + + + +43 + + +One thing was now clear. He must not remain in The Corner unless he was +prepared for Lord Nick again: and in a third meeting guns must be drawn. +From that greater sin he shrank, and prepared to leave. His order to +George made the big man's eyes widen, but George had long since passed +the point where he cared to question the decision of his master. He +began to build the packs. + +As for Donnegan, he could see that there was little to be won by +remaining. That would save Landis to Lou Macon, to be sure, but after +all, he was beginning to wonder if it were not better to let the big +fellow go back to his own kind--Lebrun and the rest. For if it needed +compulsion to keep him with Lou now, might it not be the same story +hereafter? + +Indeed, Donnegan began to feel that all his labor in The Corner had been +running on a treadmill. It had all been grouped about the main purpose, +which was to keep Landis with the girl. To do that now he must be +prepared to face Nick again; and to face Nick meant the bringing of the +guilt of fratricide upon the head of one of them. There only remained +flight. He saw at last that he had been fighting blindly from the +first. He had won a girl whom he did not love--though doubtless her +liking was only the most fickle fancy. And she for whom he would have +died he had taught to hate him. It was a grim summing up. Donnegan +walked the room whistling softly to himself as he checked up his +accounts. + +One thing at least he had done; he had taken the joy out of his life +forever. + +And here, answering a rap at the door, he opened it upon Lou Macon. She +wore a dress of some very soft material. It was a pale blue--faded, no +doubt--but the color blended exquisitely with her hair and with the +flush of her face. It came to Donnegan that it was an unnecessary +cruelty of chance that made him see the girl lovelier than he had ever +seen her before at the very moment when he was surrendering the last +shadow of a claim upon her. + +And it hurt him, also, to see the freshness of her face, the clear eyes; +and to hear her smooth, untroubled voice. She had lived untouched by +anything save the sunshine in The Corner. + +Her glance flicked across his face and then fluttered down, and her +color increased guiltily. + +"I have come to ask you a favor," she said. + +"Step in," said Donnegan, recovering his poise at length. + +At this, she looked past him, and her eyes widened a little. There was +an imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, as though the very thought of +entering this cabin horrified her. And Donnegan had to bear that look as +well. + +"I'll stay here; I haven't much to say. It's a small thing." + +"Large or small," said Donnegan eagerly. "Tell me!" + +"My father has asked me to take a letter for him down to the town and +mail it. I--I understand that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. +Will you walk with me?" + +And Donnegan turned cold. Go down into The Corner? Where by five chances +out of ten he must meet his brother in the street? + +"I can do better still," he said, smiling. "I'll have George take the +letter down for you." + +"Thank you. But you see, father would not trust it to anyone save me. I +asked him; he was very firm about it." + +"Tush! I would trust George with my life." + +"Yes, yes It is not what I wish--but my father rarely changes his +mind." + +Perspiration beaded the forehead of Donnegan. Was there no way to evade +this easy request? + +"You see," he faltered, "I should be glad to go--" + +She raised her eyes slowly. + +"But I am terribly busy this morning." + +She did not answer, but half of her color left her face. + +"Upon my word of honor there is no danger to a woman in the town." + +"But some of the ruffians of Lord Nick--" + +"If they dared to even raise their voices at you, they would hear from +him in a manner that they would never forget." + +"Then you don't wish to go?" + +She was very pale now; and to Donnegan it was more terrible than the gun +in the hand of Lord Nick. Even if she thought he was slighting her why +should she take it so mortally to heart? For Donnegan, who saw all +things, was blind to read the face of this girl. + +"It doesn't really matter," she murmured and turned away. + +A gentle motion, but it wrenched the heart of Donnegan. He was instantly +before her. + +"Wait here a moment. I'll be ready to go down immediately." + +"No. I can't take you from your--work." + +What work did she assign to him in her imagination? Endless planning of +deviltry no doubt. + +"I shall go with you," said Donnegan. "At first--I didn't dream it could +be so important. Let me get my hat." + +He left her and leaped back into the cabin. + +"I am going down into The Corner for a moment," he said over his +shoulder to George, as he took his belt down from the wall. + +The big man strode to the wall and took his hat from a nail. + +"I shall not need you, George." + +But George merely grinned, and his big teeth flashed at the master. And +in the second place he took up a gun from the drawer and offered it to +Donnegan. + +"The gun in that holster ain't loaded," he said. + +Donnegan considered him soberly. + +"I know it. There'll be no need for a loaded gun." + +But once more George grinned. All at once Donnegan turned pale. + +"You dog," he whispered. "Did you listen at the door when Nick was +here?" + +"Me?" murmured George. "No, I just been thinking." + +And so it was that while Donnegan went down the hill with Lou Macon, +carrying an empty-chambered revolver, George followed at a distance of a +few paces, and he carried a loaded weapon unknown to Donnegan. + +It was the dull time of the day in The Corner. There were very few +people in the single street, and though most of them turned to look at +the little man and the girl who walked beside him, not one of them +either smiled or whispered. + +"You see?" said Donnegan. "You would have been perfectly safe--even from +Lord Nick's ruffians. That was one of his men we passed back there." + +"Yes. I'm safe with you," said the girl. + +And when she looked up to him, the blood of Donnegan turned to fire. + +Out of a shop door before them came a girl with a parcel under her arm. +She wore a gay, semi-masculine outfit, bright-colored, jaunty, and she +walked with a lilt toward them. It was Nelly Lebrun. And as she passed +them. Donnegan lifted his hat ceremoniously high. She nodded to him with +a smile, but the smile aimed wan and small in an instant. There was a +quick widening and then a narrowing of her eyes, and Donnegan knew that +she had judged Lou Macon as only one girl can judge another who is +lovelier. + +He glanced at Lou to see if she had noticed, and he saw her raise her +head and go on with her glance proudly straight before her; but her face +was very pale, and Donnegan knew that she had guessed everything that +was true and far more than the truth. Her tone at the door of the post +office was ice. + +"I think you are right, Mr. Donnegan. There's no danger. And if you have +anything else to do, I can get back home easily enough." + +"I'll wait for you," murmured Donnegan sadly, and he stood as the door +of the little building with bowed head. + +And then a murmur came down the street. How small it was, and how +sinister! It consisted of exclamations begun, and then broken sharply +off. A swirl of people divided as a cloud of dust divides before a blast +of wind, and through them came the gigantic figure of Lord Nick! + +On he came, a gorgeous figure, a veritable king of men. He carried his +hat in his hand and his red hair flamed, and he walked with great +strides. Donnegan glanced behind him. The way was clear. If he turned, +Lord Nick would not pursue him, he knew. + +But to flee even from his brother was more than he could do; for the +woman he loved would know of it and could never understand. + +He touched the holster that held his empty gun--and waited! + +An eternity between every step of Lord Nick. Others seemed to have +sensed the meaning of this silent scene. People seemed to stand frozen +in the midst of gestures. Or was that because Donnegan's own thoughts +were traveling at such lightning speed that the rest of the world seemed +standing still? What kept Lou Macon? If she were with him, not even Lord +Nick in his madness would force on a gunplay in the presence of a woman, +no doubt. + +Lord Nick was suddenly close; he had paused; his voice rang over the +street and struck upon Donnegan's ear as sounds come under water. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Aye!" called Donnegan softly. + +"It's the time!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +Then a huge body leaped before him; it was big George. And as he sprang +his gun went up with his hand in a line of light. The two reports came +close together as finger taps on a table, and big George, completing his +spring, lurched face downward into the sand. + +Dead? Not yet. All his faith and selflessness were nerving the big man. +And Donnegan stood behind him, unarmed! + +He reared himself upon his knees--an imposing bulk, even then, and fired +again. But his hand was trembling, and the bullet shattered a sign above +the head of Lord Nick. He, in his turn, it seemed to Donnegan that the +motion was slow, twitched up the muzzle of his weapon and fired once +more from his hip. And big George lurched back on the sand, with his +face upturned to Donnegan. He would have spoken, but a burst of blood +choked him; yet his eyes fixed and glazed, he mustered his last +strength and offered his revolver to Donnegan. + +But Donnegan let the hand fall limp to the ground. There were voices +about him; steps running; but all that he clearly saw was Lord Nick with +his feet braced, and his head high. + +"Donnegan! Your gun!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +"Take it then!" + +But in the crisis, automatically Donnegan flipped his useless revolver +out of its holster and into his hand. At the same instant the gun from +Nick's hand seemed to blaze in his eyes. He was struck a crushing blow +in his chest. He sank upon his knees: another blow struck his head, and +Donnegan collapsed on the body of big George. + + + + +44 + + +An ancient drunkard in the second story of one of the stores across the +street had roused himself at the sound of the shots and now he dragged +himself to the window and began to scream: "Murder! Murder!" over and +over, and even The Corner shuddered at the sound of his voice. + +Lord Nick, his revolver still in his hand, stalked through the film of +people who now swirled about him, eager to see the dead. There was no +call for the law to make its appearance, and the representatives of the +law were wisely dilatory in The Corner. + +He stood over the two motionless figures with a stony face. + +"You saw it, boys," he said. "You know what I've borne from this fellow. +The big man pulled his gun first on me. I shot in self-defense. As +for--the other--it was a square fight." + +"Square fight," someone answered. "You both went for your irons at the +same time. Pretty work, Nick." + +It was a solid phalanx of men which had collected around the moveless +bodies as swiftly as mercury sinks through water. Yet none of them +touched either Donnegan or George. And then the solid group dissolved at +one side. It was the moan of a woman which had scattered it, and a +yellow-haired girl slipped through them. She glanced once, in horror, at +the mute faces of the men, and then there was a wail as she threw +herself on the body of Donnegan. Somewhere she found the strength of a +man to lift him and place him face upward on the sand, the gun trailing +limply in his hand. And then she lay, half crouched over him, her face +pressed to his heart--listening--listening for the stir of life. + +Shootings were common in The Corner; the daily mortality ran high; but +there had never been aftermaths like this one. Men looked at one +another, and then at Lord Nick. A bright spot of color had come in his +cheeks, but his face was as hard as ever. + +"Get her away from him," someone murmured. + +And then another man cried out, stooped, wrenched the gun from the limp +hand of Donnegan and opened the cylinder. He spun it: daylight was +glittering through the empty cylinder. + +At this the man stiffened, and with a low bow which would have done +credit to a drawing-room, he presented the weapon butt first to Lord +Nick. + +"Here's something the sheriff will want to see," he said, "but maybe +you'll be interested, too." + +But Lord Nick, with the gun in his hand, stared at it dumbly, turned the +empty cylinder. And the full horror crept slowly on his mind. He had not +killed his brother, he had murdered him. As his eyes cleared, he caught +the glitter of the eyes which surrounded him. + +And then Lou Macon was on her knees with her hands clasped at her breast +and her face glorious. + +"Help!" she was crying. "Help me. He's not dead, but he's dying unless +you help me!" + +Then Lord Nick cast away his own revolver and the empty gun of Donnegan. +They heard him shout: "Garry!" and saw him stride forward. + +Instantly men pressed between, hard-jawed men who meant business. It was +a cordon he would have to fight his way through: but he dissolved it +with a word. + +"You fools! He's my brother!" + +And then he was on his knees opposite Lou Macon. + +"You?" she had stammered in horror. + +"His brother, girl." + +And ten minutes later, when the bandages had been wound, there was a +strange sight of Lord Nick striding up the street with his victim in his +arms. How lightly he walked; and he was talking to the calm, pale face +which rested in the hollow of his shoulder. + +"He will live? He will live?" Lou Macon was pleading as she hurried at +the side of Lord Nick. + +"God willing, he shall live!" + + +It was three hours before Donnegan opened his eyes. It was three days +before he recovered his senses, and looking aside toward the door he saw +a brilliant shaft of sunlight falling into the room. In the midst of it +sat Lou Macon. She had fallen asleep in her great weariness now that the +crisis was over. Behind her, standing, his great arms folded, stood the +indomitable figure of Lord Nick. + +Donnegan saw and wondered greatly. Then he closed his eyes dreamily. +"Hush," said Donnegan to himself, as if afraid that what he saw was all +a dream. "I'm in heaven, or if I'm not, it's still mighty good to be +alive." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10066 *** diff --git a/10066-h/10066-h.htm b/10066-h/10066-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..12c38b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/10066-h/10066-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10290 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +body { font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; + background-color: #ffffff;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10066 ***</div> + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> + +<a name="GUNMAN'S_RECKONING"></a><h2>GUNMAN'S RECKONING</h2> + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>Max Brand</h2> + + +<h3>1921</h3> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<h2>GUNMAN'S RECKONING</h2> + + +<table summary="" align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#1">1</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#2">2</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#3">3</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#4">4</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#5">5</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#6">6</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#7">7</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#8">8</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#9">9</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#10">10</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#11">11</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#12">12</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#13">13</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#14">14</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#15">15</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#16">16</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#17">17</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#18">18</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#19">19</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#21">21</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#22">22</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#23">23</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#24">24</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#25">25</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#26">26</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#27">27</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#28">28</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#29">29</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#31">31</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#32">32</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#33">33</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#34">34</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#35">35</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#36">36</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#37">37</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#38">38</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#39">39</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#41">41</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#42">42</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#43">43</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#44">44</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="1"></a><h2>1</h2> +<br> + +<p>The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road +bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring +and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the +locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a +freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a +stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary +tone—it is an overtone of conversation, one might say—and it is +distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of +course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on +the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and +staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places +as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had +touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since +the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money +the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance +with their talk.</p> + +<p>"It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to +play this line when you jumped from coast to coast."</p> + +<p>"Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side +of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched +eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's +been many a time."</p> + +<p>"Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising +in the world."</p> + +<p>He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe +was sufficiently concealed by the dark.</p> + +<p>"Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the +brakie.</p> + +<p>"Yeh?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that."</p> + +<p>"Yeh?"</p> + +<p>"But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Yep," agreed Lefty.</p> + +<p>The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced +him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. +He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty.</p> + +<p>"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; +you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they +said you was, and all that—well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em +that."</p> + +<p>"You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all +straight."</p> + +<p>The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period +to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was +in the mood for talk.</p> + +<p>"Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all +with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!"</p> + +<p>What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus +of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. +The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names.</p> + +<p>"Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?"</p> + +<p>"Even Suds!"</p> + +<p>The brakie stirred a little, wabbling from side to side as he found a +more comfortable position; instead of looking straight before him, he +kept a side-glance steadily upon his companion, and one could see that +he intended to remember what was said on this night.</p> + +<p>"Even Suds," echoed the brakie. "Good heavens, and ain't he a man for +you?"</p> + +<p>"He was a man," replied Lefty Joe with an indescribable emphasis.</p> + +<p>"Huh?"</p> + +<p>"He ain't a man any more."</p> + +<p>"Get bumped off?"</p> + +<p>"No. Busted."</p> + +<p>The brakie considered this bit of news and rolled it back and forth and +tried its flavor against his gossiping palate.</p> + +<p>"Did you fix him after he left you?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I see. You busted him while he was still with you. Then Kennebec Lou +and the Clipper get sore at the way you treat Suds. So here you are back +on the road with your gang all gone bust. Hard luck, Lefty."</p> + +<p>But Lefty whined with rage at this careless diagnosis of his downfall.</p> + +<p>"You're all wrong," he said. "You're all wrong. You don't know nothin'."</p> + +<p>The brakie waited, grinning securely into the night, and preparing his +mind for the story. But the story consisted of one word, flung bitterly +into the rushing air.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Him?" cried the brakie, starting in his place.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" cried Lefty, and his voice made the word into a curse.</p> + +<p>The brakie nodded.</p> + +<p>"Them that get tangled with Donnegan don't last long. You ought to know +that."</p> + +<p>At this the grief, hate, and rage in Lefty Joe were blended and caused +an explosion.</p> + +<p>"Confound Donnegan. Who's Donnegan? I ask you, who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"A guy that makes trouble," replied the brakie, evidently hard put to it +to find a definition.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't he make it, though? Confound him!"</p> + +<p>"You ought to of stayed shut of him, Lefty."</p> + +<p>"Did I hunt him up, I ask you? Am I a nut? No, I ain't. Do I go along +stepping on the tail of a rattlesnake? No more do I look up Donnegan."</p> + +<p>He groaned as he remembered.</p> + +<p>"I was going fine. Nothing could of been better. I had the boys +together. We was doing so well that I was riding the cushions and I went +around planning the jobs. Nice, clean work. No cans tied to it. But one +day I had to meet Suds down in the Meriton Jungle. You know?"</p> + +<p>"I've heard—plenty," said the brakie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it ain't so bad—the Meriton. I've seen a lot worse. Found Suds +there, and Suds was playing Black Jack with an ol gink. He was trimmin' +him close. Get Suds going good and he could read 'em three down and bury +'em as fast as they came under the bottom card. Takes a hand to do that +sort of work. And that's the sort of work Suds was doing for the old +man. Pretty soon the game was over and the old man was busted. He took +up his pack and beat it, saying nothing and looking sick. I started +talking to Suds.</p> + +<p>"And while he was talking, along comes a bo and gives us a once-over. He +knew me. 'Is this here a friend of yours, Lefty? he says.</p> + +<p>"'Sure,' says I.</p> + +<p>"'Then, he's in Dutch. He trimmed that old dad, and the dad is one of +Donnegan's pals. Wait till Donnegan hears how your friend made the cards +talk while he was skinning the old boy!</p> + +<p>"He passes me the wink and goes on. Made me sick. I turned to Suds, and +the fool hadn't batted an eye. Never even heard of Donnegan. You know +how it is? Half the road never heard of it; part of the roads don't know +nothin' else. He's like a jumpin tornado; hits every ten miles and don't +bend a blade of grass in between.</p> + +<p>"Took me about five minutes to tell Suds about Donnegan. Then Suds let +out a grunt and started down the trail for the old dad. Missed him. Dad +had got out of the Jungle and copped a rattler. Suds come back half +green and half yeller.</p> + +<p>"'I've done it; I've spilled the beans,' he says.</p> + +<p>"'That ain't half sayin' it,' says I.</p> + +<p>"Well, we lit out after that and beat it down the line as fast as we +could. We got the rest of the boys together; I had a swell job planned +up. Everything staked. Then, the first news come that Donnegan was after +Suds.</p> + +<p>"News just dropped on us out of the sky. Suds, you know how he is. +Strong bluff. Didn't bat an eye. Laughed at this Donnegan. Got a hold of +an old pal of his, named Levine, and he is a mighty hot scrapper. From a +knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a +fight. Suds sent him out to cross Donnegan's trail.</p> + +<p>"He crossed it, well enough. Suds got a telegram a couple days later +saying that Levine had run into a wild cat and was considerable chawed +and would Suds send him a stake to pay the doctor?</p> + +<p>"Well, after that Suds got sort of nervous. Didn't take no interest in +his work no more. Kept a weather eye out watching for the coming of +Donnegan. And pretty soon he up and cleaned out of camp.</p> + +<p>"Next day, sure enough, along comes Donnegan and asks for Suds. We kept +still—all but Kennebec Lou. Kennebec is some fighter himself. Two +hundred pounds of mule muscle with the brain of a devil to tell what to +do—yes, you can lay it ten to one that Kennebec is some fighter. That +day he had a good edge from a bottle of rye he was trying for a friend.</p> + +<p>"He didn't need to go far to find trouble in Donnegan. A wink and a grin +was all they needed for a password, and then they went at each other's +throats. Kennebec made the first pass and hit thin air; and before he +got back on his heels, Donnegan had hit him four times. Then Kennebec +jumped back and took a fresh start with a knife."</p> + +<p>Here Lefty Joe paused and sighed.</p> + +<p>He continued, after a long interval: "Five minutes later we was all busy +tyin' up what was left of Kennebec; Donnegan was down the road whistlin' +like a bird. And that was the end of my gang. What with Kennebec Lou and +Suds both gone, what chance did I have to hold the boys together?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="2"></a><h2>2</h2> +<br> + +<p>The brakie heard this recital with the keenest interest, nodding from +time to time.</p> + +<p>"What beats me, Lefty," he said at the end of the story, "is why you +didn't knife into the fight yourself and take a hand with Donnegan"</p> + +<p>At this Lefty was silent. It was rather the silence of one which cannot +tell whether or not it is worth while to speak than it was the silence +of one who needs time for thought.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why, bo. It's because when I take a trail like that it +only has one end I'm going to bump off the other bird or he's going to +bump off me"</p> + +<p>The brakie cleared his throat</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, "looks to me like a queer thing that you're on +this train"</p> + +<p>"Does it" queried Lefty softly "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because Donnegan is two cars back, asleep."</p> + +<p>"The devil you say!"</p> + +<p>The brakie broke into laughter</p> + +<p>"Don't kid yourself along," he warned. "Don't do it. It ain't +wise—with me."</p> + +<p>"What you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Come on, Lefty. Come clean. You better do a fade off this train."</p> + +<p>"Why, you fool—"</p> + +<p>"It don't work, Joe. Why, the minute I seen you I knew why you was here. +I knew you meant to croak Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Me croak him? Why should I croak him?"</p> + +<p>"Because you been trailing him two thousand miles. Because you ain't got +the nerve to meet him face to face and you got to sneak in and take a +crack at him while he's lying asleep. That's you, Lefty Joe!"</p> + +<p>He saw Lefty sway toward him; but, all stories aside, it is a very bold +tramp that cares for argument of a serious nature with a brakie. And +even Lefty Joe was deterred from violent action. In the darkness his +upper lip twitched, but he carefully smoothed his voice.</p> + +<p>"You don't know nothing, pal," he declared.</p> + +<p>"Don't I?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," repeated Lefty.</p> + +<p>He reached into his clothes and produced something which rustled in the +rush of wind. He fumbled, and finally passed a scrap of the paper into +the hand of the brakie.</p> + +<p>"My heavens," drawled the latter. "D'you think you can fix me with a +buck for a job like this? You can't bribe me to stand around while you +bump off Donnegan. Can't be done, Lefty!"</p> + +<p>"One buck, did you say?"</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe expertly lighted a match in spite of the roaring wind, and by +this wild light the brakie read the denomination of the bill with a +gasp. He rolled up his face and was in time to catch the sneer on the +face of Lefty before a gust snatched away the light of the match.</p> + +<p>They had topped the highest point in Jericho Pass and now the long train +dropped into the down grade with terrific speed. The wind became a +hurricane. But to the brakie all this was no more than a calm night. His +thoughts were raging in him, and if he looked back far enough he +remembered the dollar which Donnegan had given him; and how he had +promised Donnegan to give the warning before anything went wrong. He +thought of this, but rustling against the palm of his right hand was +the bill whose denomination he had read, and that figure ate into his +memory, ate into his brain.</p> + +<p>After all what was Donnegan to him? What was Donnegan but a worthless +tramp? Without any answer to that last monosyllabic query, the brakie +hunched forward, and began to work his way up the train.</p> + +<p>The tramp watched him go with laughter. It was silent laughter. In the +most quiet room it would not have sounded louder than a continual, light +hissing noise. Then he, in turn, moved from his place, and worked his +way along the train in the opposite direction to that in which the +brakie had disappeared.</p> + +<p>He went expertly, swinging from car to car with apelike clumsiness—and +surety. Two cars back. It was not so easy to reach the sliding side door +of that empty car. Considering the fact that it was night, that the +train was bucking furiously over the old roadbed, Lefty had a not +altogether simple task before him. But he managed it with the same +apelike adroitness. He could climb with his feet as well as his hands. +He would trust a ledge as well as he would trust the rung of a ladder.</p> + +<p>Under his discreet manipulations from above the door loosened and it +became possible to work it back. But even this the tramp did with +considerable care. He took advantage of the lurching of the train, and +every time the car jerked he forced the door to roll a little, so that +it might seem for all the world as though the motion of the train alone +were operating it.</p> + +<p>For suppose that Donnegan wakened out of his sound sleep and observed +the motion of the door; he would be suspicious if the door opened in a +single continued motion; but if it worked in these degrees he would be +hypersuspicious if he dreamed of danger. So the tramp gave five whole +minutes to that work.</p> + +<p>When it was done he waited for a time, another five minutes, perhaps, to +see if the door would be moved back. And when it was not disturbed, but +allowed to stand open, he knew that Donnegan still slept.</p> + +<p>It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into +the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this +moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man +might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping +foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome +by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought +that he was about to rid himself of this pest.</p> + +<p>True, the gang was broken up. But it might rise again. Donnegan had +fallen upon it like a blight. But with Donnegan out of the way would not +Suds come back to him instantly? And would not Kennebec Lou himself +return in admiration of a man who had done what he, Kennebec, could not +do? With those two as a nucleus, how greatly might he not build!</p> + +<p>Justice must be done to Lefty Joe. He approached this murder as a +statesman approaches the removal of a foe from the path of public +prosperity. There was no more rancor in his attitude. It was rather the +blissful largeness of the heart that comes to the politician when he +unearths the scandal which will blight the race of his rival.</p> + +<p>With the peaceful smile of a child, therefore, Lefty Joe lay stretched +at full length along the top of the car and made his choice of weapons. +On the whole, his usual preference, day or night, was for a revolver. +Give him a gat and Lefty was at home in any company. But he had reasons +for transferring his alliance on this occasion. In the first place, a +box car which is reeling and pitching to and fro, from side to side, is +not a very good shooting platform—even for a snapshot like Lefty Joe. +Also, the pitch darkness in the car would be a further annoyance to good +aim. And in the third and most decisive place, if he were to miss his +first shot he would not be extremely apt to place his second bullet. For +Donnegan had a reputation with his own revolver. Indeed, it was said +that he rarely carried the weapon, because when he did he was always +tempted too strongly to use it. So that the chances were large that +Donnegan would not have the gun now. Yet if he did have it—if he, +Lefty, did miss his first shot—then the story would be brief and bitter +indeed.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, a knife offered advantages almost too numerous to be +listed. It gave one the deadly assurance which only comes with the +knowledge of an edge of steel in one's hand. And when the knife reaches +its mark it ends a battle at a stroke.</p> + +<p>Of course these doubts and considerations pro and con went through the +mind of the tramp in about the same space of time that it requires for a +dog to waken, snap at a fly, and drowse again. Eventually, he took out +his knife. It was a sheath knife which he wore from a noose of silk +around his throat, and it always lay closest to his heart. The blade of +the knife was of the finest Spanish steel, in the days when Spanish +smiths knew how to draw out steel to a streak of light; the handle of +the knife was from Milan. On the whole, it was a delicate and beautiful +weapon—and it had the durable suppleness of—say—hatred itself.</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe, like a pirate in a tale, took this weapon between his teeth; +allowed his squat, heavy bulk to swing down and dangle at arm's length +for an instant, and then he swung himself a little and landed softly on +the floor of the car.</p> + +<p>Who has not heard snow drop from the branch upon other snow beneath? +That was the way Lefty Joe dropped to the floor of the car. He remained +as he had fallen; crouched, alert, with one hand spread out on the +boards to balance him and give him a leverage and a start in case he +should wish to spring in any direction.</p> + +<p>Then he began to probe the darkness in every direction; with every +glance he allowed his head to dart out a little. The movement was like a +chicken pecking at imaginary grains of corn. But eventually he satisfied +himself that his quarry lay in the forward end of the car; that he was +prone; that he, Lefty, had accomplished nine-tenths of his purpose by +entering the place of his enemy unobserved.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="3"></a><h2>3</h2> +<br> + +<p>But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe +was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise. The +roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those +of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though +he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house. He could see a vague +shadow—Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of +direction which some people possess in a dim light. The blind, of +course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even +those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted +sense of direction.</p> + +<p>With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first +and most dangerous stage of his journey. That is, he got away from the +square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve +to silhouette his body. After this, it was easier work.</p> + +<p>Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been +transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress +forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not +yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon. Just as a prize fighter +keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears +to lose his intimate touch with them.</p> + +<p>This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds. Now Lefty Joe rose +slowly. He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll +of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left +hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for +the leap. He had already taken the last preliminary movement—he had +swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, +had thrown all his weight upon the right—in fact, his body was +literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the +shadow which was Donnegan came to life.</p> + +<p>The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a +stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some +eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe.</p> + +<p>It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under +those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have +frustrated Lefty's spring so completely. Instead of launching out in a +compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty +crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife +hand to save his balance.</p> + +<p>It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men. Animals +fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet. +They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even +while they are dropping through the air. But man needs poise and balance +before he can act. What is speed in a fighter? It is not so much an +affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself +instantly to each new move and put the body in a state of balance. In +the prize ring speed does not mean the ability to strike one lightning +blow, but rather that, having finished one drive, the fighter is in +position to hit again, and then again, so that no matter where the +impetus of his last lunge has placed him he is ready and poised to shoot +all his weight behind his fist again and drive it accurately at a +vulnerable spot. Individually the actions may be slow; but the series of +efforts seem rapid. That is why a superior boxer seems to hypnotize his +antagonist with movements which to the spectator seem perfectly easy, +slow, and sure.</p> + +<p>But if Lefty lacked much in agility, he had an animallike sense of +balance. Sprawling, helpless, he saw the convulsed shadow that was +Donnegan take form as a straight shooting body that plunged through the +air above him. Lefty Joe dug his left elbow into the floor of the car +and whirled back upon his shoulders, bunching his knees high over his +stomach. Nine chances out of ten, if Donnegan had fallen flatwise upon +this alert enemy, he would have received those knees in the pit of his +own stomach and instantly been paralyzed. But in the jumping, rattling +car even Donnegan was capable of making mistakes. His mistake in this +instance saved his life, for springing too far, he came down not in +reaching distance of Lefty's throat, but with his chest on the knees of +the older tramp.</p> + +<p>As a result, Donnegan was promptly kicked head over heels and tumbled +the length of the car. Lefty was on his feet and plunging after the +tumbling form in the twinkling of an eye, literally speaking, and he was +only kept from burying his knife in the flesh of his foe by a sway of +the car that staggered him in the act of striking. Donnegan, the next +instant, was beyond reach. He had struck the end of the car and +rebounded like a ball of rubber at a tangent. He slid into the shadows, +and Lefty, putting his own shoulders to the wall, felt for his revolver +and knew that he was lost. He had failed in his first surprise attack, +and without surprise to help him now he was gone. He weighed his +revolver, decided that it would be madness to use it, for if he missed, +Donnegan would instantly be guided by the flash to shoot him full of +holes.</p> + +<p>Something slipped by the open door—something that glimmered faintly; +and Lefty Joe knew that it was the red head of Donnegan. Donnegan, +soft-footed as a shadow among shadows. Donnegan on a blood trail. It +lowered the heartbeat of Lefty Joe to a tremendous, slow pulse. In that +moment he gave up hope and, resigning himself to die, determined to +fight to the last gasp, as became one of his reputation and national +celebrity on "the road."</p> + +<p>Yet Lefty Joe was no common man and no common fighter. No, let the shade +of Rusty Dick, whom Lefty met and beat in his glorious prime—let this +shade arise and speak for the prowess of Lefty Joe. In fact it was +because he was such a good fighter himself that he recognized his +helplessness in the hands of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>The faint glimmer of color had passed the door. It was dissolved in +deeper shadows at once, and soundlessly; Lefty knew that Donnegan was +closer and closer.</p> + +<p>Of one thing he felt more and more confident, that Donnegan did not have +his revolver with him. Otherwise, he would have used it before. For what +was darkness to this devil, Donnegan. He walked like a cat, and most +likely he could see like a cat in the dark. Instinctively the older +tramp braced himself with his right hand held at a guard before his +breast and the knife poised in his left, just as a man would prepare to +meet the attack of a panther. He even took to probing the darkness in a +strange hope to catch the glimmer of the eyes of Donnegan as he moved to +the attack. If there were a hair's breadth of light, then Donnegan +himself must go down. A single blow would do it.</p> + +<p>But the devil had instructed his favorite Donnegan how to fight. He did +not come lunging through the shadows to meet the point of that knife. +Instead, he had worked a snaky way along the floor and now he leaped in +and up at Lefty, taking him under the arms.</p> + +<p>A dozen hands, it seemed, laid hold on Lefty. He fought like a demon and +tore himself away, but the multitude of hands pursued him. They were +small hands. Where they closed they tore the clothes and bit into his +very flesh. Once a hand had him by the throat, and when Lefty jerked +himself away it was with a feeling that his flesh had been seared by +five points of red-hot iron. All this time his knife was darting; once +it ripped through cloth, but never once did it find the target. And half +a second later Donnegan got his hold. The flash of the knife as Lefty +raised it must have guided the other. He shot his right hand up behind +the left shoulder of the other and imprisoned the wrist. Not only did it +make the knife hand helpless, but by bearing down with his own weight +Donnegan could put his enemy in most exquisite torture.</p> + +<p>For an instant they whirled; then they went down, and Lefty was on top. +Only for a moment. The impetus which had sent him to the floor was used +by Donnegan to turn them over, and once fairly on top his left hand was +instantly at the throat of Lefty.</p> + +<p>Twice Lefty made enormous efforts, but then he was done. About his body +the limbs of Donnegan were twisted, tightening with incredible force; +just as hot iron bands sink resistlessly into place. The strangle-hold +cut away life at its source. Once he strove to bury his teeth in the arm +of Donnegan. Once, as the horror caught at him, he strove to shriek for +help. All he succeeded in doing was in raising an awful, sobbing +whisper. Then, looking death in the face, Lefty plunged into the great +darkness.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="4"></a><h2>4</h2> +<br> + +<p>When he wakened, he jumped at a stride into the full possession of his +faculties. He had been placed near the open door, and the rush of night +air had done its work in reviving him. But Lefty, drawn back to life, +felt only a vague wonder that his life had not been taken. Perhaps he +was being reserved by the victor for an Indian death of torment. He felt +cautiously and found that not only were his hands free, but his revolver +had not been taken from him. A familiar weight was on his chest—the +very knife had been returned to its sheath.</p> + +<p>Had Donnegan returned these things to show how perfectly he despised his +enemy?</p> + +<p>"He's gone!" groaned the tramp, sitting up quickly.</p> + +<p>"He's here," said a voice that cut easily through the roar of the train. +"Waiting for you, Lefty."</p> + +<p>The tramp was staggered again. But then, who had ever been able to +fathom the ways of Donnegan?</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" he cried with a sudden recklessness.</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"You're a fool!"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"For not finishing the job."</p> + +<p>Donnegan began to laugh. In the uproar of the train it was impossible +really to hear the sound, but Lefty caught the pulse of it. He fingered +his bruised throat; swallowing was a painful effort. And an +indescribable feeling came over him as he realized that he sat armed to +the teeth within a yard of the man he wanted to kill, and yet he was as +effectively rendered helpless as though iron shackles had been locked on +his wrists and legs. The night light came through the doorway, and he +could make out the slender outline of Donnegan and again he caught the +faint luster of that red hair; and out of the shadowy form a singular +power emanated and sapped his strength at the root.</p> + +<p>Yet he went on viciously: "Sooner or later, Donnegan, I'll get you!"</p> + +<p>The red head of Donnegan moved, and Lefty Joe knew that the younger man +was laughing again.</p> + +<p>"Why are you after me?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>It was another blow in the face of Lefty. He sat for a time blinking +with owlish stupidity.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he echoed. And he spoke his astonishment from the heart.</p> + +<p>"Why am I after you?" he said again. "Why, confound you, ain't you +Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Don't the whole road know that I'm after you and you after me?"</p> + +<p>"The whole road is crazy. I'm not after you."</p> + +<p>Lefty choked.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I been dreaming. Maybe you didn't bust up the gang? Maybe you +didn't clean up on Suds and Kennebec?"</p> + +<p>"Suds? Kennebec? I sort of remember meeting them."</p> + +<p>"You sort of—the devil!" Lefty Joe sputtered the words. "And after you +cleaned up my crowd, ain't it natural and good sense for you to go on +and try to clean up on me?"</p> + +<p>"Sounds like it."</p> + +<p>"But I figured to beat you to it. I cut in on your trail, Donnegan, and +before I leave it you'll know a lot more about me."</p> + +<p>"You're warning me ahead of time?"</p> + +<p>"You've played this game square with me; I'll play square with you. +Next time there'll be no slips, Donnegan. I dunno why you should of +picked on me, though. Just the natural devil in you."</p> + +<p>"I haven't picked on you," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you my word."</p> + +<p>A tingle ran through the blood of Lefty Joe. Somewhere he had heard, in +rumor, that the word of Donnegan was as good as gold. He recalled that +rumor now and something of dignity in the manner with which Donnegan +made his announcement carried a heavy weight. As a rule, the tramps +vowed with many oaths; here was one of the nights of the road who made +his bare word sufficient. And Lefty Joe heard with great wonder.</p> + +<p>"All I ask," he said, "is why you hounded my gang, if you wasn't after +me?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't hound them. I ran into Suds by accident. We had trouble. Then +Levine. Then Kennebec Lou tried to take a fall out of me."</p> + +<p>A note of whimsical protest crept into the voice of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Somehow there's always a fight wherever I go," he said. "Fights just +sort of grow up around me."</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe snarled.</p> + +<p>"You didn't mean nothing by just 'happening' to run into three of my +boys one after another?"</p> + +<p>"Not a thing."</p> + +<p>Lefty rocked himself back and forth in an ecstasy of impatience.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you stay put?" he complained. "Why don't you stake out your +own ground and stay put in it? You cut in on every guy's territory. +There ain't any privacy any more since you hit the road. What you got? A +roving commission?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited for a moment before he answered. And when he spoke his +voice had altered. Indeed, he had remarkable ability to pitch his voice +into the roar of the freight train, and above or beneath it, and give it +a quality such as he pleased.</p> + +<p>"I'm following a trail, but not yours," he admitted at length. "I'm +following a trail. I've been at it these two years and nothing has +come of it."</p> + +<p>"Who you after?"</p> + +<p>"A man with red hair."</p> + +<p>"That tells me a lot."</p> + +<p>Donnegan refused to explain.</p> + +<p>"What you got against him—the color of his hair?"</p> + +<p>And Lefty roared contentedly at his own stale jest.</p> + +<p>"It's no good," replied Donnegan. "I'll never get on the trail."</p> + +<p>Lefty broke in: "You mean to say you've been working two solid years and +all on a trail that you ain't even found?"</p> + +<p>The silence answered him in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Ain't nobody been able to tip you off to him?" went on Lefty, intensely +interested.</p> + +<p>"Nobody. You see, he's a hard sort to describe. Red hair, that's all +there was about him for a clue. But if any one ever saw him stripped +they'd remember him by a big blotchy birthmark on his left shoulder."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" grunted Lefty Joe.</p> + +<p>He added: "What was his name?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know. He changed monikers when he took to the road."</p> + +<p>"What was he to you?"</p> + +<p>"A man I'm going to find."</p> + +<p>"No matter where the trail takes you?"</p> + +<p>"No matter where."</p> + +<p>At this Lefty was seized with unaccountable laughter. He literally +strained his lungs with that Homeric outburst. When he wiped the tears +from his eyes, at length, the shadow on the opposite side of the doorway +had disappeared. He found his companion leaning over him, and this time +he could catch the dull glint of starlight on both hair and eyes.</p> + +<p>"What d'you know?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"How do you stand toward this bird with the birthmark and the red hair?" +queried Lefty with caution.</p> + +<p>"What d'you know?" insisted Donnegan.</p> + +<p>All at once passion shook him; he fastened his grip in the shoulder of +the larger man, and his fingertips worked toward the bone.</p> + +<p>"What do you know?" he repeated for the third time, and now there was no +hint of laughter in the hard voice of Lefty.</p> + +<p>"You fool, if you follow that trail you'll go to the devil. It was +Rusty Dick; and he's dead!"</p> + +<p>His triumphant laughter came again, but Donnegan cut into it.</p> + +<p>"Rusty Dick was the one you—killed!"</p> + +<p>"Sure. What of it? We fought fair and square."</p> + +<p>"Then Rusty wasn't the man I want. The man I want would of eaten two +like you, Lefty."</p> + +<p>"What about the birthmark? It sure was on his shoulder; Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" whispered Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Rusty Dick," gasped Donnegan. "Yes, it must have been he."</p> + +<p>"Sure it was. What did you have against him?"</p> + +<p>"It was a matter of blood—between us," stammered Donnegan.</p> + +<p>His voice rose in a peculiar manner, so that Lefty shrank involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"You killed Rusty?"</p> + +<p>"Ask any of the boys. But between you and me, it was the booze that +licked Rusty Dick. I just finished up the job and surprised everybody."</p> + +<p>The train was out of the mountains and in a country of scattering hills, +but here it struck a steep grade and settled down to a grind of slow +labor; the rails hummed, and suspense filled the freight car.</p> + +<p>"Hey," cried Lefty suddenly. "You fool, you'll do a flop out the door in +about a minute!"</p> + +<p>He even reached out to steady the toppling figure, but Donnegan pitched +straight out into the night. Lefty craned his neck from the door, +studying the roadbed, but at that moment the locomotive topped the +little rise and the whole train lurched forward.</p> + +<p>"After all," murmured Lefty Joe, "it sounds like Donnegan. Hated a guy +so bad that he hadn't any use for livin' when he heard the other guy was +dead. But I'm never goin' to cross his path again, I hope."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="5"></a><h2>5</h2> +<br> + +<p>But Donnegan had leaped clear of the roadbed, and he struck almost to +the knees in a drift of sand. Otherwise, he might well have broken his +legs with that foolhardy chance. As it was, the fall whirled him over +and over, and by the time he had picked himself up the lighted caboose +of the train was rocking past him. Donnegan watched it grow small in the +distance, and then, when it was only a red, uncertain star far down the +track, he turned to the vast country around him.</p> + +<p>The mountains were to his right, not far away, but caught up behind the +shadows so that it seemed a great distance. Like all huge, half-seen +things they seemed in motion toward him. For the rest, he was in bare, +rolling country. The sky line everywhere was clean; there was hardly a +sign of a tree. He knew, by a little reflection, that this must be +cattle country, for the brakie had intimated as much in their talk just +before dusk. Now it was early night, and a wind began to rise, blowing +down the valley with a keen motion and a rapidly lessening temperature, +so that Donnegan saw he must get to a shelter. He could, if necessary, +endure any privation, but his tastes were for luxurious comfort. +Accordingly he considered the landscape with gloomy disapproval. He was +almost inclined to regret his plunge from the lumbering freight train. +Two things had governed him in making that move. First, when he +discovered that the long trail he followed was definitely fruitless, he +was filled with a great desire to cut himself away from his past and +make a new start. Secondly, when he learned that Rusty Dick had been +killed by Joe, he wanted desperately to get the throttle of the latter +under his thumb. If ever a man risked his life to avoid a sin, it was +Donnegan jumping from the train to keep from murder.</p> + +<p>He stooped to sight along the ground, for this is the best way at night +and often horizon lights are revealed in this manner. But now Donnegan +saw nothing to serve as a guide. He therefore drew in his belt until it +fitted snug about his gaunt waist, settled his cap firmly, and headed +straight into the wind.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have shown his character more distinctly.</p> + +<p>When in doubt, head into the wind.</p> + +<p>With a jaunty, swinging step he sauntered along, and this time, at +least, his tactics found an early reward. Topping the first large rise +of ground, he saw in the hollow beneath him the outline of a large +building. And as he approached it, the wind clearing a high blowing mist +from the stars, he saw a jumble of outlying houses. Sheds, barns, +corrals—it was the nucleus of a big ranch. It is a maxim that, if you +wish to know a man look at his library and if you wish to know a +rancher, look at his barn. Donnegan made a small detour to the left and +headed for the largest of the barns.</p> + +<p>He entered it by the big, sliding door, which stood open; he looked up, +and saw the stars shining through a gap in the roof. And then he stood +quietly for a time, listening to the voices of the wind in the ruin. +Oddly enough, it was pleasant to Donnegan. His own troubles and sorrow +had poured upon him so thickly in the past hour or so that it was +soothing to find evidence of the distress of others. But perhaps this +meant that the entire establishment was deserted.</p> + +<p>He left the barn and went toward the house. Not until he was close under +its wall did he come to appreciate its size. It was one of those great, +rambling, two-storied structures which the cattle kings of the past +generation were fond of building. Standing close to it, he heard none of +the intimate sounds of the storm blowing through cracks and broken +walls; no matter into what disrepair the barns had fallen, the house was +still solid; only about the edges of the building the storm kept +murmuring.</p> + +<p>Yet there was not a light, neither above nor below. He came to the front +of the house. Still no sign of life. He stood at the door and knocked +loudly upon it, and though, when he tried the knob, he found that the +door was latched, yet no one came in response. He knocked again, and +putting his ear close he heard the echoes walk through the interior of +the building.</p> + +<p>After this, the wind rose in sudden strength and deafened him with +rattlings; above him, a shutter was swung open and then crashed to, so +that the opening of the door was a shock of surprise to Donnegan. A dim +light from a source which he could not direct suffused the interior of +the hall; the door itself was worked open a matter of inches and +Donnegan was aware of two keen old eyes glittering out at him. Beyond +this he could distinguish nothing.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "And what do you want?"</p> + +<p>"I'm a stranger, and I want something to eat and a place to sleep. This +house looks as if it might have spare rooms."</p> + +<p>"Where d'you come from?"</p> + +<p>"Yonder," said Donnegan, with a sufficiently noncommittal gesture.</p> + +<p>"What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"I don't know you. Be off with you, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>He inserted his foot in the closing crack of the door.</p> + +<p>"Tell me where I'm to go?" he persisted.</p> + +<p>At this her voice rose in pitch, with squeaky rage.</p> + +<p>"I'll raise the house on you!"</p> + +<p>"Raise 'em. Call down the man of the house. I can talk to him better +than I can to you; but I won't walk off like this. If you can feed me, +I'll pay you for what I eat."</p> + +<p>A shrill cackling—he could not make out the words. And since patience +was not the first of Donnegan's virtues, he seized on the knob of the +door and deliberately pressed it wide. Standing in the hall, now, and +closing the door slowly behind him, he saw a woman with old, keen eyes +shrinking away toward the staircase. She was evidently in great fear, +but there was something infinitely malicious in the manner in which she +kept working her lips soundlessly. She was shrinking, and half turned +away, yet there was a suggestion that in an instant she might whirl and +fly at his face. The door now clicked, and with the windstorm shut away +Donnegan had a queer feeling of being trapped.</p> + +<p>"Now call the man of the house," he repeated. "See if I can't come to +terms with him."</p> + +<p>"He'd make short work of you if he came," she replied. She broke into a +shrill laughter, and Donnegan thought he had never seen a face so ugly. +"If he came," she said, "you'd rue the day."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll talk to you, then. I'm not asking charity. I want to pay for +what I get."</p> + +<p>"This ain't a hotel. You go on down the road. Inside eight miles you'll +come to the town."</p> + +<p>"Eight miles!"</p> + +<p>"That's nothing for a man to ride."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, if I had something to ride."</p> + +<p>"You ain't got a horse?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then how do you come here?"</p> + +<p>"I walked."</p> + +<p>If this sharpened her suspicions, it sharpened her fear also. She put +one foot on the lowest step of the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Be off with you, Mr. Donnegally, or whatever your outlandish name is. +You'll get nothing here. What brings you—"</p> + +<p>A door closed and a footstep sounded lightly on the floor above. And +Donnegan, already alert in the strange atmosphere of this house, gave +back a pace so as to get an honest wall behind him. He noted that the +step was quick and small, and preparing himself to meet a wisp of +manhood—which, for that matter, was the type he was most inclined to +fear—Donnegan kept a corner glance upon the old woman at the foot of +the stairs and steadily surveyed the shadows at the head of the rise.</p> + +<p>Out of that darkness a foot slipped; not even a boy's foot—a very +child's. The shock of it made Donnegan relax his caution for an instant, +and in that instant she came into the reach of the light. It was a +wretched light at best, for it came from a lamp with smoky chimney +which the old hag carried, and at the raising and lowering of her hand +the flame jumped and died in the throat of the chimney and set the hall +awash with shadows. Falling away to a point of yellow, the lamp allowed +the hall to assume a certain indefinite dignity of height and breadth +and calm proportions; but when the flame rose Donnegan could see the +broken balusters of the balustrade, the carpet, faded past any design +and worn to rattiness, wall paper which had rotted or dried away and +hung in crisp tatters here and there, and on the ceiling an irregular +patch from which the plaster had fallen and exposed the lathwork. But at +the coming of the girl the old woman had turned, and as she did the +flame tossed up in the lamp and Donnegan could see the newcomer +distinctly.</p> + +<p>Once before his heart had risen as it rose now. It had been the fag end +of a long party, and Donnegan, rousing from a drunken sleep, staggered +to the window. Leaning there to get the freshness of the night air +against his hot face, he had looked up, and saw the white face of the +moon going up the sky; and a sudden sense of the blackness and loathing +against the city had come upon Donnegan, and the murky color of his own +life; and when he turned away from the window he was sober. And so it +was that he now stared up at the girl. At her breast she held a cloak +together with one hand and the other hand touched the railing of the +stairs. He saw one foot suspended for the next step, as though the sight +of him kept her back in fear. To the miserable soul of Donnegan she +seemed all that was lovely, young, and pure; and her hair, old gold in +the shadow and pale gold where the lamp struck it, was to Donnegan like +a miraculous light about her face.</p> + +<p>Indeed, that little pause was a great and awful moment. For considering +that Donnegan, who had gone through his whole life with his eyes ready +either to mock or hate, and who had rarely used his hand except to make +a fist of it; Donnegan who had never, so far as is known, had a +companion; who had asked the world for action, not kindness; this +Donnegan now stood straight with his back against the wall, and poured +out the story of his wayward life to a mere slip of a girl.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="6"></a><h2>6</h2> +<br> + +<p>Even the old woman, whose eyes were sharpened by her habit of looking +constantly for the weaknesses and vices of men, could not guess what was +going on behind the thin, rather ugly face of Donnegan; the girl, +perhaps, may have seen more. For she caught the glitter of his active +eyes even at that distance. The hag began to explain with vicious +gestures that set the light flaring up and down.</p> + +<p>"He ain't come from nowhere, Lou," she said. "He ain't going nowhere; he +wants to stay here for the night."</p> + +<p>The foot which had been suspended to take the next step was now +withdrawn. Donnegan, remembered at last, whipped off his cap, and at +once the light flared and burned upon his hair. It was a wonderful red; +it shone, and it had a terrible blood tinge so that his face seemed pale +beneath it. There were three things that made up the peculiar dominance +of Donnegan's countenance. The three things were the hair, the uneasy, +bright eyes, and the rather thin, compressed lips. When Donnegan slept +he seemed about to waken from a vigorous dream; when he sat down he +seemed about to leap to his feet; and when he was standing he gave that +impression of a poise which is ready for anything. It was no wonder that +the girl, seeing that face and that alert, aggressive body, shrank a +little on the stairs. Donnegan, that instant, knew that these two women +were really alone in the house as far as fighting men were concerned.</p> + +<p>And the fact disturbed him more than a leveled gun would have done. He +went to the foot of the stairs, even past the old woman, and, raising +his head, he spoke to the girl.</p> + +<p>"My name's Donnegan. I came over from the railroad—walked. I don't want +to walk that other eight miles unless there's a real need for it. I—" +Why did he pause? "I'll pay for anything I get here."</p> + +<p>His voice was not too certain; behind his teeth there was knocking a +desire to cry out to her the truth. "I am Donnegan. Donnegan the tramp. +Donnegan the shiftless. Donnegan the fighter. Donnegan the killer. +Donnegan the penniless, worthless. But for heaven's sake let me stay +until morning and let me look at you—from a distance!"</p> + +<p>But, after all, perhaps he did not need to say all these things. His +clothes were rags, upon his face there was a stubble of unshaven red, +which made the pallor about his eyes more pronounced. If the girl had +been half blind she must have felt that here was a man of fire. He saw +her gather the wrap a little closer about her shoulders, and that sign +of fear made him sick at heart.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," said the girl. "I am sorry. We cannot take you into the +house. Eight miles—"</p> + +<p>Did she expect to turn a sinner from the gates of heaven with a mere +phrase? He cast out his hand, and she winced as though he had shaken his +fist at her.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid?" cried Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I don't control the house."</p> + +<p>He paused, not that her reply had baffled him, but the mere pleasure of +hearing her speak accounted for it. It was one of those low, light +voices which are apt to have very little range or volume, and which +break and tremble absurdly under any stress of emotion; and often they +become shrill in a higher register; but inside conversational limits, if +such a term may be used, there is no fiber so delightful, so purely +musical. Suppose the word "velvet" applied to a sound. That voice came +soothingly and delightfully upon the ear of Donnegan, from which the +roar and rattle of the empty freight train had not quite departed. He +smiled at her.</p> + +<p>"But," he protested, "this is west of the Rockies—and I don't see any +other way out."</p> + +<p>The girl, all this time, was studying him intently, a little sadly, he +thought. Now she shook her head, but there was more warmth in her voice.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry. I can't ask you to stay without first consulting my father."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead. Ask him."</p> + +<p>She raised her hand a little; the thought seemed to bring her to the +verge of trembling, as though he were asking a sacrilege.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he urged.</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but, instead, her eyes sought the old, woman, as if +to gain her interposition; she burst instantly into speech.</p> + +<p>"Which there's no good talking any more," declared the ancient vixen. +"Are you wanting to make trouble for her with the colonel? Be off, young +man. It ain't the first time I've told you you'd get nowhere in this +house!"</p> + +<p>There was no possible answer left to Donnegan, and he did as usual the +surprising thing. He broke into laughter of such clear and ringing +tone—such infectious laughter—that the old woman blinked in the midst +of her wrath as though she were seeing a new man, and he saw the lips of +the girl parted in wonder.</p> + +<p>"My father is an invalid," said the girl. "And he lives by strict rules. +I could not break in on him at this time of the evening."</p> + +<p>"If that's all"—Donnegan actually began to mount the steps—"I'll go in +and talk to your father myself."</p> + +<p>She had retired one pace as he began advancing, but as the import of +what he said became clear to her she was rooted to one position by +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Macon—my father—" she began. Then: "Do you really wish to see +him?"</p> + +<p>The hushed voice made Donnegan smile—it was such a voice as one boy +uses when he asks the other if he really dares enter the pasture of the +red bull. He chuckled again, and this time she smiled, and her eyes were +widened, partly by fear of his purpose and partly from his nearness. +They seemed to be suddenly closer together. As though they were on one +side against a common enemy, and that enemy was her father. The old +woman was cackling sharply from the bottom of the stairs, and then +bobbing in pursuit and calling on Donnegan to come back. At length the +girl raised her hand and silenced her with a gesture.</p> + +<p>Donnegan was now hardly a pace away; and he saw that she lived up to all +the promise of that first glance. Yet still she seemed unreal. There is +a quality of the unearthly about a girl's beauty; it is, after all, only +a gay moment between the formlessness of childhood and the hardness of +middle age. This girl was pale, Donnegan saw, and yet she had color. She +had the luster, say, of a white rose, and the same bloom. Lou, the old +woman had called her, and Macon was her father's name. Lou Macon—the +name fitted her, Donnegan thought. For that matter, if her name had been +Sally Smith, Donnegan would probably have thought it beautiful. The +keener a man's mind is and the more he knows about men and women and the +ways of the world, the more apt he is to be intoxicated by a touch of +grace and thoughtfulness; and all these age-long seconds the perfume of +girlhood had been striking up to Donnegan's brain.</p> + +<p>She brushed her timidity away and with the same gesture accepted +Donnegan as something more than a dangerous vagrant. She took the lamp +from the hands of the crone and sent her about her business, +disregarding the mutterings and the warnings which trailed behind the +departing form. Now she faced Donnegan, screening the light from her +eyes with a cupped hand and by the same device focusing it upon the face +of Donnegan. He mutely noted the small maneuver and gave her credit; but +for the pleasure of seeing the white of her fingers and the way they +tapered to a pink transparency at the tips, he forgot the poor figure he +must make with his soiled, ragged shirt, his unshaven face, his gaunt +cheeks.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he looked so straight at her that in spite of her advantage with +the light she had to avoid his glance.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," said Lou Macon, "and ashamed because we can't take you in. +The only house on the range where you wouldn't be welcome, I know. But +my father leads a very close life; he has set ways. The ways of an +invalid, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"And you're bothered about speaking to him of me?"</p> + +<p>"I'm almost afraid of letting you go in yourself."</p> + +<p>"Let me take the risk."</p> + +<p>She considered him again for a moment, and then turned with a nod and he +followed her up the stairs into the upper hall. The moment they stepped +into it he heard her clothes flutter and a small gale poured on them. It +was criminal to allow such a building to fall into this ruinous +condition. And a gloomy picture rose in Donnegan's mind of the invalid, +thin-faced, sallow-eyed, white-haired, lying in his bed listening to the +storm and silently gathering bitterness out of the pain of living. Lou +Macon paused again in the hall, close to a door on the right.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to send you in to speak to my father," she said gravely. +"First I have to tell you that he's different."</p> + +<p>Donnegan replied by looking straight at her, and this time she did not +wince from the glance. Indeed, she seemed to be probing him, searching +with a peculiar hope. What could she expect to find in him? What that +was useful to her? Not once in all his life had such a sense of +impotence descended upon Donnegan. Her father? Bah! Invalid or no +invalid he would handle that fellow, and if the old man had an acrid +temper, Donnegan at will could file his own speech to a point. But the +girl! In the meager hand which held the lamp there was a power which all +the muscles of Donnegan could not compass; and in his weakness he looked +wistfully at her.</p> + +<p>"I hope your talk will be pleasant. I hope so." She laid her hand on the +knob of the door and withdrew it hastily; then, summoning great +resolution, she opened the door and showed Donnegan in.</p> + +<p>"Father," she said, "this is Mr. Donnegan. He wishes to speak to you."</p> + +<p>The door closed behind Donnegan, and hearing that whishing sound which +the door of a heavy safe will make, he looked down at this, and saw that +it was actually inches thick! Once more the sense of being in a trap +descended upon him.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="7"></a><h2>7</h2> +<br> + +<p>He found himself in a large room which, before he could examine a single +feature of it, was effectively curtained from his sight. Straight into +his face shot a current of violent white light that made him blink. +There was the natural recoil, but in Donnegan recoils were generally +protected by several strata of willpower and seldom showed in any +physical action. On the present occasion his first dismay was swiftly +overwhelmed by a cold anger at the insulting trick. This was not the +trick of a helpless invalid; Donnegan could not see a single thing +before him, but he obeyed a very deep instinct and advanced straight +into the current of light.</p> + +<p>He was glad to see the light switched away. The comparative darkness +washed across his eyes in a pleasant wave and he was now able to +distinguish a few things in the room. It was, as he had first surmised, +quite large. The ceiling was high; the proportions comfortably spacious; +but what astounded Donnegan was the real elegance of the furnishings. +There was no mistaking the deep, silken texture of the rug upon which he +stepped; the glow of light barely reached the wall, and there showed +faintly in streaks along yellowish hangings. Beside a table which +supported a big reading lamp—gasoline, no doubt, from the intensity of +its light—sat Colonel Macon with a large volume spread across his +knees. Donnegan saw two highlights—fine silver hair that covered the +head of the invalid and a pair of white hands fallen idly upon the +surface of the big book, for if the silver hair suggested age the +smoothly finished hands suggested perennial youth. They were strong, +carefully tended, complacent hands. They suggested to Donnegan a man +sufficient unto himself.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, I am sorry that I cannot rise to receive you. Now, what +pleasant accident has brought me the favor of this call?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan was taken aback again, and this time more strongly than by the +flare of light against his eyes. For in the voice he recognized the +quality of the girl—the same softness, the same velvety richness, +though the pitch was a bass. In the voice of this man there was the same +suggestion that the tone would crack if it were forced either up or +down. With this great difference, one could hardly conceive of a +situation which would push that man's voice beyond its monotone. It +flowed with deadly, all-embracing softness. It clung about one; it +fascinated and baffled the mind of the listener.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not in the habit of being baffled by voices. Neither +was he a lover of formality. He looked about for a place to sit down, +and immediately discovered that while the invalid sat in an enormous +easy-chair bordered by shelves and supplied with wheels for raising and +lowering the back and for propelling the chair about the room on its +rubber tires, it was the only chair in the room which could make any +pretensions toward comfort. As a matter of fact, aside from this one +immense chair, devoted to the pleasure of the invalid, there was nothing +in the room for his visitors to sit upon except two or three miserable +backless stools.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not long taken aback. He tucked his cap under his arm, +bowed profoundly in honor of the colonel's compliments, and brought one +of the stools to a place where it was no nearer the rather ominous +circle of the lamplight than was the invalid himself. With his eyes +accustomed to the new light, Donnegan could now take better stock of his +host. He saw a rather handsome face, with eyes exceedingly blue, young, +and active; but the features of Macon as well as his body were blurred +and obscured by a great fatness. He was truly a prodigious man, and one +could understand the stoutness with which the invalid chair was made. +His great wrist dimpled like the wrist of a healthy baby, and his face +was so enlarged with superfluous flesh that the lower part of it quite +dwarfed the upper. He seemed, at first glance, a man with a low forehead +and bright, careless eyes and a body made immobile by flesh and +sickness. A man whose spirits despised and defied pain. Yet a second +glance showed that the forehead was, after all, a nobly proportioned +one, and for all the bulk of that figure, for all the cripple-chair, +Donnegan would not have been surprised to see the bulk spring lightly +out of the chair to meet him.</p> + +<p>For his own part, sitting back on the stool with his cap tucked under +his arm and his hands folded about one knee, he met the faint, cold +smile of the colonel with a broad grin of his own.</p> + +<p>"I can put it in a nutshell," said Donnegan. "I was tired; dead beat; +needed a handout, and rapped at your door. Along comes a mystery in the +shape of an ugly-looking woman and opens the door to me. Tries to shut +me out; I decided to come in. She insists on keeping me outside; all at +once I see that I have to get into the house. I am brought in; your +daughter tries to steer me off, sees that the job is more than she can +get away with, and shelves me off upon you. And that, Colonel Macon, is +the pleasant accident which brings you the favor of this call."</p> + +<p>It would have been a speech both stupid and pert in the mouth of +another; but Donnegan knew how to flavor words with a touch of mockery +of himself as well as another. There were two manners in which this +speech could have been received—with a wink or with a smile. But it +would have been impossible to hear it and grow frigid. As for the +colonel, he smiled.</p> + +<p>It was a tricky smile, however, as Donnegan felt. It spread easily upon +that vast face and again went out and left all to the dominion of the +cold, bright eyes.</p> + +<p>"A case of curiosity," commented the colonel.</p> + +<p>"A case of hunger," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mr. Donnegan, put it that way if you wish!"</p> + +<p>"And a case of blankets needed for one night."</p> + +<p>"Really? Have you ventured into such a country as this without any +equipment?"</p> + +<p>"Outside of my purse, my equipment is of the invisible kind."</p> + +<p>"Wits," suggested the colonel.</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. You hinted at it yourself."</p> + +<p>"However, a hint is harder to take than to make."</p> + +<p>The colonel raised his faultless right hand—and oddly enough his great +corpulence did not extend in the slightest degree to his hand, but +stopped short at the wrists—and stroked his immense chin. His skin was +like Lou Macon's, except that in place of the white-flower bloom his was +a parchment, dead pallor. He lowered his hand with the same slow +precision and folded it with the other, all the time probing Donnegan +with his difficult eyes.</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately—most unfortunately, it is impossible for me to +accommodate you, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>The reply was not flippant, but quick. "Not at all. I am the easiest +person in the world to accommodate."</p> + +<p>The big man smiled sadly.</p> + +<p>"My fortune has fallen upon evil days, sir. It is no longer what it was. +There are in this house three habitable rooms; this one; my daughter's +apartment; the kitchen where old Haggie sleeps. Otherwise you are in a +rat trap of a place."</p> + +<p>He shook his head, a slow, decisive motion.</p> + +<p>"A spare blanket," said Donnegan, "will be enough."</p> + +<p>There was another sigh and another shake of the head.</p> + +<p>"Even a corner of a rug to roll up in will do perfectly."</p> + +<p>"You see, it is impossible for me to entertain you."</p> + +<p>"Bare boards will do well enough for me, Colonel Macon. And if I have a +piece of bread, a plate of cold beans—anything—I can entertain +myself."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to see you so compliant, Mr. Donnegan, because that makes my +refusal seem the more unkind. But I cannot have you sleeping on the bare +floor. Not on such a night. Pneumonia comes on one like a cat in the +dark in such weather. It is really impossible to keep you here, sir."</p> + +<p>"H'm-m," said Donnegan. He began to feel that he was stumped, and it was +a most unusual feeling for him.</p> + +<p>"Besides, for a young fellow like you, with your agility, what is eight +miles? Walk down the road and you will come to a place where you will be +made at home and fed like a king."</p> + +<p>"Eight miles, that's not much! But on such a night as this?"</p> + +<p>There was a faint glint in the eyes of the colonel; was he not +sharpening his wits for his contest of words, and enjoying it?</p> + +<p>"The wind will be at your back and buoy your steps. It will shorten the +eight miles to four."</p> + +<p>Very definitely Donnegan felt that the other was reading him. What was +it that he saw as he turned the pages?</p> + +<p>"There is one thing you fail to take into your accounting."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"I have an irresistible aversion to walking."</p> + +<p>"Ah?" repeated Macon.</p> + +<p>"Or exercise in any form."</p> + +<p>"Then you are unfortunate to be in this country without a horse."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunate, perhaps, but the fact is that I'm here. Very sorry to +trouble you, though, colonel."</p> + +<p>"I am rarely troubled," said the colonel coldly. "And since I have no +means of accommodation, the laws of hospitality rest light on my +shoulders."</p> + +<p>"Yet I have an odd thought," replied Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Well? You have expressed a number already, it seems to me."</p> + +<p>"It's this: that you've already made up your mind to keep me here."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="8"></a><h2>8</h2> +<br> + +<p>The colonel stiffened in his chair, and under his bulk even those +ponderous timbers quaked a little. Once more Donnegan gained an +impression of chained activity ready to rise to any emergency. The +colonel's jaw set and the last vestige of the smile left his eyes. Yet +it was not anger that showed in its place. Instead, it was rather a +hungry searching. He looked keenly into the face and the soul of +Donnegan as a searchlight sweeps over waters by night.</p> + +<p>"You are a mind reader, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"No more of a mind reader than a Chinaman is."</p> + +<p>"Ah, they are great readers of mind, my friend."</p> + +<p>Donnegan grinned, and at this the colonel frowned.</p> + +<p>"A great and mysterious people, sir. I keep evidences of them always +about me. Look!"</p> + +<p>He swept the shaft of the reading light up and it fell upon a red vase +against the yellow hangings. Even Donnegan's inexperienced eye read a +price into that shimmering vase.</p> + +<p>"Queer color," he said.</p> + +<p>"Dusty claret. Ah, they have the only names for their colors. Think! +Peach bloom—liquid dawn—ripe cherry—oil green—green of powdered +tea—blue of the sky after rain—what names for color! What other land +possesses such a tongue that goes straight to the heart!"</p> + +<p>The colonel waved his faultless hands and then dropped them back upon +the book with the tenderness of a benediction.</p> + +<p>"And their terms for texture—pear's rind—lime peel—millet seed! Do +not scoff at China, Mr. Donnegan. She is the fairy godmother, and we are +the poor children."</p> + +<p>He changed the direction of the light; Donnegan watched him, fascinated.</p> + +<p>"But what convinced you that I wished to keep you here?"</p> + +<p>"To amuse you, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>The colonel exposed gleaming white teeth and laughed in that soft, +smooth-flowing voice.</p> + +<p>"Amuse me? For fifteen years I have sat in this room and amused myself +by taking in what I would and shutting out the rest of the world. I have +made the walls thick and padded them to keep out all sound. You observe +that there is no evidence here of the storm that is going on tonight. +Amuse me? Indeed!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan thought of Lou Macon in her old, drab dress, huddling the +poor cloak around her shoulders to keep out the cold, while her father +lounged here in luxury. He could gladly have buried his lean fingers in +that fat throat. From the first he had had an aversion to this man.</p> + +<p>"Very well, I shall go. It has been a pleasant chat, colonel."</p> + +<p>"Very pleasant. And thank you. But before you go, taste this whisky. It +will help you when you enter the wind."</p> + +<p>He opened a cabinet in the side of the chair and brought out a black +bottle and a pair of glasses and put them on the broad arm of the chair. +Donnegan sauntered back.</p> + +<p>"You see," he murmured, "you will not let me go."</p> + +<p>At this the colonel raised his head suddenly and glared into the eyes of +his guest, and yet so perfect was his muscular and nerve control that he +did not interrupt the thin stream of amber which trickled into one of +the glasses. Looking down again, he finished pouring the drinks. They +pledged each other with a motion, and drank. It was very old, very oily. +And Donnegan smiled as he put down the empty glass.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said the colonel in a new voice.</p> + +<p>Donnegan obeyed.</p> + +<p>"Fate," went on the colonel, "rules our lives. We give our honest +endeavors, but the deciding touch is the hand of Fate."</p> + +<p>He garnished this absurd truism with a wave of his hand so solemn that +Donnegan was chilled; as though the fat man were actually conversant +with the Three Sisters.</p> + +<p>"Fate has brought you to me; therefore, I intend to keep you."</p> + +<p>"Here?"</p> + +<p>"In my service. I am about to place a great mission and a great trust in +your hands."</p> + +<p>"In the hands of a man you know nothing about?"</p> + +<p>"I know you as if I had raised you."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled, and shaking his head, the red hair flashed and +shimmered.</p> + +<p>"As long as there is no work attached to the mission, it may be +agreeable to me."</p> + +<p>"But there is work."</p> + +<p>"Then the contract is broken before it is made."</p> + +<p>"You are rash. But I had rather begin with a dissent and then work +upward."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited.</p> + +<p>"To balance against work—"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me. Nothing balances against work for me."</p> + +<p>"To balance against work," continued the colonel, raising a white hand +and by that gesture crushing the protest of Donnegan, "there is a great +reward."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Macon, I have never worked for money before and I shall not +work for it now."</p> + +<p>"You trouble me with interruptions. Who mentioned money? You shall not +have a penny!"</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"The reward shall grow out of the work."</p> + +<p>"And the work?"</p> + +<p>"Is fighting."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan narrowed his eyes and searched the fat man thoroughly. +It sounded like the talk of a charlatan, and yet there was a crispness +to these sentences that made him suspect something underneath. For that +matter, in certain districts his name and his career were known. He had +never dreamed that that reputation could have come within a thousand +miles of this part of the mountain desert.</p> + +<p>"You should have told me in the first place," he said with some anger, +"that you knew me."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, upon my honor, I never heard your name before my daughter +uttered it."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited soberly.</p> + +<p>"I despise charlatanry as much as the next man. You shall see the steps +by which I judged you. When you entered the room I threw a strong light +upon you. You did not blanch; you immediately walked straight into the +shaft of light although you could not see a foot before you."</p> + +<p>"And that proved?"</p> + +<p>"A combative instinct, and coolness; not the sort of brute +vindictiveness that fights for a rage, for a cool-minded love of +conflict. Is that clear?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"And above all, I need a fighter. Then I watched your eyes and your +hands. The first were direct and yet they were alert. And your hands +were perfectly steady."</p> + +<p>"Qualifications for a fighter, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Do you wish further proof?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"What of the fight to the death which you went through this same night?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan started. It was a small movement, that flinching, and he +covered it by continuing the upward gesture of his hand to his coat; he +drew out tobacco and cigarette papers and commenced to roll his smoke. +Looking up, he saw that the eyes of Colonel Macon were smiling, although +his face was grave.</p> + +<p>A glint of understanding passed between the two men, but not a spoken +word.</p> + +<p>"I assure you, there was no death tonight," said Donnegan at length.</p> + +<p>"Tush! Of course not! But the tear on the shoulder of your coat—ah, +that is too smooth edged for a tear, too long for the bite of a +scissors. Am I right? Tush! Not a word!"</p> + +<p>The colonel beamed with an almost tender pride, and Donnegan, knowing +that the fat man looked upon him as a murderer, newly come from a +death, considered the beaming face and thought many things in silence.</p> + +<p>"So it was easy to see that in coolness, courage, fighting instinct, +skill, you were probably what I want. Yet something more than all these +qualifications is necessary for the task which lies ahead of you."</p> + +<p>"You pile up the bad features, eh?"</p> + +<p>"To entice you, Donnegan. For one man, paint a rosy beginning, and once +under way he will manage the hard parts. For you, show you the hard +shell and you will trust it contains the choice flesh. I was saying, +that I waited to see other qualities in you; qualities of the judgment. +And suddenly you flashed upon me a single glance; I felt it clash +against my willpower. I felt your look go past my guard like a rapier +slipping around my blade. I, Colonel Macon, was for the first time +outfaced, out-maneuvered. I admit it, for I rejoice in meeting such a +man. And the next instant you told me that I should keep you here out of +my own wish! Admirable!"</p> + +<p>The admiration of the colonel, indeed, almost overwhelmed Donnegan, but +he saw that in spite of the genial smile, the face suffused with warmth, +the colonel was watching him every instant, flinty-eyed. Donnegan did as +he had done on the stairs; he burst into laughter.</p> + +<p>When he had done, the colonel was leaning forward in his chair with his +fingers interlacing, examining his guest from beneath somber brows. As +he sat lurched forward he gave a terrible impression of that reserved +energy which Donnegan had sensed before.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," said the colonel, "I shall talk no more nonsense to you. You +are a terrible fellow!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan knew that, for the first time in the colonel's life, he was +meeting another man upon equal ground.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="9"></a><h2>9</h2> +<br> + +<p>In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him: +that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absolute +evil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face of +Macon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would have +left the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou.</p> + +<p>"I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at once +Donnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense.</p> + +<p>"Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. A +waste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the first +man who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snapped +them on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last.</p> + +<p>"So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you. +Donnegan, we have met each other just in time."</p> + +<p>"True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot of +fighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night."</p> + +<p>"Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action in +which you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and in +the battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sad +past which lies behind you."</p> + +<p>Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; and +he stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and, +his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a panther +enduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape.</p> + +<p>"You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon his +stool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast, +and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyes +dull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from the +perspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossible +ten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallen +upon him.</p> + +<p>All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction. +Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as the +voice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than I +wished to say."</p> + +<p>Donnegan brushed the apology aside.</p> + +<p>His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I am +eager to learn from you, colonel."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interests +in this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised you +before, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into small +details. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all men +of mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heart +of it is perfectly clear to them."</p> + +<p>He settled into his narrative.</p> + +<p>"You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a few +weeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddy +and Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand, +and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from the +headwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meets +the other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sands +are rich—very rich!"</p> + +<p>He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to cover +his emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor beside +him and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word.</p> + +<p>"Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was brought +to my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them. +But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom should +I select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozen +years ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortune +was then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I could +have shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and—"</p> + +<p>Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing that +this hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest, +he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the need +for a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able to +take care of himself."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan pricked his ears.</p> + +<p>"He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filed +them as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It panned +out in nuggets."</p> + +<p>He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingers +Donnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring.</p> + +<p>"But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone. +This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as a +scoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimed +that he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claim +that I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump the +claims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lester +down. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was a +village; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner had +become the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint. +He sent me back a mere souvenir."</p> + +<p>The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow and +with a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly, +so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. But +his hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. He +found in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces, +and he flicked it back to the colonel.</p> + +<p>"He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I have +waited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that Jack +Landis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirable +woman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which I +had sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind is +hardened against adversity.</p> + +<p>"Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engaged +to marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in his +disaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. The +scoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?"</p> + +<p>The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more +safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the +distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the +colonel read something that set him beaming.</p> + +<p>"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with +his selfishness."</p> + +<p>"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan.</p> + +<p>The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he +believed that things were getting on very well.</p> + +<p>"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the +wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He +belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows +very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and +handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions. +They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the +cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool +fighters—the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters—all celebrated names in +the cattle country.</p> + +<p>"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and +partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and +even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within +the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first +establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else; +if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is the +aggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devil +knows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists the +hearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is the +leader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members. +He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had his +followers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, and +made Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the mines +to the gang—of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At the +same time, Lord Nick attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adopted +father, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolen +the claims from this wretched Lester!"</p> + +<p>He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hateful +softness.</p> + +<p>"The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines. +Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives him +absolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably will +continue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it on +this woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comes +through to me!"</p> + +<p>Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon a +great distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins of +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove with +Lord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so that +nine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back through +the hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. He +struts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and with +the power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gambling +houses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come to +consider himself a great man. Is it clear?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance.</p> + +<p>"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must +be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be +brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress +and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long +Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully +their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him +from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp—send +Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby +prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!"</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see.</p> + +<p>"Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling +spirit; you are willing to take great chances!"</p> + +<p>"So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should +never send her except with an adequate protector."</p> + +<p>"An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the +camp as you have already admitted?"</p> + +<p>"An adequate protector—you are the man!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shivered.</p> + +<p>"I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun +to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?"</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, +white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety.</p> + +<p>"She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing.</p> + +<p>"A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they +were children."</p> + +<p>"Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are +not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs."</p> + +<p>The colonel writhed in his chair.</p> + +<p>"But Lou—you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked +closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not +suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't +written for weeks."</p> + +<p>He saw Donnegan wince under the whip.</p> + +<p>"It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven +knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with +the sight of Lou?"</p> + +<p>The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would +undertake the journey.</p> + +<p>"In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you +astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away +from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In +that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you +also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis—namely, myself. And +in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure—oh, be sure that I should not +forget who brought the mines into my hands!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="10"></a><h2>10</h2> +<br> + +<p>Fifty miles over any sort of going is a stiff march. Fifty miles uphill +and down and mostly over districts where there was only a rough cow path +in lieu of a road made a prodigious day's work; and certainly it was an +almost incredible feat for one who professed to hate work with a +consuming passion and who had looked upon an eight-mile jaunt the night +before as an insuperable burden. Yet such was the distance which +Donnegan had covered, and now he drove the pack mule out on the shoulder +of the hill in full view of The Corner with the triangle of the Young +Muddy and Christobel Rivers embracing the little town. Even the gaunt, +leggy mule was tired to the dropping point, and the tough buckskin which +trailed up behind went with downward head. When Louise Macon turned to +him, he had reached the point where he swung his head around first and +then grudgingly followed the movement with his body. The girl was tired, +also, in spite of the fact that she had covered every inch of the +distance in the saddle. There was that violet shade of weariness under +her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward. Only Donnegan, the hater of +labor, was fresh.</p> + +<p>They had started in the first dusk of the coming day; it was now the +yellow time of the slant afternoon sunlight; between these two points +there had been a body of steady plodding. The girl had looked askance at +that gaunt form of Donnegan's when they began; but before three hours, +seeing that the spring never left his step nor the swinging rhythm his +stride, she began to wonder. This afternoon, nothing he did could have +surprised her. From the moment he entered the house the night before he +had been a mystery. Till her death day she would not forget the fire +with which he had stared up at her from the foot of the stairs. But when +he came out of her father's room—not cowed and whipped as most men left +it—he had looked at her with a veiled glance, and since that moment +there had always been a mist of indifference over his eyes when he +looked at her.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of that day's march all she knew was that her father +trusted her to this stranger, Donnegan, to take her to The Corner, where +he was to find Jack Landis and bring Jack back to his old allegiance and +find what he was doing with his time and his money. It was a quite +natural proceeding, for Jack was a wild sort, and he was probably +gambling away all the gold that was dug in his mines. It was perfectly +natural throughout, except that she should have been trusted so entirely +to a stranger. That was a remarkable thing, but, then, her father was a +remarkable man, and it was not the first time that his actions had been +inscrutable, whether concerning her or the affairs of other people. She +had heard men come into their house cursing Colonel Macon with death in +their faces; she had seen them sneak out after a soft-voiced interview +and never appear again. In her eyes, her father was invincible, +all-powerful. When she thought of superlatives, she thought of him. Her +conception of mystery was the smile of the colonel, and her conception +of tenderness was bounded by the gentle voice of the same man. +Therefore, it was entirely sufficient to her that the colonel had said: +"Go, and trust everything to Donnegan. He has the power to command you +and you must obey—until Jack comes back to you."</p> + +<p>That was odd, for, as far as she knew, Jack had never left her. But she +had early discarded any will to question her father. Curiosity was a +thing which the fat man hated above all else.</p> + +<p>Therefore, it was really not strange to her that throughout the journey +her guide did not speak half a dozen words to her. Once or twice when +she attempted to open the conversation he had replied with crushing +monosyllables, and there was an end. For the rest, he was always +swinging down the trail ahead of her at a steady, unchanging, rapid +stride. Uphill and down it never varied. And so they came out upon the +shoulder of the hill and saw the storm center of The Corner. They were +in the hills behind the town; two miles would bring them into it. And +now Donnegan came back to her from the mule. He took off his hat and +shook the dust away; he brushed a hand across his face. He was still +unshaven. The red stubble made him hideous, and the dust and +perspiration covered his face as with a mask. Only his eyes were rimmed +with white skin.</p> + +<p>"You'd better get off the horse, here," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>He held her stirrup, and she obeyed without a word.</p> + +<p>"Sit down."</p> + +<p>She sat down on the flat-topped boulder which he designated, and, +looking up, observed the first sign of emotion in his face. He was +frowning, and his face was drawn a little.</p> + +<p>"You are tired," he stated.</p> + +<p>"A little."</p> + +<p>"You are tired," said the wanderer in a tone that implied dislike of any +denial. Therefore she made no answer. "I'm going down into the town to +look things over. I don't want to parade you through the streets until I +know where Landis is to be found and how he'll receive you. The Corner +is a wild town; you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said blankly, and noted nervously that the reply did not +please him. He actually scowled at her.</p> + +<p>"You'll be all right here. I'll leave the pack mule with you; if +anything should happen—but nothing is going to happen, I'll be back in +an hour or so. There's a pool of water. You can get a cold drink there +and wash up if you want to while I'm gone. But don't go to sleep!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"A place like this is sure to have a lot of stragglers hunting around +it. Bad characters. You understand?"</p> + +<p>She could not understand why he should make a mystery of it; but then, +he was almost as strange as her father. His careful English and his +ragged clothes were typical of him inside and out.</p> + +<p>"You have a gun there in your holster. Can you use it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Try it."</p> + +<p>It was a thirty-two, a woman's light weapon. She took it out and +balanced it in her hand.</p> + +<p>"The blue rock down the hillside. Let me see you chip it."</p> + +<p>Her hand went up, and without pausing to sight along the barrel, she +fired; fire flew from the rock, and there appeared a white, small scar. +Donnegan sighed with relief.</p> + +<p>"If you squeezed the butt rather than pulled the trigger," he commented, +"you would have made a bull's-eye that time. Now, I don't mean that in +any likelihood you'll have to defend yourself. I simply want you to be +aware that there's plenty of trouble around The Corner."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the girl.</p> + +<p>"You're not afraid?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no."</p> + +<p>Donnegan settled his hat a little more firmly upon his head. He had been +on the verge of attributing her gentleness to a blank, stupid mind; he +began to realize that there was metal under the surface. He felt that +some of the qualities of the father were echoed faintly, and at a +distance, in the child. In a way, she made him think of an unawakened +creature. When she was roused, if the time ever came, it might be that +her eye could become a thing alternately of fire and ice, and her voice +might carry with a ring.</p> + +<p>"This business has to be gotten through quickly," he went on. "One +meeting with Jack Landis will be enough."</p> + +<p>She wondered why he set his jaw when he said this, but he was wondering +how deeply the colonel's ward had fallen into the clutches of Nelly +Lebrun. If that first meeting did not bring Landis to his senses, what +followed? One of two things. Either the girl must stay on in The Corner +and try her hand with her fiancé again, or else the final brutal +suggestion of the colonel must be followed; he must kill Landis. It was +a cold-blooded suggestion, but Donnegan was a cold-blooded man. As he +looked at the girl, where she sat on the boulder, he knew definitely, +first and last, that he loved her, and that he would never again love +any other woman. Every instinct drew him toward the necessity of +destroying Landis. There was his stumbling block. But what if she truly +loved Landis?</p> + +<p>He would have to wait in order to find that out. And as he stood there +with the sun shining on the red stubble on his face he made a resolution +the more profound because it was formed in silence: if she truly loved +Landis he would serve her hand and foot until she had her will.</p> + +<p>But all he said was simply: "I shall be back before it's dark."</p> + +<p>"I shall be comfortable here," replied the girl, and smiled farewell at +him.</p> + +<p>And while Donnegan went down the slope full of darkness he thought of +that smile.</p> + +<p>The Corner spread more clearly before him with every step he made. It +was a type of the gold-rush town. Of course most of the dwellings were +tents—dog tents many of them; but there was a surprising sprinkling of +wooden shacks, some of them of considerable size. Beginning at the very +edge of the town and spread over the sand flats were the mines and the +black sprinkling of laborers. And the town itself was roughly jumbled +around one street. Over to the left the main road into The Corner +crossed the wide, shallow ford of the Young Muddy River and up this road +he saw half a dozen wagons coming, wagons of all sizes; but nothing went +out of The Corner. People who came stayed there, it seemed.</p> + +<p>He dropped over the lower hills, and the voice of the gold town rose to +him. It was a murmur like that of an army preparing for battle. Now and +then a blast exploded, for what purpose he could not imagine in this +school of mining. But as a rule the sounds were subdued by the distance. +He caught the muttering of many voices, in which laughter and shouts +were brought to the level of a whisper at close hand; and through all +this there was a persistent clangor of metallic sounds. No doubt from +the blacksmith shops where picks and other implements were made or +sharpened and all sorts of repairing carried on. But the predominant +tone of the voice of The Corner was this persistent ringing of metal. It +suggested to Donnegan that here was a town filled with men of iron and +all the gentler parts of their natures forgotten. An odd place to bring +such a woman as Lou Macon, surely!</p> + +<p>He reached the level, and entered the town.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="11"></a><h2>11</h2> +<br> + +<p>Hunting for news, he went naturally to the news emporium which took the +place of the daily paper—namely, he went to the saloons. But on the way +he ran through a liberal cross-section of The Corner's populace. First +of all, the tents and the ruder shacks. He saw little sheet-iron stoves +with the tin dishes piled, unwashed, upon the tops of them when the +miners rushed back to their work; broken handles of picks and shovels; +worn-out shirts and overalls lay where they had been tossed; here was a +flat strip of canvas supported by four four-foot poles and without +shelter at the sides, and the belongings of one careless miner tumbled +beneath this miserable shelter; another man had striven for some +semblance of a home and he had framed a five-foot walk leading up to the +closed flap of his tent with stones of a regular size. But nowhere was +there a sign of life, and would not be until semidarkness brought the +unwilling workers back to the tents.</p> + +<p>Out of this district he passed quickly onto the main street, and here +there was a different atmosphere. The first thing he saw was a man +dressed as a cowpuncher from belt to spurs—spurs on a miner—but above +the waist he blossomed in a frock coat and a silk hat. Around the coat +he had fastened his belt, and the shirt beneath the coat was common +flannel, open at the throat. He walked, or rather staggered, on the arm +of an equally strange companion who was arrayed in a white silk shirt, +white flannel trousers, white dancing pumps, and a vast sombrero! But as +if this was not sufficient protection for his head, he carried a parasol +of the most brilliant green silk and twirled it above his head. The two +held a wavering course and went blindly past Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was sufficiently clear that the storekeeper had followed the gold.</p> + +<p>He noted a cowboy sitting in his saddle while he rolled a cigarette. +Obviously he had come in to look things over rather than to share in the +mining, and he made the one sane, critical note in the carnival of noise +and color. Donnegan began to pass stores. There was the jeweler's; the +gent's furnishing; a real estate office—what could real estate be doing +on the Young Muddy's desert? Here was the pawnshop, the windows of which +were already packed. The blacksmith had a great establishment, and the +roar of the anvils never died away; feed and grain and a dozen +lunch-counter restaurants. All this had come to The Corner within six +weeks.</p> + +<p>Liquor seemed to be plentiful, too. In the entire length of the street +he hardly saw a sober man, except the cowboy. Half a dozen in one group +pitched silver dollars at a mark. But he was in the saloon district now, +and dominant among the rest was the big, unpainted front of a building +before which hung an enormous sign:</p> + +<h3 align=center>LEBRUN'S JOY EMPORIUM</h3> + +<p>Donnegan turned in under the sign.</p> + +<p>It was one big room. The bar stretched completely around two sides of +it. The floor was dirt, but packed to the hardness of wood. The low roof +was supported by a scattering of wooden pillars, and across the floor +the gaming tables were spread. At that vast bar not ten men were +drinking now; at the crowding tables there were not half a dozen +players; yet behind the bar stood a dozen tenders ready to meet the +evening rush from the mines. And at the tables waited an equal number of +the professional gamblers of the house.</p> + +<p>From the door Donnegan observed these things with one sweeping glance, +and then proceeded to transform himself. One jerk at the visor of his +cap brought it down over his eyes and covered his face with shadow; a +single shrug bunched the ragged coat high around his shoulders, and the +shoulders themselves he allowed to drop forward. With his hands in his +pockets he glided slowly across the room toward the bar, for all the +world a picture of the guttersnipe who had been kicked from pillar to +post until self-respect is dead in him. And pausing in his advance, he +leaned against one of the pillars and looked hungrily toward the bar.</p> + +<p>He was immediately hailed from behind the bar with: "Hey, you. No tramps +in here. Pay and stay in Lebrun's!"</p> + +<p>The command brought an immediate protest. A big fellow stepped from the +bar, his sombrero pushed to the back of his head, his shirt sleeves +rolled to the elbow away from vast hairy forearms. One of his long arms +swept out and brought Donnegan to the bar.</p> + +<p>"I ain't no prophet," declared the giant, "but I can spot a man that's +dry. What'll you have, bud?" And to the bartender he added: "Leave him +be, pardner, unless you're all set for considerable noise in here."</p> + +<p>"Long as his drinks are paid for," muttered the bartender, "here he +stays. But these floaters do make me tired!"</p> + +<p>He jabbed the bottle across the bar at Donnegan and spun a glass noisily +at him, and the "floater" observed the angry bartender with a frightened +side glance, and then poured his drink gingerly. When the glass was half +full he hesitated and sought the face of the bartender again, for +permission to go on.</p> + +<p>"Fill her up!" commanded the giant. "Fill her up, lad, and drink +hearty."</p> + +<p>"I never yet," observed the bartender darkly, "seen a beggar that wasn't +a hog."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a +little more forward on his thigh.</p> + +<p>"Son," he said, "how long you been in these parts?"</p> + +<p>"Long enough," declared the other, and lowered his black brows. "Long +enough to be sick of it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe, maybe," returned the cowpuncher-miner, "meantime you tie to +this. We got queer ways out here. When a gent drinks with us he's our +friend. This lad here is my pardner, just now. If I was him I would of +knocked your head off before now for what you've said—"</p> + +<p>"I don't want no trouble," Donnegan said whiningly.</p> + +<p>At this the bartender chuckled, and the miner showed his teeth in his +disgust.</p> + +<p>"Every gent has got his own way," he said sourly. "But while you drink +with Hal Stern you drink with your chin up, bud. And don't forget it. +And them that tries to run over you got to run over me."</p> + +<p>Saying this, he laid his large left hand on the bar and leaned a little +toward the bartender, but his right hand remained hanging loosely at his +side. It was near the holster, as Donnegan noticed. And the bartender, +having met the boring glance of the big man for a moment, turned surlily +away. The giant looked to Donnegan and observed: "Know a good definition +of the word, skunk?"</p> + +<p>"Nope," said Donnegan, brightening now that the stern eye, of the +bartender was turned away.</p> + +<p>"Here's one that might do. A skunk is a critter that bites when your +back is turned and runs when you look it in the eye. Here's how!"</p> + +<p>He drained his own glass, and Donnegan dexterously followed the example.</p> + +<p>"And what might you be doing around these parts?" asked the big man, +veiling his contempt under a mild geniality.</p> + +<p>"Me? Oh, nothing."</p> + +<p>"Looking for a job, eh?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shrugged.</p> + +<p>"Work ain't my line," he confided.</p> + +<p>"H'm-m-m," said Hal Stern. "Well, you don't make no bones about it."</p> + +<p>"But just now," continued Donnegan, "I thought maybe I'd pick up some +sort of a job for a while." He looked ruefully at the palms of his hands +which were as tender as the hands of a woman. "Heard a fellow say that +Jack Landis was a good sort to work for—didn't rush his men none. They +said I might find him here."</p> + +<p>The big man grunted.</p> + +<p>"Too early for him. He don't circulate around much till the sun goes +down. Kind of hard on his skin, the sun, maybe. So you're going to work +for him?"</p> + +<p>"I was figuring on it."</p> + +<p>"Well, tie to this, bud. If you work for him you won't have him over +you."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"No, you'll have"—he glanced a little uneasily around him—"Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Who's he?" The big man started in astonishment. "Sufferin' catamounts! +Who is he?" He laughed in a disagreeable manner. "Well, son, you'll +find out, right enough!"</p> + +<p>"The way you talk, he don't sound none too good."</p> + +<p>Hal Stern grew anxious. "The way I talk? Have I said anything agin' him? +Not a word! He's—he's—well, there ain't ever been trouble between us +and there never ain't going to be." He flushed and looked steadily at +Donnegan. "Maybe he sent you to talk to me?" he asked coldly.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan's eyes took on a childish wideness.</p> + +<p>"Why, I never seen him," he declared. Hall Stern allowed the muscles of +his face to relax. "All right," he said, "they's no harm done. But Lord +Nick is a name that ain't handled none too free in these here parts. +Remember that!"</p> + +<p>"But how," pondered Donnegan, "can I be working for Lord Nick when I +sign up to work under Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you how. Nick and Lebrun work together. Split profits. And +Nelly Lebrun works Landis for his dust. So the stuff goes in a +circle—Landis to Nelly to Lebrun to Nick. That clear?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite see it," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I didn't think you would," declared the other, and snorted his disgust. +"But that's all I'm going to say. Here come the boys—and dead dry!"</p> + +<p>For the afternoon was verging upon evening, and the first drift of +laborers from the mines was pouring into The Corner. One thing at least +was clear to Donnegan: that everyone knew how infatuated Landis had +become with Nelly Lebrun and that Landis had not built up an +extraordinarily good name for himself.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="12"></a><h2>12</h2> +<br> + +<p>By the time absolute darkness had set in, Donnegan, in the new role of +lady's chaperon, sat before a dying fire with Louise Macon beside him. +He had easily seen from his talk with Stern that Landis was a public +figure, whether from the richness of his claims or his relations with +Lord Nick and Lebrun, or because of all these things; but as a public +figure it would be impossible to see him alone in his own tent, and +unless Louise could meet him alone half her power over him—supposing +that she still retained any—would be lost. Better by far that Landis +should come to her than that she should come to him, so Donnegan had +rented two tents by the day at an outrageous figure from the +enterprising real estate company of The Corner and to this new home he +brought the girl.</p> + +<p>She accepted the arrangement with surprising equanimity. It seemed that +her father's training had eliminated from her mind any questioning of +the motives of others. She became even cheerful as she set about +arranging the pack which Donnegan put in her tent. Afterward she cooked +their supper over the fire which he built for her. Never was there such +a quick house-settling. And by the time it was absolutely dark they had +washed the dishes and sat before Lou's tent looking over the night +lights of The Corner and hearing the voice of its Great White Way +opening.</p> + +<p>She had not even asked why he did not bring her straight to Jack Landis. +She had looked into Donnegan's tent, furnished with a single blanket and +his canvas kit, and had offered to share her pack with him. And now they +sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about +what was to come.</p> + +<p>Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard +rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose +in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew +that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to +the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose—the death of Jack +Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his +mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership +which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do +all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was +only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home.</p> + +<p>A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him +and the girl lay a dead body.</p> + +<p>He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going +down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to +watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!"</p> + +<p>It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she +was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining +camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet +never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he +went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for +their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town. +Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her +voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred +could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question +to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis?</p> + +<p>The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same +rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of +lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of +those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing +sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to +mock at The Corner and all it contained.</p> + +<p>He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance +hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of +dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was +quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the merriment +was under way in the dance hall. If Lebrun's was the sun of the +amusement world in The Corner, Milligan's was the moon. Everybody who +had money to lose went to Lebrun's. Every one who was out for gayety +went to Milligan's. Milligan was a plunger. He had brought up an +orchestra which demanded fifteen dollars a day and he paid them that and +more. He not only was able to do this, but he established a bar at the +entrance from which all who entered were served with a free drink. The +entrance, also, was not subject to charge. The initial drink at the door +was spiced to encourage thirst, so Milligan made money as fast, and far +more easily, than if he had been digging it out of the ground.</p> + +<p>To the door of this pleasure emporium came Donnegan. He had transformed +himself into the ragged hobo by the jerking down of his cap again, and +the hunching of his shoulders. And shrinking past the bar with a hungry +sidewise glance, as one who did not dare present himself for free +liquor, he entered Milligan's.</p> + +<p>That is, he had put his foot across the threshold when he was caught +roughly by the shoulder and dragged to one side. He found himself +looking up into the face of a strapping fellow who served Milligan as +bouncer. Milligan had an eye for color. Andy Lewis was tolerably well +known as a fighting man of parts, who not only wore two guns but could +use them both at once, which is much more difficult than is generally +understood. But far more than for his fighting parts Milligan hired his +bouncer for the sake of his face. It was a countenance made to +discourage trouble makers. A mule had kicked Lewis in the chin, and a +great white welt deformed his lower lip. Scars of smallpox added to his +decorative effect, and he had those extremely bushy brows which for some +reason are generally considered to denote ferocity. Now, Donnegan was +not above middle height at best, and in his present shrinking attitude +he found himself looking up a full head into the formidable face of the +bouncer.</p> + +<p>"And what are you doing in here?" asked the genial Andy. "Don't you know +this joint is for white folks?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't colored," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You took considerable yaller to me," declared Lewis. He straightway +chuckled, and his own keen appreciation of his wit softened his +expression. "What you want?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shivered under his rags.</p> + +<p>"I want to see Jack Landis," he said.</p> + +<p>It had a wonderful effect upon the doorkeeper. Donnegan found that the +very name of Landis was a charm of power in The Corner.</p> + +<p>"You want to see him?" he queried in amazement. "You?"</p> + +<p>He looked Donnegan over again, and then grinned broadly, as if in +anticipation. "Well, go ahead. There he sits—no, he's dancing."</p> + +<p>The music was in full swing; it was chiefly brass; but now and then, in +softer moments, one could hear a violin squeaking uncertainly. At least +it went along with a marked, regular rhythm, and the dancers swirled +industriously around the floor. A very gay crowd; color was apparently +appreciated in The Corner. And Donnegan, standing modestly out of sight +behind a pillar until the dance ended, noted twenty phases of life in +twenty faces. And Donnegan saw the flushes of liquor, and heard the loud +voices of happy fellows who had made their "strikes"; but in all that +brilliant crew he had no trouble in picking out Jack Landis and Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>They danced together, and where they passed, the others steered a little +off so as to give them room on the dance floor, as if the men feared +that they might cross the formidable Landis, and as if the women feared +to be brought into too close comparison with Nelly Lebrun. She was, +indeed, a brilliant figure. She had eyes of the Creole duskiness, a +delicate olive skin, with a pastel coloring. The hand on the shoulder of +Landis was a thing of fairy beauty. And her eyes had that peculiar +quality of seeming to see everything, and rest on every face +particularly. So that, as she whirled toward Donnegan, he winced, +feeling that she had found him out among the shadows.</p> + +<p>She had a glorious partner to set her off. And Donnegan saw bitterly +why Lou Macon could love him. Height without clumsiness, bulk and a +light foot at once, a fine head, well poised, blond hair and a Grecian +profile—such was Jack Landis. He wore a vest of fawn skin; his boots +were black in the foot and finished with the softest red leather for the +leg. And he had yellow buckskin trousers, laced in a Mexican fashion +with silver at the sides; a narrow belt, a long, red silk handkerchief +flying from behind his neck in cowboy fashion. So much flashing +splendor, even in that gay assembly, would have been childishly +conspicuous on another man. But in big Jack Landis there was patently a +great deal of the unaffected child. He was having a glorious time on +this evening, and his eye roved the room challenging admiration in a +manner that was amusing rather than offensive. He was so overflowingly +proud of having the prettiest girl in The Corner upon his arm and so +conscious of being himself probably the finest-looking man that he +escaped conceit, it might almost be said, by his very excess of it.</p> + +<p>Upon this splendid individual, then, the obscure Donnegan bent his gaze. +He saw the dancers pause and scatter as the music ended, saw them drift +to the tables along the edges of the room, saw the scurry of waiters +hurrying drinks up in the interval, saw Nelly Lebrun sip a lemonade, saw +Jack Landis toss off something stronger. And then Donnegan skirted +around the room and came to the table of Jack Landis at the very moment +when the latter was tossing a gold piece to the waiter and giving a new +order.</p> + +<p>Prodigal sons in the distance of thought are apt to be both silly: and +disgusting, but at close hand they usually dazzle the eye. Even the cold +brain of Donnegan was daunted a little as he drew near.</p> + +<p>He came behind the chair of the tall master of The Corner, and while +Nelly Lebrun stopped her glass halfway to her lips and stared at the +ragged stranger, Donnegan was whispering in the ear of Jack Landis: +"I've got to see you alone."</p> + +<p>Landis turned his head slowly and his eye darkened a little as he met +the reddish, unshaven face of the stranger. Then, with a careless shrug +of distaste, he drew out a few coins and poured them into Donnegan's +palm; the latter pocketed them.</p> + +<p>"Lou Macon," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Jack Landis rose from his chair, and it was not until he stood so close +to Donnegan that the latter realized the truly Herculean proportions of +the young fellow. He bowed his excuses to Nelly Lebrun, not without +grace of manner, and then huddled Donnegan into a corner with a wave of +his vast arm.</p> + +<p>"Now what do you want? Who are you? Who put that name in your mouth?"</p> + +<p>"She's in The Corner," said Donnegan, and he dwelt upon the face of Jack +Landis with feverish suspense. A moment later a great weight had slipped +from his heart. If Lou Macon loved Landis it was beyond peradventure +that Landis was not breaking his heart because of the girl. For at her +name he flushed darkly, and then, that rush of color fading, he was left +with a white spot in the center of each cheek.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="13"></a><h2>13</h2> +<br> + +<p>First his glance plunged into vacancy; then it flicked over his shoulder +at Nelly Lebrun and he bit his lip. Plainly, it was not the most welcome +news that Jack Landis had ever heard.</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" he asked nervously of Donnegan, and he looked over the +ragged fellow again.</p> + +<p>"I'll take you to her."</p> + +<p>The big man swayed back and forth from foot to foot, balancing in his +hesitation. "Wait a moment."</p> + +<p>He strode to Nelly Lebrun and bent over her; Donnegan saw her eyes flash +up—oh, heart of the south, what eyes of shadow and fire! Jack Landis +trembled under the glance; yes, he was deeply in love with the girl. And +Donnegan watched her face shade with suspicion, stiffen with cold anger, +warm and soften again under the explanations of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>Donnegan, looking from the distance, could read everything; it is +nearness that bewitches a man when he talks to a woman. When Odysseus +talked to Circe, no doubt he stood on the farther side of the room!</p> + +<p>When Landis came again, he was perspiring from the trial of fire +through which he had just passed.</p> + +<p>"Come," he ordered, and set out at a sweeping stride.</p> + +<p>Plainly he was anxious to get this matter done with as soon as possible. +As for Donnegan, he saw a man whom Landis had summoned to take his place +sit down at the table with Nelly Lebrun. She was laughing with the +newcomer as though nothing troubled her at all, but over his shoulder +her glance probed the distance and followed Jack Landis. She wanted to +see the messenger again, the man who had called her companion away; but +in this it was fox challenging fox. Donnegan took note and was careful +to place between him and the girl every pillar and every group of +people. As far as he was concerned, her first glance must do to read and +judge and remember him by.</p> + +<p>Outside Landis shot several questions at him in swift succession; he +wanted to know how the girl had happened to make the trip. Above all, +what the colonel was thinking and doing and if the colonel himself had +come. But Donnegan replied with monosyllables, and Landis, apparently +reconciling himself to the fact that the messenger was a fool, ceased +his questions. They kept close to a run all the way out of the camp and +up the hillside to the two detached tents where Donnegan and the girl +slept that night. A lantern burned in both the tents.</p> + +<p>"She has made things ready for me," thought Donnegan, his heart opening. +"She has kept house for me!"</p> + +<p>He pointed out Lou's tent to his companion and the big man, with a +single low word of warning, threw open the flap of the tent and strode +in.</p> + +<p>There was only the split part of a second between the rising and the +fall of the canvas, but in that swift interval, Donnegan saw the girl +starting up to receive Landis. Her calm was broken at last. Her cheeks +were flushed; her eyes were starry with what? Expectancy? Love?</p> + +<p>It stopped Donnegan like a blow in the face and turned his heart to +lead; and then, shamelessly, he glided around the tent and dropped down +beside it to eavesdrop. After all, there was some excuse. If she loved +the man he, Donnegan, would let him live; if she did not love him, he, +Donnegan, would kill him like a worthless rat under heel. That is, if he +could. No wonder that the wanderer listened with heart and soul!</p> + +<p>He missed the first greeting. It was only a jumble of exclamations, but +now he heard: "But, Lou, what a wild idea. Across the mountains—with +whom?"</p> + +<p>"The man who brought you here."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"You don't know? He looks like a shifty little rat to me."</p> + +<p>"He's big enough, Jack."</p> + +<p>Such small praise was enough to set Donnegan's heart thumping.</p> + +<p>"Besides, father told me to go with him, to trust him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" There was an abrupt chilling and lowering of Landis' voice. "The +colonel knows him? He's one of the colonel's men?"</p> + +<p>Plainly the colonel was to him as the rod to the child.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you come directly to me?"</p> + +<p>"We thought it would be better not to."</p> + +<p>"H'm-m. Your guide—well, what was the colonel's idea in sending you +here? Heavens above, doesn't he know that a mining camp is no place for +a young girl? And you haven't a sign of a chaperon, Lou! What the devil +can I do? What was in his mind?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't written for a long time."</p> + +<p>"Good Lord! Written! Letters! Does he think I have time for letters?" +The lie came smoothly enough. "Working day and night?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan smoothed his whiskers and grinned into the night. Landis might +prove better game than he had anticipated.</p> + +<p>"He worried," said the girl, and her voice was as even as ever. "He +worried, and sent me to find out if anything is wrong."</p> + +<p>Then: "Nonsense! What is there to worry about? Lou, I'm half inclined to +think that the colonel doesn't trust me!"</p> + +<p>She did not answer. Was she reading beneath the boisterous assurance of +Landis?</p> + +<p>"One thing is clear to me—and to you, too, I hope. The first thing is +to send you back in a hurry."</p> + +<p>Still no answer.</p> + +<p>"Lou, do you distrust me?"</p> + +<p>At length she managed to speak, but it was with some difficulty: "There +is another reason for sending me."</p> + +<p>"Tell me."</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not a mind reader."</p> + +<p>"The cad," said Donnegan through his teeth.</p> + +<p>"It's the old reason."</p> + +<p>"Money?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>A shadow swept across the side of the tent; it was Landis waving his arm +carelessly.</p> + +<p>"If that's all, I can fix you up and send you back with enough to carry +the colonel along. Look here—why, I have five hundred with me. Take it, +Lou. There's more behind it, but the colonel mustn't think that there's +as much money in the mines as people say. No idea how much living costs +up here. Heavens, no! And the prices for labor! And then they shirk the +job from dawn to dark. I have to watch 'em every minute, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>He sighed noisily.</p> + +<p>"But the end of it is, dear"—how that small word tore into the heart of +Donnegan, who crouched outside—"that you must go back tomorrow morning. +I'd send you tonight, if I could. As a matter of fact, I don't trust the +red-haired rat who—"</p> + +<p>The girl interrupted while Donnegan still had control of his +hair-trigger temper.</p> + +<p>"You forget, Jack. Father sent me here, but he did not tell me to come +back."</p> + +<p>At this Jack Landis burst into an enormous laughter.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean, Lou, that you actually intend to stay on?"</p> + +<p>"What else can I mean?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it makes it awkward if the colonel didn't expressly tell you +just what to do. I suppose he left it to my discretion, and I decide +definitely that you must go back at once."</p> + +<p>"I can't do it."</p> + +<p>"Lou, don't you hear me saying that I'll take the responsibility? If +your father blames you let him tell me—"</p> + +<p>He broke down in the middle of his sentence and another of those +uncomfortable little pauses ensued. Donnegan knew that their eyes were +miserably upon each other; the man tongue-tied by his guilt; the girl +wretchedly guessing at the things which lay behind her fiancé's words.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry you don't want me here."</p> + +<p>"It isn't that, but—"</p> + +<p>He apparently expected to be interrupted, but she waited coolly for him +to finish the sentence, and, of course, he could not. After all, for a +helpless girl she had a devilish effective way of muzzling Landis. +Donnegan chuckled softly in admiration.</p> + +<p>All at once she broke through the scene; her voice did not rise or +harden, but it was filled with finality, as though she were weary of the +interview.</p> + +<p>"I'm tired out; it's been a hard ride, Jack. You go home now and look me +up again any time tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"I—Lou—I feel mighty bad about having you up here in this infernal +tent, when the camp is full, and—":</p> + +<p>"You can't lie across the entrance to my tent and guard me, Jack. +Besides, I don't need you for that. The man who's with me will protect +me."</p> + +<p>"He doesn't look capable of protecting a cat!"</p> + +<p>"My father said that in any circumstances he would be able to take care +of me."</p> + +<p>This reply seemed to overwhelm Landis.</p> + +<p>"The colonel trusts him as far as all that?" he muttered. "Then I +suppose you're safe enough. But what about comfort, Lou?"</p> + +<p>"I've done without comfort all my life. Run along, Jack. And take this +money with you. I can't have it."</p> + +<p>"But, didn't the colonel send—"</p> + +<p>"You can express it through to him. To me it's—not pleasant to take +it."</p> + +<p>"Why, Lou, you don't mean—"</p> + +<p>"Good night, Jack. I don't mean anything, except that I'm tired."</p> + +<p>The shadow swept along the wall of the tent again. Donnegan, with a +shaking pulse, saw the profile of the girl and the man approach as he +strove to take her in his arms and kiss her good night. And then one +slender bar of shadow checked Landis.</p> + +<p>"Not tonight."</p> + +<p>"Lou, you aren't angry with me?"</p> + +<p>"No. But you know I have queer ways. Just put this down as one of them. +I can't explain."</p> + +<p>There was a muffled exclamation and Landis went from the tent and strode +down the hill; he was instantly lost in the night. But Donnegan, turning +to the entrance flap, called softly. He was bidden to come in, and when +he raised the flap he saw her sitting with her hands clasped loosely and +resting upon her knees. Her lips were a little parted, and colorless; +her eyes were dull with a mist; and though she rallied herself a little, +the wanderer could see that she was only half-aware of him.</p> + +<p>The face which he saw was a milestone in his life. For he had loved her +jealously, fiercely before; but seeing her now, dazed, hurt, and +uncomplaining, tenderness came into Donnegan. It spread to his heart +with a strange pain and made his hands tremble.</p> + +<p>All that he said was: "Is there anything you need?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away.</p> + +<p>But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay, +selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this—if she loved him so +truly—then Jack Landis she should have.</p> + +<p>There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most +nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and +looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys. +What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in +such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as +a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out +his heart's blood on the snow.</p> + +<p>Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night. +Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out +of his place and give him to the girl.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="14"></a><h2>14</h2> +<br> + +<p>The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that, +Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a +plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly +under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's +place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas.</p> + +<p>Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth +of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The +pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he +took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room. +For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate +more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the +cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic +loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair, +with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely +into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have +observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play +of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one +table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the +gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it +with precision upon the wheel.</p> + +<p>He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his +clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not +play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came +back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so +easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan +greatly.</p> + +<p>It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat +was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards!</p> + +<p>Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to +the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his +chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be +about the height and build of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man, +harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would +probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that +he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract +astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace +of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he +had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily +toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and +understood.</p> + +<p>Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the +kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood +brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance, +just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was +weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players +themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference +between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey +poker, but the man in the linen coat did more—he stacked the cards!</p> + +<p>For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a +slight faltering in the deal—an infinitely small hesitation which only +a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed—that he was +sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that. +He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand +but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards.</p> + +<p>And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the +smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a +straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his +consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been +exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table—a small fortune!</p> + +<p>The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks. +They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the +call.</p> + +<p>Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It +was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all +prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected +according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But +the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the +winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough +to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis. +They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led +the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest +conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was. +They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting +their mental notes on the game together.</p> + +<p>But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his +victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on +the way—it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he +broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would +be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers.</p> + +<p>The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads +close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the +genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd +and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless +saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making +himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace.</p> + +<p>At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his +arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which +stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of +the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the +line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This +Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the +horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on +horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a +neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were +both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro +throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught +the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped +into his saddle.</p> + +<p>It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst +of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the +building, shooting out the lights, if possible—trusting to the +confusion to help him—and there he would find his horse held ready for +him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no +doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others.</p> + +<p>At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor +grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into +the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal +broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden +at once.</p> + +<p>For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had +been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had +slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for +a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been +noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one +accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan +racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the +saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid +him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air, +and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the +linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle +jabbed into the back of the gambler.</p> + +<p>The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the +pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their +gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street.</p> + +<p>"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back; +the gun already gleamed in his hand.</p> + +<p>A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the +fellow continued to fall back.</p> + +<p>"Tell him to ride ahead."</p> + +<p>"Keep in front, George."</p> + +<p>"And not too far."</p> + +<p>"Very well. And now?"</p> + +<p>"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond +the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!"</p> + +<p>"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of +the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest +attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they +rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the +card, eh?"</p> + +<p>"You saw, eh?" muttered the other.</p> + +<p>"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward."</p> + +<p>"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one +of us, pal?"</p> + +<p>But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler +to gambler should fail.</p> + +<p>"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="15"></a><h2>15</h2> +<br> + +<p>Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the +starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees.</p> + +<p>"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground."</p> + +<p>There was a flash and faint thud.</p> + +<p>"Now the other gun."</p> + +<p>"They ain't any more, sir."</p> + +<p>"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan.</p> + +<p>A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at +length, and a second weapon fell.</p> + +<p>"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on +Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss +you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take +chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then +dismount."</p> + +<p>He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was +now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his +right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground.</p> + +<p>Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that +I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous +to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be +careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife +throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than +a bullet. We understand each other?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And +suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was +impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to +this forced—touch. Now, if half—"</p> + +<p>"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question +is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is +now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin +was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles +me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I +fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail; +there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I +think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body +is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master +for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think +that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the +starlight shine through you!"</p> + +<p>The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the +meantime, had not spoken.</p> + +<p>"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause.</p> + +<p>"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared."</p> + +<p>There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was +able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble +by fear.</p> + +<p>"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here—he's a devil. If you +let him live he'll kill you—as sure as you're standing here. You don't +know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as +bad as the devil's name. He—he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man, +you and I could team it together. But George—not—"</p> + +<p>Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt.</p> + +<p>"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan. +"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close +together. A coward's eyes—a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George—have +you heard what he said?"</p> + +<p>No answer from George but a snarl.</p> + +<p>"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?"</p> + +<p>Dead silence.</p> + +<p>"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of +your clothes."</p> + +<p>The other fell on his knees.</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake," he pleaded.</p> + +<p>"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never +intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting +the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes."</p> + +<p>He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he +succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly +steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who +accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly +into the clothes of his victim.</p> + +<p>"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased, +here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the +weight."</p> + +<p>Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse.</p> + +<p>"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of +those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers."</p> + +<p>"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?"</p> + +<p>"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes +in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to +dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!"</p> + +<p>The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along +with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move +to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong; +and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man.</p> + +<p>"Come here," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>George Washington Green rode slowly closer.</p> + +<p>"If I let you go what would you do?"</p> + +<p>There was a glint of teeth.</p> + +<p>"I'd find him."</p> + +<p>"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where +you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something +about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if +you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very +well together. You hear?"</p> + +<p>The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing.</p> + +<p>"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go."</p> + +<p>He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two +tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll +of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and +Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to +a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not +be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in +possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew.</p> + +<p>A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek +down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while +the big Negro silently tended to the horses—removing the packs and +preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small +lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time—the skin +ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face +almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a +cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair +of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles, +and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of +fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength.</p> + +<p>At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more +commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single +room this had two compartments—one for the kitchen and another for the +living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of +the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the +corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer +appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's +winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on +the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the +papers.</p> + +<p>He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched +with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him. +He saw—rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in +waves—that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused, +and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again.</p> + +<p>Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his +head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious +humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled +him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very +act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body. +There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated, +balanced—and then slowly drew himself erect.</p> + +<p>He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would +have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan +and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and +yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was +the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple +explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole +incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and +Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small +link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was +necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew +the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade +had sunk into the wood—a mute tribute to the force and speed of +George's hand—and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the +point and gave it back to the other.</p> + +<p>"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you +have a better chance of sending the point home."</p> + +<p>He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken +box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a +sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve +and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have +wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last +lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again +cross his new master.</p> + +<p>At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine +farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first."</p> + +<p>"Yes—sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him.</p> + +<p>And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things.</p> + +<p>Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish" +of the blankets being unrolled—and then a slight pause. It seemed to +him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly +back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed +thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll.</p> + +<p>And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of +the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George +the canvas sack and its small treasure.</p> + +<p>"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and +go over every part."</p> + +<p>He could actually feel the start of George.</p> + +<p>Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper.</p> + +<p>If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident +had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his +head.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the +hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="16"></a><h2>16</h2> +<br> + +<p>His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of +nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring +Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty +eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one +way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough +and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun, +he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to +Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how +remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis +for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly +off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and +if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride +would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou +Macon.</p> + +<p>All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of +Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him +shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made +him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in +Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few +notorious escapades behind him—yes, Donnegan with such a flying start +might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have +the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle +The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, +feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish +all these things beginning at a literal zero.</p> + +<p>It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the +paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting +at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with +him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the +next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee +which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the +details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were +now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin +contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment, +for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and +his feet were encased in slippers.</p> + +<p>But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner, +and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, +overshadowing Jack Landis—that was the thing! But to startle The +Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just +now—where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now +averaged nearly three a day—to startle The Corner was like trying to +startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this +parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor +and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a +headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in +thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the +moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows.</p> + +<p>"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally +subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was +conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not +untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had +wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack +of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no +doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk, +the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally +George returned to his own place—softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the +master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that +he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the +first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected +provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed.</p> + +<p>"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways."</p> + +<p>The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the +sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently +altered his opinion of the gambler.</p> + +<p>"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should +never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that +happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface +cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the +grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You +understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And concerning the frying of bacon—"</p> + +<p>At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open +door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer, +who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The +Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was +patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the +unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents.</p> + +<p>"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in +the background.</p> + +<p>Donnegan looked at him and through him.</p> + +<p>"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why +you're in it."</p> + +<p>"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are +scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I +intend to stay in it on purpose."</p> + +<p>George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a +vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face +crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The +Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a +giant.</p> + +<p>"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented +this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and +they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I +want. Thirty minutes will—"</p> + +<p>"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft +voice.</p> + +<p>The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a +cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like +him."</p> + +<p>George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three.</p> + +<p>"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough +to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose—"</p> + +<p>He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a +kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown +himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he +approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached +easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play, +mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?"</p> + +<p>"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his +voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man +in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee.</p> + +<p>"It's Donnegan," whispered George.</p> + +<p>"Don—who's he?"</p> + +<p>"You don't know Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing +of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three.</p> + +<p>"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law—and law's a +lame lady in these parts—or throw him out. Say which?"</p> + +<p>The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan, +absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood +exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too +much for them.</p> + +<p>There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and +that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the +rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy +passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners +receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of +womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning +coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked +at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but +to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of +them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left +Gloster both relieved and gloomy.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the +shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price."</p> + +<p>The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George. +Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the +town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top +still untied—as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any +of the gold.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep +money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll +get more."</p> + +<p>If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins +had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free +spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one +who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same +roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be +allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was +singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the +hill to the tent of Lou Macon.</p> + +<p>She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had +cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before; +and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold, +semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect +of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content +of which people were aware.</p> + +<p>"You missed me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You were worried?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to +her new home—the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast. +When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side.</p> + +<p>"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is +worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye. +And if a hair of her head is ever harmed—you see that fire burning +yonder—the bed of coals?"</p> + +<p>"Sir?"</p> + +<p>"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it—by +inches!"</p> + +<p>And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon. +George Washington Green saw, and never forgot.</p> + +<p>Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the +horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both +leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of +sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often +necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him +from getting into his problem.</p> + +<p>How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had +fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners?</p> + +<p>He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon, +informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun +and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the +colonel had suggestions to offer.</p> + +<p>The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before +midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="17"></a><h2>17</h2> +<br> + +<p>The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar +in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed +to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at +two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion. +There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So +Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the +claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold +mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact +that furnished Donnegan with his idea.</p> + +<p>He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes—a riding suit in +which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions. +Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt, +the big man came before Donnegan for instructions.</p> + +<p>"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored +people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar. +They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come +from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep. +Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out."</p> + +<p>George showed his teeth.</p> + +<p>"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't +get in, come back here. Now, ride."</p> + +<p>So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and +dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into +the street to see the brilliant horseman pass.</p> + +<p>Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to +Andy, except an easier target.</p> + +<p>"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in +Milligan's? Get out!"</p> + +<p>Big George did not move.</p> + +<p>"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to +make a julep."</p> + +<p>"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his +cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?"</p> + +<p>And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons.</p> + +<p>"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George.</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"And who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an +explanation. "Donnegan is—Donnegan," he explained.</p> + +<p>"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing +group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill."</p> + +<p>"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites +at Milligan's."</p> + +<p>"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this +heah place, but—don't make me go back and bring Donnegan."</p> + +<p>Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance.</p> + +<p>"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go."</p> + +<p>Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse.</p> + +<p>"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say +that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent +for Donnegan; it's him!"</p> + +<p>He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in +anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which +comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word +went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered. +The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch +the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered +and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through +the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town +appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On +the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made +up in intense interest.</p> + +<p>For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun, +most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the +offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a +conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising. +The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill +his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before +such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed +now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner.</p> + +<p>A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away +to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming.</p> + +<p>He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving +course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and +the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding +suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as +unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park +where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a +careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either +side.</p> + +<p>"That's Donnegan. There he comes!"</p> + +<p>"Who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others."</p> + +<p>"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with +a chunk of lead."</p> + +<p>"D'you mean that?"</p> + +<p>"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?"</p> + +<p>"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money."</p> + +<p>"Looks like a confounded dude."</p> + +<p>"We'll see his hand in a minute."</p> + +<p>Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand +touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight +at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the +other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the +door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein +behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin.</p> + +<p>As who should say: "I promised you lightning; now watch it strike!"</p> + +<p>If the crowd had been expectant before, it was now reduced to wire-drawn +tenseness.</p> + +<p>"Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>His quiet voice fell coldly upon the soul of Andy. He strove to warm +himself by an outbreak of temper.</p> + +<p>"They ain't any poor fool dude can call me a fellow!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not +occurred. The hand of Andy was relaxing from the butt of his gun and an +expression of astonishment and contempt was growing upon his face.</p> + +<p>"I haven't come to curse you," said the rider, still occupying his hands +with crop and reins. "I've come to ask you a question and get an answer. +Are you the fellow who turned back my man?"</p> + +<p>"I guess you ain't the kind I was expectin' to call on me," drawled +Andy, his fear gone, and he winked at the crowd. But the others were not +yet ready to laugh. Something about the calm face of Donnegan had +impressed them. "Sure, I'm the one that kicked him out. He ain't allowed +in there."</p> + +<p>"It's the last of my thoughts to break in upon a convention in your +city," replied the grave rider, "but my man was sent on an errand and +therefore he had a right to expect courtesy. George, get off your horse +and go into Milligan's place. I want that mint!"</p> + +<p>For a moment Andy was too stunned to answer. Then his voice came harshly +and he swayed from side to side, gathering and summoning his wrath.</p> + +<p>"Keep out boy! Keep out, or you're buzzard meat. I'm warnin'—"</p> + +<p>For the first time his glance left the rider to find George, and that +instant was fatal. The hand of Donnegan licked out as the snake's tongue +darts—the loaded quirt slipped over in his hand, and holding it by the +lash he brought the butt of it thudding on the head of Andy.</p> + +<p>Even then the instinct to fight remained in the stunned man; while he +fell, he was drawing the revolver; he lay in a crumpling heap at the +feet of Donnegan's horse with the revolver shoved muzzle first into the +sand.</p> + +<p>Donnegan's voice did not rise.</p> + +<p>"Go in and get that mint, George," he ordered. "And hurry. This rascal +has kept me waiting until I'm thirsty."</p> + +<p>Big George hesitated only one instant—it was to sweep the crowd for the +second time with his confident grin—and he strode through the door of +the dance hall. As for Donnegan, his only movement was to swing his +horse around and shift riding crop and reins into the grip of his left +hand. His other hand was dropped carelessly upon his hip. Now, both +these things were very simple maneuvers, but The Corner noted that his +change of face had enabled Donnegan to bring the crowd under his eye, +and that his right hand was now ready for a more serious bit of work if +need be. Moreover, he was probing faces with his glance. And every armed +man in that group felt that the eye of the rider was directed +particularly toward him.</p> + +<p>There had been one brief murmur; then the silence lay heavily again, for +it was seen that Andy had been only slightly stunned—knocked out, as a +boxer might be. Now his sturdy brains were clearing. His body stiffened +into a human semblance once more; he fumbled, found the butt of his gun +with his first move. He pushed his hat straight: and so doing he raked +the welt which the blow had left on his head. The pain finished clearing +the mist from his mind; in an instant he was on his feet, maddened with +shame. He saw the semicircle of white faces, and the whole episode +flashed back on him. He had been knocked down like a dog.</p> + +<p>For a moment he looked into the blank faces of the crowd; someone noted +that there was no gun strapped at the side of Donnegan. A voice shouted +a warning.</p> + +<p>"Stop, Lewis. The dude ain't got a gun. It's murder!"</p> + +<p>It was now that Lewis saw Donnegan sitting the saddle directly behind +him, and he whirled with a moan of fury. It was a twist of his body—in +his eagerness—rather than a turning upon his feet. And he was half +around before the rider moved. Then he conjured a gun from somewhere in +his clothes. There was the flash of the steel, an explosion, and +Scar-faced Lewis was on his knees with a scream of pain holding his +right forearm with his left hand.</p> + +<p>The crowd hesitated still for a second, as though it feared to +interfere; but Donnegan had already put up his weapon. A wave of the +curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the +injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of +the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to +the bone all the way to the elbow. It was a grisly wound.</p> + +<p>Big George Washington Green came running to the door of the dance hall +with a sprig of something green in his hand; one glance assured him that +all was well; and once more that wide, confident grin spread upon his +face. He came to the master and offered the mint; and Donnegan, raising +it to his face, inhaled the scent deeply.</p> + +<p>"Good," he said. "And now for a julep, George! Let's go home!"</p> + +<p>Across the street a dark-eyed girl had clasped the arm of her companion +in hysterical excitement.</p> + +<p>"Did you see?" she asked of her tall companion.</p> + +<p>"I saw a murderer shoot down a man; he ought to be hung for it!"</p> + +<p>"But the mint! Did you see him smile over it? Oh, what a devil he is; +and what a man!"</p> + +<p>Jack Landis flashed a glance of suspicion down at her, but her dancing +eyes had quite forgotten him. They were following the progress of +Donnegan down the street. He rode slowly, and George kept that formal +distance, just a length behind.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="18"></a><h2>18</h2> +<br> + +<p>Before Milligan's the crowd began to buzz like murmuring hornets around +a nest that has been tapped, when they pour out and cannot find the +disturber. It was a rather helpless milling around the wounded man, and +Nelly Lebrun was the one who worked her way through the crowd and came +to Andy Lewis. She did not like Andy. She had been known to refer to him +as a cowardly hawk of a man; but now she bullied the crowd in a shrill +voice and made them bring water and cloth. Then she cleansed and +bandaged the wound in Andy Lewis' arm and had some of them take him +away.</p> + +<p>By this time the outskirts of the crowd had melted away; but those who +had really seen all parts of the little drama remained to talk. The +subject was a real one. Had Donnegan aimed at the hand of Andy and +risked his own life on his ability to disable the other without killing +him? Or had he fired at Lewis' body and struck the hand and arm only by +a random lucky chance?</p> + +<p>If the second were the case, he was only a fair shot with plenty of +nerve and a great deal of luck. If the first were true, then this was a +nerve of ice-tempered steel, an eye vulture-sharp, and a hand, +miraculous, fast, and certain. To strike that swinging hand with a snap +shot, when a miss meant a bullet fired at his own body at deadly short +range—truly it would take a credulous man to believe that Donnegan had +coldly planned to disable his man without killing him.</p> + +<p>"A murderer by intention," exclaimed Milligan. He had hunted long and +hard before he found a man with a face like that of Lewis, capable of +maintaining order by a glance; now he wanted revenge. "A murder by +intention!" he cried to the crowd, standing beside the place where the +imprint of Andy's knees was still in the sand. "And like a murderer he +ought to be treated. He aimed to kill Andy; he had luck and only broke +his hand. Now, boys, I say it ain't so much what he's done as the way +he's done it. He's given us the laugh. He's come in here in his dude +clothes and tried to walk over us. But it don't work. Not in The Corner. +If Andy was dead, I'd say lynch the dude. But he ain't, and all I say +is: Run him out of town."</p> + +<p>Here there was a brief outburst of applause, but when it ended, it was +observed that there was a low, soft laughter. The crowd gave way between +Milligan and the mocker. It was seen that he who laughed was old Lebrun, +rubbing his olive-skinned hands together and showing his teeth in his +mirth. There was no love lost between Lebrun and Milligan, even if Nelly +was often in the dance hall and the center of its merriment.</p> + +<p>"It takes a thief to catch a thief," said Lebrun enigmatically, when he +saw that he had the ear of the crowd, "and it takes a man to catch a +man."</p> + +<p>"What the devil do you mean by that?" a dozen voices asked.</p> + +<p>"I mean, that if you got men enough to run out this man Donnegan, The +Corner is a better town than I think."</p> + +<p>It brought a growl, but no answer. Lebrun had never been seen to lift +his hand, but he was more dreaded than a rattler.</p> + +<p>"We'll try," said Milligan dryly. "I ain't much of a man myself"—there +were dark rumors about Milligan's past and the crowd chuckled at this +modesty—"but I'll try my hand agin' him with a bit of backing. And +first I want to tell you boys that they ain't any danger of him having +aimed at Andy's hand. I tell you, it ain't possible, hardly, for him to +have planned to hit a swingin' target like that. Maybe some could do it. +I dunno."</p> + +<p>"How about Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>"Sure, Lord Nick might do anything. But Donnegan ain't Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Not by twenty pounds and three inches."</p> + +<p>This brought a laugh. And by comparison with the terrible and familiar +name of Lord Nick, Donnegan became a smaller danger. Besides, as +Milligan said, it was undoubtedly luck. And when he called for +volunteers, three or four stepped up at once. The others made a general +milling, as though each were trying to get forward and each were +prevented by the crowd in front. But in the background big Jack Landis +was seriously trying to get to the firing line. He was encumbered with +the clinging weight of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"Don't go, Jack," she pleaded. "Please! Please! Be sensible. For my +sake!"</p> + +<p>She backed this appeal with a lifting of her eyes and a parting of her +lips, and Jack Landis paused.</p> + +<p>"You won't go, dear Jack?"</p> + +<p>Now, Jack knew perfectly well that the girl was only half sincere. It is +the peculiar fate of men that they always know when a woman is playing +with them, but, from Samson down, they always go to the slaughter with +open eyes, hoping each moment that the girl has been seriously impressed +at last. As for Jack Landis, his slow mind did not readily get under the +surface of the arts of Nelly, but he knew that there was at least a +tinge of real concern in the girl's desire to keep him from the posse +which Milligan was raising.</p> + +<p>"But they's something about him that I don't like, Nelly. Something sort +of familiar that I don't like." For naturally enough he did not +recognize the transformed Donnegan, and the name he had never heard +before. "A gunfighter, that's what he is!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, sometimes they call you the same thing; say that you hunt +for trouble now and then!"</p> + +<p>"Do they say that?" asked the young chap quickly, flushing with vanity. +"Oh, I aim to take care of myself. And I'd like to take a hand with this +murdering Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Jack, listen! Don't go; keep away from him!"</p> + +<p>"Why do you look like that? As if I was a dead one already."</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Jack, he'd kill you!"</p> + +<p>Something in her terrible assurance whitened the cheeks of Landis, but +he was also angered. When a very young man becomes both afraid and angry +he is apt to be dangerous. "What do you know of him?" he asked +suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"You silly! But I saw his face when he lifted that mint. He'd already +forgotten about the man he had just shot down. He was thinking of +nothing but the scent of the mint. And did you notice his giant servant? +He never had a moment's doubt of Donnegan's ability to handle the entire +crowd. I tell you, it gave me a chill of ghosts to see the big black +fellow's eyes. He knew that Donnegan would win. And Donnegan won! Jack, +you're a big man and a strong man and a brave man, and we all know it. +But don't be foolish. Stay away from Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>He wavered just an instant. If she could have sustained her pleading +gaze a moment longer she would have won him, but at the critical instant +her gaze became distant. She was seeing the calm face of Donnegan as he +raised the mint. And as though he understood, Jack Landis hardened.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you don't want me shot up, Nelly," he said coldly. "Mighty +good of you to watch out for me. But—I'm going to run this Donnegan out +of town!"</p> + +<p>"He's never harmed you; why—"</p> + +<p>"I don't like his looks. For a man like me that's enough!"</p> + +<p>And he strode away toward Milligan. He was greeted by a cheer just as +the girl reached the side of her father.</p> + +<p>"Jack is going," she said. "Make him come back!"</p> + +<p>But the old man was still rubbing his hands; there seemed to be a +perpetual chill in the tips of the fingers.</p> + +<p>"He is a jackass. The moment I first saw his face I knew that he was +meant for gun fodder—buzzard food! Let him go. Bah!"</p> + +<p>The girl shivered. "And then the mines?" she asked, changing her +tactics.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes. The mines! But leave that to Lord Nick. He'll handle it well +enough!"</p> + +<p>So Jack Landis strode up the hill first and foremost of the six stalwart +men who wished to correct the stranger's apparent misunderstandings of +the status of The Corner. They were each armed to the teeth and each +provided with enough bullets to disturb a small city. All this in honor +of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>They found the shack wrapped in the warm, mellow light of the late +afternoon; and on a flat-topped rock outside it big George sat +whittling a stick into a grotesque imitation of a snake coiled. He did +not rise when the posse approached. He merely rocked back upon the rock, +embraced his knees in both of his enormous arms, and, in a word, +transformed himself into a round ball of mirth. But having hugged away +his laughter he was able to convert his joy into a vast grin. That smile +stopped the posse. When a mob starts for a scene of violence the least +exhibition of fear incenses it, but mockery is apt to pour water on its +flames of anger.</p> + +<p>Decidedly the fury of the posse was chilled by the grin of George. +Milligan, who had lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, stepped up to +impress George properly.</p> + +<p>"Boy," he said, frowning, "go in and tell your man that we've come for +him. Tell him to step right out here and get ready to talk. We don't +mean him no harm less'n he can't explain one or two things. Hop along!"</p> + +<p>The "boy" did not stir. Only he shifted his eyes from face to face and +his grin broadened. Ripples of mirth waved along his chest and convulsed +his face, but still he did not laugh. "Go in and tell them things to +Donnegan," he said. "But don't ask me to wake him up. He's sleepin' +soun' an' fas'. Like a baby; mostly, he sleeps every day to get rested +up for the night. Now, can't you-all wait till Donnegan wakes up +tonight? No? Then step right in, gen'lemen; but if you-all is set on +wakin' him up now, George will jus' step over the hill, because he don't +want to be near the explosion."</p> + +<p>At this, he allowed his mirth free rein. His laughter shook up to his +throat, to his enormous mouth; it rolled and bellowed across the +hillside; and the posse stood, each man in his place, and looked +frigidly upon one another. But having been laughed at, they felt it +necessary to go on, and do or die. So they strode across the hill and +were almost to the door when another phenomenon occurred. A girl in a +cheap calico dress of blue was seen to run out of a neighboring shack +and spring up before the door of Donnegan's hut. When she faced the +crowd it stopped again.</p> + +<p>The soft wind was blowing the blue dress into lovely, long, curving +lines; about her throat a white collar of some sheer stuff was being +lifted into waves, or curling against her cheek; and the golden hair, in +disorder, was tousled low upon her forehead.</p> + +<p>Whirling thus upon the crowd, she shocked them to a pause, with her +parted lips, her flare of delicate color.</p> + +<p>"Have you come here," she cried, "for—for Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Lady," began someone, and then looked about for Jack Landis, who was +considered quite a hand with the ladies. But Jack Landis was discovered +fading out of view down the hillside. One glance at that blue dress had +quite routed him, for now he remembered the red-haired man who had +escorted Lou Macon to The Corner—and the colonel's singular trust in +this fellow. It explained much, and he fled before he should be noticed.</p> + +<p>Before the spokesman could continue his speech, the girl had whipped +inside the door. And the posse was dumbfounded. Milligan saw that the +advance was ruined. "Boys," he said, "we came to fight a man; not to +storm a house with a woman in it. Let's go back. We'll tend to Donnegan +later on."</p> + +<p>"We'll drill him clean!" muttered the others furiously, and straightway +the posse departed down the hill.</p> + +<p>But inside the girl had found, to her astonishment, that Donnegan was +stretched upon his bunk wrapped again in the silken dressing gown and +with a smile upon his lips. He looked much younger, as he slept, and +perhaps it was this that made the girl steal forward upon tiptoe and +touch his shoulder so gently.</p> + +<p>He was up on his feet in an instant. Alas, vanity, vanity! Donnegan in +shoes was one thing, for his shoes were of a particular kind; but +Donnegan in his slippers was a full two inches shorter. He was hardly +taller than the girl; he was, if the bitter truth must be known, almost +a small man. And Donnegan was furious at having been found by her in +such careless attire—and without those dignity-building shoes. First +he wanted to cut the throat of big George.</p> + +<p>"What have you done, what have you done?" cried the girl, in one of +those heart-piercing whispers of fear. "They have come for you—a whole +crowd—of armed men—they're outside the door! What have you done? It +was something done for me, I know!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan suddenly transferred his wrath from big George to the mob.</p> + +<p>"Outside my door?" he asked. And as he spoke he slipped on a belt at +which a heavy holster tugged down on one side, and buckled it around +him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, no!" she pleaded, and caught him in her arms.</p> + +<p>Donnegan allowed her to stop him with that soft power for a moment, +until his face went white—as if with pain. Then he adroitly gathered +both her wrists into one of his bony hands; and having rendered her +powerless, he slipped by her and cast open the door.</p> + +<p>It was an empty scene upon which they looked, with big George rocking +back and forth upon a rock, convulsed with silent laughter. Donnegan +looked sternly at the girl and swallowed. He was fearfully susceptible +to mockery.</p> + +<p>"There seems to have been a jest?" he said.</p> + +<p>But she lifted him a happy, tearful face.</p> + +<p>"Ah, thank heaven!" she cried gently.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, Donnegan at this set his teeth and turned upon his heel, +and the girl stole out the door again, and closed it softly behind her. +As a matter of fact, not even the terrible colonel inspired in her quite +the fear which Donnegan instilled.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="19"></a><h2>19</h2> +<br> + +<p>"Big Landis lost his nerve and sidestepped at the last minute, and then +the whole gang faded."</p> + +<p>That was the way the rumors of the affair always ended at each +repetition in Lebrun's and Milligan's that night. The Corner had had +many things to talk about during its brief existence, but nothing to +compare with a man who entered a shooting scrape with such a fellow as +Scar-faced Lewis all for the sake of a spray of mint. And the main topic +of conversation was: Did Donnegan aim at the body or the hand of the +bouncer?</p> + +<p>On the whole, it was an excellent thing for Milligan's. The place was +fairly well crowded, with a few vacant tables. For everyone wanted to +hear Milligan's version of the affair. He had a short and vigorous one, +trimmed with neat oaths. It was all the girl in the blue calico dress, +according to him. The posse couldn't storm a house with a woman in it or +even conduct a proper lynching in her presence. And no one was able to +smile when Milligan said this. Neither was anyone nervy enough to +question the courage of Landis. It looked strange, that sudden flight of +his, but then, he was a proven man. Everyone remembered the affair of +Lester. It had been a clean-cut fight, and Jack Landis had won cleanly +on his merits.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless some of the whispers had not failed to come to the big man, +and his brow was black.</p> + +<p>The most terribly heartless and selfish passion of all is shame in a +young man. To repay the sidelong glances which he met on every side, +Jack Landis would have willingly crowded every living soul in The Corner +into one house and touched a match to it. And chiefly because he felt +the injustice of the suspicion. He had no fear of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>He had a theory that little men had little souls. Not that he ever +formulated the theory in words, but he vaguely felt it and adhered to +it. He had more fear of one man of six two than a dozen under five ten. +He reserved in his heart of hearts a place of awe for one man whom he +had never seen. That was for Lord Nick, for that celebrated character +was said to be as tall and as finely built as Jack Landis himself. But +as for Donnegan—Landis wished there were three Donnegans instead of +one.</p> + +<p>Tonight his cue was surly silence. For Nelly Lebrun had been warned by +her father, and she was making desperate efforts to recover any ground +she might have lost. Besides, to lose Jack Landis would be to lose the +most spectacular fellow in The Corner, to say nothing of the one who +held the largest and the choicest of the mines. The blond, good looks of +Landis made a perfect background for her dark beauty. With all these +stakes to play for, Nelly outdid herself. If she were attractive enough +ordinarily, when she exerted herself to fascinate, Nelly was +intoxicating. What chance had poor Jack Landis against her? He did not +call for her that night but went to play gloomily at Lebrun's until +Nelly walked into Lebrun's and drew him away from a table. Half an hour +later she had him whirling through a dance in Milligan's and had danced +the gloom out of his mind for the moment. Before the evening was well +under way, Landis was making love to her openly, and Nelly was in the +position of one who had roused the bear.</p> + +<p>It was a dangerous flirtation and it was growing clumsy. In any place +other than The Corner it would have been embarrassing long ago; and when +Jack Landis, after a dance, put his one big hand over both of Nelly's +and held her moveless while he poured out a passionate declaration, +Nelly realized that something must be done. Just what she could not +tell.</p> + +<p>And it was at this very moment that a wave of silence, beginning at the +door, rushed across Milligan's dance floor. It stopped the bartenders in +the act of mixing drinks; it put the musicians out of key, and in the +midst of a waltz phrase they broke down and came to a discordant pause.</p> + +<p>What was it?</p> + +<p>The men faced the door, wondering, and then the swift rumor passed from +lip to lip—almost from eye to eye, so rapidly it sped—Donnegan is +coming! Donnegan, and big George with him.</p> + +<p>"Someone tell Milligan!"</p> + +<p>But Milligan had already heard; he was back of the bar giving +directions; guns were actually unlimbering. What would happen?</p> + +<p>"Shall I get you out of this?" Landis asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"Leave now?" She laughed fiercely and silently. "I'm just beginning to +live! Miss Donnegan in action? No, sir!"</p> + +<p>She would have given a good deal to retract that sentence, for it washed +the face of Landis white with jealousy.</p> + +<p>Surely Donnegan had built greater than he knew.</p> + +<p>And suddenly he was there in the midst of the house. No one had stopped +him—at least, no one had interfered with his servant. Big George had on +a white suit and a dappled green necktie; he stood directly behind his +master and made him look like a small boy. For Donnegan was in black, +and he had a white neckcloth wrapped as high and stiffly as an +old-fashioned stock. Altogether he was a queer, drab figure compared +with the brilliant Donnegan of that afternoon. He looked older, more +weary. His lean face was pale; and his hair flamed with redoubled ardor +on that account. Never was hair as red as that, not even the hair of +Lord Nick, said the people in Milligan's this night.</p> + +<p>He was perfectly calm even in the midst of that deadly silence. He stood +looking about him. He saw Gloster, the real estate man, and bowed to him +deliberately.</p> + +<p>For some reason that drew a gasp.</p> + +<p>Then he observed a table which was apparently to his fancy and crossed +the floor with a light, noiseless step, big George padding heavily +behind him. At the little round table he waited until George had drawn +out the chair for him and then he sat down. He folded his arms lightly +upon his breast and once more surveyed the scene, and big George drew +himself up behind Donnegan. Just once his eyes rolled and flashed +savagely in delight at the sensation that they were making, then the +face of George was once again impassive.</p> + +<p>If Donnegan had not carried it off with a certain air, the whole +entrance would have seemed decidedly stagey, but The Corner, as it was, +found much to wonder at and little to criticize. And in the West grown +men are as shrewd judges of affectation as children are in other places.</p> + +<p>"Putting on a lot of style, eh?" said Jack Landis, and with fierce +intensity he watched the face of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>For once she was unguarded.</p> + +<p>"He's superb!" she exclaimed. "The big fellow is going to bring a drink +for him."</p> + +<p>She looked up, surprised by the silence of Landis, and found that his +face was actually yellow.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you something. Do you remember the little red-headed tramp +who came in here the other night and spoke to me?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. You seemed to be bothered."</p> + +<p>"Maybe. I dunno. But that's the man—the one who's sitting over there +now all dressed up—the man The Corner is talking about—Donnegan! A +tramp!"</p> + +<p>She caught her breath.</p> + +<p>"Is that the one?" A pause. "Well, I believe it. He's capable of +anything!"</p> + +<p>"I think you like him all the better for knowing that."</p> + +<p>"Jack, you're angry."</p> + +<p>"Why should I be? I hate to see you fooled by the bluff of a tramp, +though."</p> + +<p>"Tush! Do you think I'm fooled by it? But it's an interesting bluff, +Jack, don't you think?"</p> + +<p>"Nelly, he's interesting enough to make you blush; by heaven, the hound +is lookin' right at you now, Nelly!"</p> + +<p>He had pressed her suddenly against the wall and she struck back +desperately in self-defense.</p> + +<p>"By the way, what did he want to see you about?"</p> + +<p>It spiked the guns of Landis for the time being, at least. And the girl +followed by striving to prove that her interest in Donnegan was purely +impersonal.</p> + +<p>"He's clever," she ran on, not daring to look at the set face of her +companion. "See how he fails to notice that he's making a sensation? +You'd think he was in a big restaurant in a city. He takes the drink off +the tray from that fellow as if it were a common thing to be waited on +by a body-servant in The Corner. Jack, I'll wager that there's something +crooked about him. A professional gambler, say!"</p> + +<p>Jack Landis thawed a little under this careless chatter. He still did +not quite trust her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what they're whispering? That I was afraid to face him!"</p> + +<p>She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, +and she broke into laughter.</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to +The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all +the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest +of them. By the way, what was the reason?"</p> + +<p>She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but +the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the +query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and +covered up his confusion for him.</p> + +<p>"See how the girls are making eyes at him."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man +who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that +out!"</p> + +<p>She shrugged that comment away.</p> + +<p>"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. +"He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="20"></a><h2>20</h2> +<br> + +<p>It should be understood that before this the men in Milligan's had +reached a subtly unspoken agreement that red-haired Donnegan was not one +of them. In a word, they did not like him because he made a mystery of +himself. And, also, because he was different. Yet there was a growing +feeling that the shooting of Lewis through the hand had not been an +accident, for the whole demeanor of Donnegan composed the action of a +man who is a professional trouble maker. There was no reason why he +should go to Milligan's and take his servant with him unless he wished a +fight. And why a man should wish to fight the entire Corner was +something no one could guess.</p> + +<p>That he should have done all this merely to focus all eyes upon him, and +particularly the eyes of a girl, did not occur to anyone. It looked +rather like the bravado of a man who lived for the sake of fighting. +Now, men who hunt trouble in the mountain desert generally find all that +they may desire, but for the time being everyone held back, wolfishly, +waiting for another to take the first step toward Donnegan. Indeed, +there was an unspoken conviction that the man who took the first step +would probably not live to take another. In the meantime both men and +women gave Donnegan the lion's share of their attention. There was only +one who was clever enough to conceal it, and that one was the pair of +eyes to which the red-haired man was playing—Nelly Lebrun. She confined +herself strictly to Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>So it was that when Milligan announced a tag dance and the couples +swirled onto the floor gayly, Donnegan decided to take matters into his +own hands and offer the first overt act. It was clumsy; he did not like +it; but he hated this delay. And he knew that every moment he stayed on +there with big George behind his chair was another red rag flaunted in +the face of The Corner.</p> + +<p>He saw the men who had no girl with them brighten at the announcement of +the tag dance. And when the dance began he saw the prettiest girls +tagged quickly, one after the other. All except Nelly Lebrun. She swung +securely around the circle in the big arms of Jack Landis. She seemed to +be set apart and protected from the common touch by his size, and by his +formidable, challenging eye. Donnegan felt as never before the +unassailable position of this fellow; not only from his own fighting +qualities, but because he had behind him the whole unfathomable power of +Lord Nick and his gang.</p> + +<p>Nelly approached in the arms of Landis in making the first circle of the +dance floor; her eyes, grown dull as she surrendered herself wholly to +the rhythm of the waltz, saw nothing. They were blank as unlighted +charcoal. She came opposite Donnegan, her back was toward him; she swung +in the arms of Landis, and then, past the shoulder of her partner, she +flashed a glance at Donnegan. The spark had fallen on the charcoal, and +her eyes were aflame. Aflame to Donnegan; the next instant the veil had +dropped across her face once more.</p> + +<p>She was carried on, leaving Donnegan tingling.</p> + +<p>A wise man upon whom that look had fallen might have seen, not Nelly +Lebrun in the cheap dance hall, but Helen of Sparta and all Troy's dead. +But Donnegan was clever, not wise. And he saw only Nelly Lebrun and the +broad shoulders of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>Let the critic deal gently with Donnegan. He loved Lou Macon with all +his heart and his soul, and yet because another beautiful girl had +looked at him, there he sat at his table with his jaw set and the devil +in his eye. And while she and Landis were whirling through the next +circumference of the room, Donnegan was seeing all sides of the problem. +If he tagged Landis it would be casting the glove in the face of the big +man—and in the face of old Lebrun—and in the face of that mysterious +and evil power, Lord Nick himself. And consider, that besides these he +had already insulted all of The Corner.</p> + +<p>Why not let things go on as they were? Suppose he were to allow Landis +to plunge deeper into his infatuation? Suppose he were to bring Lou +Macon to this place and let her see Landis sitting with Nelly, making +love to her with every tone in his voice, every light in his eye? Would +not that cure Lou? And would not that open the door to Donnegan?</p> + +<p>And remember, in considering how Donnegan was tempted, that he was not a +conscientious man. He was in fact what he seemed to be—a wanderer, a +careless vagrant, living by his wits. For all this, he had been touched +by the divine fire—a love that is greater than self. And the more +deeply he hated Landis, the more profoundly he determined that he should +be discarded by Nelly and forced back to Lou Macon. In the meantime, +Nelly and Jack were coming again. They were close; they were passing; +and this time her eye had no spark for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Yet he rose from his table, reached the floor with a few steps, and +touched Landis lightly on the shoulder. The challenge was passed. Landis +stopped abruptly and turned his head; his face showed merely dull +astonishment. The current of dancers split and washed past on either +side of the motionless trio, and on every face there was a glittering +curiosity. What would Landis do?</p> + +<p>Nothing. He was too stupefied to act. He, Jack Landis, had actually been +tagged while he was dancing with the woman which all The Corner knew to +be his girl! And before his befogged senses cleared the girl was in the +arms of the red-haired man and was lost in the crowd.</p> + +<p>What a buzz went around the room! For a moment Landis could no more move +than he could think; then he sent a sullen glance toward the girl and +retreated to their table. A childish sullenness clouded his face while +he sat there; only one decision came clearly to him: he must kill +Donnegan!</p> + +<p>In the meantime people noted two things. The first was that Donnegan +danced very well with Nelly Lebrun; and his red hair beside the silken +black of the girl's was a startling contrast. It was not a common red. +It flamed, as though with phosphoric properties of its own. But they +danced well; and the eyes of both of them were gleaming. Another thing: +men did not tag Donnegan any more than they had offered to tag Landis. +One or two slipped out from the outskirts of the floor, but something in +the face of Donnegan discouraged them and made them turn elsewhere as +though they had never started for Nelly Lebrun in the first place. +Indeed, to a two-year-old child it would have been apparent that Nelly +and the red-headed chap were interested in each other.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact they did not speak a single syllable until they had +gone around the floor one complete turn and the dance was coming toward +an end.</p> + +<p>It was he who spoke first, gloomily: "I shouldn't have done it; I +shouldn't have tagged him!"</p> + +<p>At this she drew back a little so that she could meet his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"The whole crew will be on my trail."</p> + +<p>"What crew?"</p> + +<p>"Beginning with Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>This shook her completely out of the thrall of the dance.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick? What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"I know he's thick with Landis. It'll mean trouble."</p> + +<p>He was so simple about it that she began to laugh. It was not such a +voice as Lou Macon's. It was high and light, and one could suspect that +it might become shrill under a stress.</p> + +<p>"And yet it looks as though you've been hunting trouble," she said.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it," said Donnegan naïvely.</p> + +<p>It was a very subtle flattery, this frankness from a man who had puzzled +all The Corner. Nelly Lebrun felt that she was about to look behind the +scenes and she tingled with delight.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she said. "Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Donnegan. "I had to make a noise because I wanted to be +noticed."</p> + +<p>She glanced about her; every eye was upon them.</p> + +<p>"You've made your point," she murmured. "The whole town is talking of +nothing else."</p> + +<p>"I don't care an ounce of lead about the rest of the town."</p> + +<p>"Then—"</p> + +<p>She stopped abruptly, seeing toward what he was tending. And the heart +of Nelly Lebrun fluttered for the first time in many a month. She +believed him implicitly. It was for her sake that he had made all this +commotion; to draw her attention. For every lovely girl, no matter how +cool-headed, has a foolish belief in the power of her beauty. As a +matter of fact Donnegan had told her the truth. It had all been to win +her attention, from the fight for the mint to the tagging for the dance. +How could she dream that it sprang out of anything other than a wild +devotion to her? And while Donnegan coldly calculated every effect, +Nelly Lebrun began to see in him the man of a dream, a spirit out of a +dead age, a soul of knightly, reckless chivalry. In that small +confession he cast a halo about himself which no other hand could ever +remove entirely so far as Nelly Lebrun was concerned.</p> + +<p>"You understand?" he was saying quietly.</p> + +<p>She countered with a question as direct as his confession.</p> + +<p>"What are you, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"A wanderer," said Donnegan instantly, "and an avoider of work."</p> + +<p>At that they laughed together. The strain was broken and in its place +there was a mutual excitement. She saw Landis in the distance watching +their laughter with a face contorted with anger, but it only increased +her unreasoning happiness.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, let me give you friendly advice. I like you: I know you +have courage; and I saw you meet Scar-faced Lewis. But if I were you I'd +leave The Corner tonight and never come back. You've set every man +against you. You've stepped on the toes of Landis and he's a big man +here. And even if you were to prove too much for Jack you'd come against +Lord Nick, as you say yourself. Do you know Nick?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then, Mr. Donnegan, leave The Corner!"</p> + +<p>The music, ending, left them face to face as he dropped his arm from +about her. And she could appreciate now, for the first time, that he was +smaller than he had seemed at a distance, or while he was dancing. He +seemed a frail figure indeed to face the entire banded Corner—and Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see," said Donnegan, "that I can't stop now?"</p> + +<p>There was a double meaning that sent her color flaring.</p> + +<p>He added in a low, tense voice, "I've gone too far. Besides, I'm +beginning to hope!"</p> + +<p>She paused, then made a little gesture of abandon.</p> + +<p>"Then stay, stay!" she whispered with eyes on fire. "And good luck to +you, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="21"></a><h2>21</h2> +<br> + +<p>As they went back, toward Nelly's table, where Jack Landis was trying to +appear carelessly at ease, the face of Donnegan was pale. One might have +thought that excitement and fear caused his pallor; but as a matter of +fact it was in him an unfailing sign of happiness and success. Landis +had manners enough to rise as they approached. He found himself being +presented to the smaller man. He heard the cool, precise voice of +Donnegan acknowledging the introduction; and then the red-headed man +went back to his table; and Jack Landis was alone with Nelly Lebrun +again.</p> + +<p>He scowled at her, and she tried to look repentant, but since she could +not keep the dancing light out of her eyes, she compromised by looking +steadfastly down at the table. Which convinced Landis that she was +thinking of her late partner. He made a great effort, swallowed, and was +able to speak smoothly enough.</p> + +<p>"Looked as if you were having a pretty good time with that—tramp."</p> + +<p>The color in her cheeks was anger; Landis took it for shame.</p> + +<p>"He dances beautifully," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Yeh; he's pretty smooth. Take a gent like that, it's hard for a girl +to see through him."</p> + +<p>"Let's not talk about him, Jack."</p> + +<p>"All right. Is he going to dance with you again?"</p> + +<p>"I promised him the third dance after this."</p> + +<p>For a time Landis could not trust his voice. Then: "Kind of sorry about +that. Because I'll be going home before then."</p> + +<p>At this she raised her eyes for the first time. He was astonished and a +little horrified to see that she was not in the least flustered, but +very angry.</p> + +<p>"You'll go home before I have a chance for that dance?" she asked. +"You're acting like a two-year-old, Jack. You are!"</p> + +<p>He flushed. Burning would be too easy a death for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"He's making a laughingstock out of me; look around the room!"</p> + +<p>"Nobody's thinking about you at all, Jack. You're just self-conscious."</p> + +<p>Of course, it was pouring acid upon an open wound. But she was past the +point of caution.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they ain't," said Landis, controlling his rage. "I don't figure +that I amount to much. But I rate myself as high as a skunk like him!"</p> + +<p>It may have been a smile that she gave him. At any rate, he caught the +glint of teeth, and her eyes were as cold as steel points. If she had +actually defended the stranger she would not have infuriated Landis so +much.</p> + +<p>"Well, what does he say about himself?"</p> + +<p>"He says frankly that he's a vagrant."</p> + +<p>"And you don't believe him?"</p> + +<p>She did not speak.</p> + +<p>"Makin' a play for sympathy. Confound a man like that, I say!"</p> + +<p>Still she did not answer; and now Landis became alarmed.</p> + +<p>"D'you really like him, Nelly?"</p> + +<p>"I liked him well enough to introduce him to you, Jack."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I talked so plain if you put it that way," he admitted +heavily. "I didn't know you picked up friends so fast as all that!" He +could not avoid adding this last touch of the poison point.</p> + +<p>His back was to Donnegan, and consequently the girl, facing him, could +look straight across the room at the red-headed man. She allowed herself +one brief glance, and she saw that he was sitting with his elbow on the +table, his chin in his hand, looking fixedly at her. It was the gaze of +one who forgets all else and wraps himself in a dream. Other people in +the room were noting that changeless stare and the whisper buzzed more +and more loudly, but Donnegan had forgotten the rest of the world, it +seemed. It was a very cunning piece of acting, not too much overdone, +and once more the heart of Nelly Lebrun fluttered.</p> + +<p>She remembered that in spite of his frankness he had not talked with +insolent presumption to her. He had merely answered her individual +questions with an astonishing, childlike frankness. He had laid his +heart before her, it seemed. And now he sat at a distance looking at her +with the white, intense face of one who sees a dream.</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun was recalled by the heavy breathing of Jack Landis and she +discovered that she had allowed her eyes to rest too long on the +red-headed stranger. She had forgotten; her eyes had widened; and even +Jack Landis was able to look into her mind and see things that startled +him. For the first time he sensed that this was more than a careless +flirtation. And he sat stiffly at the table, looking at her and through +her with a fixed smile. Nelly, horrified, strove to cover her tracks.</p> + +<p>"You're right, Jack," she said. "I—I think there was something brazen +in the way he tagged you. And—let's go home together!"</p> + +<p>Too late. The mind of Landis was not oversharp, but now jealousy gave it +a point. He nodded his assent, and they got up, but there was no +increase in his color. She read as plain as day in his face that he +intended murder this night and Nelly was truly frightened.</p> + +<p>So she tried different tactics. All the way to the substantial little +house which Lebrun had built at a little distance from the gambling +hall, she kept up a running fire of steady conversation. But when she +said good night to him, his face was still set. She had not deceived +him. When he turned, she saw him go back into the night with long +strides, and within half an hour she knew, as clearly as if she were +remembering the picture instead of foreseeing it, that Jack and Donnegan +would face each other gun in hand on the floor of Milligan's dance hall.</p> + +<p>Still, she was not foolish enough to run after Jack, take his arm, and +make a direct appeal. It would be too much like begging for Donnegan, +and even if Jack forgave her for this interest in his rival, she had +sense enough to feel that Donnegan himself never would. Something, +however, must be done to prevent the fight, and she took the straightest +course.</p> + +<p>She went as fast as a run would carry her straight behind the +intervening houses and came to the back entrance to the gaming hall. +There she entered and stepped into the little office of her father. +Black Lebrun was not there. She did not want him. In his place there sat +the Pedlar and Joe Rix; they were members of Lord Nick's chosen crew, +and since Nick's temporary alliance with Lebrun for the sake of +plundering Jack Landis, Nick's men were Nelly's men. Indeed, this was a +formidable pair. They were the kind of men about whom many whispers and +no facts circulate: and yet the facts are far worse than the whispers. +It was said that Joe Rix, who was a fat little man with a great aversion +to a razor and a pair of shallow, pale blue eyes, was in reality a +merciless fiend. He was; and he was more than that, if there be a +stronger superlative. If Lord Nick had dirty work to be done, there was +the man who did it with a relish. The Pedlar, on the other hand, was an +exact opposite. He was long, lean, raw-boned, and prodigiously strong in +spite of his lack of flesh. He had vast hands, all loose skin and +outstanding tendons; he had a fleshless face over which his smile was +capable of extending limitlessly. He was the sort of a man from whom one +would expect shrewdness, some cunning, stubbornness, a dry humor, and +many principles. All of which, except the last, was true of the Pedlar.</p> + +<p>There was this peculiarity about the Pedlar. In spite of his broad grins +and his wise, bright eyes, none, even of Lord Nick's gang, extended a +friendship or familiarity toward him. When they spoke of the Pedlar they +never used his name. They referred to him as "him" or they indicated him +with gestures. If he had a fondness for any living creature it was for +fat Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>Yet on seeing this ominous pair, Nelly Lebrun cried out softly in +delight. She ran to them, and dropped a hand on the bony shoulder of the +Pedlar and one on the plump shoulder of Joe Rix, whose loose flesh +rolled under her finger tips.</p> + +<p>"It's Jack Landis!" she cried. "He's gone to Milligan's to fight the +new man. Stop him!"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan?" said Joe, and did not rise.</p> + +<p>"Him?" said the Pedlar, and moistened his broad lips like one on the +verge of starvation.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to sit here?" she cried. "What will Lord Nick say if he +finds out you've let Jack get into a fight?"</p> + +<p>"We ain't nursin' mothers," declared the Pedlar. "But I'd kind of like +to look on!"</p> + +<p>And he rose. Unkinking joint after joint, straightening his legs, his +back, his shoulders, his neck, he soared up and up until he stood a +prodigious height. The girl controlled a shudder of disgust.</p> + +<p>"Joe!" she appealed.</p> + +<p>"You want us to clean up Donnegan?" he asked, rising, but without +interest in his voice.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, she slipped back to the door and blocked it with her +outcast arms.</p> + +<p>"Not a hair of his head!" she said fiercely. "Swear that you won't harm +him, boys!"</p> + +<p>"What the devil!" ejaculated Joe, who was a blunt man in spite of his +fat. "You want us to keep Jack from fightin', but you don't want us to +hurt the other gent. What you want? Hogtie 'em both?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; keep Jack out of Milligan's; but for heaven's sake don't try +to put a hand on Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"For your sakes; he'd kill you, Joe!"</p> + +<p>At this they both gaped in unison, and as one man they drawled in vast +admiration: "Good heavens!"</p> + +<p>"But go, go, go!" cried the girl.</p> + +<p>And she shoved them through the door and into the night.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="22"></a><h2>22</h2> +<br> + +<p>To the people in Milligan's it had been most incredible that Jack Landis +should withdraw from a competition of any sort. And though the girls +were able to understand his motives in taking Nelly Lebrun away they +were not able to explain this fully to their men companions. For one and +all they admitted that Jack was imperiling his hold on the girl in +question if he allowed her to stay near this red-headed fiend. But one +and all they swore that Jack Landis had ruined himself with her by +taking her away. And this was a paradox which made masculine heads in +The Corner spin. The main point was that Jack Landis had backed down +before a rival; and this fact was stunning enough. Donnegan, however, +was not confused. He sent big George to ask Milligan to come to him for +a moment.</p> + +<p>Milligan, at this, cursed George, but he was drawn by curiosity to +consent. A moment later he was seated at Donnegan's table, drinking his +own liquor as it was served to him from the hands of big George. If the +first emotions of the dance-hall proprietor were anger and intense +curiosity, his second emotion was that never-failing surprise which all +who came close to the wanderer felt. For he had that rare faculty of +seeming larger when in action, even when actually near much bigger men. +Only when one came close to Donnegan one stepped, as it were, through a +veil, and saw the almost fragile reality. When Milligan had caught his +breath and adjusted himself, he began as follows:</p> + +<p>"Now, Bud," he said, "you've made a pretty play. Not bad at all. But no +more bluffs in Milligan's."</p> + +<p>"Bluff!" Donnegan repeated gently.</p> + +<p>"About your servant. I let it pass for one night, but not for another."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mr. Milligan! However"—changing the subject easily—"what I +wish to speak to you about is a bit of trouble which I foresee. I think, +sir, that Jack Landis is coming back."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"It's a feeling I have. I have queer premonitions, Mr. Milligan, I'm +sure he's coming and I'm sure he's going to attempt a murder."</p> + +<p>Milligan's thick lips framed his question but he did not speak: fear +made his face ludicrous.</p> + +<p>"Right here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"A shootin' scrape here! You?"</p> + +<p>"He has me in mind. That's why I'm speaking to you."</p> + +<p>"Don't wait to speak to me about it. Get up and get out!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Milligan, you're wrong. I'm going to stay here and you're going to +protect me."</p> + +<p>"Well, confound your soul! They ain't much nerve about you, is there?"</p> + +<p>"You run a public place. You have to protect your patrons from insult."</p> + +<p>"And who began it, then? Who started walkin' on Jack's toes? Now you +come whinin' to me! By heck, I hope Jack gets you!"</p> + +<p>"You're a genial soul," said Donnegan. "Here's to you!"</p> + +<p>But something in his smile as he sipped his liquor made Milligan sit +straighter in his chair.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he was thinking hard and fast. If there were a shooting +affair and he won, he would nevertheless run a close chance of being +hung by a mob. He must dispose that mob to look upon him as the +defendant and Landis as the aggressor. He had not foreseen the crisis +until it was fairly upon him. He had thought of Nelly playing Landis +along more gradually and carefully, so that, while he was slowly +learning that she was growing cold to him, he would have a chance to +grow fond of Lou Macon once more. But even across the width of the room +he had seen the girl fire up, and from that moment he knew the result. +Landis already suspected him; Landis, with the feeling that he had been +robbed, would do his best to kill the thief. He might take a chance with +Landis, if it came to a fight, just as he had taken a chance with Lewis. +But how different this case would be! Landis was no dull-nerved ruffian +and drunkard. He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a +gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all. Of all this +Donnegan was fully aware. Either he must place his own life in terrible +hazard or else he must shoot to kill; and if he killed, what of Lou +Macon?</p> + +<p>While he smiled into the face of Milligan, perspiration was bursting out +under his armpits.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Milligan, I implore you to give me your aid."</p> + +<p>"What's the difference?" Milligan asked in a changed tone. "If he don't +fight you here he'll fight you later."</p> + +<p>"You're wrong, Mr. Milligan. He isn't the sort to hold malice. He'll +come here tonight and try to get at me like a bulldog straining on a +leash. If he is kept away he'll get over his bad temper."</p> + +<p>Milligan pushed back his chair.</p> + +<p>"You've tried to force yourself down the throat of The Corner," he said, +"and now you yell for help when you see the teeth."</p> + +<p>He had raised his voice. Now he got up and strode noisily away. Donnegan +waited until he was halfway across the dance floor and then rose in +turn.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said.</p> + +<p>The quiet voice cut into every conversation; the musicians lowered the +instruments.</p> + +<p>"I have just told Mr. Milligan that I am sure Jack Landis is coming back +here to try to kill me. I have asked for his protection. He has refused +it. I intend to stay here and wait for him, Jack Landis. In the meantime +I ask any able-bodied man who will do so, to try to stop Landis when he +enters."</p> + +<p>He sat down, raised his glass, and sipped the drink. Two hundred pairs +of eyes were fastened with hawklike intensity upon him, and they could +perceive no quiver of his hand.</p> + +<p>The sipping of his liquor was not an affectation. For he was drinking, +at incredible cost, liquors from Milligan's store of rareties.</p> + +<p>The effect of Donnegan's announcement was first a silence, then a hum, +then loud voices of protest, curiosity—and finally a scurrying toward +the doors.</p> + +<p>Yet really very few left. The rest valued a chance to see the fight +beyond the fear of random slugs of lead which might fly their way. +Besides, where such men as Donnegan and big Jack Landis were concerned, +there was not apt to be much wild shooting. The dancing stopped, of +course. The music was ordered by Milligan to play, in a frantic endeavor +to rouse custom again; but the music of its own accord fell away in the +middle of the piece. For the musicians could not watch the notes and the +door at the same time.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he found that it was one thing to wait and another to +be waited for. He, too, wished to turn and watch that door until it +should be filled by the bulk of Jack Landis. Yet he fought the desire.</p> + +<p>And in the midst of this torturing suspense an idea came to him, and at +the same instant Jack Landis entered the doorway. He stood there looking +vast against the night. One glance around was sufficient to teach him +the meaning of the silence. The stage was set, and the way opened to +Donnegan. Without a word, big George stole to one side.</p> + +<p>Straight to the middle of the dance floor went Jack Landis, red-faced, +with long, heavy steps. He faced Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You skunk!" shouted Landis. "I've come for you!"</p> + +<p>And he went for his gun. Donnegan, too, stirred. But when the revolver +leaped into the hand of Landis, it was seen that the hands of Donnegan +rose past the line of his waist, past his shoulders, and presently +locked easily behind his head. A terrible chance, for Landis had come +within a breath of shooting. So great was the impulse that, as he +checked the pressure of his forefinger, he stumbled a whole pace +forward. He walked on.</p> + +<p>"You need cause to fight?" he cried, striking Donnegan across the face +with the back of his left hand, jerking up the muzzle of the gun in his +right.</p> + +<p>Now a dark trickle was seen to come from the broken lips of Donnegan, +yet he was smiling faintly.</p> + +<p>Jack Landis muttered a curse and said sneeringly: "Are you afraid?"</p> + +<p>There were sick faces in that room; men turned their heads, for nothing +is so ghastly as the sight of a man who is taking water.</p> + +<p>"Hush," said Donnegan. "I'm going to kill you, Jack. But I want to kill +you fairly and squarely. There's no pleasure, you see, in beating a +youngster like you to the draw. I want to give you a fighting chance. +Besides"—he removed one hand from behind his head and waved it +carelessly to where the men of The Corner crouched in the shadow—"you +people have seen me drill one chap already, and I'd like to shoot you in +a new way. Is that agreeable?"</p> + +<p>Two terrible, known figures detached themselves from the gloom near the +door.</p> + +<p>"Hark to this gent sing," said one, and his name was the Pedlar. "Hark +to him sing, Jack, and we'll see that you get fair play."</p> + +<p>"Good," said his friend, Joe Rix. "Let him take his try, Jack."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, had Donnegan reached for a gun, he would have been +shot before even Landis could bring out a weapon, for the steady eye of +Joe Rix, hidden behind the Pedlar, had been looking down a revolver +barrel at the forehead of Donnegan, waiting for that first move. But +something about the coolness of Donnegan fascinated them.</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot, Joe," the Pedlar had said. "That bird is the chief over +again. Don't plug him!"</p> + +<p>And that was why Donnegan lived.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="23"></a><h2>23</h2> +<br> + +<p>If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, +he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for +his proposal to Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken +out a handkerchief and wiped his chin.</p> + +<p>"I'm a methodical fellow, Landis," he said. "I hate to do an untidy +piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling +out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but +instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I +don't like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise +job. One that I'll be proud of."</p> + +<p>A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, +who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and was crooning softly, with +unspeakable joy: "Hark to him sing! Hark to him sing! A ringer for the +chief!"</p> + +<p>"Why should we be in such a hurry?" continued Donnegan. "You see that +clock in the corner? Tut, tut! Turn your head and look. Do you think +I'll drop you while you look around?"</p> + +<p>Landis flung one glance over his shoulder at the big clock, whose +pendulum worked solemnly back and forth.</p> + +<p>"In five minutes," said Donnegan, "it will be eleven o'clock. And when +it's eleven o'clock the clock will chime. Now, Landis, you and I shall +sit down here like gentlemen and drink our liquor and think our last +thoughts. Heavens, man, is there anything more disagreeable than being +hurried out of life? But when the clock chimes, we draw our guns and +shoot each other through the heart—the brain—wherever we have chosen. +But, Landis, if one of us should inadvertently—or through +nervousness—beat the clock's chime by the split part of a second, the +good people of The Corner will fill that one of us promptly full of +lead."</p> + +<p>He turned to the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, is it a good plan?"</p> + +<p>As well as a Roman crowd if it wanted to see a gladiator die, the frayed +nerves of The Corner responded to the stimulus of this delightful +entertainment. There was a joyous chorus of approval.</p> + +<p>"When the clock strikes, then," said Landis, and flung himself down in a +chair, setting his teeth over his rage.</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled benevolently upon him; then he turned again and beckoned +to George. The big man strode closer and leaned.</p> + +<p>"George," he said. "I'm not going to kill this fellow."</p> + +<p>"No, sir; certainly, sir," whispered the other. "George can kill him for +you, sir."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled wanly.</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to kill him, George, on account of the girl on the hill. +You know? And the reason is that she's fond of the lubber. I'll try to +break his nerve, George, and drill him through the arm, say. No, I can't +take chances like that. But if I have him shaking in time, I'll shoot +him through the right shoulder, George.</p> + +<p>"But if I miss and he gets me instead, mind you, never raise a hand +against him. If you so much as touch his skin, I'll rise out of my grave +and haunt you. You hear? Good-by, George."</p> + +<p>But big George withdrew without a word, and the reason for his +speechlessness was the glistening of his eyes.</p> + +<p>"If I live," said Donnegan, "I'll show that George that I appreciate +him."</p> + +<p>He went on aloud to Landis: "So glum, my boy? Tush! We have still four +minutes left. Are you going to spend your last four minutes hating me?"</p> + +<p>He turned: "Another liqueur, George. Two of them."</p> + +<p>The big man brought the drinks, and having put one on the table of +Donnegan, he was directed to take the other to Landis.</p> + +<p>"It's really good stuff," said Donnegan. "I'm not an expert on these +matters; but I like the taste. Will you try it?"</p> + +<p>It seemed that Landis dared not trust himself to speech. As though a +vast and deadly hatred were gathered in him, and he feared lest it +should escape in words the first time he parted his teeth.</p> + +<p>He took the glass of liqueur and slowly poured it upon the floor. From +the crowd there was a deep murmur of disapproval. And Landis, feeling +that he had advanced the wrong foot in the matter, glowered scornfully +about him and then stared once more at Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Just as you please," said Donnegan, sipping his glass. "But remember +this, my young friend, that a fool is a fool, drunk or sober."</p> + +<p>Landis showed his teeth, but made no other answer. And Donnegan +anxiously flashed a glance at the clock. He still had three minutes. +Three minutes in which he must reduce this stalwart fellow to a +trembling, nervous wreck. Otherwise, he must shoot to kill, or else sit +there and become a certain sacrifice for the sake of Lou Macon. Yet he +controlled the muscles of his face and was still able to smile as he +turned again to Landis.</p> + +<p>"Three minutes left," he said. "Three minutes for you to compose +yourself, Landis. Think of it, man! All the good life behind you. Have +you nothing to remember? Nothing to soften your mind? Why die, Landis, +with a curse in your heart and a scowl on your lips?"</p> + +<p>Once more Landis stirred his lips; but there was only the flash of his +teeth; he maintained his resolute silence.</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured Donnegan, "I am sorry to see this. And before all your +admirers, Landis. Before all your friends. Look at them scattered there +under the lights and in the shadows. No farewell word for them? Nothing +kindly to say? Are you going to leave them without a syllable of +goodfellowship?"</p> + +<p>"Confound you!" muttered Landis.</p> + +<p>There was another hum from the crowd; it was partly wonder, partly +anger. Plainly they were not pleased with Jack Landis on this day.</p> + +<p>Donnegan shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>"I hoped," he said, "that I could teach you how to die. But I fail. And +yet you should be grateful to me for one thing, Jack. I have kept you +from being a murderer in cold blood. I kept you from killing a +defenseless man as you intended to do when you walked up to me a moment +ago."</p> + +<p>He smiled genially in mockery, and there was a scowl on the face of +Landis.</p> + +<p>"Two minutes," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Leaning back in his chair, he yawned. For a whole minute he did not +stir.</p> + +<p>"One minute?" he murmured inquisitively.</p> + +<p>And there was a convulsive shudder through the limbs of Landis. It was +the first sign that he was breaking down under the strain. There +remained only one minute in which to reduce him to a nervous wreck!</p> + +<p>The strain was telling in other places. Donnegan turned and saw in the +shadow and about the edges of the room a host of drawn, tense faces and +burning eyes. Never while they lived would they forget that scene.</p> + +<p>"And now that the time is close," said Donnegan, "I must look to my +gun."</p> + +<p>He made a gesture; how it was, no one was swift enough of eye to tell, +but a gun appeared in his hand. At the flash of it, Landis' weapon +leaped up to the mark and his face convulsed. But Donnegan calmly spun +the cylinder of his revolver and held it toward Landis, dangling from +his forefinger under the guard.</p> + +<p>"You see?" he said to Landis. "Clean as a whistle, and easy as a girl's +smile. I hate a stiff action, Jack."</p> + +<p>And Landis slowly allowed the muzzle of his own gun to sink. For the +first time his eyes left the eyes of Donnegan, and sinking, inch by +inch, stared fascinated at the gun in the hand of the enemy.</p> + +<p>"Thirty seconds," said Donnegan by way of conversation.</p> + +<p>Landis jerked up his head and his eyes once more met the eyes of +Donnegan, but this time they were wide, and the pointed glance of +Donnegan sank into them. The lips of Landis parted. His tongue +tremblingly moistened them.</p> + +<p>"Keep your nerve," said Donnegan in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"You hound!" gasped Landis.</p> + +<p>"I knew it," said Donnegan sadly. "You'll die with a curse on your +lips."</p> + +<p>He added: "Ten seconds, Landis!"</p> + +<p>And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked +his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung +back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep +breath.</p> + +<p>And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and +crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would +send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming +through the big room.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With +the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver +still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd.</p> + +<p>And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking +suspense.</p> + +<p>It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles +of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in +imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering.</p> + +<p>And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long +and reverberant clanging.</p> + +<p>With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the +weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a +distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan, +sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure, +unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through +the right shoulder of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the +victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="24"></a><h2>24</h2> +<br> + +<p>That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a +flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of +this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They +greeted him with expectant glances.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?"</p> + +<p>They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group.</p> + +<p>"I have to thank you," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"For what?"</p> + +<p>"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them.</p> + +<p>And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye, +Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'."</p> + +<p>"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when +you get stirred up about a thing."</p> + +<p>"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely.</p> + +<p>"Ay, he's rare."</p> + +<p>"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil.</p> + +<p>"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of +been in politics."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed. +It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and +sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be +useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound, +and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for +the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short +distance making nothing of its target.</p> + +<p>A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed +upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a +very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He +went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised +one finger as he looked at them.</p> + +<p>"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and +lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for +Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him. +Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near +Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled +against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered +him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible +for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split +before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew, +among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be +shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have +shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went +easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly.</p> + +<p>For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat +down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind +forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens, +the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of +Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly +upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing—that +Donnegan was capable of affection.</p> + +<p>The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for +many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the +outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The +one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst +with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and +he heard voices—the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something +was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly.</p> + +<p>What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon, +ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou +Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the +liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once.</p> + +<p>"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel.</p> + +<p>"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick +color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I +thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking +down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not +see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him.</p> + +<p>"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable +in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter +came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our +friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the +feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to +rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one +thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him +for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to +it."</p> + +<p>She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard +the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with +half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen +stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass +voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"And now for facts," he began.</p> + +<p>"But," said Donnegan, "how—that chair—how in the world have you come +here?"</p> + +<p>The colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing +is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for +my small mystery—a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon +stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for +your work here, lad?"</p> + +<p>"Bad," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?"</p> + +<p>"You have heard?"</p> + +<p>"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the +face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider, +glazed with the other thing."</p> + +<p>"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis."</p> + +<p>He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained +parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the +spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed +them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner +that made the blood of Donnegan run cold.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I +underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were +qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and +from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done +it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the +mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He +misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick +and his compatriots!"</p> + +<p>"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead."</p> + +<p>Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his +face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It +was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a +single conversation.</p> + +<p>"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had +punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against +the point of his chin.</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as +good—it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and +having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under +your surveillance—this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook—for me +and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by +having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position +to excite all the sympathies of Lou?"</p> + +<p>Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there +existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He +looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but +with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins +something akin to admiration from more common people.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent +scrutiny—silence was almost the only thing in the world that could +trouble him—"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him +back to health hold a gun—metaphorically speaking—to his head and make +him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?"</p> + +<p>The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair, +brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled +benevolently upon Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are +exquisite!"</p> + +<p>"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can +speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body, +and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw +Donnegan come to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Eh?" he called.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"But where—Landis—Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?"</p> + +<p>"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my +work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon +Jack Landis."</p> + +<p>The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping +silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear +foolish.</p> + +<p>"In heaven's name, Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came +from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright +and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob +of the door.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="25"></a><h2>25</h2> +<br> + +<p>Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held +it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time +limit was taken literally.</p> + +<p>"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of +Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in +any way."</p> + +<p>"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I +have given to you?"</p> + +<p>The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the +eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the +two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan +slipped the watch into his pocket.</p> + +<p>"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of +his strong hands across his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of +your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since +you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the +first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took +it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of +your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools +cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very +well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not +pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder +why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to +him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I +intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through +a legal act signed by the hand of Jack."</p> + +<p>"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly.</p> + +<p>A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan +caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel +possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he, +Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man.</p> + +<p>"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!"</p> + +<p>"Without force?"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and +therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what +may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I +have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger +against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear +may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I +dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite +schools of action."</p> + +<p>The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the +colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of +the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be +very apt to do as the colonel wished.</p> + +<p>"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly. +"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the +self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would. +In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that +would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well—win her away +from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was +flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull. +I had to strike him down in self-defense.</p> + +<p>"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you +omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important—to me. +What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?"</p> + +<p>"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou, +though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well, +Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your +gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a +snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight, +and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into +my—er—paternal care—her sentiments may change. No, they will +change."</p> + +<p>Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more +self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the +presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's +insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan +after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in +his own way. At length, Donnegan paused.</p> + +<p>"What's the next step?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could +tell.</p> + +<p>"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step, +Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house."</p> + +<p>"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from +the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight. +A bad set, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly.</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on. +"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away +to this house."</p> + +<p>"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that +she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and +tend him and grow to hate me?"</p> + +<p>"Grow to fear you," said the colonel.</p> + +<p>"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly.</p> + +<p>"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette.</p> + +<p>He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his +lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan. +Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but +fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned +without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his +hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and +slam the door behind him—to put a bar between him and the eye of the +colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and +closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to +compel himself to move with proper dignity.</p> + +<p>When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing +compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's +advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the +power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had +followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself +had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience?</p> + +<p>He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings, +he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed +the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference +lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one +corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little +table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent +livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her +art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity. +He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the +door.</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Good night."</p> + +<p>"Wait."</p> + +<p>She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had +delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and +without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan. +What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these +dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a +soldier obeys a commander.</p> + +<p>"There has been trouble," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face.</p> + +<p>"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting +affair."</p> + +<p>There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes, +and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before +sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same +contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual +expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl.</p> + +<p>"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity +for them."</p> + +<p>For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her +confidence in his prowess as a fighting man?</p> + +<p>"It was only one man," he said huskily.</p> + +<p>Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she +shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both +his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him; +she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself, +and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He +found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager +lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble.</p> + +<p>"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?"</p> + +<p>And he said to himself: "She loves him with all her heart and soul!"</p> + +<p>"It is he," said Donnegan in an agony. Pain may be like a fire that +tempers some strong men; and now Donnegan, because he was in torment, +smiled, and his eye was as cold as steel.</p> + +<p>The girl flung away his hands.</p> + +<p>"You bought murderer!" she cried at him.</p> + +<p>"He is not dead."</p> + +<p>"But you shot him down!"</p> + +<p>"He attacked me; it was self-defense."</p> + +<p>She broke into a low-pitched, mirthless laughter. Where was the +filmy-eyed girl he had known? The laughter broke off short—like a sob.</p> + +<p>"Don't you suppose I've known?" she said. "That I've read my father? +That I knew he was sending a bloodhound when he sent you? But, oh, I +thought you had a touch of the other thing!"</p> + +<p>He cringed under her tone.</p> + +<p>"I'll bring him to you," said Donnegan desperately. "I'll bring him here +so that you can take care of him."</p> + +<p>"You'll take him away from Lord Nick—and Lebrun—and the rest?" And it +was the cold smile of her father with which she mocked him.</p> + +<p>"I'll do it."</p> + +<p>"You play a deep game," said the girl bitterly. "Why would you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Because," said Donnegan faintly. "I love you."</p> + +<p>Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and +was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled +eyes.</p> + +<p>"As if I were a leper," muttered Donnegan. "By heaven, she looked at me +as if I were unclean!"</p> + +<p>But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her +face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, +and her face tipped up.</p> + +<p>Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen +the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="26"></a><h2>26</h2> +<br> + +<p>Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and +he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single +step, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrown +himself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly out +before him, his teeth set, his eyes closed.</p> + +<p>For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force when +he could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of all +was gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms to +take that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which could +encompass her.</p> + +<p>Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender form +of the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power of +one hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closed +his fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and sat +with his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he had +seen a ghost.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, until +big George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure that +he slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for it +was the chill, gray time of the night.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, he +found the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightly +across his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy.</p> + +<p>He spent the day in that chair.</p> + +<p>It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared face +and a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to see +him. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence as +acquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to see +you, sir."</p> + +<p>Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow with +sandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw.</p> + +<p>"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester.</p> + +<p>Donnegan did not reply.</p> + +<p>"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued the +sandy-haired man.</p> + +<p>There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work, +Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been in +The Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon. +Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because he +played crooked with me. You hear me talk?"</p> + +<p>Still Donnegan considered him without a word.</p> + +<p>"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we can +get you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with the +colonel."</p> + +<p>He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnerved +him. He even took a step back toward the door.</p> + +<p>"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behind +me. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't alone +yourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan, +you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but I +ask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?"</p> + +<p>He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you're +done!"</p> + +<p>For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George a +significant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However, +Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormous +oath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door and +slammed it after him.</p> + +<p>"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir."</p> + +<p>And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and the +evening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hills +around The Corner.</p> + +<p>Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to his +revolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, and +walked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping, +hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quiet +departure did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across the +threshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars.</p> + +<p>"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. He +ain't happy."</p> + +<p>And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle with +knife and gun.</p> + +<p>He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heart +of the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hour +vigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyes +with shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife, +competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had two +places in mind—Lebrun's and Milligan's.</p> + +<p>It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly, +he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; it +was like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realized +that in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl and +bring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear of +Donnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donnegan +wanted to tear Landis to shreds.</p> + +<p>It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to a +gambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan was +not a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wanted +something that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made him +a good deal of a boy.</p> + +<p>So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. A +murmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened for +him. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watched +it double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in the +winnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rose +disconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs it +never fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones she +punishes.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan is out hunting trouble."</p> + +<p>About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evil +she has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongues +wagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get the +meaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness of +his mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him more +sedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that The +Corner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, but +cornered, he will fight like a wildcat.</p> + +<p>So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed.</p> + +<p>He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him, +and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumor +was there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbed +cow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan had +occupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint and +sought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra, +and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of the +gunman.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him. +Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes of +women brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him, +and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Not +that he had forethought in going toward it, but he was moving +absent-mindedly.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner, +and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, he +let his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than one +brave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiled +back at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face of +Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted except +for the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly. +Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; but +that would have been too pointed.</p> + +<p>A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor to +Nelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hat +under his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he made +an old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightened +again.</p> + +<p>"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquired.</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She felt +that she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest which +surrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other hand +that her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with the +man. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, being +forbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lips +and eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things.</p> + +<p>"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute."</p> + +<p>"If I should—what would people say?";</p> + +<p>"Let's find out."</p> + +<p>"It would be—daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night."</p> + +<p>"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us."</p> + +<p>She went a pace closer to it with him.</p> + +<p>"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sit +down with you, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>And she immediately slipped into the chair.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="27"></a><h2>27</h2> +<br> + +<p>She qualified her surrender, of course, by sitting on the very edge of +the chair. She had on a wine-colored dress, and, with the excitement +whipping color into her cheeks and her eyes dancing, Nelly Lebrun was a +lovely picture.</p> + +<p>"I must go at once," said Nelly.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I can't expect you to stay."</p> + +<p>She dropped one hand on the edge of the table. One would have thought +that she was in the very act of rising.</p> + +<p>"Do you know that you frighten me?"</p> + +<p>"I?" said Donnegan, with appropriate inflection.</p> + +<p>"As if I were a man and you were angry."</p> + +<p>"But you see?" And he made a gesture with both of his palms turned up. +"People have slandered me. I am harmless."</p> + +<p>"The minute is up, Mr. Donnegan. What is it you wish?"</p> + +<p>"Another minute."</p> + +<p>"Now you laugh at me."</p> + +<p>"No, no!"</p> + +<p>"And in the next minute?"</p> + +<p>"I hope to persuade you to stay till the third minute."</p> + +<p>"Of course, I can't."</p> + +<p>"I know; it's impossible."</p> + +<p>"Quite." She settled into the chair. "See how people stare at me! They +remember poor Jack Landis and they think—the whole crowd—"</p> + +<p>"A crowd is always foolish. In the meantime, I'm happy."</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"To be here; to sit close to you; to watch you."</p> + +<p>Her glance was like the tip of a rapier, searching him through for some +iota of seriousness under this banter.</p> + +<p>"Ah?" and Nelly Lebrun laughed.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that I mean it?"</p> + +<p>"You can watch me from a distance, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"May I say a bold thing?"</p> + +<p>"You have said several."</p> + +<p>"No one can really watch you from a distance."</p> + +<p>She canted her head a little to one side; such an encounter of personal +quips was a seventh heaven to her.</p> + +<p>"That's a riddle, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"A simple one. The answer is, because there's too much to watch."</p> + +<p>He joined her when she laughed, but the laughter of Donnegan made not a +sound, and he broke in on her mirth suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, don't you see I'm serious?"</p> + +<p>Her glance flicked on either side, as though she feared someone might +have read his lips.</p> + +<p>"Not a soul can hear me," murmured Donnegan, "and I'm going to be bolder +still, and tell you the truth."</p> + +<p>"It's the last thing I dare stay to hear."</p> + +<p>"You are too lovely to watch from a distance, Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>He was so direct that even Nelly Lebrun, expert in flirtations, was +given pause, and became sober. She shook her head and raised a +cautioning finger. But Donnegan was not shaken.</p> + +<p>"Because there is a glamour about a beautiful girl," he said gravely. +"One has to step into the halo to see her, to know her. Are you +contented to look at a flower from a distance? That's an old comparison, +isn't it? But there is something like a fragrance about you, Nelly +Lebrun. Don't be afraid. No one can hear; no one shall ever dream I've +said such bold things to you. In the meantime, we have a truth party. +There is a fragrance, I say. It must be breathed. There is a glow which +must touch one. As it touches me now, you see?"</p> + +<p>Indeed, there was a faint color in his cheeks. And the girl flushed more +deeply; her eyes were still bright, but they no longer sharpened to such +a penetrating point. She was believing at least a little part of what he +said, and her disbelief only heightened her joy in what was real in this +strangest of lovemakings.</p> + +<p>"I shall stay here to learn one thing," she said. "What deviltry is +behind all this talk, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Is that fair to me? Besides, I only follow a beaten trail in The +Corner."</p> + +<p>"And that?"</p> + +<p>"Toward Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>"A beaten trail? You?" she cried, with just a touch of anger. "I'm not a +child, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"You are not; and that's why I am frank."</p> + +<p>"You have done all these things—following this trail you speak of?"</p> + +<p>"Remember," said Donnegan soberly. "What have I done?"</p> + +<p>"Shot down two men; played like an actor on a stage a couple of times at +least, if I must be blunt; hunted danger like—like a reckless madman; +dared all The Corner to cross you; flaunted the red rag in the face of +the bull. Those are a few things you have done, sir! And all on one +trail? That trail you spoke of?"</p> + +<p>"Nelly Lebrun—"</p> + +<p>"I'm listening; and do you know I'm persuading myself to believe you?"</p> + +<p>"It's because you feel the truth before I speak it. Truth speaks for +itself, you know."</p> + +<p>"I have closed my eyes—you see? I have stepped into a masquerade. Now +you can talk."</p> + +<p>"Masquerades are exciting," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"And they are sometimes beautiful."</p> + +<p>"But this sober truth of mine—"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I came here unknown—and I saw you, Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>He paused; she was looking a little past him.</p> + +<p>"I came in rags; no friends; no following. And I saw that I should have +to make you notice me."</p> + +<p>"And why? No, I shouldn't have asked that."</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't ask that," agreed Donnegan. "But I saw you the queen of +The Corner, worshiped by all men. What could I do? I am not rich. I am +not big. You see?"</p> + +<p>He drew her attention to his smallness with a flush which never failed +to touch the face of Donnegan when he thought of his size; and he seemed +to swell and grow greater in the very instant she glanced at him.</p> + +<p>"What could I do? One thing; fight. I have fought. I fought to get the +eye of The Corner, but most of all to attract your attention. I came +closer to you. I saw that one man blocked the way—mostly. I decided to +brush him aside. How?"</p> + +<p>"By fighting?" She had not been carried away by his argument. She was +watching him like a lynx every moment.</p> + +<p>"Not by that. By bluffing. You see, I was not fool enough to think that +you would—particularly notice a fighting bully."</p> + +<p>He laid his open hand on the table. It was like exposing both strength +and weakness; and into such a trap it would have been a singularly +hard-minded woman who might not have stepped. Nelly Lebrun leaned a +little closer. She forgot to criticize.</p> + +<p>"It was bluff. I saw that Landis was big and good-looking. And what was +I beside him? Nothing. I could only hope that he was hollow; yellow—you +see? So I tried the bluff. You know about it. The clock, and all that +claptrap. But Landis wasn't yellow. He didn't crumble. He lasted long +enough to call my bluff, and I had to shoot in self-defense. And then, +when he lay on the floor, I saw that I had failed."</p> + +<p>"Failed?"</p> + +<p>He lowered his eyes for fear that she would catch the glitter of them.</p> + +<p>"I knew that you would hate me for what I had done because I had only +proved that Landis was a brave youngster with enough nerve for nine out +of ten. And I came tonight—to ask you to forgive me. No, not that—only +to ask you to understand. Do you?"</p> + +<p>He raised his glance suddenly at that, and their eyes met with one of +these electric shocks which will go tingling through two people. And +when the lips of Nelly Lebrun parted a little, he knew that she was in +the trap. He closed his hand that lay on the table—curling the fingers +slowly. In that way he expressed all his exultation.</p> + +<p>"There is something wrong," said the girl, in a tone of one who argues +with herself. "It's all too logical to be real."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Was that your only reason for fighting Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"Do I have to confess even that?"</p> + +<p>She smiled in the triumph of her penetration, but it was a brief, +unhappy smile. One might have thought that she would have been glad to +be deceived.</p> + +<p>"I came to serve a girl who was unhappy," said Donnegan. "Her fiancé had +left her; her fiancé was Jack Landis. And she's now in a hut up the hill +waiting for him. And I thought that if I ruined him in your eyes he'd go +back to a girl who wouldn't care so much about bravery. Who'd forgive +him for having left her. But you see what a fool I was and how clumsily +I worked? My bluff failed, and I only wounded him, put him in your +house, under your care, where he'll be happiest, and where there'll +never be a chance for this girl to get him back."</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun, with her folded hands under her chin, studied him.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," she said, "I wish I knew whether you are the most +chivalrous, self-sacrificing of men, or simply the most gorgeous liar in +the desert."</p> + +<p>"And it's hardly fair," said Donnegan, "to expect me to tell you that."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="28"></a><h2>28</h2> +<br> + +<p>It gave them both a welcome opportunity to laugh, welcome to the girl +because it broke into an excitement which was rapidly telling upon her, +and welcome to Donnegan because the strain of so many distortions of the +truth was telling upon him as well. They laughed together. One hasty +glance told Donnegan that half the couples in the room were whispering +about Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun; but when he looked across the table he +saw that Nelly Lebrun had not a thought for what might be going on in +the minds of others. She was quite content.</p> + +<p>"And the girl?" she said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan rested his forehead upon his hand in thought. He dared not let +Nelly see his face at this moment, for the mention of Lou Macon had +poured the old flood of sorrow back upon him And therefore, when he +looked up, he was sneering.</p> + +<p>"You know these blond, pretty girls?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are adorable!"</p> + +<p>"With dull eyes," said Donnegan coldly, and a twinkle came into the +responsive eye of Nelly Lebrun. "The sort of a girl who sees a hero in +such a fellow as Jack Landis."</p> + +<p>"And Jack is brave."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't have said that."</p> + +<p>"Never mind. Brave, but such a boy."</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?"</p> + +<p>She looked questioningly at Donnegan and they smiled together, slowly.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm glad it's that way," and Donnegan sighed.</p> + +<p>"And did you really think it could be any other way?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know. I'm afraid I was blind."</p> + +<p>"But the poor girl on the hill; I wish I could see her."</p> + +<p>She was watching Donnegan very sharply again.</p> + +<p>"A good idea. Why don't you?"</p> + +<p>"You seem to like her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Donnegan judiciously. "She has an appealing way; I'm very +sorry for her. But I've done my best; I can't help her."</p> + +<p>"Isn't there some way?"</p> + +<p>"Of what?"</p> + +<p>"Of helping her."</p> + +<p>Donnegan laughed. "Go to your father and persuade him to send Landis +back to her."</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you +know."</p> + +<p>"Business? Well, I guessed at that."</p> + +<p>"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly.</p> + +<p>Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets.</p> + +<p>"They made me—flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!"</p> + +<p>How much the past tense may mean!</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with +gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? +Why couldn't you get him away from the house?"</p> + +<p>"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?"</p> + +<p>"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night."</p> + +<p>"But Jack would wake up and make a noise."</p> + +<p>"There are things that would make him sleep through anything."</p> + +<p>"But how could he be moved?"</p> + +<p>"On a horse litter kept ready outside."</p> + +<p>"And how carried to the litter?"</p> + +<p>"I would carry him." The girl looked at him with a question and then +with a faint smile beginning. "Easily," said Donnegan, stiffening in his +chair. "Very easily."</p> + +<p>It pleased her to find this weakness in the pride of the invincible +Donnegan. It gave her a secure feeling of mastery. So she controlled her +smile and looked with a sort of superior kindliness upon the red-headed +little man.</p> + +<p>"It's no good," Nelly Lebrun said with a sigh. "Even if he were taken +away—and then it would get you into a bad mess."</p> + +<p>"Would it? Worse than I'm in?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Lord Nick is coming to The Corner; and no matter what you've done +so far—I think I could quiet him. But if you were to take Landis +away—then nothing could stop him."</p> + +<p>Donnegan sneered.</p> + +<p>"I begin to think Lord Nick is a bogie," he said. "Everyone whispers +when they speak of him." He leaned forward. "I should like to meet him, +Nelly Lebrun!"</p> + +<p>It staggered Nelly. "Do you mean that?" she cried softly.</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>She caught her breath and then a spark of deviltry gleamed. "I wonder!" +said Nelly Lebrun, and her glance weighed Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"All I ask is a fair chance," he said.</p> + +<p>"He is a big man," said the girl maliciously.</p> + +<p>The never-failing blush burned in the face of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"A large target is more easily hit," he said through his teeth.</p> + +<p>Her thoughts played back and forth in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," she said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan played a random card.</p> + +<p>"I was mistaken," he said darkly. "Jack was not the man I should have +faced. Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"You can't persuade me. Well, I was a fool not to guess it!"</p> + +<p>"I really think," said the girl gloomily, "that as soon as Lord Nick +comes, you'll hunt him out!"</p> + +<p>He bowed to her with cold politeness. "In spite of his size," said +Donnegan through his teeth once more.</p> + +<p>And at this the girl's face softened and grew merry.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to help you to take Jack away," she said, "on one +condition."</p> + +<p>"And that?"</p> + +<p>"That you won't make a step toward Lord Nick when he comes."</p> + +<p>"I shall not avoid him," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You're unreasonable! Well, not avoid him, but simply not provoke him. +I'll arrange it so that Lord Nick won't come hunting trouble."</p> + +<p>"And he'll let Jack stay with the girl and her father?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he'll persuade them to let him go of their own free will."</p> + +<p>Donnegan thought of the colonel and smiled.</p> + +<p>"In that case, of course, I shouldn't care at all." He added: "But do +you mean all this?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see."</p> + +<p>They talked only a moment longer and then Donnegan left the hall with +the girl on his arm. Certainly the thoughts of all in Milligan's +followed that pair; and it was seen that Donnegan took her to the door +of her house and then went away through the town and up the hill. And +big George followed him like a shadow cast from a lantern behind a man +walking in a fog.</p> + +<p>In the hut on the hill, Donnegan put George quickly to work, and with a +door and some bedding, a litter was hastily constructed and swung +between the two horses. In the meantime, Donnegan climbed higher up the +hill and watched steadily over the town until, in a house beneath him, +two lights were shown. He came back at that and hurried down the hill +with George behind and around the houses until they came to the +pretentious cabin of the gambler, Lebrun.</p> + +<p>Once there, Donnegan went straight to an unlighted window, tapped; and +it was opened from within, softly. Nelly Lebrun stood within.</p> + +<p>"It's done," she said. "Joe and the Pedlar are sound asleep. They drank +too much."</p> + +<p>"Your father."</p> + +<p>"Hasn't come home."</p> + +<p>"And Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"No matter what you do, he won't wake up; but be careful of his +shoulder. It's badly torn. How can you carry him?"</p> + +<p>She could not see Donnegan's flush, but she heard his teeth grit. And +he slipped through the window, gesturing to George to come close. It was +still darker inside the room—far darker than the starlit night outside. +And the one path of lighter gray was the bed of Jack Landis. His heavy +breathing was the only sound. Donnegan kneeled beside him and worked his +arms under the limp figure.</p> + +<p>And while he kneeled there a door in the house was opened and closed +softly. Donnegan stood up.</p> + +<p>"Is the door locked?"</p> + +<p>"No," whispered the girl.</p> + +<p>"Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Too late. It's father, and he'd hear the turning of the key."</p> + +<p>They waited, while the light, quick step came down the hall of the +cabin. It came to the door, it went past; and then the steps retraced +and the door was opened gently.</p> + +<p>There was a light in the hall; the form of Lebrun was outlined black and +distinct..</p> + +<p>"Jack!" he whispered.</p> + +<p>No sound; he made as if to enter, and then he heard the heavy breathing +of the sleeper, apparently.</p> + +<p>"Asleep, poor fool," murmured the gambler, and closed the door.</p> + +<p>The door was no sooner closed than Donnegan had raised the body of the +sleeper. Once, as he rose, straining, it nearly slipped from his arms; +and when he stood erect he staggered. But once he had gained his +equilibrium, he carried the wounded man easily enough to the window +through which George reached his long arms and lifted out the burden.</p> + +<p>"You see?" said Donnegan, panting, to the girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it was really wonderful!"</p> + +<p>"You are laughing, now."</p> + +<p>"I? But hurry. My father has a fox's ear for noises."</p> + +<p>"He will not hear this, I think." There was a swift scuffle, very soft +of movement.</p> + +<p>"Nelly!" called a far-off voice.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, hurry! Don't you hear?"</p> + +<p>"You forgive me?"</p> + +<p>"No—yes—but hurry!"</p> + +<p>"You will remember me?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Adieu!"</p> + +<p>She caught a picture of him sitting in the window for the split part of +a second, with his hat off, bowing to her. Then he was gone. And she +went into the hall, panting with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" Nelly Lebrun murmured. "I feel as if I had been hunted, and I +must look it. What if he—" Whatever the thought was she did not +complete it. "It may have been for the best," added Nelly Lebrun.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="29"></a><h2>29</h2> +<br> + +<p>It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but an +active mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun roused +herself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand was +still rapping.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she called drowsily.</p> + +<p>"This is Nick. May I come in?"</p> + +<p>"This is who?"</p> + +<p>The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she was +out of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped a +dressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was a +luxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of the +lynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, and +the soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threw +back the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place, +transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror.</p> + +<p>And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes, +Nick. May I come in?"</p> + +<p>She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on her +lips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; had +dipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awake +and brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock, +Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall.</p> + +<p>The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with the +pressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; and +while he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one hand +pressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expression +halfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did not +even smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentle +expressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominance +over all around him, his habitual expression was a proud +self-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in Lord +Nick it was rather leonine.</p> + +<p>He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily, +and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside another +man he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed by +the depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appear +quite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown and +set off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had the +combination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable in +Donnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the two +men; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, and +above all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from them +both. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of all +spirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terribly +mated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that the +mountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of the +careless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires an +exceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takes +a genius to make law-breaking glorious.</p> + +<p>No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek, +looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about his +immediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch, +and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had to +do with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, and +waited expectantly.</p> + +<p>"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frank +admirer.</p> + +<p>The girl merely looked at him.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he insisted.</p> + +<p>"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly.</p> + +<p>"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to the +contrary but that he was restraining himself—it was not worthwhile to +bother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tangle +since I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a father +has let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all this +was going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?"</p> + +<p>He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully.</p> + +<p>"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth I +suppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest. +Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you'll get him back?"</p> + +<p>"First, I want to find out how he got away."</p> + +<p>"I know how."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he did +not raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softly +so that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger. +"Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as one +of them! You, too!"</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terrible +voice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis; +Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him. +Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!"</p> + +<p>She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice.</p> + +<p>"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she asked +coldly.</p> + +<p>"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications; +have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheads +are beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas."</p> + +<p>"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come to +it; and you'll never come to it."</p> + +<p>"Never. Because I don't want him killed."</p> + +<p>"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?"</p> + +<p>"Because he's in love—with me."</p> + +<p>"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rare +fellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house without +help. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had to +find out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; not +the Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone who +doesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're the +one!"</p> + +<p>She hesitated a breathless instant.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said. "I am."</p> + +<p>She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl in +the case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with her +once. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint; +haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kept +on with it."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. I +haven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I got +rid of him."</p> + +<p>"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?"</p> + +<p>She flushed and then set her teeth.</p> + +<p>"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring +him back."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"You don't understand, Nick. He's different."</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"He's like you."</p> + +<p>"What are you driving at?"</p> + +<p>"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible +fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair +and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such a +man—except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fight +Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little +forward.</p> + +<p>"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal, +Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you—"</p> + +<p>The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank.</p> + +<p>"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too. +And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"For your own sake."</p> + +<p>He stood up.</p> + +<p>"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him; +but I'm going to have Landis back!"</p> + +<p>She, also, rose.</p> + +<p>"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll get Donnegan to +leave the house."</p> + +<p>"I don't care what you do about that."</p> + +<p>"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunt +him out afterward?"</p> + +<p>"I never make promises, Nell."</p> + +<p>"But I'll trust you, Nick."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="30"></a><h2>30</h2> +<br> + +<p>The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the +north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly +Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She +sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, +which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to +the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave +him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took +the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The +Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance.</p> + +<p>She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her +appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was +in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her +that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is +touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of +it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have +really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he +had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan's. And that, +as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom.</p> + +<p>Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the +hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour +had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street +below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy +swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding +crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it +Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked +more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle.</p> + +<p>He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and +his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen +stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance.</p> + +<p>"There's no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought +you might agree with me."</p> + +<p>He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his +attitude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that +house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some +few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road—the chestnut at a +long-strided canter and Nelly's black at a soft and choppy pace—the +wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things +one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the +first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from +The Corner—and Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had +Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a +violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the +lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared +with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her +make the comparison at all.</p> + +<p>"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a +hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could +be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, +and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away.</p> + +<p>"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and +see this."</p> + +<p>She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy.</p> + +<p>"You see, I'm a lazy man."</p> + +<p>"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?"</p> + +<p>"Two days, I think."</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought +his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even +in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under +his look.</p> + +<p>"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question."</p> + +<p>And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her +breath. The imp of perversity made her go on.</p> + +<p>"And why dangerous?"</p> + +<p>It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, +but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her.</p> + +<p>"You are not frank," he remarked.</p> + +<p>She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in +her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm's length. After +last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for—days and +days."</p> + +<p>"That's why I'm curious," said Donnegan, "and not flattered. I'm trying +to find what purpose you have in taking me riding."</p> + +<p>"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if you will."</p> + +<p>And since such fencing with the wits delighted her, she let all her +delight come with a sparkle in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I have one clue."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"And that is that you may have the old-woman curiosity to find out how +many ways a man can tell her that he's fond of her."</p> + +<p>Though she flushed a little she kept her poise admirably.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that is part of my interest," she admitted.</p> + +<p>"I can think of a great many ways of saying it," said Donnegan. "I am +the dry desert, you are the rain, and yet I remain dry and produce no +grass." "A very pretty comparison," said the girl with a smile.</p> + +<p>"A very green one," and Donnegan smiled. "I am the wind and you are the +wild geese, and yet I keep on blowing after you are gone and do not +carry away a feather of you."</p> + +<p>"Pretty again."</p> + +<p>"And silly. But, really, you are very kind to me, and I shall try not to +take too much advantage of it."</p> + +<p>"Will you answer a question?"</p> + +<p>"I had rather ask one: but go on."</p> + +<p>"What made you so dry a desert, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"There is a very leading question again."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the +first time I saw you—when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly +disguise."</p> + +<p>"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of +me; I am a beggarly person."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an +education."</p> + +<p>"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and +long ago learned not to take myself too seriously."</p> + +<p>"Which leads to—"</p> + +<p>"The reason why I have wandered so much."</p> + +<p>"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?"</p> + +<p>"A chance to sit in a saddle—or a chair—and talk as we are talking."</p> + +<p>"Which seems to be idly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire."</p> + +<p>"Or ice."</p> + +<p>At the random hit he glanced sharply at her, but she was looking a +little past him, thinking.</p> + +<p>"I have tried to get at the reason behind all your reasons," she said. +"You came on me in a haphazard fashion, and yet you are not a haphazard +sort."</p> + +<p>"Do you see nothing serious about me?"</p> + +<p>"I see that you are unhappy," said the girl gently. "And I am sorry."</p> + +<p>Once again Donnegan was jarred, and he came within an ace of opening +his mind to her, of pouring out the truth about Lou Macon. Love is a +talking madness in all men and he came within an ace of confessing his +troubles.</p> + +<p>"Let's go on," she said, loosening her rein.</p> + +<p>"Why not cut back in a semicircle toward The Corner?"</p> + +<p>"Toward The Corner? No, no!"</p> + +<p>There was a brightening of his eye as he noted her shudder of distaste +or fear, and she strove to cover her traces.</p> + +<p>"I'm sick of the place," she said eagerly. "Let's get as far from it as +we may."</p> + +<p>"But yonder is a very good trail leading past it."</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll ride that way if you wish, but I'd rather go straight +ahead."</p> + +<p>If she had insisted stubbornly he would have thought nothing, but the +moment she became politic he was on his guard.</p> + +<p>"You dislike something in The Corner," he said, thinking carelessly and +aloud. "You are afraid of something back there. But what could you be +afraid of? Then you may be afraid of something for me. Ah, I have it! +They have decided to 'get' me for taking Jack Landis away; Joe Rix and +the Pedlar are waiting for me to come back!"</p> + +<p>He looked steadily and she attempted to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix and the Pedlar? I would not stack ten like them against you!"</p> + +<p>"Then it is someone else."</p> + +<p>"I haven't said so. Of course there's no one."</p> + +<p>She shook her rein again, but Donnegan sat still in his saddle and +looked fixedly at her.</p> + +<p>"That's why you brought me out here," he announced. "Oh, Nelly Lebrun, +what's behind your mind? Who is it? By heaven, it's this Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, you're letting your imagination run wild."</p> + +<p>"It's gone straight to the point. But I'm not angry. I think I may get +back in time."</p> + +<p>He turned his horse, and the girl swung hers beside him and caught his +arm.</p> + +<p>"Don't go!" she pleaded. "You're right; it's Nick, and it's suicide to +face him!"</p> + +<p>The face of Donnegan set cruelly.</p> + +<p>"The main obstacle," he said. "Come and watch me handle it!"</p> + +<p>But she dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, and, sitting +there for a long time, she heard his careless whistling blow back to her +as he galloped toward The Corner.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="31"></a><h2>31</h2> +<br> + +<p>If Nelly Lebrun had consigned him mentally to the worms, that thought +made not the slightest impression upon Donnegan. A chance for action was +opening before him, and above all a chance of action in the eye of Lou +Macon; and he welcomed with open arms the thought that he would have an +opportunity to strike for her, and keep Landis with her. He went arrowy +straight and arrowy fast to the cabin on the hill, and he found ample +evidence that it had become a center of attention in The Corner. There +was a scattering of people in the distance, apparently loitering with no +particular purpose, but undoubtedly because they awaited an explosion of +some sort. He went by a group at which the chestnut shied, and as +Donnegan straightened out the horse again he caught a look of both +interest and pity on the faces of the men.</p> + +<p>Did they give him up so soon as it was known that Lord Nick had entered +the lists against him? Had all his display in The Corner gone for +nothing as against the repute of this terrible mystery man? His vanity +made him set his teeth again.</p> + +<p>Dismounting before the cabin of the colonel, he found that worthy in +his invalid chair, enjoying a sun bath in front of his house. But there +was no sign of Lord Nick—no sign of Lou. A grim fear came to Donnegan +that he might have to attack Nick in his own stronghold, for Jack Landis +might already have been taken away to the Lebrun house.</p> + +<p>So he went straight to the colonel, and when he came close he saw that +the fat man was apparently in the grip of a chill. He had gathered a +vast blanket about his shoulders and kept drawing it tighter; beneath +his eyes, which looked down to the ground, there were violet shadows.</p> + +<p>"I've lost," said Donnegan through his teeth. "Lord Nick has been here?"</p> + +<p>The invalid lifted his eyes, and Donnegan saw a terrible thing—that the +nerve of the fat man had been crushed. The folds of his face quivered as +he answered huskily: "He has been here!"</p> + +<p>"And Landis is gone?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Not gone? Then—"</p> + +<p>"Nick has gone to get a horse litter. He came up just to clear the way."</p> + +<p>"When he comes back he'll find me!"</p> + +<p>The glance of the colonel cleared long enough to survey Donnegan slowly +from head to foot, and his amusement sent the familiar hot flush over +the face of the little man. He straightened to his full height, which, +in his high heels, was not insignificant. But the colonel was apparently +so desperate that he was willing to throw caution away.</p> + +<p>"Compared with Lord Nick, Donnegan," he said, "you don't look half a +man—even with those heels."</p> + +<p>And he smiled calmly at Donnegan in the manner of one who, having +escaped the lightning bolt itself, does not fear mere thunder.</p> + +<p>"There is no fool like a fat fool," said Donnegan with childish +viciousness. "What did Lord Nick, as you call him, do to you? He's +brought out the yellow, my friend."</p> + +<p>The colonel accepted the insult without the quiver of an eyelid. +Throughout he seemed to be looking expectantly beyond Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"My young friend," he said, "you have been very useful to me. But I +must confess that you are no longer a tool equal to the task. I dismiss +you. I thank you cordially for your efforts. They are worthless. You see +that crowd gathering yonder? They have come to see Lord Nick prepare you +for a hole in the ground. And make no mistake: if you are here when he +returns that hole will have to be dug—unless they throw you out for the +claws of the buzzards. In the meantime, our efforts have been wasted +completely. I hadn't enough time. I had thrown the fear of sudden death +into Landis, and in another hour he would have signed away his soul to +me for fear of poison."</p> + +<p>The colonel paused to chuckle at some enjoyable memory.</p> + +<p>"Then Nick came. You see, I know all about Nick."</p> + +<p>"And Nick knows all about you?"</p> + +<p>For a moment the agate, catlike eyes of the colonel clouded and cleared +again in their unfathomable manner.</p> + +<p>"At moments, Donnegan," he said, "you have rare perceptions. That is +exactly it—Nick knows just about everything concerning me. And so—roll +your pack and climb on your horse and get away. I think you may have +another five minutes before he comes."</p> + +<p>Donnegan turned on his heel. He went to the door of the hut and threw it +open. Lou sat beside Landis holding his hand, and the murmur of her +voice was still pleasant as an echo through the room when she looked and +saw Donnegan. At that she rose and her face hardened as she looked at +him. Landis, also, lifted his head, and his face was convulsed with +hatred. So Donnegan closed the door and went softly away to his own +shack.</p> + +<p>She hated him even as Landis hated him, it seemed. He should have known +that he would not be thanked for bringing back her lover to her with a +bullet through his shoulder. Sitting in his cabin, he took his head +between his hands and thought of life and death, and made up his mind. +He was afraid. If Lord Nick had been the devil himself Donnegan could +not have been more afraid. But if the big stranger had been ten devils +instead of one Donnegan would not have found it in his soul to run away.</p> + +<p>Nothing remained for him in The Corner, it seemed, except his position +as a man of power—a dangerous fighter. It was a less than worthless +position, and yet, once having taken it up, he could not abandon it. +More than one gunfighter has been in the same place, forced to act as a +public menace long after he has ceased to feel any desire to fight. Of +selfish motives there remained not a scruple to him, but there was still +the happiness of Lou Macon. If the boy were taken back to Lebrun's, it +would be fatal to her. For even if Nelly wished, she could not teach her +eyes new habits, and she would ceaselessly play on the heart of the +wounded man.</p> + +<p>It was the cessation of all talk from the gathering crowd outside that +made Donnegan lift his head at length, and know that Lord Nick had come. +But before he had time to prepare himself, the door was cast open and +into it, filling it from side to side, stepped Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>There was no need of an introduction. Donnegan knew him by the aptness +with which the name fitted that glorious figure of a man and by the +calm, confident eye which now was looking him slowly over, from head to +foot. Lord Nick closed the door carefully behind him.</p> + +<p>"The colonel told me," he said in his deep, smooth voice, "that you were +waiting for me here."</p> + +<p>And Donnegan recognized the snakelike malice of the fat man in drawing +him into the fight. But he dismissed that quickly from his mind. He was +staring, fascinated, into the face of the other. He was a reader of men, +was Donnegan; he was a reader of mind, too. In his life of battle he had +learned to judge the prowess of others at a glance, just as a musician +can tell the quality of a violin by the first note he hears played upon +it. So Donnegan judged the quality of fighting men, and, looking into +the face of Lord Nick, he knew that he had met his equal at last.</p> + +<p>It was a great and a bitter moment to him. The sense of physical +smallness he had banished a thousand times by the recollection of his +speed of hand and his surety with weapons. He had looked at men +muscularly great and despised them in the knowledge that a gun or a +knife would make him their master. But in Lord Nick he recognized his +own nerveless speed of hand, his own hair-trigger balance, his own +deadly seriousness and contempt of life. The experience in battle was +there, too. And he began to feel that the size of the other crushed him +to the floor and made him hopeless. It was unnatural, it was wrong, that +this giant in the body should be a giant in adroitness also.</p> + +<p>Already Donnegan had died one death before he rose from his chair and +stood to the full of his height ready to die again and summoning his +nervous force to meet the enemy. He had seen that the big man had +followed his own example and had measured him at a glance.</p> + +<p>Indeed the history of some lives of action held less than the +concentrated silence of these two men during that second's space.</p> + +<p>And now Donnegan felt the cold eye of the other eating into his own, +striving to beat him down, break his nerve. For an instant panic got +hold on Donnegan. He, himself, had broken the nerve of other men by the +weight of his unaided eye. Had he not reduced poor Jack Landis to a +trembling wreck by five minutes of silence? And had he not seen other +brave men become trembling cowards unable to face the light, and all +because of that terrible power which lies in the eye of some? He fought +away the panic, though perspiration was pouring out upon his forehead +and beneath his armpits.</p> + +<p>"The colonel is very kind," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>And that moment he sent up a prayer of thankfulness that his voice was +smooth as silk, and that he was able to smile into the face of Lord +Nick. The brow of the other clouded and then smoothed itself deftly. +Perhaps he, too, recognized the clang of steel upon steel and knew the +metal of his enemy.</p> + +<p>"And therefore," said Lord Nick, "since most of The Corner expects +business from us, it seems much as if one of us must kill the other +before we part."</p> + +<p>"As a matter of fact," said Donnegan, "I have been keeping that in +mind." He added, with that deadly smile of his that never reached his +eyes: "I never disappoint the public when it's possible to satisfy +them."</p> + +<p>"No," and Lord Nick nodded, "you seem to have most of the habits of an +actor—including an inclination to make up for your part."</p> + +<p>Donnegan bit his lip until it bled, and then smiled.</p> + +<p>"I have been playing to fools," he said. "Now I shall enjoy a +discriminating critic."</p> + +<p>"Yes," remarked Lord Nick, "actors generally desire an intelligent +audience for the death scene."</p> + +<p>"I applaud your penetration and I shall speak well of you when this +disagreeable duty is finished."</p> + +<p>"Come," and Lord Nick smiled genially, "you are a game little cock!"</p> + +<p>The telltale flush crimsoned Donnegan's face. And if the fight had begun +at that moment no power under heaven could have saved Lord Nick from the +frenzy of the little man.</p> + +<p>"My size keeps me from stooping," said Donnegan, "I shall look up to +you, sir, until the moment you fall."</p> + +<p>"Well hit again! You are also a wit, I see! Donnegan, I am almost sorry +for the necessity of this meeting. And if it weren't for the audience—"</p> + +<p>"Say no more," said Donnegan, bowing. "I read your heart and appreciate +all you intend."</p> + +<p>He had touched his stock as he bowed, and now he turned to the mirror +and carefully adjusted it, for it was a little awry from the ride; but +in reality he used that moment to examine his own face, and the set of +his jaw and the clearness of his eye reassured him. Turning again, he +surprised a glint of admiration in the glance of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"We are at one, sir, it appears," he said. "And there is no other way +out of this disagreeable necessity?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately not. I have a certain position in these parts. People are +apt to expect a good deal of me. And for my part I see no way out except +a gunplay—no way out between the devil and the moon!"</p> + +<p>Astonishment swept suddenly across the face of the big man, for +Donnegan, turning white as death, shrank toward the wall as though he +had that moment received cold steel in his body.</p> + +<p>"Say that again!" said Donnegan hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"I said there was no way out," repeated Lord Nick, and though he kept +his right hand in readiness, he passed his left through his red hair and +stared at Donnegan with a tinge of contempt; he had seen men buckle like +this at the last moment when their backs were to the wall.</p> + +<p>"Between—" repeated Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The devil and the moon. Do you see a way yourself?"</p> + +<p>He was astonished again to see Donnegan wince as if from a blow. His +lips were trembling and they writhed stiffly over his words.</p> + +<p>"Who taught you that expression?" said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"A gentleman," said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"My father, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, heaven," moaned Donnegan, catching his hands to his breast. "Oh, +heaven, forgive us!"</p> + +<p>"What the devil is in you?" asked Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>The little man stood erect again and his eyes were now on fire.</p> + +<p>"You are Henry Nicholas Reardon," he said.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick set his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "it is certain that you must die!"</p> + +<p>But Donnegan cast out his arms and broke into a wild laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you fool, you fool!" he cried. "Don't you know me? I am the +cripple!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="32"></a><h2>32</h2> +<br> + +<p>The big man crossed the floor with one vast stride, and, seizing +Donnegan by both shoulders, dragged him under the full light of the +window; and still the crazy laughter shook Donnegan and made him +helpless.</p> + +<p>"They tied me to a board—like a papoose," said Donnegan, "and they +straightened my back—but they left me this way—wizened up." He was +stammering; hysterical, and the words tumbled from his lips in a jumble. +"That was a month after you ran away from home. I was going to find you. +Got bigger. Took the road. Kept hunting. Then I met a yegg who told +about Rusty Dick—described him like you—I thought—I thought you were +dead!"</p> + +<p>And the tears rolled down his face; he sobbed like a woman.</p> + +<p>A strange thing happened then. Lord Nick lifted the little man in his +arms as if he were a child and literally carried him in that fashion to +the bunk. He put him down tenderly, still with one mighty arm around his +back.</p> + +<p>"You are Garry? You!"</p> + +<p>"Garrison Donnegan Reardon. Aye, that's what I am. Henry, don't say +that you don't know me!"</p> + +<p>"But—your back—I thought—"</p> + +<p>"I know—hopeless they said I was. But they brought in a young doctor. +Now look at me. Little. I never grew big—but hard, Henry, as leather!"</p> + +<p>And he sprang to his feet. And knowing that Donnegan had begun life as a +cripple it was easy to appreciate certain things about his expression—a +cold wistfulness, and his manner of reading the minds of men. Lord Nick +was like a man in a dream. He dragged Donnegan back to the bunk and +forced him to sit down with the weight of his arms. And he could not +keep his hands from his younger brother. As though he were blind and had +to use the sense of touch to reassure him.</p> + +<p>"I heard lies. They said everybody was dead. I thought—"</p> + +<p>"The fever killed them all, except me. Uncle Toby took me in. He was a +devil. Helped me along, but I left him when I could. And—"</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me any more. All that matters is that I have you at last, +Garry. Heaven knows it's a horrible thing to be kithless and kinless, +but I have you now! Ah, lad, but the old pain has left its mark on you. +Poor Garry!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shuddered.</p> + +<p>"I've forgotten it. Don't bring it back."</p> + +<p>"I keep feeling that you should be in that chair."</p> + +<p>"I know. But I'm not. I'm hard as nails, I tell you."</p> + +<p>He leaped to his feet again.</p> + +<p>"And not so small as you might think, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, big enough, Garry. Big enough to paralyze The Corner, from what +I've heard."</p> + +<p>"I've been playing a game with 'em, Henry. And now—if one of us could +clear the road, what will we do together? Eh?"</p> + +<p>The smile of Lord Nick showed his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Haven't I been hungry all my life for a man like you, lad? Somebody to +stand and guard my back while I faced the rest of the world?"</p> + +<p>"And I'll do my share of the facing, too."</p> + +<p>"You will, Garry. But I'm your elder."</p> + +<p>"Man, man! Nobody's my elder except one that's spent half his life—as I +have done!"</p> + +<p>"We'll teach you to forget the pain I'll make life roses for you, +Garry."</p> + +<p>"And the fools outside thought—"</p> + +<p>Donnegan broke into a soundless laughter, and, running to the door, +opened it a fraction of an inch and peeped out.</p> + +<p>"They're standing about in a circle. I can see 'em gaping. Even from +here. What will they think, Henry?"</p> + +<p>Lord Nick ground his teeth.</p> + +<p>"They'll think I've backed down from you," he said gloomily. "They'll +think I've taken water for the first time."</p> + +<p>"Why, confound 'em, the first man that opens his head—"</p> + +<p>"I know, I know. You'd fill his mouth with lead, and so would I. But if +it ever gets about—as it's sure to—that Lord, Nick, as they call me, +has been bluffed down without a fight, I'll have every Chinaman that +cooks on the range talking back to me. I'll have to start all over +again."</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Henry. Don't you see that I'll go out and explain that +I'm your brother?"</p> + +<p>"What good will that do? No, do we look alike?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan stopped short.</p> + +<p>"I'm not very big," he said rather coldly, "but then I'm not so very +small, either. I've found myself big enough, speaking in general. +Besides, we have the same hair and eyes."</p> + +<p>"Why, man, people will laugh when they hear that we call ourselves +brothers."</p> + +<p>Donnegan ground his teeth and the old flush burned upon his face.</p> + +<p>"I'll cut some throats if they do," he said, trembling with his passion.</p> + +<p>"I can hear them say it. 'Lord Nick walked in on Donnegan prepared to +eat him up. He measured him up and down, saw that he was a fighting +wildcat in spite of his size, and decided to back out. And Donnegan was +willing. They couldn't come out without a story of some kind—with the +whole world expecting a death in that cabin—so they framed a crazy +cock-and-bull story about being brothers.' I can hear them say that, +Donnegan, and it makes me wild!"</p> + +<p>"Do you call me Donnegan?" said Donnegan sadly.</p> + +<p>"No, no. Garry, don't be so touchy. You've never got over that, I see. +Still all pride and fire."</p> + +<p>"You're not very humble yourself, Henry."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not, maybe not. But I've been in a certain position around these +parts, Don—Garry. And it's hard to see it go!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan closed his eyes in deep reverie. And then he forced out the +words one by one.</p> + +<p>"Henry, I'll let everybody know that it was I who backed down. That we +were about to fight." He was unable to speak; he tore the stock loose at +his throat and went on: "We were about to fight; I lost my nerve; you +couldn't shoot a helpless man. We began to talk. We found out we are +brothers—"</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" broke out Lord Nick, and he struck himself violently across +the forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm a skunk, Garry, lad. Why, +for a minute I was about to let you do it. No. no, no! A thousand times +no!"</p> + +<p>It was plain to be seen that he was arguing himself away from the +temptation.</p> + +<p>"What do I care what they say? We'll cram the words back down their +throats and be hanged to 'em. Here I am worrying about myself like a +selfish dog without letting myself be happy over finding you. But I am +happy, Garry. Heaven knows it. And you don't doubt it, do you, old +fellow?"</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Donnegan, and he smiled to cover a touch of sadness. "I hope +not. No, I don't doubt you, of course. I've spent my life wishing for +you since you left us, you see. And then I followed you for three years +on the road, hunting everywhere."</p> + +<p>"You did that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Three years. I liked the careless life. For to tell you the truth, +I'm not worth much, Henry. I'm a loafer by instinct, and—"</p> + +<p>"Not another word." There were tears in the eyes of Lord Nick, and he +frowned them away. "Confound it, Garry, you unman me. I'll be weeping +like a woman in a minute. But now, sit down. We still have some things +to talk over. And we'll get to a quick conclusion."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes," said Donnegan, and at the emotion which had come in the face +of Lord Nick, his own expression softened wonderfully. A light seemed to +stand in his face. "We'll brush over the incidentals. And everything is +incidental aside from the fact that we're together again. They can +chisel iron chain apart, but we'll never be separated again, God +willing!" He looked up as he spoke, and his face was for the moment as +pure as the face of a child—Donnegan, the thief, the beggar, the liar +by gift, and the man-killer by trade and artistry.</p> + +<p>But Lord Nick in the meantime was looking down to the floor and +mustering his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"The main thing is entirely simple," he said. "You'll make one +concession to my pride, Garry, boy?"</p> + +<p>"Can you ask me?" said Donnegan softly, and he cast out his hands in a +gesture that offered his heart and his soul. "Can you ask me? Anything I +have is yours!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say that," answered Lord Nick tenderly. "But this small thing—my +pride, you know—I despise myself for caring what people think, but I'm +weak. I admit it, but I can't help it."</p> + +<p>"Talk out, man. You'll see if there's a bottom to things that I can +give!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's this. Everyone knows that I came up here to get young Jack +Landis and bring him back to Lebrun's—from which you stole him, you +clever young devil! Well, I'll simply take him back there, Garry; and +then I'll never have to ask another favor of you."</p> + +<p>He was astonished by a sudden silence, and looking up again, he saw that +Donnegan sat with his hand at his breast. It was a singularly feminine +gesture to which he resorted. It was a habit which had come to him in +his youth in the invalid chair, when the ceaseless torment of his +crippled back became too great for him to bear.</p> + +<p>And clearly, indeed, those days were brought home to Lord Nick as he +glanced up, for Donnegan was staring at him in the same old, familiar +agony, mute and helpless.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="33"></a><h2>33</h2> +<br> + +<p>At this Lord Nick very frankly frowned in turn. And when he frowned his +face grew marvelously dark, like some wrathful god, for there was a +noble, a Grecian purity to the profile of Henry Nicholas Reardon, and +when he frowned he seemed to be scorning, from a distance, ignoble, +earthly things which troubled him.</p> + +<p>"I know it isn't exactly easy for you, Garry," he admitted. "You have +your own pride; you have your own position here in The Corner. But I +want you to notice that mine is different. You've spent a day for what +you have in The Corner, here. I've spent ten years. You've played a +prank, acted a part, and cast a jest for what you have. But for the +place which I hold, brother mine, I've schemed with my wits, played fast +and loose, and killed men. Do you hear? I've bought it with blood, and +things you buy at such a price ought to stick, eh?"</p> + +<p>He banished his frown; the smile played suddenly across his features.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm arguing with myself. But that look you gave me a minute ago +had me worried for a little while."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan, who had allowed his head to fall, so that he seemed +to be nodding in acquiescence, now raised his face and Lord Nick +perceived the same white pain upon it. The same look which had been on +the face of the cripple so often in the other days.</p> + +<p>"Henry," said the younger brother, "I give you my oath that my pride has +nothing to do with this. I'd let you drive me barefoot before you +through the street yonder. I'd let every soul in The Corner know that I +have no pride where you're concerned. I'll do whatever you wish—with +one exception—and that one is the unlucky thing you ask. Pardner, you +mustn't ask for Jack Landis! Anything else I'll work like a slave to get +for you: I'll fight your battles, I'll serve you in any way you name: +but don't take Landis back!"</p> + +<p>He had talked eagerly, the words coming with a rush, and he found at the +end that Lord Nick was looking at him in bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"When a man is condemned to death," said Lord Nick slowly, "suppose +somebody offers him anything in the world that he wants—palaces, +riches, power—everything except his life. What would the condemned man +say to a friend who made such an offer? He'd laugh at him and then call +him a traitor. Eh? But I don't laugh at you, Garry. I simply explain to +you why I have to have Landis back. Listen!"</p> + +<p>He counted off his points upon the tips of his fingers, in the confident +manner of a teacher who deals with a stupid child, waiting patiently for +the young mind to comprehend.</p> + +<p>"We've been bleeding Jack Landis. Do you know why? Because it was Lester +who made the strike up here. He started out to file his claim. He +stopped at the house of Colonel Macon. That old devil learned the +location, learned everything; detained Lester with a trick, and rushed +young Landis away to file the claims for himself. Then when Lester came +up here he found that his claims had been jumped, and when he went to +the law there was no law that could help him. He had nothing but his +naked word for what he had discovered. And naturally the word of a +ruffian like Lester had no weight against the word of Landis. And, you +see, Landis thought that he was entirely in the right. Lester tried the +other way; tried to jump the claims; and was shot down by Landis. So +Lester sent for me. What was I to do? Kill Landis? The mine would go to +his heirs. I tried a different way—bleeding him of his profits, after +I'd explained to him that he was in the wrong. He half admitted that, +but he naturally wouldn't give up the mines even after we'd almost +proved to him that Lester had the first right. So Landis has been mining +the gold and we've been drawing it away from him. It looks tricky, but +really it's only just. And Lester and Lebrun split with me.</p> + +<p>"But I tell you, Garry, that I'd give up everything without an +afterthought. I'll give up the money and I'll make Lebrun and Lester +shut up without a word. I'll make them play square and not try to knife +Landis in the back. I'll do all that willingly—for you! But, Garry, I +can't give up taking Landis back to Lebrun's and keeping him there until +he's well. Why, man, I saw him in the hut just now. He wants to go. He's +afraid of the old colonel as if he were poison—and I think he's wise in +being afraid."</p> + +<p>"The colonel won't touch him," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"No. I've told him what would happen if he does."</p> + +<p>"Tush. Garry, Colonel Macon is the coldest-blooded murderer I've ever +known. But come out in the open, lad. You see that I'm ready to listen +to reason—except on one point. Tell me why you're so set on this +keeping of Landis here against my will and even against the lad's own +will? I'm reasonable, Garry. Do you doubt that?"</p> + +<p>Explaining his own mildness, the voice of Lord Nick swelled again and +filled the room, and he frowned on his brother. But Donnegan looked on +him sadly.</p> + +<p>"There is a girl—" he began.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't I guess it?" exclaimed Lord Nick. "If ever you find a man +unreasonable, stubborn and foolish, you'll always find a woman behind +it! All this trouble because of a piece of calico?"</p> + +<p>He leaned back, laughing thunderously in his relief.</p> + +<p>"Come, come! I was prepared for a tragedy. Now tell me about this girl. +Who and what is she?"</p> + +<p>"The daughter of the colonel."</p> + +<p>"You're in love with her? I'm glad to hear it, Garry. As a matter of +fact I've been afraid that you were hunting in my own preserve, but if +it's the colonel's daughter, you're welcome to her. So you love the +girl? She's pretty, lad!"</p> + +<p>"I love her?" said Donnegan in an indescribably tender voice. "I love +her? Who am I to love her? A thief, a man-killer, a miserable play +actor, a gambler, a drunkard. I love her? Bah!"</p> + +<p>If there was one quality of the mind with which Lord Nick was less +familiar than with all others, it was humbleness of spirit. He now +abased his magnificent head, and resting his chin in the mighty palm of +his hand, he stared with astonishment and commiseration into the face of +Donnegan. He seemed to be learning new things every moment about his +brother.</p> + +<p>"Leave me out of the question," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Can't be done. If I leave you out, dear boy, there's not one of them +that I care a hang about; I'd ride roughshod over the whole lot. I've +done it before to better men than these!"</p> + +<p>"Then you'll change, I know. This is the fact of the matter. She loves +Landis. And if you take Landis away where will you put him?"</p> + +<p>"Where he was stolen away. In Lebrun's."</p> + +<p>"And what will be in Lebrun's?"</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix to guard him and the old negress to nurse him."'</p> + +<p>"No, no! Nelly Lebrun will be there!"</p> + +<p>"Eh? Are you glancing at her, now?"</p> + +<p>"Henry, you yourself know that Landis is mad about that girl."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's flirted a bit with him. Turned the fool's head. He'll come +out of it safe. She won't break his heart. I've seen her work on +others!"</p> + +<p>He chuckled at the memory.</p> + +<p>"What do I care about Landis?" said Donnegan with unutterable scorn. +"It's the girl. You'll break her heart, Henry; and if you do I'll never +forgive you."</p> + +<p>"Steady, lad. This is a good deal like a threat."</p> + +<p>"No, no, no! Not a threat, heaven knows!"</p> + +<p>"By heaven!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "I begin to be irritated to see you +stick on a silly point like this. Listen to me, lad. Do you mean to say +that you are making all! this trouble about a slip of a girl?"</p> + +<p>"The heart of a girl," said Donnegan calmly.</p> + +<p>"Let Landis go; then take her in your arms and kiss her worries away. I +warrant you can do it! I gather from Nell that you're not tongue-tied +around women!"</p> + +<p>"I?" echoed Donnegan, turning pale. "Don't jest at this, Henry. I'm as +serious as death. She's the type of woman made to love one man, and one +man only. Landis may be common as dirt; but she doesn't see it. She's +fastened her heart on him. I looked in on her a little while ago. She +turned white when she saw me. I brought Landis to her, but she hates me +because I had to shoot him down."</p> + +<p>"Garry," said the big man with a twinkle in his eye, "you're in love!"</p> + +<p>It shook Donnegan to the core, but he replied instantly; "If I were in +love, don't you suppose that I would have shot to kill when I met +Landis?"</p> + +<p>At this his brother blinked, frowned, and shook his head. The point was +apparently plain to him and wiped out his previous convictions. Also, it +eased his mind.</p> + +<p>"Then you don't love the girl?"</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Either way, my hands are cleared of the worry. If you want her, let me +take Landis. If you don't want her, what difference does it make to you +except silly sentiment?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan made no answer.</p> + +<p>"If she comes to Lebrun's house, I'll see that Nell doesn't bother him +too much."</p> + +<p>"Can you control her? If she wants to see this fool can you keep her +away, and if she goes to him can you control her smiling?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Lord Nick, but he flushed heavily.</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled.</p> + +<p>"She's a devil of a girl," admitted Henry Reardon. "But this is beside +the point: which is, that you're sticking on a matter that means +everything to me, and which is only a secondhand interest to you—a +point of sentiment. You pity the girl. What's pity? Bah! I pity a dog in +the street, but would I cross you, Garry, lad, to save the dog? +Sentiment, I say, silly sentiment."</p> + +<p>Donnegan rose.</p> + +<p>"It was a silly sentiment," he said hoarsely, "that put me on the road +following you, Henry. It was a silly sentiment that turned me into a +wastrel, a wanderer, a man without a home and without friends."</p> + +<p>"It's wrong to throw that in my face," muttered Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"It is. And I'm sorry for it. But I want you to see that matters of +sentiment may be matters of life and death with me."</p> + +<p>"Aye, if it were for you it would be different. I might see my way +clear—but for a girl you have only a distant interest in—"</p> + +<p>"It is a matter of whether or not her heart shall be broken."</p> + +<p>"Come, come. Let's talk man talk. Besides, girls' hearts don't break in +this country. You're old-fashioned."</p> + +<p>"I tell you the question of her happiness is worth more than a dozen +lives like yours and mine."</p> + +<p>There had been a gathering impatience in Lord Nick. Now he, also, leaped +to his feet; a giant.</p> + +<p>"Tell me in one word: You stick on this point?"</p> + +<p>"In one word—yes!"</p> + +<p>"Then you deny me, Garry. You set me aside for a silly purpose of your +own—a matter that really doesn't mean much to you. It shows me where I +stand in your eyes—and nothing between the devil and the moon shall +make me sidestep!"</p> + +<p>They remained silent, staring at each other. Lord Nick stood with a +flush of anger growing; Donnegan became whiter than ever, and he +stiffened himself to his full height, which, in all who knew him well, +was the danger signal.</p> + +<p>"You take Landis?" he said softly.</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Not," said Donnegan, "while I live!"</p> + +<p>"You mean—" cried Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I mean it!"</p> + +<p>They had been swept back to the point at which that strangest of scenes +began, but this time there was an added element—horror.</p> + +<p>"You'd fight?"</p> + +<p>"To the death, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Garry, if one of us should kill the other, he'd be cursed forever!"</p> + +<p>"I know it."</p> + +<p>"And she's worth even this?"</p> + +<p>"A thousand times more! What are we? Dust in the wind; dust in the wind. +But a woman like that is divine, Henry!"</p> + +<p>Lord Nick swayed a little, setting himself in balance like an animal +preparing for the leap.</p> + +<p>"If it comes to the pinch, it is you who will die," he said.</p> + +<p>"You've no chance against me, Garry. And I swear to you that I won't +weaken. You prove that you don't care for me. You put another above me. +It's my pride, my life, that you'd sacrifice to the whim of a girl!" His +passion choked him.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready?" said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Yes!"</p> + +<p>"Move first!"</p> + +<p>"I have never formed the habit."</p> + +<p>"Nor I! You fool, take what little advantage you can, because it won't +help you in the end."</p> + +<p>"You shall see. I have a second sight, Henry, and it shows me you dead +on the floor there, looking bigger than ever, and I see the gun smoking +in my hand and my heart as dead as ashes! Oh, Henry, if there were only +some other way!"</p> + +<p>They were both pale now.</p> + +<p>"Aye," murmured Lord Nick, "if we could find a judge. My hand turns to +lead when I think of fighting you, Garry."</p> + +<p>Perspiration stood on the face of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Name a judge; I'll abide by the decision."</p> + +<p>"Some man—"</p> + +<p>"No, no. What man could understand me? A woman, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Nell Lebrun."</p> + +<p>"The girl who loves you? You want me to plead before her?"</p> + +<p>"Put her on her honor and she'll be as straight as a string with both of +us."</p> + +<p>For a moment Donnegan considered, and at length: "She loves you, Henry. +You have that advantage. You have only to let her know that this is a +vital matter to you and she'll speak as you wish her to speak."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. You don't know her. You've seen yourself that no man can +control her absolutely."</p> + +<p>"Make a concession."</p> + +<p>"A thousand, Garry, dear boy, if they'll get us clear from this horrible +mess."</p> + +<p>"Only this. Leave The Corner for a few hours. Give me until—tonight. +Let me see Nelly during that time. You've had years to work on her. I +want only this time to put my own case before her."</p> + +<p>"Thank heaven that we're coming to see light and a way out!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, Henry."</p> + +<p>The big man wiped his forehead and sighed in his relief.</p> + +<p>"A minute ago I was ready—but we'll forget all this. What will you do? +How will you persuade Nelly? I almost think that you intend to make love +to her, Garry!"</p> + +<p>The little man turned paler still.</p> + +<p>"It is exactly what I intend," he said quietly.</p> + +<p>The brow of Lord Nick darkened solemnly, and then he forced a laugh.</p> + +<p>"She'll be afraid to turn me down, Garry. But try your own way." He bit +his lips. "Why, if you influence her that way—do it. What's a fickle +jade to me? Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"However I do it, you'll stick by her judgment, Henry?"</p> + +<p>The perspiration had started on Lord Nick's forehead again. Doubt swayed +him, but pride forced him on.</p> + +<p>"I'll come again tonight," he said gloomily. "I'll meet you +in—Milligan's?"</p> + +<p>"In Milligan's, then."</p> + +<p>Lord Nick, without a word of farewell, stamped across the hut and out.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he stepped backward, his legs buckled beneath him, and +when big George entered, with a scared face, he found the little man +half sitting on the bunk, half lying against the wall with the face and +the staring eyes of a dead man.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="34"></a><h2>34</h2> +<br> + +<p>It was a long time before Donnegan left the hut, and when he came out +the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight, or at least to mark the +reports of the guns when those two terrible warriors met, was scattered. +There remained before Donnegan only the colonel in his invalid's chair. +Even from the distance one could see that his expression was changed, +and when the little red-headed man came near the colonel looked up to +him with something akin to humility.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," he said, stopping the other as Donnegan headed for the door +of the hut, "Donnegan, don't go in there just now."</p> + +<p>Donnegan turned and came slowly toward him.</p> + +<p>"The reason," said the colonel, "is that you probably won't receive a +very cheery reception. Unfortunate—very unfortunate. Lou has turned +wrong-headed for the first time in her life and she won't listen to +reason."</p> + +<p>He chuckled softly.</p> + +<p>"I never dreamed there was so much of my metal in her. Blood will tell, +my boy; blood will tell. And when you finally get her you'll find that +she's worth waiting for."</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you a secret," said Donnegan dryly. "I am no longer waiting +for her!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?" smiled the colonel. "Of course not. This bringing of Landis to +her—it was all pure self-sacrifice. It was not an attempt to soften her +heart. It was not a cunning maneuver. Tush! Of course not!"</p> + +<p>"I am about to make a profound remark," said Donnegan carelessly.</p> + +<p>"By all means."</p> + +<p>"You read the minds of other people through a colored glass, colonel. +You see yourself everywhere."</p> + +<p>"In other words I put my own motives into the actions and behind the +actions of people? Perhaps. I am full of weaknesses. Very full. In the +meantime let me tell you one important thing—if you have not made the +heart of Lou tender toward you, you have at least frightened her."</p> + +<p>The jaw on Donnegan set.</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" he said huskily.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps better than you think; and to keep you abreast with the times, +you must know another thing. Lou has a silly idea that you are a lost +soul, Donnegan, but she attributes your fall entirely to my weakness. +Nothing can convince her that you did not intend to kill Landis; nothing +can convince her that you did not act on my inspiration. I have tried +arguing. Bah! she overwhelmed me with her scorn. You are a villain, says +Lou, and I have made you one. And for the first time in my memory of +her, her eyes fill with tears."</p> + +<p>"Tears?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my honor, and when a girl begins to weep about a man I don't need +to say he is close to her heart."</p> + +<p>"You are full of maxims, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>"As a nut is full of meat. Old experience, you know. In the meantime Lou +is perfectly certain that I intend to make away with Landis. Ha, ha, +ha!" The laughter of the colonel was a cheery thunder, and soft as with +distance. "Landis is equally convinced. He begs Lou not to fall asleep +lest I should steal in on him. She hardly dares leave him to cook his +food. I actually think she would have been glad to see that fiend, Lord +Nick, take Landis away!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled wanly. But could he tell her, poor girl, the story of +Nelly Lebrun? Landis, in fear of his life, was no doubt at this moment +pouring out protestations of deathless affection.</p> + +<p>"And they both consider you an archdemon for keeping Lord Nick away!"</p> + +<p>Again Donnegan winced, and coughed behind his hand to cover it.</p> + +<p>"However," went on the colonel, "when it comes to matters with the +hearts of women, I trust to time. Time alone will show her that Landis +is a puppy."</p> + +<p>"In the meantime, colonel, she keeps you from coming near Landis?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all! You fail to understand me and my methods, dear boy. I have +only to roll my chair into the room and sit and smile at Jack in order +to send him into an hysteria of terror. It is amusing to watch. And I +can be there while Lou is in the room and through a few careful +innuendoes convey to Landis my undying determination to either remove +him from my path and automatically become his heir, or else secure from +him a legal transfer of his rights to the mines."</p> + +<p>"I have learned," said Donnegan, "that Landis has not the slightest +claim to them himself. And that you set him on the trail of the claims +by trickery."</p> + +<p>The colonel did not wince.</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said the fat trickster. "Not the slightest right. My +claim is a claim of superior wits, you see. And in the end all your +labor shall be rewarded, for my share will go to Lou and through her it +shall come to you. No?"</p> + +<p>"Quite logical."</p> + +<p>The colonel disregarded the other's smile.</p> + +<p>"But I have a painful confession to make."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I misjudged you, Donnegan. A moment since, when I was nearly distraught +with disappointment, I said some most unpleasant things to you."</p> + +<p>"I have forgotten them."</p> + +<p>But the colonel raised his strong forefinger and shook his head, +smiling.</p> + +<p>"No, no, Donnegan. If you deny it, I shall know that you are harboring +the most undying grudge against me. As a matter of fact, I have just +had an interview with Lord Nick, and the cursed fellow put my nerves on +edge."</p> + +<p>The colonel made a wry face.</p> + +<p>"And when you came, I saw no manner in which you could possibly thwart +him."</p> + +<p>His eyes grew wistful.</p> + +<p>"Between friends—as a son to his future father," he said softly, "can't +you tell me what the charm was that you used on. Nick to send him away? +I watched him come out of the shack. He was in a fury. I could see that +by the way his head thrust out between his big shoulders. And when he +went down the hill he was striding like a giant, but every now and then +he would stop short, and his head would go up as if he were tempted to +turn around and go back, but didn't quite have the nerve. Donnegan, tell +me the trick of it?"</p> + +<p>"Willingly. I appealed to his gambling instinct."</p> + +<p>"Which leaves me as much in the dark as ever."</p> + +<p>But Donnegan smiled in his own peculiar and mirthless manner and he went +on to the hut. Not that he expected a cheery greeting from Lou Macon, +but he was drawn by the same perverse instinct which tempts a man to +throw himself from a great height. At the door he paused a moment. He +could distinguish no words, but he caught the murmur of Lou's voice as +she talked to Jack Landis, and it had that infinitely gentle quality +which only a woman's voice can have, and only when she nurses the sick. +It was a pleasant torture to Donnegan to hear it. At length he summoned +his resolution and tapped at the door.</p> + +<p>The voice of Lou Macon stopped. He heard a hurried and whispered +consultation. What did they expect? Then swift foot-falls on the floor, +and she opened the door. There was a smile of expectancy on her lips; +her eyes were bright; but when she saw Donnegan her lips pinched in. She +stared at him as if he were a ghost.</p> + +<p>"I knew; I knew!" she said piteously, falling back a step but still +keeping her hand upon the knob of the door as if to block the way to +Donnegan. "Oh, Jack, he has killed Lord Nick and now he is here—"</p> + +<p>To do what? To kill Landis in turn? Her horrified eyes implied as much. +He saw Landis in the distance raise himself upon one elbow and his face +was gray, not with pain but with dread.</p> + +<p>"It can't be!" groaned Landis.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick is alive," said Donnegan. "And I have not come here to +torment you; I have only come to ask that you let me speak with you +alone for a moment, Lou!"</p> + +<p>He watched her face intently. All the cabin was in deep shadow, but the +golden hair of the girl glowed as if with an inherent light of its own, +and the same light touched her face. Jack Landis was stricken with +panic: he stammered in a dreadful eagerness of fear.</p> + +<p>"Don't leave me, Lou. You know what it means. He wants to get you out of +the way so that the colonel can be alone with me. Don't go, Lou! Don't +go!"</p> + +<p>As though she saw how hopeless it was to try to bar Donnegan by closing +the door against him, she fell back to the bed. She kept her eye on the +little man, as if to watch against a surprise attack, and, fumbling +behind her, her hand found the hand of Landis and closed over it with +the reassurance of a mother.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Jack. I won't leave you. Not unless they carry me away +by force."</p> + +<p>"I give you my solemn word." said Donnegan in torment, "that the colonel +shall not come near Landis while you're away with me."</p> + +<p>"Your word!" murmured the girl with a sort of horrified wonder. "Your +word!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan bowed his head.</p> + +<p>But all at once she cast out her free hand toward him, while the other +still cherished the weakness of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>"Oh, give them up!" she cried. "Give up my father and all his wicked +plans. There is something good in you. Give him up; come with us; +stand for us: and we shall be grateful all our lives!"</p> + +<p>The little man had removed his hat, so that the sunshine burned brightly +on his red hair. Indeed, there was always a flamelike quality about him. +In inaction he seemed femininely frail and pale; but when his spirit was +roused his eyes blazed as his hair burned in the sunlight.</p> + +<p>"You shall learn in the end," he said to the girl, "that everything I +do, I do for you."</p> + +<p>She cried out as if he had struck her.</p> + +<p>"It's not worthy of you," she said bitterly. "You are keeping Jack +here—in peril—for my sake?"</p> + +<p>"For your sake," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a queer pain in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"To keep you from needless lying," she said, "let me tell you that Jack +has told me everything. I am not angry because you come and pretend that +you do all these horrible things for my sake. I know my father has +tempted you with a promise of a great deal of money. But in the end you +will get nothing. No, he will twist everything away from you and leave +you nothing! But as for me—I know everything; Jack told me."</p> + +<p>"He has told you what? What?"</p> + +<p>"About the woman you love."</p> + +<p>"The woman I love?" echoed Donnegan, stupefied.</p> + +<p>It seemed that Lou Macon could only name her with an effort that left +her trembling.</p> + +<p>"The Lebrun woman," she said. "Jack has told me."</p> + +<p>"Did you tell her that?" he asked Landis.</p> + +<p>"The whole town knows it," stammered the wounded man.</p> + +<p>The cunning hypocrisy spurred Donnegan. He put his foot on the threshold +of the shack, and at this the girl cried out and shrank from him; but +Landis was too paralyzed to stir or speak. For a moment Donnegan was +wildly tempted to pour his torrent of contempt and accusation upon +Landis. To what end? To prove to the girl that the big fellow had coolly +tricked her? That it was to be near Nelly Lebrun as much as to be away +from the colonel that he wished so ardently to leave the shack? After +all, Lou Macon was made happy by an illusion; let her keep it.</p> + +<p>He looked at her sadly again. She stood defiant over Landis; ready to +protect the helpless bulk of the man.</p> + +<p>So Donnegan closed the door softly and turned away with ashes in his +heart.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="35"></a><h2>35</h2> +<br> + +<p>When Nelly Lebrun raised her head from her hands, Donnegan was a far +figure; yet even in the distance she could catch the lilt and easy sway +of his body; he rode as he walked, lightly, his feet in the stirrups +half taking his weight in a semi-English fashion. For a moment she was +on the verge of spurring after him, but she kept the rein taut and +merely stared until he dipped away among the hills. For one thing she +was quite assured that she could not overtake that hard rider; and, +again, she felt that it was useless to interfere. To step between Lord +Nick and one of his purposes would have been like stepping before an +avalanche and commanding it to halt with a raised hand.</p> + +<p>She watched miserably until even the dust cloud dissolved and the bare, +brown hills alone remained before her. Then she turned away, and hour +after hour let her black jog on.</p> + +<p>To Nelly Lebrun this day was one of those still times which come over +the life of a person, and in which they see themselves in relation to +the rest of the world clearly. It would not be true to say that Nelly +loved Donnegan. Certainly not as yet, for the familiar figure of Lord +Nick filled her imagination. But the little man was different. Lord +Nick commanded respect, admiration, obedience; but there was about +Donnegan something which touched her in an intimate and disturbing +manner. She had felt the will-o'-the-wisp flame which burned in him in +his great moments. It was possible for her to smile at Donnegan; it was +possible even to pity him for his fragility, his touchy pride about his +size; to criticize his fondness for taking the center of the stage even +in a cheap little mining camp like this and strutting about, the center +of all attention. Yet there were qualities in him which escaped her, a +possibility of metallic hardness, a pitiless fire of purpose.</p> + +<p>To Lord Nick, he was as the bull terrier to the mastiff.</p> + +<p>But above all she could not dislodge the memory of his strange talk with +her at Lebrun's. Not that she did not season the odd avowals of Donnegan +with a grain of salt, but even when she had discounted all that he said, +she retained a quivering interest. Somewhere beneath his words she +sensed reality. Somewhere beneath his actions she felt a selfless +willingness to throw himself away.</p> + +<p>As she rode she was comparing him steadily with Lord Nick. And as she +made the comparisons she felt more and more assured that she could pick +and choose between the two. They loved her, both of them. With Nick it +was an old story; with Donnegan it might be equally true in spite of its +newness. And Nelly Lebrun felt rich. Not that she would have been +willing to give up Lord Nick. By no means. But neither was she willing +to throw away Donnegan. Diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. +Which handful must she discard?</p> + +<p>She remained riding an unconscionable length of time, and when she drew +rein again before her father's house, the black was flecked with foam +from his clamped bit, and there was a thick lather under the stirrup +leathers. She threw the reins to the servant who answered her call and +went slowly into the house.</p> + +<p>Donnegan, by this time, was dead. She began to feel that it would be +hard to look Lord Nick in the face again. His other killings had often +seemed to her glorious. She had rejoiced in the invincibility of her +lover.</p> + +<p>Now he suddenly took on the aspect of a murderer.</p> + +<p>She found the house hushed. Perhaps everyone was at the gaming house; +for now it was midafternoon. But when she opened the door to the +apartment which they used as a living room she found Joe Rix and the +Pedlar and Lester sitting side by side, silent. There was no whisky in +sight; there were no cards to be seen. Marvel of marvels, these three +men were spending their time in solemn thought. A sudden thought rushed +over her, and her cry told where her heart really lay, at least at this +time.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick—has he been—"</p> + +<p>The Pedlar lifted his gaunt head and stared at her without expression. +It was Joe Rix who answered.</p> + +<p>"Nick's upstairs."</p> + +<p>"Safe?"</p> + +<p>"Not a scratch."</p> + +<p>She sank into a chair with a sigh, but was instantly on edge again with +the second thought.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Safe and sound," said Lester coldly.</p> + +<p>She could not gather the truth of the statement.</p> + +<p>"Then Nick got Landis back before Donnegan returned?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Like any other girl, Nelly Lebrun hated a puzzle above all things in the +world, at least a puzzle which affected her new friends.</p> + +<p>"Lester, what's happened?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>At this Lester, who had been brooding upon the floor, raised his eyes +and then switched one leg over the other. He was a typical cowman, was +Lester, from his crimson handkerchief knotted around his throat to his +shop-made boots which fitted slenderly about his instep with the care of +a gloved hand.</p> + +<p>"I dunno what happened," said Lester. "Which looks like what counts is +the things that didn't happen. Landis is still with that devil, Macon. +Donnegan is loose without a scratch, and Lord Nick is in his room with a +face as black as a cloudy night."</p> + +<p>And briefly he described how Lord Nick had gone up the hill, seen the +colonel, come back, taken a horse litter, and gone up the hill again, +while the populace of The Corner waited for a crash. For Donnegan had +arrived in the meantime. And how Nick had gone into the cabin, remained +a singularly long time, and then come out, with a face half white and +half red and an eye that dared anyone to ask questions. He had strode +straight home to Lebrun's and gone to his room; and there he remained, +never making a sound.</p> + +<p>"But I'll give you my way of readin' the sign on that trail," said +Lester. "Nick goes up the hill to clean up on Donnegan. He sees him; +they size each other up in a flash; they figure that if they's a gun it +means a double killin'—and they simply haul off and say a perlite +fare-thee-well."</p> + +<p>The girl paid no attention to these remarks. She was sunk in a brown +study.</p> + +<p>"There's something behind it all," she said, more to herself than to the +men. "Nick is proud as the devil himself. And I can't imagine why he'd +let Donnegan go. Oh, it might have been done if they'd met alone in the +desert. But with the whole town looking on and waiting for Nick to clean +up on Donnegan—no, it isn't possible. There must have been a showdown +of some kind."</p> + +<p>There was a grim little silence after this.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there was," said the Pedlar dryly. "Maybe there was a +showdown—and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a +six-year-old broke down in front."</p> + +<p>She stared at him, first astonished, and then almost frightened.</p> + +<p>"You mean that Nick may have taken water?"</p> + +<p>The three, as one man, shrugged their shoulders, and met her glance with +cold eyes.</p> + +<p>"You fools!" cried the girl, springing to her feet. "He'd rather die!"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix leaned forward, and to emphasize his point he stabbed one dirty +forefinger into the fat palm of his other hand.</p> + +<p>"You just start thinkin' back," he said solemnly, "and you'll remember +that Donnegan has done some pretty slick things."</p> + +<p>Lester added with a touch of contempt: "Like shootin' down Landis one +day and then sittin' down and havin' a nice long chat with you the next. +I dunno how he does it."</p> + +<p>"That hunch of yours," said the girl fiercely, "ought to be roped and +branded—lie! Lester, don't look at me like that. And if you think Nick +has lost his grip on things you're dead wrong. Step light, Lester—and +the rest of you. Or Nick may hear you walk—and think."</p> + +<p>She flung out of the room and raced up the stairs to Lord Nick's room. +There was an interval without response after her first knock. But when +she rapped again he called out to know who was there. At her answer she +heard his heavy stride cross the room, and the door opened slowly. His +face, as she looked up to it, was so changed that she hardly knew him. +His hair was unkempt, on end, where he had sat with his fingers thrust +into it, buried in thought. And the marks of his palms were red upon his +forehead.</p> + +<p>"Nick," she whispered, frightened, "what is it?"</p> + +<p>He looked down half fiercely, half sadly at her. And though his lips +parted they closed again before he spoke. Fear jumped coldly in Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"Did Donnegan—" she pleaded, white-faced. "Did he—"</p> + +<p>"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn't. That's what +everybody'll say. I know it, don't I? And that's why I'm staying here by +myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his +face, why—I'll break him in two."</p> + +<p>She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick +should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much +for credence.</p> + +<p>"You know I don't believe it, Nick? You know that I'm not doubting you?"</p> + +<p>But he brushed her hands roughly away.</p> + +<p>"You want to know what it's all about? Then go over to—well, to +Milligan's. Donnegan will be there. He'll explain things to you, I +guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I'll come over later and join +you."</p> + +<p>Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, +she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless.</p> + +<p>"Nick, dear—" she pleaded.</p> + +<p>He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back +across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire +had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had +robbed him of it.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="36"></a><h2>36</h2> +<br> + + +<p>It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because +the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last +moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed +across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great +and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no +more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the +sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from +the first thrill of finding him not devil but man.</p> + +<p>Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick +or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; +for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she +wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the +invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His +love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a +superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly +visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came +to her eyes at the thought.</p> + +<p>Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her +room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no +one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn +to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt +her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most +lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by +this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring +Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale +under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the +love which he offered her?</p> + +<p>She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But +nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that +night.</p> + +<p>As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with +Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness +of the men, were what she pictured.</p> + +<p>In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, +Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and +file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could +readily control and subdue.</p> + +<p>To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At +the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual +murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any +chance.</p> + +<p>"Nelly, there's going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know +why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is +losing his head; he's losing it over you. So play your cards."</p> + +<p>"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly.</p> + +<p>"I've said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again. +But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick's star to be past +its full glory.</p> + +<p>Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan's and left +her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor.</p> + +<p>"I'm waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her +table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner—full of the +subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What +had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they +would all know in time: one thing was certain—Lord Nick had not taken +water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of +some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into +the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun. +Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and +regretted that he had interrupted.</p> + +<p>"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to +the girl.</p> + +<p>She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, +but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her +game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in +his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she +thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, +but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she +felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have +learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan's shack when Lord Nick +was there.</p> + +<p>"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said. +"This time it's five minutes."</p> + +<p>No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly.</p> + +<p>"When I talk about myself, I'm always long-winded."</p> + +<p>"Tonight it's someone else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as +bright as ever.</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm listening."</p> + +<p>"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?"</p> + +<p>"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's a lovely child."</p> + +<p>And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had +hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but +he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly.</p> + +<p>He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said the girl a little coldly.</p> + +<p>Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played +it to the full.</p> + +<p>"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick +went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting +for him to bring the youngster down?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"There was only one obstacle—which you had so kindly removed—myself."</p> + +<p>"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Ah, don't you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came +to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so."</p> + +<p>Such frankness shocked her into a new attention.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her +heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times +rather die than give way to any living man.</p> + +<p>"But I threw my case bodily before him—the girl—her love for +Landis—and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you +know, if he were sent back to your father's house. I placed it all +before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed +to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter +be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man +would see in my attitude nothing but foolishness. No man could have +appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named +another referee—yourself."</p> + +<p>She gasped.</p> + +<p>"And so I have come to place the question before you, because I know +that you will decide honestly."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall be honest," said the girl.</p> + +<p>She was thinking: Why not have Landis back? It would keep the three men +revolving around her. Landis on his feet and well would have been +nothing; either of these men would have killed him. But Landis sick she +might balance in turn against them both. Nelly had the instincts of a +fencer; she loved balance.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was heaping up his effects. For by the shadow in her eyes +he well knew what was passing through her mind, and he dared not let her +speak too quickly.</p> + +<p>"There is more hanging upon it. In the first place, if Landis is left +with the girl it gives the colonel a chance to work on him, and like as +not the colonel will get the young fool to sign away the mines to +him—frighten him, you see, though I've made sure that the colonel will +not actually harm him."</p> + +<p>"How have you made sure? They say the colonel is a devil."</p> + +<p>"I have spoken with him. The colonel is not altogether without +sensibility to fear."</p> + +<p>She caught the glint in the little man's eye and she believed.</p> + +<p>"So much for that. Landis is safe, but his money may not be. Another +thing still hangs upon your decision. Lord Nick wanted to know why I +trusted to you? Because I felt you were honest. Why did I feel that? +There was nothing to do. Besides, how could I conceal myself from such a +man? I spoke frankly and told him that I trusted you because I love +you."</p> + +<p>She closed her hand hard on the edge of the table to steady herself.</p> + +<p>"And he made no move at you?"</p> + +<p>"He restrained himself."</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick?" gasped the incredulous girl.</p> + +<p>"He is a gentleman," said Donnegan with a singular pride which she could +not understand.</p> + +<p>He went on: "And unfortunately I fear that if you decide in favor of my +side of the argument, I fear that Lord Nick will feel that you—that +you—"</p> + +<p>He was apparently unable to complete his sentence.</p> + +<p>"He will feel that you no longer care for him," said Donnegan at length.</p> + +<p>The girl pondered him with cloudy eyes.</p> + +<p>"What is behind all this frankness?" she asked coldly.</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you. Hopelessness is behind it. Last night I poured my +heart at your feet. And I had hope. Today I have seen Lord Nick and I no +longer hope."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"He is worthy of a lovely woman's affection; and I—" He called her +attention to himself with a deprecatory gesture.</p> + +<p>"Do you ask me to hurt him like this?" said the girl. "His pride is the +pride of the fiend. Love me? He would hate me!"</p> + +<p>"It might be true. Still I know you would risk it, because—" he paused.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked the girl, whispering in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Because you are a lady."</p> + +<p>He bowed to her.</p> + +<p>"Because you are fair; because you are honest, Nelly Lebrun. Personally +I think that you can win Lord Nick back with one minute of smiling. But +you might not. You might alienate him forever. It will be clumsy to +explain to him that you were influenced not by me, but by justice. He +will make it a personal matter, whereas you and I know that it is only +the right that you are seeing."</p> + +<p>She propped her chin on the tips of her fingers, and her arm was a thing +of grace. For the last moments that clouded expression had not cleared.</p> + +<p>"If I only could read your mind," she murmured now. "There is something +behind it all."</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you what it is. It is the restraint that has fallen upon +me. It is because I wish to lean closer to you across the table and +speak to you of things which are at the other end of the world from +Landis and the other girl. It is because I have to keep my hands gripped +hard to control myself. Because, though I have given up hope, I would +follow a forlorn chance, a lost cause, and tell you again and again that +I love you, Nelly Lebrun!"</p> + +<p>He had half lowered his eyes as he spoke; he had called up a vision, and +the face of Lou Macon hovered dimly between him and Nelly Lebrun. If all +that he spoke was a lie, let him be forgiven for it; it was the +golden-haired girl whom he addressed, and it was she who gave the tremor +and the fiber to his voice. And after all was he not pleading for her +happiness as he believed?</p> + +<p>He covered his eyes with his hand; but when he looked up again she could +see the shadow of the pain which was slowly passing. She had never seen +such emotion in any man's face, and if it was for another, how could she +guess it? Her blood was singing in her veins, and the old, old question +was flying back and forth through her brain like a shuttle through a +loom: Which shall it be?</p> + +<p>She called up the picture of Lord Nick, half-broken, but still terrible, +she well knew. She pitied him, but when did pity wholly rule the heart +of a woman? And as for Nelly Lebrun, she had the ambition of a young +Caesar; she could not fill a second place. He who loved her must stand +first, and she saw Donnegan as the invincible man. She had not believed +half of his explanation. No, he was shielding Lord Nick; behind that +shield the truth was that the big man had quailed before the small.</p> + +<p>Of course she saw that Donnegan, pretending to be constrained by his +agreement with Lord Nick, was in reality cunningly pleading his own +cause. But his passion excused him. When has a woman condemned a man for +loving her beyond the rules of fair play?</p> + +<p>"Whatever you may decide," Donnegan was saying. "I shall be prepared to +stand by it without a murmur. Send Landis back to your father's house +and I submit: I leave The Corner and say farewell. But now, think +quickly. For Lord Nick is coming to receive your answer."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="37"></a><h2>37</h2> +<br> + +<p>If the meeting between Lord Nick and Donnegan earlier that day had +wrought up the nerves of The Corner to the point of hysteria; if the +singular end of that meeting had piled mystery upon excitement; if the +appearance of Donnegan, sitting calmly at the table of the girl who was +known to be engaged to Nick, had further stimulated public curiosity, +the appearance of Lord Nick was now a crowning burden under which The +Corner staggered.</p> + +<p>Yet not a man or a woman stirred from his chair, for everyone knew that +if the long-delayed battle between these two gunfighters was at length +to take place, neither bullet was apt to fly astray.</p> + +<p>But what happened completed the wreck of The Corner's nerves, for Lord +Nick walked quietly across the floor and sat down with Nelly Lebrun and +his somber rival.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, he looked at Donnegan, not at the girl, and this token of +the beaten man decided her.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I have decided," said the girl. "Landis should stay where he is."</p> + +<p>Neither of the two men stirred hand or eye. But Lord Nick turned gray. +At length he rose and asked Donnegan, quietly, to step aside with him. +Seeing them together, the difference between their sizes was more +apparent: Donnegan seemed hardly larger than a child beside the splendid +bulk of Lord Nick. But she could not overhear their talk.</p> + +<p>"You've won," said Lord Nick, "both Landis and Nelly. And—"</p> + +<p>"Wait," broke in Donnegan eagerly. "Henry, I've persuaded Nelly to see +my side of the case, but that doesn't mean that she has turned from you +to—"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" put in Lord Nick, between his teeth. "I've not come to argue +with you or ask advice or opinions. I've come to state facts. You've +crawled in between me and Nelly like a snake in the grass. Very well. +You're my brother. That keeps me from handling you. You've broken my +reputation just as I said you would do. The bouncer at the door looked +me in the eye and smiled when I came in."</p> + +<p>He had to pause a little, breathing heavily, and avoiding Donnegan's +eyes. Finally he was able to continue.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to roll my blankets and leave The Corner and everything I +have in it. You'll get my share of most things, it seems." He smiled +after a ghastly, mirthless fashion. "I give you a free road. I surrender +everything to you, Donnegan. But there are two things I want to warn you +about. It may be that my men will not agree with me. It may be that +they'll want to put up a fight for the mine. They can't get at it +without getting at Macon. They can't get at him without removing you. +And they'll probably try it. I warn you now.</p> + +<p>"Another thing: from this moment there's no blood tie between us. I've +found a brother and lost him in the same day. And if I ever cross you +again, Donnegan, I'll shoot you on sight. Remember, I'm not threatening. +I simply warn you in advance. If I were you, I'd get out of the country. +Avoid me, Donnegan, as you'd avoid the devil."</p> + +<p>And he turned on his heel. He felt the eyes of the people in the room +follow him by jerks, dwelling on every one of his steps. Near the door, +stepping aside to avoid a group of people coming in, he half turned and +he could not avoid the sight of Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun at the other +end of the room. He was leaning across the table, talking with a smile +on his lips—at that distance he could not mark the pallor of the little +man's face—and Nelly Lebrun was laughing. Laughing already, and +oblivious of the rest of the world.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick turned, a blur coming before his eyes, and made blindly for +the door. A body collided with him; without a word he drew back his +massive right fist and knocked the man down. The stunned body struck +against the wall and collapsed along the floor. Lord Nick felt a great +madness swell in his heart. Yet he set his teeth, controlled himself, +and went on toward the house of Lebrun. He had come within an eyelash of +running amuck, and the quivering hunger for action was still swelling +and ebbing in him when he reached the gambler's house.</p> + +<p>Lebrun was not in the gaming house, no doubt, at this time of night—but +the rest of Nick's chosen men were there. They stood up as he entered +the room—Harry Masters, newly arrived—the Pedlar—Joe Rix—three names +famous in the mountain desert for deeds which were not altogether a +pleasant aroma in the nostrils of the law-abiding, but whose sins had +been deftly covered from legal proof by the cunning of Nick, and whose +bravery itself had half redeemed them. They rose now as three wolves +rise at the coming of the leader. But this time there was a question +behind their eyes, and he read it in gloomy silence.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Harry Masters.</p> + +<p>In the old days not one of them would have dared to voice the question, +but now things were changing, and well Lord Nick could read the change +and its causes.</p> + +<p>"Are you talking to me?" asked Nick, and he looked straight between the +eyes of Masters.</p> + +<p>The glance of the other did not falter, and it maddened Nick.</p> + +<p>"I'm talking to you," said Masters coolly enough. "What happened between +you and Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"What should happen?" asked Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"Maybe all this is a joke," said Masters bitterly. He was a square-built +man, with a square face and a wrinkled, fleshy forehead. In +intelligence, Nick ranked him first among the men. And if a new leader +were to be chosen there was no doubt as to where the choice of the men +would fall. No doubt that was why Masters put himself forward now, ready +to brave the wrath of the chief. "Maybe we're fooled," went on Masters. +"Maybe they ain't any call for you to fall out with Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe there's a call to find out this," answered Lord Nick. "Why did +you leave the mines? What are you doing up here?"</p> + +<p>The other swallowed so hard that he blinked.</p> + +<p>"I left the mines," he declared through his set teeth, "because I was +run off 'em."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Lord Nick, for the devil was rising in him, "I always had an +idea that you might be yellow, Masters."</p> + +<p>The right hand of Masters swayed toward his gun, hesitated, and then +poised idly.</p> + +<p>"You heard me talk?" persisted Lord Nick brutally. "I call you yellow. +Why don't you draw on me? I called you yellow, you swine, and I call the +rest of you yellow. You think you have me down? Why, curse you, if there +were thirty of your cut, I'd say the same to you!"</p> + +<p>There was a quick shift, the three men faced Lord Nick, but each from a +different angle. And opposing them, he stood superbly indifferent, his +arms folded, his feet braced. His arms were folded, but each hand, for +all they knew, might be grasping the butt of a gun hidden away in his +clothes. Once they flashed a glance from face to face; but there was no +action. They were remembering only too well some of the wild deeds of +this giant.</p> + +<p>"You think I'm through," went on Lord Nick. "Maybe I am—through with +you. You hear me talk?"</p> + +<p>One by one, his eyes dared them, and one by one they took up the +challenge, struggled, and lowered their glances. He was still their +master and in that mute moment the three admitted it, the Pedlar last of +all.</p> + +<p>Masters saw fit to fall back on the last remark.</p> + +<p>"I've swallowed a lot from you, Nick," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there'll be an end to what we take one of these days. But now +I'll tell you how yellow I was. A couple of gents come to me and tell me +I'm through at the mine. I told them they were crazy. They said old +Colonel Macon had sent them down to take charge. I laughed at 'em. They +went away and came back. Who with? With the sheriff. And he flashed a +paper on me. It was all drawn up clean as a whistle. Trimmed up with a +lot of 'whereases' and 'as hereinbefore mentioned' and such like things. +But the sheriff just gimme a look and then he tells me what it's about. +Jack Landis has signed over all the mines to the colonel and the +colonel has taken possession."</p> + +<p>As he stopped, a growl came from the others.</p> + +<p>"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick. "Where do +the rest of you figure in it? Lester had the mines; he lost 'em because +he couldn't drop Landis with his gun. He'd never have had a smell of the +gold if I hadn't come in. Who made Landis see light? I did! Who worked +it so that every nickel that came out of the mines went through the +fingers of Landis and came back to us? I did! But I'm through with you. +You can hunt for yourselves now. I've kept you together to guard one +another's backs. I've kept the law off your trail. You, Masters, you'd +have swung for killing the McKay brothers. Who saved you? Who was it +bribed the jury that tried you for the shooting up of Derbyville, +Pedlar? Who took the marshal off your trail after you'd knifed Lefty +Waller, Joe Rix? I've saved you all a dozen times. Now you whine at me. +I'm through with you forever!"</p> + +<p>Stopping, he glared about him. His knuckles stung from the impact of the +blow he had delivered in Milligan's place. He hungered to have one of +these three stir a hand and get into action.</p> + +<p>And they knew it. All at once they crumbled and became clay in his +hands.</p> + +<p>"Chief," said Joe Rix, the smoothest spoken of the lot, and one who was +supposed to stand specially well with Lord Nick on account of his +ability to bake beans, Spanish. "Chief, you've said a whole pile. You're +worth more'n the rest of us all rolled together. Sure. We know that. +There ain't any argument. But here's just one little point that I want +to make.</p> + +<p>"We was doing fine. The gold was running fine and free. Along comes this +Donnegan. He busts up our good time. He forks in on your girl—"</p> + +<p>A convulsion of the chief's face made Rix waver in his speech and then +he went on: "He shoots Landis, and when he misses killing him—by some +accident, he comes down here and grabs him out of Lebrun's own house. +Smooth, eh? Then he makes Landis sign that deed to the mines. Oh, very +nice work, I say. Too nice.</p> + +<p>"'Now, speakin' man to man, they ain't any doubt that you'd like to get +rid of Donnegan. Why don't you? Because everybody has a jinx, and he's +yours. I ain't easy scared, maybe, but I knew an albino with white eyes +once, and just to look at him made me some sick. Well, chief, they ain't +nobody can say that you ever took water or ever will. But maybe the fact +that this Donnegan has hair just as plumb red as yours may sort of get +you off your feed. I'm just suggesting. Now, what I say is, let the rest +of us take a crack at Donnegan, and you sit back and come in on the +results when we've cleaned up. D'you give us a free road?"</p> + +<p>How much went through the brain of Lord Nick? But in the end he gave his +brother up to death. For he remembered how Nelly Lebrun had sat in +Milligan's laughing.</p> + +<p>"Do what you want," he said suddenly. "But I want to know none of your +plans—and the man that tells me Donnegan is dead gets paid—in lead!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="38"></a><h2>38</h2> +<br> + +<p>The smile of Joe Rix was the smile of a diplomat. It could be maintained +upon his face as unwaveringly as if it were wrought out of marble while +Joe heard insult and lie. As a matter of fact Joe had smiled in the face +of death more than once, and this is a school through which even +diplomats rarely pass. Yet it was with an effort that he maintained the +characteristic good-natured expression when the door to Donnegan's shack +opened and he saw big George and, beyond him, Donnegan himself.</p> + +<p>"Booze," said Joe Rix to himself instantly.</p> + +<p>For Donnegan was a wreck. The unshaven beard—it was the middle of +morning—was a reddish mist over his face. His eyes were sunken in +shadow. His hair was uncombed. He sat with his shoulders hunched up like +one who suffers from cold. Altogether his appearance was that of one +whose energy has been utterly sapped.</p> + +<p>"The top of the morning, Mr. Donnegan," said Joe Rix, and put his foot +on the threshold.</p> + +<p>But since big George did not move it was impossible to enter.</p> + +<p>"Who's there?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was a strange question to ask, for by raising his eyes he could have +seen. But Donnegan was staring down at the floor. Even his voice was a +weak murmur.</p> + +<p>"What a party! What a party he's had!" thought Joe Rix, and after all, +there was cause for a celebration. Had not the little man in almost one +stroke won the heart of the prettiest girl in The Corner, and also did +he not probably have a working share in the richest of the diggings?</p> + +<p>"I'm Joe Rix," he said.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix?" murmured Donnegan softly. "Then you're one of Lord Nick's +men?"</p> + +<p>"I was," said Joe Rix, "sort of attached to him, maybe."</p> + +<p>Perhaps this pointed remark won the interest of Donnegan. He raised his +eyes, and Joe Rix beheld the most unhappy face he had ever seen. "A bad +hangover," he decided, "and that makes it bad for me!"</p> + +<p>"Come in," said Donnegan in the same monotonous, lifeless voice.</p> + +<p>Big George reluctantly, it seemed, withdrew to one side, and Rix was +instantly in the room and drawing out a chair so that he could face +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I was," he proceeded "sort of tied up with Lord Nick. But"—and here he +winked broadly—"it ain't much of a secret that Nick ain't altogether a +lord any more. Nope. Seems he turned out sort of common, they say."</p> + +<p>"What fool," murmured Donnegan, "has told you that? What ass had told +you that Lord Nick is a common sort?"</p> + +<p>It shocked Joe Rix, but being a diplomat he avoided friction by changing +his tactics.</p> + +<p>"Between you and me," he said calmly enough, "I took what I heard with a +grain of salt. There's something about Nick that ain't common, no matter +what they say. Besides, they's some men that nobody but a fool would +stand up to. It ain't hardly a shame for a man to back down from 'em."</p> + +<p>He pointed this remark with a nod to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a bit of free information," said the little man, with his +weary eyes lighted a little. "There's no man on the face of the earth +who could make Lord Nick back down."</p> + +<p>Once more Joe Rix was shocked to the verge of gaping, but again he +exercised a power of marvelous self control "About that," he remarked +as pointedly as before, "I got my doubts. Because there's some things +that any gent with sense will always clear away from. Maybe not one +man—but say a bunch of all standin' together."</p> + +<p>Donnegan leaned back in his chair and waited. Both of his hands remained +drooping from the edge of the table, and the tired eyes drifted slowly +across the face of Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>It was obviously not the aftereffects of liquor. The astonishing +possibility occurred to Joe Rix that this seemed to be a man with a +broken spirit and a great sorrow. He blinked that absurdity away.</p> + +<p>"Coming to cases," he went on, "there's yourself, Mr. Donnegan. Now, +you're the sort of a man that don't sidestep nobody. Too proud to do it. +But even you, I guess, would step careful if there was a whole bunch +agin' you."</p> + +<p>"No doubt," remarked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean any ordinary bunch," explained Joe Rix, "but a lot of hard +fellows. Gents that handle their guns like they was born with a holster +on the hip."</p> + +<p>"Fellows like Nick's crowd," suggested Donnegan quietly.</p> + +<p>At this thrust the eyes of Joe narrowed a little.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he admitted, "I see you get my drift."</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"Two hard fighters would give the best man that ever pulled a gun a lot +of trouble. Eh?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt."</p> + +<p>"And three men—they ain't any question, Mr. Donnegan—would get him +ready for a hole in the ground."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"And four men would make it no fight—jest a plain butchery."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Now, I don't mean that Nick's crowd has any hard feeling about you, Mr. +Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to hear that."</p> + +<p>"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things +over. Suppose you look at it this way—"</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut +this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley.</p> + +<p>"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester +and the rest of us want—the mines!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get +'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel +while you're around."</p> + +<p>"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's +kind of you to warn me."</p> + +<p>"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in +a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our +side."</p> + +<p>"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," said the other, spreading out his hands solemnly on the +table, "you ain't doin' us justice. We don't hanker none for trouble +with you. Any way it comes, a fight with you means somebody dead besides +you. We'd get you. Four to one is too much for any man. But one or two +of us might go down. Who would it be? Maybe the Pedlar, maybe Harry +Masters, maybe Lester, maybe me! Oh, we know all that. No gunplay if we +can keep away from it."</p> + +<p>"You've left out the name of Lord Nick," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Joe Rix winked.</p> + +<p>"Seems like you tended to him once and for all when you got him alone in +this cabin. Must have thrown a mighty big scare into him. He won't lift +a hand agin' you now."</p> + +<p>"No?" murmured Donnegan hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Not him! But that leaves four of us, and four is plenty, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps."</p> + +<p>"But I'm not here to insist on that point. No, we put a value on keepin' +up good feeling between us and you, Mr. Donnegan. We ain't fools. We +know a man when we see him—and the fastest gunman that ever slid a gun +out of leather ain't the sort of a man that me and the rest of the boys +pass over lightly. Not us! We know you, Mr. Donnegan; we respect you; we +want you with us; we're going to have you with us."</p> + +<p>"You flatter me and I thank you. But I'm glad to see that you are at +last coming to the point."</p> + +<p>"I am, and the point is five thousand dollars that's tied behind the +hoss that stands outside your door."</p> + +<p>He pushed his fat hand a little way across the table, as though the gold +even then were resting in it, a yellow tide of fortune.</p> + +<p>"For which," said Donnegan, "I'm to step aside and let you at the +colonel?"</p> + +<p>"Right."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Joe Rix. "I was makin' a first offer to see how you stood, +but you're right. Five thousand ain't enough and we ain't cheapskates. +Not us. Mr. Donnegan, they's ten thousand cold iron men behind that +saddle out there and every cent of it belongs to you when you come over +on our side."</p> + +<p>But Donnegan merely dropped his chin upon his hand and smiled +mirthlessly at Joe Rix. A wild thought came to the other man. Both of +Donnegan's hands were far from his weapons. Why not a quick draw, a snap +shot, and then the glory of having killed this manslayer in single +battle for Joe Rix?</p> + +<p>The thought rushed red across his brain and then faded slowly. Something +kept him back. Perhaps it was the singular calm of Donnegan; no matter +how quiet he sat he suggested the sleeping cat which can leap out of +dead sleep into fighting action at a touch. By the time a second thought +had come to Joe Rix the idea of an attack was like an idea of suicide.</p> + +<p>"Is that final?" he asked, though Donnegan had not said a word.</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix stood up.</p> + +<p>"You put it to us kind of hard. But we want you, Mr. Donnegan. And +here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Come over to us. We'll stand +behind you. Lord Nick is slipping. We'll put you in his place. You won't +even have to face him; we'll get rid of him."</p> + +<p>"You'll kill him and give his place to me?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"We will. And when you're with us, you cut in on the whole amount of +coin that the mines turn out—and it'll be something tidy. And right +now, to show where we stand and how high we put you, I'll let you in on +the rock-bottom truth. Mr. Donnegan. out there tied behind my saddle +there's thirty thousand dollars in pure gold. You can take it in here +and weigh it out!"</p> + +<p>He stepped back to watch this blow take effect. To his unutterable +astonishment the little man had not moved. His chin still rested upon +the back of his hand, and the smile which was on the lips and not in the +eyes of Donnegan remained there, fixed.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," muttered Joe Rix, "if we can't get you, we'll get rid of +you. You understand?"</p> + +<p>But the other continued to smile.</p> + +<p>It gave Joe Rix a shuddering feeling that someone was stealing behind +him to block his way to the door. He cast one swift glance over his +shoulder and then, seeing that the way was clear, he slunk back, always +keeping his face to the red-headed man. But when he came to the doorway +his nerve collapsed. He whirled, covered the rest of the distance with a +leap, and emerged from the cabin in a fashion ludicrously like one who +has been kicked through a door.</p> + +<p>His nerve returned as soon as the sunlight fell warmly upon him again; +and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had observed his flight.</p> + +<p>There was no one on the whole hillside except Colonel Macon in the +invalid chair, and the colonel was smiling broadly, beneficently. He had +his perfect hands folded across his breast and seemed to cast a prayer +of peace and goodwill upon Joe Rix.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="39"></a><h2>39</h2> +<br> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun smelled danger. She sensed it as plainly as the deer when +the puma comes between her and the wind. The many tokens that something +was wrong came to her by small hints which had to be put together before +they assumed any importance.</p> + +<p>First of all, her father, who should have burst out at her in a tirade +for having left Lord Nick for Donnegan said nothing at all, but kept a +dark smile on his face when she was near him. He even insinuated that +Nick's time was done and that another was due to supersede him.</p> + +<p>In the second place, she had passed into a room where Masters, Joe Rix, +and the Pedlar sat cheek by jowl in close conference with a hum of deep +voice. But at her appearance all talk was broken off.</p> + +<p>It was not strange that they should not invite her into their confidence +if they had some dark work ahead of them; but it was exceedingly +suspicious that Joe Rix attempted to pass off their whispers by +immediately breaking off the soft talk and springing into the midst of a +full-fledged jest; also, it was strangest of all that when the jest +ended even the Pedlar, who rarely smiled, now laughed uproariously and +smote Joe soundingly upon the back.</p> + +<p>Even a child could have strung these incidents into a chain of evidence +which pointed toward danger. Obviously the danger was not directly hers, +but then it must be directed at some one near to her. Her father? No, he +was more apt to be the mainspring of their action. Lord Nick? There was +nothing to gain by attacking him. Who was left? Donnegan!</p> + +<p>As the realization came upon her it took her breath away for a moment. +Donnegan was the man. At breakfast everyone had been talking about him. +Lebrun had remarked that he had a face for the cards—emotionless. Joe +Rix had commented upon his speed of hand, and the Pedlar had +complimented the little man on his dress.</p> + +<p>But at lunch not a word was spoken about Donnegan even after she had +dexterously introduced the subject twice. Why the sudden silence? +Between morning and noon Donnegan must have grievously offended them.</p> + +<p>Fear for his sake stimulated her; but above and beyond this, indeed, +there was a mighty feminine curiosity. She smelled the secret; it reeked +through the house, and she was devoured by eagerness to know. She +handpicked Lord Nick's gang in the hope of finding a weakness among +them; some weakness upon which she could play in one of them and draw +out what they were all concealing. The Pedlar was as unapproachable as a +crag on a mountaintop. Masters was wise as an outlaw broncho. Lester was +probably not even in the confidence of the others because since the +affair with Landis his nerve had been shattered to bits and the others +secretly despised him for being beaten by the youngster at the draw. +There remained, therefore, only Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>But Joe Rix was a fox of the first quality. He lied with the smoothness +of silk. He could show a dozen colors in as many moments. Come to the +windward of Joe Rix? It was a delicate business! But since there was +nothing else to do, she fixed her mind upon it, working out this puzzle. +Joe Rix wished to destroy Donnegan for reasons that were evidently +connected with the mines. And she must step into his confidence to +discover his plans. How should it be done? And there was a vital need +for speed, for they might be within a step of executing whatever +mischief it was that they were planning.</p> + +<p>She went down from her room; they were there still, only Joe Rix was +not with them. She went to the apartment where he and the other three of +Nick's gang slept and rapped at the door. He maintained his smile when +he saw her, but there was an uncertain quiver of his eyebrows that told +her much. Plainly he was ill at ease. Suspicious? Ay, there were always +clouds of suspicion drifting over the red, round face of Joe Rix. She +put a tremor of excitement and trouble in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Come into my room, Joe, where we won't be interrupted."</p> + +<p>He followed her without a word, and since she led the way she was able +to relax her expression for a necessary moment. When she closed the door +behind him and faced Joe again she was once more ready to step into her +part. She did not ask him to sit down. She remained for a moment with +her hand on the knob and searched the face of Joe Rix eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he can hear?" she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Who but Lord Nick!" she exclaimed softly.</p> + +<p>The bewilderment of Joe clouded his face a second and then he was able +to smooth it away. What on earth was the reason of her concern about +Lord Nick he was obviously wondering.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why," she said, answering the unspoken question at once. +"He's as jealous as the devil, Joe!"</p> + +<p>The fat little man sighed as he looked at her.</p> + +<p>"He can't hear. Not through that log wall. But we'll talk soft, if you +want."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down. He's already jealous of you, Joe."</p> + +<p>"Of me?"</p> + +<p>"He knows I like you, that I trust you; and just now he's on edge about +everyone I look at."</p> + +<p>The surprising news which the first part of this sentence contained +caused Joe to gape, and the girl looked away in concern, enabling him to +control his expression. For she knew well enough that men hate to appear +foolishly surprised. And particularly a fox like Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"But what's the trouble, Nelly?" He added with a touch of venom: "I +thought everything was going smoothly with you. And I thought you +weren't worrying much about what Lord Nick had in his mind."</p> + +<p>She stared at him as though astonished.</p> + +<p>"Do you think just the same as the rest of them?" she asked sadly. "Do +you mean to say that you're fooled just the same as Harry Masters and +the Pedlar and the rest of those fools—including Nick himself?"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix was by no means willing to declare himself a fool beforehand. He +now mustered a look of much reserved wisdom.</p> + +<p>"I have my own doubts, Nell, but I'm not talking about them."</p> + +<p>He was so utterly at sea that she had to bite her lip hard to keep from +breaking into ringing laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew that you'd seen through it, Joe," she cried softly. "You see +what an awful mess I've gotten into?"</p> + +<p>He passed a hurried hand across his forehead and then looked at her +searchingly. But he could not penetrate her pretense of concern.</p> + +<p>"No matter what I think," said Joe Rix, "you come out with it frankly. +I'll listen."</p> + +<p>"As a friend, Joe?"</p> + +<p>She managed to throw a plea into her voice that made Joe sigh.</p> + +<p>"Sure. You've already said that I'm your friend, and you're right."</p> + +<p>"I'm in terrible, terrible trouble! You know how it happened. I was a +fool. I tried to play with Lord Nick. And now he thinks I was in +earnest."</p> + +<p>As though the strength of his legs had given way, Joe Rix slipped down +into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Go on," he said huskily. "You were playing with Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you put yourself in my place, Joe? It's always been taken for +granted that I'm to marry Nick. And the moment he comes around everybody +else avoids me as if I were poison. I was sick of it. And when he showed +up this time it was the same old story. A man would as soon sign his own +death warrant as ask me for a dance. You know how it is?"</p> + +<p>He nodded, still at sea, but with a light beginning to dawn in his +little eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'm only a girl, Joe. I have all the weakness of other girls. I don't +want to be locked up in a cage just because I—love one man!"</p> + +<p>The avowal made Joe blink. It was the second time that day that he had +been placed in an astonishing scene. But some of his old cunning +remained to him.</p> + +<p>"Nell," he said suddenly, rising from his chair and going to her. "What +are you trying to do to me? Pull the wool over my eyes?"</p> + +<p>It was too much for Nelly Lebrun. She knew that she could not face him +without betraying her guilt and therefore she did not attempt it. She +whirled and flung herself on her bed, face down, and began to sob +violently, suppressing the sounds. And so she waited.</p> + +<p>Presently a hand touched her shoulder lightly.</p> + +<p>"Go away," cried Nelly in a choked voice. "I hate you, Joe Rix. You're +like all the rest!"</p> + +<p>His knee struck the floor with a soft thud.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Nell. Don't be hard on me. I thought you were stringing me a +little. But if you're playing straight, tell me what you want?"</p> + +<p>At that she bounced upright on the bed, and before he could rise she +caught him by both shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I want Donnegan," she said fiercely.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I want him dead!"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix gasped.</p> + +<p>"Here's the cause of all my trouble. Just because I flirted with him +once or twice, Nick thought I was in earnest and now he's sulking. And +Donnegan puts on airs and acts as if I belonged to him. I hate him, Joe. +And if he's gone Nick will come back to me. He'll come back to me, Joe; +and I want him so!"</p> + +<p>She found that Joe Rix was staring straight into her eyes, striving to +probe her soul to its depths, and by a great effort she was enabled to +meet that gaze. Finally the fat little man rose slowly to his feet. Her +hands trailed from his shoulders as he stood up and fell helplessly upon +her lap.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be hanged, Nell!" exclaimed Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"You're not acting a part? No, I can see you mean it. But what a +cold-blooded little—" He checked himself. His face was suddenly +jubilant. "Then we've got him, Nell. We've got him if you're with us. We +had him anyway, but we'll make sure of him if you're with us. Look at +this! You saw me put a paper in my pocket when I opened the door of my +room? Here it is!"</p> + +<p>He displayed before the astonished eyes of Nelly Lebrun a paper covered +with an exact duplicate of her own swift, dainty script. And she read:</p> + +<center> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">Nick is terribly angry and is making trouble. I have to get away.</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">It isn't safe for me to stay here. Will you help me?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">Will you meet me at the shack by Donnell's ford</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">tomorrow morning at ten o'clock?</span><br> +</center> + +<p>"But I didn't write it," cried Nelly Lebrun, bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Nelly," Joe Rix chuckled, flushing with pleasure, "you didn't. It was +me. I kind of had an idea that you wanted to get rid of this Donnegan, +and I was going to do it for you and then surprise you with the good +news."</p> + +<p>"Joe, you forged it?"</p> + +<p>"Don't bother sayin' pretty things about me and my pen," said Rix +modestly. "This is nothin'! But if you want to help me, Nelly—"</p> + +<p>His voice faded partly out of her consciousness as she fought against a +tigerish desire to spring at the throat of the little fat man. But +gradually it dawned on her that he was asking her to write out that note +herself. Why? Because it was possible that Donnegan might have seen her +handwriting and in that case, though the imitation had been good enough +to deceive Nelly herself, it probably would not for a moment fool the +keen eyes of Donnegan. But if she herself wrote out the note, Donnegan +was already as good as dead.</p> + +<p>"That is," concluded Joe Rix, "if he really loves you, Nell."</p> + +<p>"The fool!" cried Nelly. "He worships the ground I walk on, Joe. And I +hate him for it."</p> + +<p>Even Joe Rix shivered, for he saw the hate in her eyes and could not +dream that he himself was the cause and the object of it. There was a +red haze of horror and confusion in front of her eyes, and yet she was +able to smile while she copied the note for Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"But how are you going to work it?" she asked. "How are you going to +kill him, Joe?"</p> + +<p>"Don't bother your pretty head," said the fat man, smiling. "Just wait +till we bring you the good news."</p> + +<p>"But are you sure?" she asked eagerly. "See what he's done already. He's +taken Landis away from us; he's baffled Nick himself, in some manner; +and he's gathered the mines away from all of us. He's a devil, Joe, and +if you want to get him you'd better take ten men for the job."</p> + +<p>"You hate him, Nell, don't you?" queried Joe Rix, and his voice was both +hard and curious. "But how has he harmed you?"</p> + +<p>"Hasn't he taken Nick away from me? Isn't that enough?"</p> + +<p>The fat man shivered again.</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll tell you how it works. Now, listen!"</p> + +<p>And he began to check off the details of his plan.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="40"></a><h2>40</h2> +<br> + +<p>The day passed and the night, but how very slowly for Nelly Lebrun; she +went up to her room early for she could no longer bear the meaning +glances which Joe Rix cast at her from time to time. But once in her +room it was still harder to bear the suspense as she waited for the +noise to die away in the house. Midnight, and half an hour more went by, +and then, at last, the murmurs and the laughter stopped; she alone was +wakeful in Lebrun's. And when that time came she caught a scarf around +her hair and her shoulders, made of a filmy material which would veil +her face but through which she could see, and ventured out of her room +and down the hall.</p> + +<p>There was no particular need for such caution, however, it seemed. +Nothing stirred. And presently she was outside the house and hurrying +behind the houses and up the hill. Still she met nothing. If The Corner +lived tonight, its life was confined to Milligan's and the gambling +house.</p> + +<p>She found Donnegan's shack and the one next to it, which the terrible +colonel occupied, entirely dark, but only a moment after she tapped at +the door it was opened. Donnegan, fully dressed, stood in the entrance, +outlined blackly by the light which came faintly from the hooded lantern +hanging on the wall. Was he sitting up all the night, unable to sleep +because he waited breathlessly for that false tryst on the morrow? A +great tenderness came over the heart of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"It is I," she whispered.</p> + +<p>There was a soft exclamation, then she was drawn into the room.</p> + +<p>"Is there anyone here?"</p> + +<p>"Only big George. But he's in the kitchen and he won't hear. He never +hears anything except what's meant for his ear. Take this chair!"</p> + +<p>He was putting a blanket over the rough wood to make it more +comfortable, and she submitted dumbly to his ministrations. It seemed +terrible and strange to her that one so gentle should be the object of +so much hate—such deadly hate as the members of Nick's gang felt for +him. And now that he was sitting before her she could see that he had +indeed been wakeful for a long time. His face was grimly wasted; the +lips were compressed as one who has endured long pain; and his eyes +gleamed at her out of a profound shadow. He remained in the gloom; the +light from the lantern fell brightly upon his hands alone—meager, +fleshless hands which seemed to represent hardly more strength than that +of a child. Truly this man was all a creature of spirit and nerve. +Therein lay his strength, as also his weakness, and again the cherishing +instinct grew strong and swept over her.</p> + +<p>"There is no one near," he said, "except the colonel and his daughter. +They are up the hillside, somewhere. Did you see them?"</p> + +<p>"No. What in the world are they out for at this time of night?"</p> + +<p>"Because the colonel only wakes up when the sun goes down. And now he's +out there humming to himself and never speaking a word to the girl. But +they won't be far away. They'll stay close to see that no one comes near +the cabin to get at Landis."</p> + +<p>He added: "They must have seen you come into my cabin!"</p> + +<p>And his lips set even harder than before. Was it fear because of her?</p> + +<p>"They may have seen me enter, but they won't know who it was. You have +the note from me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It's a lie! It's a ruse. I was forced to write it to save you! For +they're planning to murder you. Oh, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Hush! Murder?"</p> + +<p>"I've been nearly hysterical all day and all the night. But. thank +heaven, I'm here to warn you in time! You mustn't go. You mustn't go!"</p> + +<p>"Who is it?"</p> + +<p>He had drawn his chair closer: he had taken her hands, and she noted +that his own were icy cold, but steady as a rock. Their pressure soothed +her infinitely.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix, the Pedlar, Harry Masters. They'll be at the shack at ten +o'clock, but not I!"</p> + +<p>"Murder, but a very clumsy scheme. Three men leave town and commit a +murder and then expect to go undetected? Not even in the mountain +desert!"</p> + +<p>"But you don't understand, you don't understand! They're wise as foxes. +They'll take no risk. They don't even leave town together or travel by +the same routes. Harry Masters starts first. He rides out at eight +o'clock in the morning and takes the north trail. He rides down the +gulch and winds out of it and strikes for the shack at the ford. At half +past eight the Pedlar starts. He goes past Sandy's place and then over +the trail through the marsh. You know it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Last of all, Joe Rix starts at nine o'clock. Half an hour between +them."</p> + +<p>"How does he go to the shack?"</p> + +<p>"By the south trail. He takes the ridge of the hills. But they'll all be +at the shack long before you and they'll shoot you down from a distance +as you come up to it. Plain murder, but even for cowardly murder they +daren't face you except three to one."</p> + +<p>He was thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"Suppose they were to be met on the way?"</p> + +<p>"You're mad to think of it!"</p> + +<p>"But if they fail this time they'll try again. They must be taught a +lesson."</p> + +<p>"Three men? Oh, my dear, my dear! Promise!"</p> + +<p>"Very well. I shall do nothing rash. And I shall never forget that +you've come to tell me this and been in peril, Nell, for if they found +you had come to me—"</p> + +<p>"The Pedlar would cut my throat. I know him!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! But now you must go. I'll take you down the hill, dear."</p> + +<p>"No, no! It's much easier to get back alone. My face will be covered. +But there's no way you could be disguised. You have a way of +walking—good night—and God bless you!"</p> + +<p>She was in his arms, straining him to her; and then she slipped out the +door.</p> + +<p>And sure enough, there was the colonel in his chair not fifty feet away +with a girl pushing him. The moonlight was too dim for Nelly Lebrun to +make out the face of Lou Macon, but even the light which escaped through +the filter of clouds was enough to set her golden hair glowing. The +color was not apparent, but its luster was soft silver in the night. +There was a murmur of the colonel's voice as Nelly came out of the +cabin.</p> + +<p>And then, from the girl, a low cry.</p> + +<p>It brought the blood to the cheeks of Nelly as she hurried down the +hill, for she recognized the pain that was in it; and it occurred to her +that if the girl was in love with Jack Landis she was strangely +interested in Donnegan also.</p> + +<p>The thought came so sharply home to her that she paused abruptly on the +way down the hill. After all, this Macon girl would be a very strange +sort if she were not impressed by the little red-headed man, with his +gentle voice and his fiery ways, and his easy way of making himself a +brilliant spectacle whenever he appeared in public. And Nelly +remembered, also, with the keen suspicion of a woman in love how weakly +Donnegan had responded to her embrace this night. How absent-mindedly +his arms had held her, and how numbly they had fallen away when she +turned at the door.</p> + +<p>But she shook her head and made the suspicion shudder its way out of +her. Lou Macon, she decided, was just the sort of girl who would think +Jack Landis an ideal. Besides, she had never had an opportunity to see +Donnegan in his full glory at Milligan's. And as for Donnegan? He was +wearied out; his nerves relaxed; and for the deeds with which he had +startled The Corner and won her own heart he was now paying the penalty +in the shape of ruined nerves. Pity again swelled in her heart, and a +consuming hatred for the three murderers who lived in her father's +house.</p> + +<p>And when she reached her room again her heart was filled with a singing +happiness and a glorious knowledge that she had saved the man she loved.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan himself?</p> + +<p>He had seen Lou and her father: he had heard that low cry of pain; and +now he sat bowed again over his table, his face in his hands and a +raging devil in his heart.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="41"></a><h2>41</h2> +<br> + +<p>There was one complication which Nelly Lebrun might have foreseen after +her pretended change of heart and her simulated confession to Joe Rix +that she still loved the lionlike Lord Nick. But strangely enough she +did not think of this phase: and even when her father the next morning +approached her in the hall and tapping her arm whispered: "Good girl! +Nick has just heard and he's hunting for you now!" Even then the full +meaning did not come home to her. It was not until she saw the great +form of Lord Nick stalking swiftly down the hall that she knew. He came +with a glory in his face which the last day had graven with unfamiliar +lines; and when he saw her he threw up his hand so that it almost +brushed the ceiling, and cried out.</p> + +<p>What could she do? Try to push him away; to explain?</p> + +<p>There was nothing to be done. She had to submit when he swept her into +his arms.</p> + +<p>"Rix has told me. Rix has told me. Ah, Nell, you little fox!"</p> + +<p>"Told you what, Nick?"</p> + +<p>Was he, too, a party to the murderous plan?</p> + +<p>But he allowed himself to be pushed away.</p> + +<p>"I've gone through something in the last few days. Why did you do it, +girl?"</p> + +<p>She saw suddenly that she must continue to play her part.</p> + +<p>"Some day I'll tell you why it was that I gave you up so easily, Nell. +You thought I was afraid of Donnegan?" He ground his teeth and turned +pale at the thought. "But that wasn't it. Some day I can tell you. But +after this, the first man who comes between us—Donnegan or any +other—I'll turn him into powder—under my heel!"</p> + +<p>He ground it into the floor as he spoke. She decided that she would see +how much he knew.</p> + +<p>"It will never be Donnegan, at least," she said. "He's done for today. +And I'm almost sorry for him in spite of all that he's done."</p> + +<p>He became suddenly grave.</p> + +<p>"What are you saying, Nell?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Joe told you, didn't he? They've drawn Donnegan out of town, and +now they're lying in wait for him. Yes, they must have him, by this +time. It's ten o'clock!"</p> + +<p>A strangely tense exclamation broke from Lord Nick. "They've gone for +Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Are you angry?"</p> + +<p>The big man staggered; one would have said that he had been stunned with +a blow.</p> + +<p>"Garry!" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"What are you saying?"</p> + +<p>"Nell," he muttered hoarsely, "did you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"But I did it for you, Nick. I knew you hated—"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Don't say it!" He added bitterly, after a moment. "This is for +my sins."</p> + +<p>And then, to her: "But you knew about it and didn't warn him? You hated +him all the time you were laughing with him and smiling at him? Oh, +Nell! What a merciless witch of a woman you are! For the rest of +them—I'll wait till they come back!"</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, Nick?"</p> + +<p>"I told them I'd pay the man who killed Donnegan—with lead. Did the +fools think I didn't mean it?"</p> + +<p>Truly, no matter what shadow had passed over the big man, he was the +lion again, and Nell shrank from him.</p> + +<p>"We'll wait for them," he said. "We'll wait for them here."</p> + +<p>And they sat down together in the room. She attempted to speak once in a +shaken voice, but he silenced her with a gesture, and after that she sat +and watched in quiet the singular play of varying expressions across his +face. Grief, rage, tenderness, murderous hate—they followed like a +puppet play.</p> + +<p>What was Donnegan to him? And then there was a tremor of fear. Would the +three suspect when they reached the shack by the ford and no Donnegan +came to them? The moments stole on. Then the soft beat of a galloping +horse in the sand. The horse stopped. Presently they saw Joe Rix and +Harry Masters pass in front of the window. And they looked as though a +cyclone had caught them up, juggled them a dizzy distance in the air, +and then flung them down carelessly upon bruising rocks. Their hats were +gone; and the clothes of burly Harry Masters were literally torn from +his back. Joe Rix was evidently far more terribly hurt, for he leaned on +the arm of Masters and they came on together, staggering.</p> + +<p>"They've done the business!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "And now, curse them, +I'll do theirs!"</p> + +<p>But the girl could not speak. A black haze crossed before her eyes. Had +Donnegan gone out madly to fight the three men in spite of her warning?</p> + +<p>The door opened. They stood in the doorway, and if they had seemed a +horrible sight passing the window, they were a deadly picture at close +range. And opposite them stood Lord Nick; in spite of their wounds there +was murder in his face and his revolver was out.</p> + +<p>"You've met him? You've met Donnegan?" he asked angrily.</p> + +<p>Masters literally carried Joe Rix to a chair and placed him in it. He +had been shot through both shoulders, and though tight bandages had +stanched the wound he was still in agony. Then Masters raised his head.</p> + +<p>"We've met him," he said.</p> + +<p>"What happened?"</p> + +<p>But Masters, in spite of the naked gun in the hand of Lord Nick, was +looking straight at Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"We fought him."</p> + +<p>"Then say your prayers, Masters."</p> + +<p>"Say prayers for the Pedlar, you fool," said Masters bitterly. "He's +dead, and Donnegan's still living!"</p> + +<p>There was a faint cry from Nelly Lebrun. She sank into her chair again.</p> + +<p>"We've been double-crossed," said Masters, still looking at the girl. "I +was going down the gulch the way we planned. I come to the narrow place +where the cliffs almost touch, and right off the wall above me drops a +wildcat. I thought it was a cat at first. And then I found it was +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The way he hit me from above knocked me off the horse. Then we hit the +ground. I started for my gun; he got it out of my hand; I pulled my +knife. He got that away, too. His fingers work with steel springs and +act like a cat's claws. Then we fought barehanded. He didn't say a word. +But kept snarling in his throat. Always like a cat. And his face was +devilish. Made me sick inside. Pretty soon he dived under my arms. Got +me up in the air. I came down on my head.</p> + +<p>"Of course I went out cold. When I came to there was still a mist in +front of my eyes and this lump on the back of my head. He'd figured that +my head was cracked and that I was dead. That's the only reason he left +me. Later I climbed on my hoss and fed him the spur.</p> + +<p>"But I was too late. I took the straight cut for the ford, and when I +got there I found that Donnegan had been there before me. Joe Rix was +lyin' on the floor. When he got to the shack Donnegan was waitin' for +him. They went for their guns and Donnegan beat him to it. The hound +didn't shoot to kill. He plugged him through both shoulders, and left +him lyin' helpless. But I got a couple of bandages on him and saved him.</p> + +<p>"Then we cut back for home and crossed the marsh. And there we found the +Pedlar.</p> + +<p>"Too late to help him. Maybe Donnegan knew that the Pedlar was something +of a flash with a gun himself, and he didn't take any chances. He'd met +him face to face the same way he met Joe Rix and killed him. Shot him +clean between the eyes. Think of shooting for the head with a snap shot! +That's what he done and Joe didn't have time to think twice after that +slug hit him. His gun wasn't even fired, he was beat so bad on the draw.</p> + +<p>"So Joe and me come back home. And we come full of questions!"</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you something," muttered Lord Nick, putting up the weapon +which he had kept exposed during all of the recital. "You've got what +was coming to you. If Donnegan hadn't cleaned up on you, you'd have had +to talk turkey with me. Understand?"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," protested Harry Masters.</p> + +<p>And Joe Rix, almost too far gone for speech, set his teeth over a groan +and cast a look of hatred at the girl.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, chief. There's one thing we all got to get straight. +Somebody had tipped off Donnegan about our whole plan. Was it the Pedlar +or Rix or me? I guess good sense'll tell a man that it wasn't none of +us, eh? Then who was it? The only other person that knew about the +plan—Nell—Nell, the crooked witch—and it's her that murdered the +Pedlar—curse her!"</p> + +<p>He thrust out his bulky arm as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Her that lied her way into our confidence with a lot of talk about you, +Nick. Then what did she do? She goes runnin' to the gent that she said +she hated. Don't you see her play? She makes fools of us—she makes a +fool out of you!"</p> + +<p>She dared not meet the glance of Lord Nick. Even now she might have +acted out her part and filled in with lies, but she was totally +unnerved.</p> + +<p>"Get Rix to bed," was all he said, and he did not even glance at Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>Masters glowered at him, and then silently obeyed, lifting Joe as a +helpless bulk, for the fat man was nearly fainting with pain. Not until +they had gone and he had closed the door after them and upon the murmurs +of the servants in the hall did Lord Nick turn to Nelly.</p> + +<p>"Is it true?" he asked shortly.</p> + +<p>Between relief and terror her mind was whirling.</p> + +<p>"Is what true?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't even sense enough to lie, Nell, eh? It's all true, then? +And last night, after you'd wormed it out of Joe, you went to Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>She could only stare miserably at him.</p> + +<p>"And that was why you pushed me away when I kissed you a little while +ago?"</p> + +<p>Once more she was dumb. But she was beginning to be afraid. Not for +herself, but for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I told you I'd never let another man come between us again. I +meant it. I know you're treacherous now; but that doesn't keep me from +wanting you. It's Donnegan again—Donnegan still? Nell, you've killed +him. As sure as if your own finger pulled the trigger when I shoot him. +He's a dead one, and you've done it!"</p> + +<p>If words would only come! But her throat was stiff and cold and aching. +She could not speak.</p> + +<p>"You've done more than kill him," said Lord Nick. "You've put a curse on +me as well. And afterward I'm going to even up with you. You hear me? +Nell, when I shoot Donnegan I'm doing a thing worse than if he was a +girl—or a baby. You can't understand that; I don't want you to know. +But some time when you're happy again and you're through grieving for +Donnegan, I'll tell you the truth and make your heart black for the rest +of your life."</p> + +<p>Still words would not come. She strove to cling to him and stop him, but +he cast her away with a single gesture and strode out the door.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="42"></a><h2>42</h2> +<br> + +<p>There was no crowd to block the hill at this second meeting of Donnegan +and Lord Nick. There was a blank stretch of brown hillside with the wind +whispering stealthily through the dead grass when Lord Nick thrust open +the door of Donnegan's shack and entered.</p> + +<p>The little man had just finished shaving and was getting back into his +coat while George carried out the basin of water. And Donnegan, as he +buttoned the coat, was nodding slightly to the rhythm of a song which +came from the cabin of the colonel near by. It was a clear, high music, +and though the voice was light it carried the sound far. Donnegan looked +up to Lord Nick; but still he kept the beat of the music.</p> + +<p>He seemed even more fragile this morning than ever before. Yet Lord Nick +was fresh from the sight of the torn bodies of the two fighting men whom +this fellow had struck and left for dead, or dying, as he thought.</p> + +<p>"Dismiss your servant," said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"George, you may go out."</p> + +<p>"And keep him out."</p> + +<p>"Don't come back until I call for you."</p> + +<p>Big George disappeared into the kitchen and the outside door was closed. +Yet even with all the doors closed the singing of Lou Macon kept running +through the cabin in a sweet and continuous thread.</p> + +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">What made the ball so fine?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1.5em;">Robin Adair!</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">What made the assembly shine?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1.5em;">Robin Adair!</span><br> + +<p>And no matter what Lord Nick could say, it seemed that with half his +mind Donnegan was listening to the song of the girl.</p> + +<p>"First," said the big man, "I've broken my word."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waved his hand and dismissed the charge. He pointed to a chair, +but Lord Nick paid no heed.</p> + +<p>"I've broken my word," he went on. "I promised that I'd give you a clear +road to win over Nelly Lebrun. I gave you the road and you've won her, +but now I'm taking her back!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Henry," said Donnegan, and a flash of eagerness came in his eyes. +"You're a thousand times welcome to her."</p> + +<p>Lord Nick quivered.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it?"</p> + +<p>"Henry, don't you see that I was only playing for a purpose all the +time? And if you've opened the eyes of Nelly to the fact that you truly +love her and I've been only acting out of a heartless sham—why, I'm +glad of it—I rejoice, Henry, I swear I do!"</p> + +<p>He came forward, smiling, and held out his hand; Lord Nick struck it +down, and Donnegan shrank back, holding his wrist tight in the fingers +of his other hand.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible?" murmured Henry Reardon. "Is it possible that she loves +a man who despises her?"</p> + +<p>"Not that! If any other man said this to me, I'd call for an explanation +of his meaning, Henry. No, no! I honor and respect her, I tell you. By +heaven, Nick, she has a thread of pure, generous gold in her nature!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"She has saved my life no longer ago than this morning."</p> + +<p>"It's perfect," said Lord Nick. And he writhed under a torment. "I am +discarded for the sake of a man who despises her!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan, frowning with thought, watched his older brother. And still +the thin singing entered the room, that matchless old melody of "Robin +Adair;" the day shall never come when that song does not go straight +from heart to heart. But because Donnegan still listened to it, Lord +Nick felt that he was contemptuously received, and a fresh spur was +driven into his tender pride.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" he said sharply.</p> + +<p>Donnegan raised his hand slowly.</p> + +<p>"Do you call me by that name?"</p> + +<p>"Aye. You've ceased to be a brother. There's no blood tie between us +now, as I warned you before."</p> + +<p>Donnegan, very white, moved back toward the wall and rested his +shoulders lightly against it, as though he needed the support. He made +no answer.</p> + +<p>"I warned you not to cross me again." exclaimed Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I have not."</p> + +<p>"Donnegan, you've murdered my men!"</p> + +<p>"Murder? I've met them fairly. Not murder, Henry."</p> + +<p>"Leave out that name, I say!"</p> + +<p>"If you wish," said Donnegan very faintly.</p> + +<p>The sight of his resistlessness seemed to madden Lord Nick. He made one +of his huge strides and came to the center of the room and dominated all +that was in it, including his brother.</p> + +<p>"You murdered my men," repeated Lord Nick. "You turned my girl against +me with your lying love-making and turned her into a spy. You made her +set the trap and then you saw that it was worked. You showed her how she +could wind me around her finger again."</p> + +<p>"Will you let me speak?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, but be short."</p> + +<p>"I swear to you, Henry, that I've never influenced her to act against +you; except to win her away for just one little time, and she will +return to you again. It is only a fancy that makes her interested in me. +Look at us! How could any woman in her senses prefer me?"</p> + +<p>"Are you done?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! I have more to say: I have a thousand things!"</p> + +<p>"I shall not hear them"</p> + +<p>"Henry, there is a black devil in your face. Beware of it."</p> + +<p>"Who put it there?"</p> + +<p>"It was not I."</p> + +<p>"What power then?"</p> + +<p>"Something over which I have no control."</p> + +<p>"Are you trying to mystify me?"</p> + +<p>"Listen!" And as Donnegan raised his hand, the singing poured clear and +small into the room.</p> + +<p>"That is the power," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You're talking gibberish'" exclaimed the other pettishly.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand."</p> + +<p>"On the other hand, what I have to say is short and to the point. A +child could comprehend it. You've stolen the girl. I tried to let her +go. I can't. I have to have her. Willing or unwilling she has to belong +to me, Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"If you wish, I shall promise that I shall never see her again or speak +to her."</p> + +<p>"You fool' Won't she find you out? Do you think I could trust you? Only +in one place—underground."</p> + +<p>Donnegan had clasped his hands upon his breast and his eyes were wide.</p> + +<p>"What is it you mean, Henry?"</p> + +<p>"I'll trust you—dead!"</p> + +<p>"Henry!"</p> + +<p>"That name means nothing to me I've forgotten it. The worlds has +forgotten it."</p> + +<p>"Henry, I implore you to keep cool—to give me five minutes for talk—"</p> + +<p>"No, not one. I know your cunning tongue!"</p> + +<p>"For the sake of the days when you loved me, my brother. For the sake of +the days when you used to wheel my chair and be kind to me."</p> + +<p>"You're wasting your time. You're torturing us both for nothing. +Donnegan, my will is a rock. It won't change."</p> + +<p>And drawing closer his right hand gripped his gun and the trembling +passion of the gunfighter set him shuddering.</p> + +<p>"You're armed, Garry. Go for your gun!"</p> + +<p>"No, no!"</p> + +<p>"Then I'll give you cause to fight."</p> + +<p>And as he spoke, he drew back his massive arm and with his open hand +smote Donnegan heavily across the face. The weight of that blow crushed +the little man against the wall.</p> + +<p>"Your gun!" cried Lord Nick, swaying from side to side as the passion +choked him.</p> + +<p>Donnegan fell upon his knees and raised his arms.</p> + +<p>"God have mercy on me, and on yourself!"</p> + +<p>At that the blackness cleared slowly on the face of the big man; he +thrust his revolver into the holster.</p> + +<p>"This time," he said, "there's no death. But sooner or later we meet, +Donnegan, and then, I swear by all that lives, I'll shoot you +down—without mercy—like a mad dog. You've robbed me; you've hounded +me: you've killed my men: you've taken the heart of the woman I love. +And now nothing can save you from the end."</p> + +<p>He turned on his heel and left the room.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan remained kneeling, holding a stained handkerchief to his +face.</p> + +<p>All at once his strength seemed to desert him like a tree chopped at the +root, and he wilted down against the wall with closed eyes.</p> + +<p>But the music still came out of the throat and the heart of Lou, and it +entered the room and came into the ears of Donnegan. He became aware +that there was a strength beyond himself which had sustained him, and +then he knew it had been the singing of Lou from first to last which had +kept the murder out of his own heart and restrained the hand of Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>Perhaps of all Donnegan's life, this was the first moment of true +humility.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="43"></a><h2>43</h2> +<br> + +<p>One thing was now clear. He must not remain in The Corner unless he was +prepared for Lord Nick again: and in a third meeting guns must be drawn. +From that greater sin he shrank, and prepared to leave. His order to +George made the big man's eyes widen, but George had long since passed +the point where he cared to question the decision of his master. He +began to build the packs.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he could see that there was little to be won by +remaining. That would save Landis to Lou Macon, to be sure, but after +all, he was beginning to wonder if it were not better to let the big +fellow go back to his own kind—Lebrun and the rest. For if it needed +compulsion to keep him with Lou now, might it not be the same story +hereafter?</p> + +<p>Indeed, Donnegan began to feel that all his labor in The Corner had been +running on a treadmill. It had all been grouped about the main purpose, +which was to keep Landis with the girl. To do that now he must be +prepared to face Nick again; and to face Nick meant the bringing of the +guilt of fratricide upon the head of one of them. There only remained +flight. He saw at last that he had been fighting blindly from the +first. He had won a girl whom he did not love—though doubtless her +liking was only the most fickle fancy. And she for whom he would have +died he had taught to hate him. It was a grim summing up. Donnegan +walked the room whistling softly to himself as he checked up his +accounts.</p> + +<p>One thing at least he had done; he had taken the joy out of his life +forever.</p> + +<p>And here, answering a rap at the door, he opened it upon Lou Macon. She +wore a dress of some very soft material. It was a pale blue—faded, no +doubt—but the color blended exquisitely with her hair and with the +flush of her face. It came to Donnegan that it was an unnecessary +cruelty of chance that made him see the girl lovelier than he had ever +seen her before at the very moment when he was surrendering the last +shadow of a claim upon her.</p> + +<p>And it hurt him, also, to see the freshness of her face, the clear eyes; +and to hear her smooth, untroubled voice. She had lived untouched by +anything save the sunshine in The Corner.</p> + +<p>Her glance flicked across his face and then fluttered down, and her +color increased guiltily.</p> + +<p>"I have come to ask you a favor," she said.</p> + +<p>"Step in," said Donnegan, recovering his poise at length.</p> + +<p>At this, she looked past him, and her eyes widened a little. There was +an imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, as though the very thought of +entering this cabin horrified her. And Donnegan had to bear that look as +well.</p> + +<p>"I'll stay here; I haven't much to say. It's a small thing."</p> + +<p>"Large or small," said Donnegan eagerly. "Tell me!"</p> + +<p>"My father has asked me to take a letter for him down to the town and +mail it. I—I understand that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. +Will you walk with me?"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan turned cold. Go down into The Corner? Where by five chances +out of ten he must meet his brother in the street?</p> + +<p>"I can do better still," he said, smiling. "I'll have George take the +letter down for you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. But you see, father would not trust it to anyone save me. I +asked him; he was very firm about it."</p> + +<p>"Tush! I would trust George with my life."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes It is not what I wish—but my father rarely changes his +mind."</p> + +<p>Perspiration beaded the forehead of Donnegan. Was there no way to evade +this easy request?</p> + +<p>"You see," he faltered, "I should be glad to go—"</p> + +<p>She raised her eyes slowly.</p> + +<p>"But I am terribly busy this morning."</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but half of her color left her face.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word of honor there is no danger to a woman in the town."</p> + +<p>"But some of the ruffians of Lord Nick—"</p> + +<p>"If they dared to even raise their voices at you, they would hear from +him in a manner that they would never forget."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't wish to go?"</p> + +<p>She was very pale now; and to Donnegan it was more terrible than the gun +in the hand of Lord Nick. Even if she thought he was slighting her why +should she take it so mortally to heart? For Donnegan, who saw all +things, was blind to read the face of this girl.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't really matter," she murmured and turned away.</p> + +<p>A gentle motion, but it wrenched the heart of Donnegan. He was instantly +before her.</p> + +<p>"Wait here a moment. I'll be ready to go down immediately."</p> + +<p>"No. I can't take you from your—work."</p> + +<p>What work did she assign to him in her imagination? Endless planning of +deviltry no doubt.</p> + +<p>"I shall go with you," said Donnegan. "At first—I didn't dream it could +be so important. Let me get my hat."</p> + +<p>He left her and leaped back into the cabin.</p> + +<p>"I am going down into The Corner for a moment," he said over his +shoulder to George, as he took his belt down from the wall.</p> + +<p>The big man strode to the wall and took his hat from a nail.</p> + +<p>"I shall not need you, George."</p> + +<p>But George merely grinned, and his big teeth flashed at the master. And +in the second place he took up a gun from the drawer and offered it to +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The gun in that holster ain't loaded," he said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan considered him soberly.</p> + +<p>"I know it. There'll be no need for a loaded gun."</p> + +<p>But once more George grinned. All at once Donnegan turned pale.</p> + +<p>"You dog," he whispered. "Did you listen at the door when Nick was +here?"</p> + +<p>"Me?" murmured George. "No, I just been thinking."</p> + +<p>And so it was that while Donnegan went down the hill with Lou Macon, +carrying an empty-chambered revolver, George followed at a distance of a +few paces, and he carried a loaded weapon unknown to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was the dull time of the day in The Corner. There were very few +people in the single street, and though most of them turned to look at +the little man and the girl who walked beside him, not one of them +either smiled or whispered.</p> + +<p>"You see?" said Donnegan. "You would have been perfectly safe—even from +Lord Nick's ruffians. That was one of his men we passed back there."</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm safe with you," said the girl.</p> + +<p>And when she looked up to him, the blood of Donnegan turned to fire.</p> + +<p>Out of a shop door before them came a girl with a parcel under her arm. +She wore a gay, semi-masculine outfit, bright-colored, jaunty, and she +walked with a lilt toward them. It was Nelly Lebrun. And as she passed +them. Donnegan lifted his hat ceremoniously high. She nodded to him with +a smile, but the smile aimed wan and small in an instant. There was a +quick widening and then a narrowing of her eyes, and Donnegan knew that +she had judged Lou Macon as only one girl can judge another who is +lovelier.</p> + +<p>He glanced at Lou to see if she had noticed, and he saw her raise her +head and go on with her glance proudly straight before her; but her face +was very pale, and Donnegan knew that she had guessed everything that +was true and far more than the truth. Her tone at the door of the post +office was ice.</p> + +<p>"I think you are right, Mr. Donnegan. There's no danger. And if you have +anything else to do, I can get back home easily enough."</p> + +<p>"I'll wait for you," murmured Donnegan sadly, and he stood as the door +of the little building with bowed head.</p> + +<p>And then a murmur came down the street. How small it was, and how +sinister! It consisted of exclamations begun, and then broken sharply +off. A swirl of people divided as a cloud of dust divides before a blast +of wind, and through them came the gigantic figure of Lord Nick!</p> + +<p>On he came, a gorgeous figure, a veritable king of men. He carried his +hat in his hand and his red hair flamed, and he walked with great +strides. Donnegan glanced behind him. The way was clear. If he turned, +Lord Nick would not pursue him, he knew.</p> + +<p>But to flee even from his brother was more than he could do; for the +woman he loved would know of it and could never understand.</p> + +<p>He touched the holster that held his empty gun—and waited!</p> + +<p>An eternity between every step of Lord Nick. Others seemed to have +sensed the meaning of this silent scene. People seemed to stand frozen +in the midst of gestures. Or was that because Donnegan's own thoughts +were traveling at such lightning speed that the rest of the world seemed +standing still? What kept Lou Macon? If she were with him, not even Lord +Nick in his madness would force on a gunplay in the presence of a woman, +no doubt.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick was suddenly close; he had paused; his voice rang over the +street and struck upon Donnegan's ear as sounds come under water.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Aye!" called Donnegan softly.</p> + +<p>"It's the time!"</p> + +<p>"Aye," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Then a huge body leaped before him; it was big George. And as he sprang +his gun went up with his hand in a line of light. The two reports came +close together as finger taps on a table, and big George, completing his +spring, lurched face downward into the sand.</p> + +<p>Dead? Not yet. All his faith and selflessness were nerving the big man. +And Donnegan stood behind him, unarmed!</p> + +<p>He reared himself upon his knees—an imposing bulk, even then, and fired +again. But his hand was trembling, and the bullet shattered a sign above +the head of Lord Nick. He, in his turn, it seemed to Donnegan that the +motion was slow, twitched up the muzzle of his weapon and fired once +more from his hip. And big George lurched back on the sand, with his +face upturned to Donnegan. He would have spoken, but a burst of blood +choked him; yet his eyes fixed and glazed, he mustered his last +strength and offered his revolver to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan let the hand fall limp to the ground. There were voices +about him; steps running; but all that he clearly saw was Lord Nick with +his feet braced, and his head high.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan! Your gun!"</p> + +<p>"Aye," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Take it then!"</p> + +<p>But in the crisis, automatically Donnegan flipped his useless revolver +out of its holster and into his hand. At the same instant the gun from +Nick's hand seemed to blaze in his eyes. He was struck a crushing blow +in his chest. He sank upon his knees: another blow struck his head, and +Donnegan collapsed on the body of big George.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="44"></a><h2>44</h2> +<br> + +<p>An ancient drunkard in the second story of one of the stores across the +street had roused himself at the sound of the shots and now he dragged +himself to the window and began to scream: "Murder! Murder!" over and +over, and even The Corner shuddered at the sound of his voice.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick, his revolver still in his hand, stalked through the film of +people who now swirled about him, eager to see the dead. There was no +call for the law to make its appearance, and the representatives of the +law were wisely dilatory in The Corner.</p> + +<p>He stood over the two motionless figures with a stony face.</p> + +<p>"You saw it, boys," he said. "You know what I've borne from this fellow. +The big man pulled his gun first on me. I shot in self-defense. As +for—the other—it was a square fight."</p> + +<p>"Square fight," someone answered. "You both went for your irons at the +same time. Pretty work, Nick."</p> + +<p>It was a solid phalanx of men which had collected around the moveless +bodies as swiftly as mercury sinks through water. Yet none of them +touched either Donnegan or George. And then the solid group dissolved at +one side. It was the moan of a woman which had scattered it, and a +yellow-haired girl slipped through them. She glanced once, in horror, at +the mute faces of the men, and then there was a wail as she threw +herself on the body of Donnegan. Somewhere she found the strength of a +man to lift him and place him face upward on the sand, the gun trailing +limply in his hand. And then she lay, half crouched over him, her face +pressed to his heart—listening—listening for the stir of life.</p> + +<p>Shootings were common in The Corner; the daily mortality ran high; but +there had never been aftermaths like this one. Men looked at one +another, and then at Lord Nick. A bright spot of color had come in his +cheeks, but his face was as hard as ever.</p> + +<p>"Get her away from him," someone murmured.</p> + +<p>And then another man cried out, stooped, wrenched the gun from the limp +hand of Donnegan and opened the cylinder. He spun it: daylight was +glittering through the empty cylinder.</p> + +<p>At this the man stiffened, and with a low bow which would have done +credit to a drawing-room, he presented the weapon butt first to Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>"Here's something the sheriff will want to see," he said, "but maybe +you'll be interested, too."</p> + +<p>But Lord Nick, with the gun in his hand, stared at it dumbly, turned the +empty cylinder. And the full horror crept slowly on his mind. He had not +killed his brother, he had murdered him. As his eyes cleared, he caught +the glitter of the eyes which surrounded him.</p> + +<p>And then Lou Macon was on her knees with her hands clasped at her breast +and her face glorious.</p> + +<p>"Help!" she was crying. "Help me. He's not dead, but he's dying unless +you help me!"</p> + +<p>Then Lord Nick cast away his own revolver and the empty gun of Donnegan. +They heard him shout: "Garry!" and saw him stride forward.</p> + +<p>Instantly men pressed between, hard-jawed men who meant business. It was +a cordon he would have to fight his way through: but he dissolved it +with a word.</p> + +<p>"You fools! He's my brother!"</p> + +<p>And then he was on his knees opposite Lou Macon.</p> + +<p>"You?" she had stammered in horror.</p> + +<p>"His brother, girl."</p> + +<p>And ten minutes later, when the bandages had been wound, there was a +strange sight of Lord Nick striding up the street with his victim in his +arms. How lightly he walked; and he was talking to the calm, pale face +which rested in the hollow of his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"He will live? He will live?" Lou Macon was pleading as she hurried at +the side of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"God willing, he shall live!"</p> +<br> + +<p>It was three hours before Donnegan opened his eyes. It was three days +before he recovered his senses, and looking aside toward the door he saw +a brilliant shaft of sunlight falling into the room. In the midst of it +sat Lou Macon. She had fallen asleep in her great weariness now that the +crisis was over. Behind her, standing, his great arms folded, stood the +indomitable figure of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>Donnegan saw and wondered greatly. Then he closed his eyes dreamily. +"Hush," said Donnegan to himself, as if afraid that what he saw was all +a dream. "I'm in heaven, or if I'm not, it's still mighty good to be +alive."</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10066 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfc3008 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10066 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10066) diff --git a/old/10066-8.txt b/old/10066-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0b8c22 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10066-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10679 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gunman's Reckoning + +Author: Max Brand + +Release Date: November 22, 2003 [EBook #10066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + +By + +Max Brand + + + +1921 + + + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + + + +1 + + +The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road +bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring +and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the +locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a +freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a +stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary +tone--it is an overtone of conversation, one might say--and it is +distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of +course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on +the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and +staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places +as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had +touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since +the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money +the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance +with their talk. + +"It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to +play this line when you jumped from coast to coast." + +"Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side +of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched +eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's +been many a time." + +"Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising +in the world." + +He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe +was sufficiently concealed by the dark. + +"Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the +brakie. + +"Yeh?" + +"Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that." + +"Yeh?" + +"But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway." + +"Yep," agreed Lefty. + +The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced +him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. +He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty. + +"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; +you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they +said you was, and all that--well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em +that." + +"You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all +straight." + +The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period +to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst. + +"Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently. + +Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was +in the mood for talk. + +"Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all +with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!" + +What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus +of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. +The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names. + +"Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?" + +"Even Suds!" + +The brakie stirred a little, wabbling from side to side as he found a +more comfortable position; instead of looking straight before him, he +kept a side-glance steadily upon his companion, and one could see that +he intended to remember what was said on this night. + +"Even Suds," echoed the brakie. "Good heavens, and ain't he a man for +you?" + +"He was a man," replied Lefty Joe with an indescribable emphasis. + +"Huh?" + +"He ain't a man any more." + +"Get bumped off?" + +"No. Busted." + +The brakie considered this bit of news and rolled it back and forth and +tried its flavor against his gossiping palate. + +"Did you fix him after he left you?" + +"No." + +"I see. You busted him while he was still with you. Then Kennebec Lou +and the Clipper get sore at the way you treat Suds. So here you are back +on the road with your gang all gone bust. Hard luck, Lefty." + +But Lefty whined with rage at this careless diagnosis of his downfall. + +"You're all wrong," he said. "You're all wrong. You don't know nothin'." + +The brakie waited, grinning securely into the night, and preparing his +mind for the story. But the story consisted of one word, flung bitterly +into the rushing air. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Him?" cried the brakie, starting in his place. + +"Donnegan!" cried Lefty, and his voice made the word into a curse. + +The brakie nodded. + +"Them that get tangled with Donnegan don't last long. You ought to know +that." + +At this the grief, hate, and rage in Lefty Joe were blended and caused +an explosion. + +"Confound Donnegan. Who's Donnegan? I ask you, who's Donnegan?" + +"A guy that makes trouble," replied the brakie, evidently hard put to it +to find a definition. + +"Oh, don't he make it, though? Confound him!" + +"You ought to of stayed shut of him, Lefty." + +"Did I hunt him up, I ask you? Am I a nut? No, I ain't. Do I go along +stepping on the tail of a rattlesnake? No more do I look up Donnegan." + +He groaned as he remembered. + +"I was going fine. Nothing could of been better. I had the boys +together. We was doing so well that I was riding the cushions and I went +around planning the jobs. Nice, clean work. No cans tied to it. But one +day I had to meet Suds down in the Meriton Jungle. You know?" + +"I've heard--plenty," said the brakie. + +"Oh, it ain't so bad--the Meriton. I've seen a lot worse. Found Suds +there, and Suds was playing Black Jack with an ol gink. He was trimmin' +him close. Get Suds going good and he could read 'em three down and bury +'em as fast as they came under the bottom card. Takes a hand to do that +sort of work. And that's the sort of work Suds was doing for the old +man. Pretty soon the game was over and the old man was busted. He took +up his pack and beat it, saying nothing and looking sick. I started +talking to Suds. + +"And while he was talking, along comes a bo and gives us a once-over. He +knew me. 'Is this here a friend of yours, Lefty? he says. + +"'Sure,' says I. + +"'Then, he's in Dutch. He trimmed that old dad, and the dad is one of +Donnegan's pals. Wait till Donnegan hears how your friend made the cards +talk while he was skinning the old boy! + +"He passes me the wink and goes on. Made me sick. I turned to Suds, and +the fool hadn't batted an eye. Never even heard of Donnegan. You know +how it is? Half the road never heard of it; part of the roads don't know +nothin' else. He's like a jumpin tornado; hits every ten miles and don't +bend a blade of grass in between. + +"Took me about five minutes to tell Suds about Donnegan. Then Suds let +out a grunt and started down the trail for the old dad. Missed him. Dad +had got out of the Jungle and copped a rattler. Suds come back half +green and half yeller. + +"'I've done it; I've spilled the beans,' he says. + +"'That ain't half sayin' it,' says I. + +"Well, we lit out after that and beat it down the line as fast as we +could. We got the rest of the boys together; I had a swell job planned +up. Everything staked. Then, the first news come that Donnegan was after +Suds. + +"News just dropped on us out of the sky. Suds, you know how he is. +Strong bluff. Didn't bat an eye. Laughed at this Donnegan. Got a hold of +an old pal of his, named Levine, and he is a mighty hot scrapper. From a +knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a +fight. Suds sent him out to cross Donnegan's trail. + +"He crossed it, well enough. Suds got a telegram a couple days later +saying that Levine had run into a wild cat and was considerable chawed +and would Suds send him a stake to pay the doctor? + +"Well, after that Suds got sort of nervous. Didn't take no interest in +his work no more. Kept a weather eye out watching for the coming of +Donnegan. And pretty soon he up and cleaned out of camp. + +"Next day, sure enough, along comes Donnegan and asks for Suds. We kept +still--all but Kennebec Lou. Kennebec is some fighter himself. Two +hundred pounds of mule muscle with the brain of a devil to tell what to +do--yes, you can lay it ten to one that Kennebec is some fighter. That +day he had a good edge from a bottle of rye he was trying for a friend. + +"He didn't need to go far to find trouble in Donnegan. A wink and a grin +was all they needed for a password, and then they went at each other's +throats. Kennebec made the first pass and hit thin air; and before he +got back on his heels, Donnegan had hit him four times. Then Kennebec +jumped back and took a fresh start with a knife." + +Here Lefty Joe paused and sighed. + +He continued, after a long interval: "Five minutes later we was all busy +tyin' up what was left of Kennebec; Donnegan was down the road whistlin' +like a bird. And that was the end of my gang. What with Kennebec Lou and +Suds both gone, what chance did I have to hold the boys together?" + + + + +2 + + +The brakie heard this recital with the keenest interest, nodding from +time to time. + +"What beats me, Lefty," he said at the end of the story, "is why you +didn't knife into the fight yourself and take a hand with Donnegan" + +At this Lefty was silent. It was rather the silence of one which cannot +tell whether or not it is worth while to speak than it was the silence +of one who needs time for thought. + +"I'll tell you why, bo. It's because when I take a trail like that it +only has one end I'm going to bump off the other bird or he's going to +bump off me" + +The brakie cleared his throat + +"Look here," he said, "looks to me like a queer thing that you're on +this train" + +"Does it" queried Lefty softly "Why?" + +"Because Donnegan is two cars back, asleep." + +"The devil you say!" + +The brakie broke into laughter + +"Don't kid yourself along," he warned. "Don't do it. It ain't +wise--with me." + +"What you mean?" + +"Come on, Lefty. Come clean. You better do a fade off this train." + +"Why, you fool--" + +"It don't work, Joe. Why, the minute I seen you I knew why you was here. +I knew you meant to croak Donnegan." + +"Me croak him? Why should I croak him?" + +"Because you been trailing him two thousand miles. Because you ain't got +the nerve to meet him face to face and you got to sneak in and take a +crack at him while he's lying asleep. That's you, Lefty Joe!" + +He saw Lefty sway toward him; but, all stories aside, it is a very bold +tramp that cares for argument of a serious nature with a brakie. And +even Lefty Joe was deterred from violent action. In the darkness his +upper lip twitched, but he carefully smoothed his voice. + +"You don't know nothing, pal," he declared. + +"Don't I?" + +"Nothing," repeated Lefty. + +He reached into his clothes and produced something which rustled in the +rush of wind. He fumbled, and finally passed a scrap of the paper into +the hand of the brakie. + +"My heavens," drawled the latter. "D'you think you can fix me with a +buck for a job like this? You can't bribe me to stand around while you +bump off Donnegan. Can't be done, Lefty!" + +"One buck, did you say?" + +Lefty Joe expertly lighted a match in spite of the roaring wind, and by +this wild light the brakie read the denomination of the bill with a +gasp. He rolled up his face and was in time to catch the sneer on the +face of Lefty before a gust snatched away the light of the match. + +They had topped the highest point in Jericho Pass and now the long train +dropped into the down grade with terrific speed. The wind became a +hurricane. But to the brakie all this was no more than a calm night. His +thoughts were raging in him, and if he looked back far enough he +remembered the dollar which Donnegan had given him; and how he had +promised Donnegan to give the warning before anything went wrong. He +thought of this, but rustling against the palm of his right hand was +the bill whose denomination he had read, and that figure ate into his +memory, ate into his brain. + +After all what was Donnegan to him? What was Donnegan but a worthless +tramp? Without any answer to that last monosyllabic query, the brakie +hunched forward, and began to work his way up the train. + +The tramp watched him go with laughter. It was silent laughter. In the +most quiet room it would not have sounded louder than a continual, light +hissing noise. Then he, in turn, moved from his place, and worked his +way along the train in the opposite direction to that in which the +brakie had disappeared. + +He went expertly, swinging from car to car with apelike clumsiness--and +surety. Two cars back. It was not so easy to reach the sliding side door +of that empty car. Considering the fact that it was night, that the +train was bucking furiously over the old roadbed, Lefty had a not +altogether simple task before him. But he managed it with the same +apelike adroitness. He could climb with his feet as well as his hands. +He would trust a ledge as well as he would trust the rung of a ladder. + +Under his discreet manipulations from above the door loosened and it +became possible to work it back. But even this the tramp did with +considerable care. He took advantage of the lurching of the train, and +every time the car jerked he forced the door to roll a little, so that +it might seem for all the world as though the motion of the train alone +were operating it. + +For suppose that Donnegan wakened out of his sound sleep and observed +the motion of the door; he would be suspicious if the door opened in a +single continued motion; but if it worked in these degrees he would be +hypersuspicious if he dreamed of danger. So the tramp gave five whole +minutes to that work. + +When it was done he waited for a time, another five minutes, perhaps, to +see if the door would be moved back. And when it was not disturbed, but +allowed to stand open, he knew that Donnegan still slept. + +It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into +the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this +moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man +might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping +foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome +by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought +that he was about to rid himself of this pest. + +True, the gang was broken up. But it might rise again. Donnegan had +fallen upon it like a blight. But with Donnegan out of the way would not +Suds come back to him instantly? And would not Kennebec Lou himself +return in admiration of a man who had done what he, Kennebec, could not +do? With those two as a nucleus, how greatly might he not build! + +Justice must be done to Lefty Joe. He approached this murder as a +statesman approaches the removal of a foe from the path of public +prosperity. There was no more rancor in his attitude. It was rather the +blissful largeness of the heart that comes to the politician when he +unearths the scandal which will blight the race of his rival. + +With the peaceful smile of a child, therefore, Lefty Joe lay stretched +at full length along the top of the car and made his choice of weapons. +On the whole, his usual preference, day or night, was for a revolver. +Give him a gat and Lefty was at home in any company. But he had reasons +for transferring his alliance on this occasion. In the first place, a +box car which is reeling and pitching to and fro, from side to side, is +not a very good shooting platform--even for a snapshot like Lefty Joe. +Also, the pitch darkness in the car would be a further annoyance to good +aim. And in the third and most decisive place, if he were to miss his +first shot he would not be extremely apt to place his second bullet. For +Donnegan had a reputation with his own revolver. Indeed, it was said +that he rarely carried the weapon, because when he did he was always +tempted too strongly to use it. So that the chances were large that +Donnegan would not have the gun now. Yet if he did have it--if he, +Lefty, did miss his first shot--then the story would be brief and bitter +indeed. + +On the other hand, a knife offered advantages almost too numerous to be +listed. It gave one the deadly assurance which only comes with the +knowledge of an edge of steel in one's hand. And when the knife reaches +its mark it ends a battle at a stroke. + +Of course these doubts and considerations pro and con went through the +mind of the tramp in about the same space of time that it requires for a +dog to waken, snap at a fly, and drowse again. Eventually, he took out +his knife. It was a sheath knife which he wore from a noose of silk +around his throat, and it always lay closest to his heart. The blade of +the knife was of the finest Spanish steel, in the days when Spanish +smiths knew how to draw out steel to a streak of light; the handle of +the knife was from Milan. On the whole, it was a delicate and beautiful +weapon--and it had the durable suppleness of--say--hatred itself. + +Lefty Joe, like a pirate in a tale, took this weapon between his teeth; +allowed his squat, heavy bulk to swing down and dangle at arm's length +for an instant, and then he swung himself a little and landed softly on +the floor of the car. + +Who has not heard snow drop from the branch upon other snow beneath? +That was the way Lefty Joe dropped to the floor of the car. He remained +as he had fallen; crouched, alert, with one hand spread out on the +boards to balance him and give him a leverage and a start in case he +should wish to spring in any direction. + +Then he began to probe the darkness in every direction; with every +glance he allowed his head to dart out a little. The movement was like a +chicken pecking at imaginary grains of corn. But eventually he satisfied +himself that his quarry lay in the forward end of the car; that he was +prone; that he, Lefty, had accomplished nine-tenths of his purpose by +entering the place of his enemy unobserved. + + + + +3 + + +But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe +was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise. The +roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those +of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though +he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house. He could see a vague +shadow--Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of +direction which some people possess in a dim light. The blind, of +course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even +those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted +sense of direction. + +With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first +and most dangerous stage of his journey. That is, he got away from the +square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve +to silhouette his body. After this, it was easier work. + +Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been +transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress +forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not +yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon. Just as a prize fighter +keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears +to lose his intimate touch with them. + +This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds. Now Lefty Joe rose +slowly. He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll +of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left +hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for +the leap. He had already taken the last preliminary movement--he had +swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, +had thrown all his weight upon the right--in fact, his body was +literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the +shadow which was Donnegan came to life. + +The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a +stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some +eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe. + +It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under +those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have +frustrated Lefty's spring so completely. Instead of launching out in a +compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty +crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife +hand to save his balance. + +It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men. Animals +fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet. +They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even +while they are dropping through the air. But man needs poise and balance +before he can act. What is speed in a fighter? It is not so much an +affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself +instantly to each new move and put the body in a state of balance. In +the prize ring speed does not mean the ability to strike one lightning +blow, but rather that, having finished one drive, the fighter is in +position to hit again, and then again, so that no matter where the +impetus of his last lunge has placed him he is ready and poised to shoot +all his weight behind his fist again and drive it accurately at a +vulnerable spot. Individually the actions may be slow; but the series of +efforts seem rapid. That is why a superior boxer seems to hypnotize his +antagonist with movements which to the spectator seem perfectly easy, +slow, and sure. + +But if Lefty lacked much in agility, he had an animallike sense of +balance. Sprawling, helpless, he saw the convulsed shadow that was +Donnegan take form as a straight shooting body that plunged through the +air above him. Lefty Joe dug his left elbow into the floor of the car +and whirled back upon his shoulders, bunching his knees high over his +stomach. Nine chances out of ten, if Donnegan had fallen flatwise upon +this alert enemy, he would have received those knees in the pit of his +own stomach and instantly been paralyzed. But in the jumping, rattling +car even Donnegan was capable of making mistakes. His mistake in this +instance saved his life, for springing too far, he came down not in +reaching distance of Lefty's throat, but with his chest on the knees of +the older tramp. + +As a result, Donnegan was promptly kicked head over heels and tumbled +the length of the car. Lefty was on his feet and plunging after the +tumbling form in the twinkling of an eye, literally speaking, and he was +only kept from burying his knife in the flesh of his foe by a sway of +the car that staggered him in the act of striking. Donnegan, the next +instant, was beyond reach. He had struck the end of the car and +rebounded like a ball of rubber at a tangent. He slid into the shadows, +and Lefty, putting his own shoulders to the wall, felt for his revolver +and knew that he was lost. He had failed in his first surprise attack, +and without surprise to help him now he was gone. He weighed his +revolver, decided that it would be madness to use it, for if he missed, +Donnegan would instantly be guided by the flash to shoot him full of +holes. + +Something slipped by the open door--something that glimmered faintly; +and Lefty Joe knew that it was the red head of Donnegan. Donnegan, +soft-footed as a shadow among shadows. Donnegan on a blood trail. It +lowered the heartbeat of Lefty Joe to a tremendous, slow pulse. In that +moment he gave up hope and, resigning himself to die, determined to +fight to the last gasp, as became one of his reputation and national +celebrity on "the road." + +Yet Lefty Joe was no common man and no common fighter. No, let the shade +of Rusty Dick, whom Lefty met and beat in his glorious prime--let this +shade arise and speak for the prowess of Lefty Joe. In fact it was +because he was such a good fighter himself that he recognized his +helplessness in the hands of Donnegan. + +The faint glimmer of color had passed the door. It was dissolved in +deeper shadows at once, and soundlessly; Lefty knew that Donnegan was +closer and closer. + +Of one thing he felt more and more confident, that Donnegan did not have +his revolver with him. Otherwise, he would have used it before. For what +was darkness to this devil, Donnegan. He walked like a cat, and most +likely he could see like a cat in the dark. Instinctively the older +tramp braced himself with his right hand held at a guard before his +breast and the knife poised in his left, just as a man would prepare to +meet the attack of a panther. He even took to probing the darkness in a +strange hope to catch the glimmer of the eyes of Donnegan as he moved to +the attack. If there were a hair's breadth of light, then Donnegan +himself must go down. A single blow would do it. + +But the devil had instructed his favorite Donnegan how to fight. He did +not come lunging through the shadows to meet the point of that knife. +Instead, he had worked a snaky way along the floor and now he leaped in +and up at Lefty, taking him under the arms. + +A dozen hands, it seemed, laid hold on Lefty. He fought like a demon and +tore himself away, but the multitude of hands pursued him. They were +small hands. Where they closed they tore the clothes and bit into his +very flesh. Once a hand had him by the throat, and when Lefty jerked +himself away it was with a feeling that his flesh had been seared by +five points of red-hot iron. All this time his knife was darting; once +it ripped through cloth, but never once did it find the target. And half +a second later Donnegan got his hold. The flash of the knife as Lefty +raised it must have guided the other. He shot his right hand up behind +the left shoulder of the other and imprisoned the wrist. Not only did it +make the knife hand helpless, but by bearing down with his own weight +Donnegan could put his enemy in most exquisite torture. + +For an instant they whirled; then they went down, and Lefty was on top. +Only for a moment. The impetus which had sent him to the floor was used +by Donnegan to turn them over, and once fairly on top his left hand was +instantly at the throat of Lefty. + +Twice Lefty made enormous efforts, but then he was done. About his body +the limbs of Donnegan were twisted, tightening with incredible force; +just as hot iron bands sink resistlessly into place. The strangle-hold +cut away life at its source. Once he strove to bury his teeth in the arm +of Donnegan. Once, as the horror caught at him, he strove to shriek for +help. All he succeeded in doing was in raising an awful, sobbing +whisper. Then, looking death in the face, Lefty plunged into the great +darkness. + + + + +4 + + +When he wakened, he jumped at a stride into the full possession of his +faculties. He had been placed near the open door, and the rush of night +air had done its work in reviving him. But Lefty, drawn back to life, +felt only a vague wonder that his life had not been taken. Perhaps he +was being reserved by the victor for an Indian death of torment. He felt +cautiously and found that not only were his hands free, but his revolver +had not been taken from him. A familiar weight was on his chest--the +very knife had been returned to its sheath. + +Had Donnegan returned these things to show how perfectly he despised his +enemy? + +"He's gone!" groaned the tramp, sitting up quickly. + +"He's here," said a voice that cut easily through the roar of the train. +"Waiting for you, Lefty." + +The tramp was staggered again. But then, who had ever been able to +fathom the ways of Donnegan? + +"Donnegan!" he cried with a sudden recklessness. + +"Yes?" + +"You're a fool!" + +"Yes?" + +"For not finishing the job." + +Donnegan began to laugh. In the uproar of the train it was impossible +really to hear the sound, but Lefty caught the pulse of it. He fingered +his bruised throat; swallowing was a painful effort. And an +indescribable feeling came over him as he realized that he sat armed to +the teeth within a yard of the man he wanted to kill, and yet he was as +effectively rendered helpless as though iron shackles had been locked on +his wrists and legs. The night light came through the doorway, and he +could make out the slender outline of Donnegan and again he caught the +faint luster of that red hair; and out of the shadowy form a singular +power emanated and sapped his strength at the root. + +Yet he went on viciously: "Sooner or later, Donnegan, I'll get you!" + +The red head of Donnegan moved, and Lefty Joe knew that the younger man +was laughing again. + +"Why are you after me?" he asked at length. + +It was another blow in the face of Lefty. He sat for a time blinking +with owlish stupidity. + +"Why?" he echoed. And he spoke his astonishment from the heart. + +"Why am I after you?" he said again. "Why, confound you, ain't you +Donnegan?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't the whole road know that I'm after you and you after me?" + +"The whole road is crazy. I'm not after you." + +Lefty choked. + +"Maybe I been dreaming. Maybe you didn't bust up the gang? Maybe you +didn't clean up on Suds and Kennebec?" + +"Suds? Kennebec? I sort of remember meeting them." + +"You sort of--the devil!" Lefty Joe sputtered the words. "And after you +cleaned up my crowd, ain't it natural and good sense for you to go on +and try to clean up on me?" + +"Sounds like it." + +"But I figured to beat you to it. I cut in on your trail, Donnegan, and +before I leave it you'll know a lot more about me." + +"You're warning me ahead of time?" + +"You've played this game square with me; I'll play square with you. +Next time there'll be no slips, Donnegan. I dunno why you should of +picked on me, though. Just the natural devil in you." + +"I haven't picked on you," said Donnegan. + +"What?" + +"I'll give you my word." + +A tingle ran through the blood of Lefty Joe. Somewhere he had heard, in +rumor, that the word of Donnegan was as good as gold. He recalled that +rumor now and something of dignity in the manner with which Donnegan +made his announcement carried a heavy weight. As a rule, the tramps +vowed with many oaths; here was one of the nights of the road who made +his bare word sufficient. And Lefty Joe heard with great wonder. + +"All I ask," he said, "is why you hounded my gang, if you wasn't after +me?" + +"I didn't hound them. I ran into Suds by accident. We had trouble. Then +Levine. Then Kennebec Lou tried to take a fall out of me." + +A note of whimsical protest crept into the voice of Donnegan. + +"Somehow there's always a fight wherever I go," he said. "Fights just +sort of grow up around me." + +Lefty Joe snarled. + +"You didn't mean nothing by just 'happening' to run into three of my +boys one after another?" + +"Not a thing." + +Lefty rocked himself back and forth in an ecstasy of impatience. + +"Why don't you stay put?" he complained. "Why don't you stake out your +own ground and stay put in it? You cut in on every guy's territory. +There ain't any privacy any more since you hit the road. What you got? A +roving commission?" + +Donnegan waited for a moment before he answered. And when he spoke his +voice had altered. Indeed, he had remarkable ability to pitch his voice +into the roar of the freight train, and above or beneath it, and give it +a quality such as he pleased. + +"I'm following a trail, but not yours," he admitted at length. "I'm +following a trail. I've been at it these two years and nothing has +come of it." + +"Who you after?" + +"A man with red hair." + +"That tells me a lot." + +Donnegan refused to explain. + +"What you got against him--the color of his hair?" + +And Lefty roared contentedly at his own stale jest. + +"It's no good," replied Donnegan. "I'll never get on the trail." + +Lefty broke in: "You mean to say you've been working two solid years and +all on a trail that you ain't even found?" + +The silence answered him in the affirmative. + +"Ain't nobody been able to tip you off to him?" went on Lefty, intensely +interested. + +"Nobody. You see, he's a hard sort to describe. Red hair, that's all +there was about him for a clue. But if any one ever saw him stripped +they'd remember him by a big blotchy birthmark on his left shoulder." + +"Eh?" grunted Lefty Joe. + +He added: "What was his name?" + +"Don't know. He changed monikers when he took to the road." + +"What was he to you?" + +"A man I'm going to find." + +"No matter where the trail takes you?" + +"No matter where." + +At this Lefty was seized with unaccountable laughter. He literally +strained his lungs with that Homeric outburst. When he wiped the tears +from his eyes, at length, the shadow on the opposite side of the doorway +had disappeared. He found his companion leaning over him, and this time +he could catch the dull glint of starlight on both hair and eyes. + +"What d'you know?" asked Donnegan. + +"How do you stand toward this bird with the birthmark and the red hair?" +queried Lefty with caution. + +"What d'you know?" insisted Donnegan. + +All at once passion shook him; he fastened his grip in the shoulder of +the larger man, and his fingertips worked toward the bone. + +"What do you know?" he repeated for the third time, and now there was no +hint of laughter in the hard voice of Lefty. + +"You fool, if you follow that trail you'll go to the devil. It was +Rusty Dick; and he's dead!" + +His triumphant laughter came again, but Donnegan cut into it. + +"Rusty Dick was the one you--killed!" + +"Sure. What of it? We fought fair and square." + +"Then Rusty wasn't the man I want. The man I want would of eaten two +like you, Lefty." + +"What about the birthmark? It sure was on his shoulder; Donnegan." + +"Heavens!" whispered Donnegan. + +"What's the matter?" + +"Rusty Dick," gasped Donnegan. "Yes, it must have been he." + +"Sure it was. What did you have against him?" + +"It was a matter of blood--between us," stammered Donnegan. + +His voice rose in a peculiar manner, so that Lefty shrank involuntarily. + +"You killed Rusty?" + +"Ask any of the boys. But between you and me, it was the booze that +licked Rusty Dick. I just finished up the job and surprised everybody." + +The train was out of the mountains and in a country of scattering hills, +but here it struck a steep grade and settled down to a grind of slow +labor; the rails hummed, and suspense filled the freight car. + +"Hey," cried Lefty suddenly. "You fool, you'll do a flop out the door in +about a minute!" + +He even reached out to steady the toppling figure, but Donnegan pitched +straight out into the night. Lefty craned his neck from the door, +studying the roadbed, but at that moment the locomotive topped the +little rise and the whole train lurched forward. + +"After all," murmured Lefty Joe, "it sounds like Donnegan. Hated a guy +so bad that he hadn't any use for livin' when he heard the other guy was +dead. But I'm never goin' to cross his path again, I hope." + + + + +5 + + +But Donnegan had leaped clear of the roadbed, and he struck almost to +the knees in a drift of sand. Otherwise, he might well have broken his +legs with that foolhardy chance. As it was, the fall whirled him over +and over, and by the time he had picked himself up the lighted caboose +of the train was rocking past him. Donnegan watched it grow small in the +distance, and then, when it was only a red, uncertain star far down the +track, he turned to the vast country around him. + +The mountains were to his right, not far away, but caught up behind the +shadows so that it seemed a great distance. Like all huge, half-seen +things they seemed in motion toward him. For the rest, he was in bare, +rolling country. The sky line everywhere was clean; there was hardly a +sign of a tree. He knew, by a little reflection, that this must be +cattle country, for the brakie had intimated as much in their talk just +before dusk. Now it was early night, and a wind began to rise, blowing +down the valley with a keen motion and a rapidly lessening temperature, +so that Donnegan saw he must get to a shelter. He could, if necessary, +endure any privation, but his tastes were for luxurious comfort. +Accordingly he considered the landscape with gloomy disapproval. He was +almost inclined to regret his plunge from the lumbering freight train. +Two things had governed him in making that move. First, when he +discovered that the long trail he followed was definitely fruitless, he +was filled with a great desire to cut himself away from his past and +make a new start. Secondly, when he learned that Rusty Dick had been +killed by Joe, he wanted desperately to get the throttle of the latter +under his thumb. If ever a man risked his life to avoid a sin, it was +Donnegan jumping from the train to keep from murder. + +He stooped to sight along the ground, for this is the best way at night +and often horizon lights are revealed in this manner. But now Donnegan +saw nothing to serve as a guide. He therefore drew in his belt until it +fitted snug about his gaunt waist, settled his cap firmly, and headed +straight into the wind. + +Nothing could have shown his character more distinctly. + +When in doubt, head into the wind. + +With a jaunty, swinging step he sauntered along, and this time, at +least, his tactics found an early reward. Topping the first large rise +of ground, he saw in the hollow beneath him the outline of a large +building. And as he approached it, the wind clearing a high blowing mist +from the stars, he saw a jumble of outlying houses. Sheds, barns, +corrals--it was the nucleus of a big ranch. It is a maxim that, if you +wish to know a man look at his library and if you wish to know a +rancher, look at his barn. Donnegan made a small detour to the left and +headed for the largest of the barns. + +He entered it by the big, sliding door, which stood open; he looked up, +and saw the stars shining through a gap in the roof. And then he stood +quietly for a time, listening to the voices of the wind in the ruin. +Oddly enough, it was pleasant to Donnegan. His own troubles and sorrow +had poured upon him so thickly in the past hour or so that it was +soothing to find evidence of the distress of others. But perhaps this +meant that the entire establishment was deserted. + +He left the barn and went toward the house. Not until he was close under +its wall did he come to appreciate its size. It was one of those great, +rambling, two-storied structures which the cattle kings of the past +generation were fond of building. Standing close to it, he heard none of +the intimate sounds of the storm blowing through cracks and broken +walls; no matter into what disrepair the barns had fallen, the house was +still solid; only about the edges of the building the storm kept +murmuring. + +Yet there was not a light, neither above nor below. He came to the front +of the house. Still no sign of life. He stood at the door and knocked +loudly upon it, and though, when he tried the knob, he found that the +door was latched, yet no one came in response. He knocked again, and +putting his ear close he heard the echoes walk through the interior of +the building. + +After this, the wind rose in sudden strength and deafened him with +rattlings; above him, a shutter was swung open and then crashed to, so +that the opening of the door was a shock of surprise to Donnegan. A dim +light from a source which he could not direct suffused the interior of +the hall; the door itself was worked open a matter of inches and +Donnegan was aware of two keen old eyes glittering out at him. Beyond +this he could distinguish nothing. + +"Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "And what do you want?" + +"I'm a stranger, and I want something to eat and a place to sleep. This +house looks as if it might have spare rooms." + +"Where d'you come from?" + +"Yonder," said Donnegan, with a sufficiently noncommittal gesture. + +"What's your name?" + +"Donnegan." + +"I don't know you. Be off with you, Mr. Donnegan!" + +He inserted his foot in the closing crack of the door. + +"Tell me where I'm to go?" he persisted. + +At this her voice rose in pitch, with squeaky rage. + +"I'll raise the house on you!" + +"Raise 'em. Call down the man of the house. I can talk to him better +than I can to you; but I won't walk off like this. If you can feed me, +I'll pay you for what I eat." + +A shrill cackling--he could not make out the words. And since patience +was not the first of Donnegan's virtues, he seized on the knob of the +door and deliberately pressed it wide. Standing in the hall, now, and +closing the door slowly behind him, he saw a woman with old, keen eyes +shrinking away toward the staircase. She was evidently in great fear, +but there was something infinitely malicious in the manner in which she +kept working her lips soundlessly. She was shrinking, and half turned +away, yet there was a suggestion that in an instant she might whirl and +fly at his face. The door now clicked, and with the windstorm shut away +Donnegan had a queer feeling of being trapped. + +"Now call the man of the house," he repeated. "See if I can't come to +terms with him." + +"He'd make short work of you if he came," she replied. She broke into a +shrill laughter, and Donnegan thought he had never seen a face so ugly. +"If he came," she said, "you'd rue the day." + +"Well, I'll talk to you, then. I'm not asking charity. I want to pay for +what I get." + +"This ain't a hotel. You go on down the road. Inside eight miles you'll +come to the town." + +"Eight miles!" + +"That's nothing for a man to ride." + +"Not at all, if I had something to ride." + +"You ain't got a horse?" + +"No." + +"Then how do you come here?" + +"I walked." + +If this sharpened her suspicions, it sharpened her fear also. She put +one foot on the lowest step of the stairs. + +"Be off with you, Mr. Donnegally, or whatever your outlandish name is. +You'll get nothing here. What brings you--" + +A door closed and a footstep sounded lightly on the floor above. And +Donnegan, already alert in the strange atmosphere of this house, gave +back a pace so as to get an honest wall behind him. He noted that the +step was quick and small, and preparing himself to meet a wisp of +manhood--which, for that matter, was the type he was most inclined to +fear--Donnegan kept a corner glance upon the old woman at the foot of +the stairs and steadily surveyed the shadows at the head of the rise. + +Out of that darkness a foot slipped; not even a boy's foot--a very +child's. The shock of it made Donnegan relax his caution for an instant, +and in that instant she came into the reach of the light. It was a +wretched light at best, for it came from a lamp with smoky chimney +which the old hag carried, and at the raising and lowering of her hand +the flame jumped and died in the throat of the chimney and set the hall +awash with shadows. Falling away to a point of yellow, the lamp allowed +the hall to assume a certain indefinite dignity of height and breadth +and calm proportions; but when the flame rose Donnegan could see the +broken balusters of the balustrade, the carpet, faded past any design +and worn to rattiness, wall paper which had rotted or dried away and +hung in crisp tatters here and there, and on the ceiling an irregular +patch from which the plaster had fallen and exposed the lathwork. But at +the coming of the girl the old woman had turned, and as she did the +flame tossed up in the lamp and Donnegan could see the newcomer +distinctly. + +Once before his heart had risen as it rose now. It had been the fag end +of a long party, and Donnegan, rousing from a drunken sleep, staggered +to the window. Leaning there to get the freshness of the night air +against his hot face, he had looked up, and saw the white face of the +moon going up the sky; and a sudden sense of the blackness and loathing +against the city had come upon Donnegan, and the murky color of his own +life; and when he turned away from the window he was sober. And so it +was that he now stared up at the girl. At her breast she held a cloak +together with one hand and the other hand touched the railing of the +stairs. He saw one foot suspended for the next step, as though the sight +of him kept her back in fear. To the miserable soul of Donnegan she +seemed all that was lovely, young, and pure; and her hair, old gold in +the shadow and pale gold where the lamp struck it, was to Donnegan like +a miraculous light about her face. + +Indeed, that little pause was a great and awful moment. For considering +that Donnegan, who had gone through his whole life with his eyes ready +either to mock or hate, and who had rarely used his hand except to make +a fist of it; Donnegan who had never, so far as is known, had a +companion; who had asked the world for action, not kindness; this +Donnegan now stood straight with his back against the wall, and poured +out the story of his wayward life to a mere slip of a girl. + + + + +6 + + +Even the old woman, whose eyes were sharpened by her habit of looking +constantly for the weaknesses and vices of men, could not guess what was +going on behind the thin, rather ugly face of Donnegan; the girl, +perhaps, may have seen more. For she caught the glitter of his active +eyes even at that distance. The hag began to explain with vicious +gestures that set the light flaring up and down. + +"He ain't come from nowhere, Lou," she said. "He ain't going nowhere; he +wants to stay here for the night." + +The foot which had been suspended to take the next step was now +withdrawn. Donnegan, remembered at last, whipped off his cap, and at +once the light flared and burned upon his hair. It was a wonderful red; +it shone, and it had a terrible blood tinge so that his face seemed pale +beneath it. There were three things that made up the peculiar dominance +of Donnegan's countenance. The three things were the hair, the uneasy, +bright eyes, and the rather thin, compressed lips. When Donnegan slept +he seemed about to waken from a vigorous dream; when he sat down he +seemed about to leap to his feet; and when he was standing he gave that +impression of a poise which is ready for anything. It was no wonder that +the girl, seeing that face and that alert, aggressive body, shrank a +little on the stairs. Donnegan, that instant, knew that these two women +were really alone in the house as far as fighting men were concerned. + +And the fact disturbed him more than a leveled gun would have done. He +went to the foot of the stairs, even past the old woman, and, raising +his head, he spoke to the girl. + +"My name's Donnegan. I came over from the railroad--walked. I don't want +to walk that other eight miles unless there's a real need for it. I--" +Why did he pause? "I'll pay for anything I get here." + +His voice was not too certain; behind his teeth there was knocking a +desire to cry out to her the truth. "I am Donnegan. Donnegan the tramp. +Donnegan the shiftless. Donnegan the fighter. Donnegan the killer. +Donnegan the penniless, worthless. But for heaven's sake let me stay +until morning and let me look at you--from a distance!" + +But, after all, perhaps he did not need to say all these things. His +clothes were rags, upon his face there was a stubble of unshaven red, +which made the pallor about his eyes more pronounced. If the girl had +been half blind she must have felt that here was a man of fire. He saw +her gather the wrap a little closer about her shoulders, and that sign +of fear made him sick at heart. + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the girl. "I am sorry. We cannot take you into the +house. Eight miles--" + +Did she expect to turn a sinner from the gates of heaven with a mere +phrase? He cast out his hand, and she winced as though he had shaken his +fist at her. + +"Are you afraid?" cried Donnegan. + +"I don't control the house." + +He paused, not that her reply had baffled him, but the mere pleasure of +hearing her speak accounted for it. It was one of those low, light +voices which are apt to have very little range or volume, and which +break and tremble absurdly under any stress of emotion; and often they +become shrill in a higher register; but inside conversational limits, if +such a term may be used, there is no fiber so delightful, so purely +musical. Suppose the word "velvet" applied to a sound. That voice came +soothingly and delightfully upon the ear of Donnegan, from which the +roar and rattle of the empty freight train had not quite departed. He +smiled at her. + +"But," he protested, "this is west of the Rockies--and I don't see any +other way out." + +The girl, all this time, was studying him intently, a little sadly, he +thought. Now she shook her head, but there was more warmth in her voice. + +"I'm sorry. I can't ask you to stay without first consulting my father." + +"Go ahead. Ask him." + +She raised her hand a little; the thought seemed to bring her to the +verge of trembling, as though he were asking a sacrilege. + +"Why not?" he urged. + +She did not answer, but, instead, her eyes sought the old, woman, as if +to gain her interposition; she burst instantly into speech. + +"Which there's no good talking any more," declared the ancient vixen. +"Are you wanting to make trouble for her with the colonel? Be off, young +man. It ain't the first time I've told you you'd get nowhere in this +house!" + +There was no possible answer left to Donnegan, and he did as usual the +surprising thing. He broke into laughter of such clear and ringing +tone--such infectious laughter--that the old woman blinked in the midst +of her wrath as though she were seeing a new man, and he saw the lips of +the girl parted in wonder. + +"My father is an invalid," said the girl. "And he lives by strict rules. +I could not break in on him at this time of the evening." + +"If that's all"--Donnegan actually began to mount the steps--"I'll go in +and talk to your father myself." + +She had retired one pace as he began advancing, but as the import of +what he said became clear to her she was rooted to one position by +astonishment. + +"Colonel Macon--my father--" she began. Then: "Do you really wish to see +him?" + +The hushed voice made Donnegan smile--it was such a voice as one boy +uses when he asks the other if he really dares enter the pasture of the +red bull. He chuckled again, and this time she smiled, and her eyes were +widened, partly by fear of his purpose and partly from his nearness. +They seemed to be suddenly closer together. As though they were on one +side against a common enemy, and that enemy was her father. The old +woman was cackling sharply from the bottom of the stairs, and then +bobbing in pursuit and calling on Donnegan to come back. At length the +girl raised her hand and silenced her with a gesture. + +Donnegan was now hardly a pace away; and he saw that she lived up to all +the promise of that first glance. Yet still she seemed unreal. There is +a quality of the unearthly about a girl's beauty; it is, after all, only +a gay moment between the formlessness of childhood and the hardness of +middle age. This girl was pale, Donnegan saw, and yet she had color. She +had the luster, say, of a white rose, and the same bloom. Lou, the old +woman had called her, and Macon was her father's name. Lou Macon--the +name fitted her, Donnegan thought. For that matter, if her name had been +Sally Smith, Donnegan would probably have thought it beautiful. The +keener a man's mind is and the more he knows about men and women and the +ways of the world, the more apt he is to be intoxicated by a touch of +grace and thoughtfulness; and all these age-long seconds the perfume of +girlhood had been striking up to Donnegan's brain. + +She brushed her timidity away and with the same gesture accepted +Donnegan as something more than a dangerous vagrant. She took the lamp +from the hands of the crone and sent her about her business, +disregarding the mutterings and the warnings which trailed behind the +departing form. Now she faced Donnegan, screening the light from her +eyes with a cupped hand and by the same device focusing it upon the face +of Donnegan. He mutely noted the small maneuver and gave her credit; but +for the pleasure of seeing the white of her fingers and the way they +tapered to a pink transparency at the tips, he forgot the poor figure he +must make with his soiled, ragged shirt, his unshaven face, his gaunt +cheeks. + +Indeed, he looked so straight at her that in spite of her advantage with +the light she had to avoid his glance. + +"I am sorry," said Lou Macon, "and ashamed because we can't take you in. +The only house on the range where you wouldn't be welcome, I know. But +my father leads a very close life; he has set ways. The ways of an +invalid, Mr. Donnegan." + +"And you're bothered about speaking to him of me?" + +"I'm almost afraid of letting you go in yourself." + +"Let me take the risk." + +She considered him again for a moment, and then turned with a nod and he +followed her up the stairs into the upper hall. The moment they stepped +into it he heard her clothes flutter and a small gale poured on them. It +was criminal to allow such a building to fall into this ruinous +condition. And a gloomy picture rose in Donnegan's mind of the invalid, +thin-faced, sallow-eyed, white-haired, lying in his bed listening to the +storm and silently gathering bitterness out of the pain of living. Lou +Macon paused again in the hall, close to a door on the right. + +"I'm going to send you in to speak to my father," she said gravely. +"First I have to tell you that he's different." + +Donnegan replied by looking straight at her, and this time she did not +wince from the glance. Indeed, she seemed to be probing him, searching +with a peculiar hope. What could she expect to find in him? What that +was useful to her? Not once in all his life had such a sense of +impotence descended upon Donnegan. Her father? Bah! Invalid or no +invalid he would handle that fellow, and if the old man had an acrid +temper, Donnegan at will could file his own speech to a point. But the +girl! In the meager hand which held the lamp there was a power which all +the muscles of Donnegan could not compass; and in his weakness he looked +wistfully at her. + +"I hope your talk will be pleasant. I hope so." She laid her hand on the +knob of the door and withdrew it hastily; then, summoning great +resolution, she opened the door and showed Donnegan in. + +"Father," she said, "this is Mr. Donnegan. He wishes to speak to you." + +The door closed behind Donnegan, and hearing that whishing sound which +the door of a heavy safe will make, he looked down at this, and saw that +it was actually inches thick! Once more the sense of being in a trap +descended upon him. + + + + +7 + + +He found himself in a large room which, before he could examine a single +feature of it, was effectively curtained from his sight. Straight into +his face shot a current of violent white light that made him blink. +There was the natural recoil, but in Donnegan recoils were generally +protected by several strata of willpower and seldom showed in any +physical action. On the present occasion his first dismay was swiftly +overwhelmed by a cold anger at the insulting trick. This was not the +trick of a helpless invalid; Donnegan could not see a single thing +before him, but he obeyed a very deep instinct and advanced straight +into the current of light. + +He was glad to see the light switched away. The comparative darkness +washed across his eyes in a pleasant wave and he was now able to +distinguish a few things in the room. It was, as he had first surmised, +quite large. The ceiling was high; the proportions comfortably spacious; +but what astounded Donnegan was the real elegance of the furnishings. +There was no mistaking the deep, silken texture of the rug upon which he +stepped; the glow of light barely reached the wall, and there showed +faintly in streaks along yellowish hangings. Beside a table which +supported a big reading lamp--gasoline, no doubt, from the intensity of +its light--sat Colonel Macon with a large volume spread across his +knees. Donnegan saw two highlights--fine silver hair that covered the +head of the invalid and a pair of white hands fallen idly upon the +surface of the big book, for if the silver hair suggested age the +smoothly finished hands suggested perennial youth. They were strong, +carefully tended, complacent hands. They suggested to Donnegan a man +sufficient unto himself. + +"Mr. Donnegan, I am sorry that I cannot rise to receive you. Now, what +pleasant accident has brought me the favor of this call?" + +Donnegan was taken aback again, and this time more strongly than by the +flare of light against his eyes. For in the voice he recognized the +quality of the girl--the same softness, the same velvety richness, +though the pitch was a bass. In the voice of this man there was the same +suggestion that the tone would crack if it were forced either up or +down. With this great difference, one could hardly conceive of a +situation which would push that man's voice beyond its monotone. It +flowed with deadly, all-embracing softness. It clung about one; it +fascinated and baffled the mind of the listener. + +But Donnegan was not in the habit of being baffled by voices. Neither +was he a lover of formality. He looked about for a place to sit down, +and immediately discovered that while the invalid sat in an enormous +easy-chair bordered by shelves and supplied with wheels for raising and +lowering the back and for propelling the chair about the room on its +rubber tires, it was the only chair in the room which could make any +pretensions toward comfort. As a matter of fact, aside from this one +immense chair, devoted to the pleasure of the invalid, there was nothing +in the room for his visitors to sit upon except two or three miserable +backless stools. + +But Donnegan was not long taken aback. He tucked his cap under his arm, +bowed profoundly in honor of the colonel's compliments, and brought one +of the stools to a place where it was no nearer the rather ominous +circle of the lamplight than was the invalid himself. With his eyes +accustomed to the new light, Donnegan could now take better stock of his +host. He saw a rather handsome face, with eyes exceedingly blue, young, +and active; but the features of Macon as well as his body were blurred +and obscured by a great fatness. He was truly a prodigious man, and one +could understand the stoutness with which the invalid chair was made. +His great wrist dimpled like the wrist of a healthy baby, and his face +was so enlarged with superfluous flesh that the lower part of it quite +dwarfed the upper. He seemed, at first glance, a man with a low forehead +and bright, careless eyes and a body made immobile by flesh and +sickness. A man whose spirits despised and defied pain. Yet a second +glance showed that the forehead was, after all, a nobly proportioned +one, and for all the bulk of that figure, for all the cripple-chair, +Donnegan would not have been surprised to see the bulk spring lightly +out of the chair to meet him. + +For his own part, sitting back on the stool with his cap tucked under +his arm and his hands folded about one knee, he met the faint, cold +smile of the colonel with a broad grin of his own. + +"I can put it in a nutshell," said Donnegan. "I was tired; dead beat; +needed a handout, and rapped at your door. Along comes a mystery in the +shape of an ugly-looking woman and opens the door to me. Tries to shut +me out; I decided to come in. She insists on keeping me outside; all at +once I see that I have to get into the house. I am brought in; your +daughter tries to steer me off, sees that the job is more than she can +get away with, and shelves me off upon you. And that, Colonel Macon, is +the pleasant accident which brings you the favor of this call." + +It would have been a speech both stupid and pert in the mouth of +another; but Donnegan knew how to flavor words with a touch of mockery +of himself as well as another. There were two manners in which this +speech could have been received--with a wink or with a smile. But it +would have been impossible to hear it and grow frigid. As for the +colonel, he smiled. + +It was a tricky smile, however, as Donnegan felt. It spread easily upon +that vast face and again went out and left all to the dominion of the +cold, bright eyes. + +"A case of curiosity," commented the colonel. + +"A case of hunger," said Donnegan. + +"My dear Mr. Donnegan, put it that way if you wish!" + +"And a case of blankets needed for one night." + +"Really? Have you ventured into such a country as this without any +equipment?" + +"Outside of my purse, my equipment is of the invisible kind." + +"Wits," suggested the colonel. + +"Thank you." + +"Not at all. You hinted at it yourself." + +"However, a hint is harder to take than to make." + +The colonel raised his faultless right hand--and oddly enough his great +corpulence did not extend in the slightest degree to his hand, but +stopped short at the wrists--and stroked his immense chin. His skin was +like Lou Macon's, except that in place of the white-flower bloom his was +a parchment, dead pallor. He lowered his hand with the same slow +precision and folded it with the other, all the time probing Donnegan +with his difficult eyes. + +"Unfortunately--most unfortunately, it is impossible for me to +accommodate you, Mr. Donnegan." + +The reply was not flippant, but quick. "Not at all. I am the easiest +person in the world to accommodate." + +The big man smiled sadly. + +"My fortune has fallen upon evil days, sir. It is no longer what it was. +There are in this house three habitable rooms; this one; my daughter's +apartment; the kitchen where old Haggie sleeps. Otherwise you are in a +rat trap of a place." + +He shook his head, a slow, decisive motion. + +"A spare blanket," said Donnegan, "will be enough." + +There was another sigh and another shake of the head. + +"Even a corner of a rug to roll up in will do perfectly." + +"You see, it is impossible for me to entertain you." + +"Bare boards will do well enough for me, Colonel Macon. And if I have a +piece of bread, a plate of cold beans--anything--I can entertain +myself." + +"I am sorry to see you so compliant, Mr. Donnegan, because that makes my +refusal seem the more unkind. But I cannot have you sleeping on the bare +floor. Not on such a night. Pneumonia comes on one like a cat in the +dark in such weather. It is really impossible to keep you here, sir." + +"H'm-m," said Donnegan. He began to feel that he was stumped, and it was +a most unusual feeling for him. + +"Besides, for a young fellow like you, with your agility, what is eight +miles? Walk down the road and you will come to a place where you will be +made at home and fed like a king." + +"Eight miles, that's not much! But on such a night as this?" + +There was a faint glint in the eyes of the colonel; was he not +sharpening his wits for his contest of words, and enjoying it? + +"The wind will be at your back and buoy your steps. It will shorten the +eight miles to four." + +Very definitely Donnegan felt that the other was reading him. What was +it that he saw as he turned the pages? + +"There is one thing you fail to take into your accounting." + +"Ah?" + +"I have an irresistible aversion to walking." + +"Ah?" repeated Macon. + +"Or exercise in any form." + +"Then you are unfortunate to be in this country without a horse." + +"Unfortunate, perhaps, but the fact is that I'm here. Very sorry to +trouble you, though, colonel." + +"I am rarely troubled," said the colonel coldly. "And since I have no +means of accommodation, the laws of hospitality rest light on my +shoulders." + +"Yet I have an odd thought," replied Donnegan. + +"Well? You have expressed a number already, it seems to me." + +"It's this: that you've already made up your mind to keep me here." + + + + +8 + + +The colonel stiffened in his chair, and under his bulk even those +ponderous timbers quaked a little. Once more Donnegan gained an +impression of chained activity ready to rise to any emergency. The +colonel's jaw set and the last vestige of the smile left his eyes. Yet +it was not anger that showed in its place. Instead, it was rather a +hungry searching. He looked keenly into the face and the soul of +Donnegan as a searchlight sweeps over waters by night. + +"You are a mind reader, Mr. Donnegan." + +"No more of a mind reader than a Chinaman is." + +"Ah, they are great readers of mind, my friend." + +Donnegan grinned, and at this the colonel frowned. + +"A great and mysterious people, sir. I keep evidences of them always +about me. Look!" + +He swept the shaft of the reading light up and it fell upon a red vase +against the yellow hangings. Even Donnegan's inexperienced eye read a +price into that shimmering vase. + +"Queer color," he said. + +"Dusty claret. Ah, they have the only names for their colors. Think! +Peach bloom--liquid dawn--ripe cherry--oil green--green of powdered +tea--blue of the sky after rain--what names for color! What other land +possesses such a tongue that goes straight to the heart!" + +The colonel waved his faultless hands and then dropped them back upon +the book with the tenderness of a benediction. + +"And their terms for texture--pear's rind--lime peel--millet seed! Do +not scoff at China, Mr. Donnegan. She is the fairy godmother, and we are +the poor children." + +He changed the direction of the light; Donnegan watched him, fascinated. + +"But what convinced you that I wished to keep you here?" + +"To amuse you, Colonel Macon." + +The colonel exposed gleaming white teeth and laughed in that soft, +smooth-flowing voice. + +"Amuse me? For fifteen years I have sat in this room and amused myself +by taking in what I would and shutting out the rest of the world. I have +made the walls thick and padded them to keep out all sound. You observe +that there is no evidence here of the storm that is going on tonight. +Amuse me? Indeed!" + +And Donnegan thought of Lou Macon in her old, drab dress, huddling the +poor cloak around her shoulders to keep out the cold, while her father +lounged here in luxury. He could gladly have buried his lean fingers in +that fat throat. From the first he had had an aversion to this man. + +"Very well, I shall go. It has been a pleasant chat, colonel." + +"Very pleasant. And thank you. But before you go, taste this whisky. It +will help you when you enter the wind." + +He opened a cabinet in the side of the chair and brought out a black +bottle and a pair of glasses and put them on the broad arm of the chair. +Donnegan sauntered back. + +"You see," he murmured, "you will not let me go." + +At this the colonel raised his head suddenly and glared into the eyes of +his guest, and yet so perfect was his muscular and nerve control that he +did not interrupt the thin stream of amber which trickled into one of +the glasses. Looking down again, he finished pouring the drinks. They +pledged each other with a motion, and drank. It was very old, very oily. +And Donnegan smiled as he put down the empty glass. + +"Sit down," said the colonel in a new voice. + +Donnegan obeyed. + +"Fate," went on the colonel, "rules our lives. We give our honest +endeavors, but the deciding touch is the hand of Fate." + +He garnished this absurd truism with a wave of his hand so solemn that +Donnegan was chilled; as though the fat man were actually conversant +with the Three Sisters. + +"Fate has brought you to me; therefore, I intend to keep you." + +"Here?" + +"In my service. I am about to place a great mission and a great trust in +your hands." + +"In the hands of a man you know nothing about?" + +"I know you as if I had raised you." + +Donnegan smiled, and shaking his head, the red hair flashed and +shimmered. + +"As long as there is no work attached to the mission, it may be +agreeable to me." + +"But there is work." + +"Then the contract is broken before it is made." + +"You are rash. But I had rather begin with a dissent and then work +upward." + +Donnegan waited. + +"To balance against work--" + +"Excuse me. Nothing balances against work for me." + +"To balance against work," continued the colonel, raising a white hand +and by that gesture crushing the protest of Donnegan, "there is a great +reward." + +"Colonel Macon, I have never worked for money before and I shall not +work for it now." + +"You trouble me with interruptions. Who mentioned money? You shall not +have a penny!" + +"No?" + +"The reward shall grow out of the work." + +"And the work?" + +"Is fighting." + +At this Donnegan narrowed his eyes and searched the fat man thoroughly. +It sounded like the talk of a charlatan, and yet there was a crispness +to these sentences that made him suspect something underneath. For that +matter, in certain districts his name and his career were known. He had +never dreamed that that reputation could have come within a thousand +miles of this part of the mountain desert. + +"You should have told me in the first place," he said with some anger, +"that you knew me." + +"Mr. Donnegan, upon my honor, I never heard your name before my daughter +uttered it." + +Donnegan waited soberly. + +"I despise charlatanry as much as the next man. You shall see the steps +by which I judged you. When you entered the room I threw a strong light +upon you. You did not blanch; you immediately walked straight into the +shaft of light although you could not see a foot before you." + +"And that proved?" + +"A combative instinct, and coolness; not the sort of brute +vindictiveness that fights for a rage, for a cool-minded love of +conflict. Is that clear?" + +Donnegan shrugged his shoulders. + +"And above all, I need a fighter. Then I watched your eyes and your +hands. The first were direct and yet they were alert. And your hands +were perfectly steady." + +"Qualifications for a fighter, eh?" + +"Do you wish further proof?" + +"Well?" + +"What of the fight to the death which you went through this same night?" + +Donnegan started. It was a small movement, that flinching, and he +covered it by continuing the upward gesture of his hand to his coat; he +drew out tobacco and cigarette papers and commenced to roll his smoke. +Looking up, he saw that the eyes of Colonel Macon were smiling, although +his face was grave. + +A glint of understanding passed between the two men, but not a spoken +word. + +"I assure you, there was no death tonight," said Donnegan at length. + +"Tush! Of course not! But the tear on the shoulder of your coat--ah, +that is too smooth edged for a tear, too long for the bite of a +scissors. Am I right? Tush! Not a word!" + +The colonel beamed with an almost tender pride, and Donnegan, knowing +that the fat man looked upon him as a murderer, newly come from a +death, considered the beaming face and thought many things in silence. + +"So it was easy to see that in coolness, courage, fighting instinct, +skill, you were probably what I want. Yet something more than all these +qualifications is necessary for the task which lies ahead of you." + +"You pile up the bad features, eh?" + +"To entice you, Donnegan. For one man, paint a rosy beginning, and once +under way he will manage the hard parts. For you, show you the hard +shell and you will trust it contains the choice flesh. I was saying, +that I waited to see other qualities in you; qualities of the judgment. +And suddenly you flashed upon me a single glance; I felt it clash +against my willpower. I felt your look go past my guard like a rapier +slipping around my blade. I, Colonel Macon, was for the first time +outfaced, out-maneuvered. I admit it, for I rejoice in meeting such a +man. And the next instant you told me that I should keep you here out of +my own wish! Admirable!" + +The admiration of the colonel, indeed, almost overwhelmed Donnegan, but +he saw that in spite of the genial smile, the face suffused with warmth, +the colonel was watching him every instant, flinty-eyed. Donnegan did as +he had done on the stairs; he burst into laughter. + +When he had done, the colonel was leaning forward in his chair with his +fingers interlacing, examining his guest from beneath somber brows. As +he sat lurched forward he gave a terrible impression of that reserved +energy which Donnegan had sensed before. + +"Donnegan," said the colonel, "I shall talk no more nonsense to you. You +are a terrible fellow!" + +And Donnegan knew that, for the first time in the colonel's life, he was +meeting another man upon equal ground. + + + + +9 + + +In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him: +that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absolute +evil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face of +Macon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would have +left the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou. + +"I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at once +Donnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense. + +"Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. A +waste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the first +man who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snapped +them on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last. + +"So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you. +Donnegan, we have met each other just in time." + +"True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot of +fighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night." + +"Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action in +which you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and in +the battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sad +past which lies behind you." + +Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; and +he stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and, +his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a panther +enduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape. + +"You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon his +stool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast, +and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyes +dull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from the +perspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossible +ten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallen +upon him. + +All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction. +Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well. + +"I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as the +voice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than I +wished to say." + +Donnegan brushed the apology aside. + +His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I am +eager to learn from you, colonel." + +"Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interests +in this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised you +before, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into small +details. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all men +of mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heart +of it is perfectly clear to them." + +He settled into his narrative. + +"You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a few +weeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddy +and Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand, +and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from the +headwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meets +the other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sands +are rich--very rich!" + +He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to cover +his emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor beside +him and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word. + +"Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was brought +to my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them. +But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom should +I select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozen +years ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortune +was then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I could +have shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and--" + +Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing that +this hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest, +he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the need +for a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able to +take care of himself." + +At this Donnegan pricked his ears. + +"He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filed +them as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It panned +out in nuggets." + +He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingers +Donnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring. + +"But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone. +This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as a +scoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimed +that he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claim +that I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump the +claims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lester +down. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded. + +"In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was a +village; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner had +become the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint. +He sent me back a mere souvenir." + +The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow and +with a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly, +so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. But +his hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. He +found in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces, +and he flicked it back to the colonel. + +"He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I have +waited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that Jack +Landis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirable +woman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which I +had sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind is +hardened against adversity. + +"Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engaged +to marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in his +disaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. The +scoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!" + +Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?" + +The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more +safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the +distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the +colonel read something that set him beaming. + +"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with +his selfishness." + +"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan. + +The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he +believed that things were getting on very well. + +"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the +wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He +belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows +very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and +handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions. +They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the +cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool +fighters--the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters--all celebrated names in +the cattle country. + +"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and +partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and +even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within +the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first +establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else; +if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is the +aggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devil +knows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists the +hearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is the +leader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members. +He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had his +followers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, and +made Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the mines +to the gang--of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At the +same time, Lord Nick attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adopted +father, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolen +the claims from this wretched Lester!" + +He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hateful +softness. + +"The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines. +Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives him +absolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably will +continue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it on +this woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comes +through to me!" + +Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon a +great distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins of +Donnegan. + +"Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove with +Lord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so that +nine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back through +the hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. He +struts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and with +the power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gambling +houses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come to +consider himself a great man. Is it clear?" + +Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance. + +"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must +be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be +brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress +and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long +Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully +their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him +from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp--send +Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby +prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!" + +At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see. + +"Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling +spirit; you are willing to take great chances!" + +"So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should +never send her except with an adequate protector." + +"An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the +camp as you have already admitted?" + +"An adequate protector--you are the man!" + +Donnegan shivered. + +"I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun +to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?" + +"It is." + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, +white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety. + +"She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing. + +"A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they +were children." + +"Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are +not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs." + +The colonel writhed in his chair. + +"But Lou--you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked +closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not +suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't +written for weeks." + +He saw Donnegan wince under the whip. + +"It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven +knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with +the sight of Lou?" + +The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would +undertake the journey. + +"In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you +astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away +from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In +that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you +also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis--namely, myself. And +in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure--oh, be sure that I should not +forget who brought the mines into my hands!" + + + + +10 + + +Fifty miles over any sort of going is a stiff march. Fifty miles uphill +and down and mostly over districts where there was only a rough cow path +in lieu of a road made a prodigious day's work; and certainly it was an +almost incredible feat for one who professed to hate work with a +consuming passion and who had looked upon an eight-mile jaunt the night +before as an insuperable burden. Yet such was the distance which +Donnegan had covered, and now he drove the pack mule out on the shoulder +of the hill in full view of The Corner with the triangle of the Young +Muddy and Christobel Rivers embracing the little town. Even the gaunt, +leggy mule was tired to the dropping point, and the tough buckskin which +trailed up behind went with downward head. When Louise Macon turned to +him, he had reached the point where he swung his head around first and +then grudgingly followed the movement with his body. The girl was tired, +also, in spite of the fact that she had covered every inch of the +distance in the saddle. There was that violet shade of weariness under +her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward. Only Donnegan, the hater of +labor, was fresh. + +They had started in the first dusk of the coming day; it was now the +yellow time of the slant afternoon sunlight; between these two points +there had been a body of steady plodding. The girl had looked askance at +that gaunt form of Donnegan's when they began; but before three hours, +seeing that the spring never left his step nor the swinging rhythm his +stride, she began to wonder. This afternoon, nothing he did could have +surprised her. From the moment he entered the house the night before he +had been a mystery. Till her death day she would not forget the fire +with which he had stared up at her from the foot of the stairs. But when +he came out of her father's room--not cowed and whipped as most men left +it--he had looked at her with a veiled glance, and since that moment +there had always been a mist of indifference over his eyes when he +looked at her. + +In the beginning of that day's march all she knew was that her father +trusted her to this stranger, Donnegan, to take her to The Corner, where +he was to find Jack Landis and bring Jack back to his old allegiance and +find what he was doing with his time and his money. It was a quite +natural proceeding, for Jack was a wild sort, and he was probably +gambling away all the gold that was dug in his mines. It was perfectly +natural throughout, except that she should have been trusted so entirely +to a stranger. That was a remarkable thing, but, then, her father was a +remarkable man, and it was not the first time that his actions had been +inscrutable, whether concerning her or the affairs of other people. She +had heard men come into their house cursing Colonel Macon with death in +their faces; she had seen them sneak out after a soft-voiced interview +and never appear again. In her eyes, her father was invincible, +all-powerful. When she thought of superlatives, she thought of him. Her +conception of mystery was the smile of the colonel, and her conception +of tenderness was bounded by the gentle voice of the same man. +Therefore, it was entirely sufficient to her that the colonel had said: +"Go, and trust everything to Donnegan. He has the power to command you +and you must obey--until Jack comes back to you." + +That was odd, for, as far as she knew, Jack had never left her. But she +had early discarded any will to question her father. Curiosity was a +thing which the fat man hated above all else. + +Therefore, it was really not strange to her that throughout the journey +her guide did not speak half a dozen words to her. Once or twice when +she attempted to open the conversation he had replied with crushing +monosyllables, and there was an end. For the rest, he was always +swinging down the trail ahead of her at a steady, unchanging, rapid +stride. Uphill and down it never varied. And so they came out upon the +shoulder of the hill and saw the storm center of The Corner. They were +in the hills behind the town; two miles would bring them into it. And +now Donnegan came back to her from the mule. He took off his hat and +shook the dust away; he brushed a hand across his face. He was still +unshaven. The red stubble made him hideous, and the dust and +perspiration covered his face as with a mask. Only his eyes were rimmed +with white skin. + +"You'd better get off the horse, here," said Donnegan. + +He held her stirrup, and she obeyed without a word. + +"Sit down." + +She sat down on the flat-topped boulder which he designated, and, +looking up, observed the first sign of emotion in his face. He was +frowning, and his face was drawn a little. + +"You are tired," he stated. + +"A little." + +"You are tired," said the wanderer in a tone that implied dislike of any +denial. Therefore she made no answer. "I'm going down into the town to +look things over. I don't want to parade you through the streets until I +know where Landis is to be found and how he'll receive you. The Corner +is a wild town; you understand?" + +"Yes," she said blankly, and noted nervously that the reply did not +please him. He actually scowled at her. + +"You'll be all right here. I'll leave the pack mule with you; if +anything should happen--but nothing is going to happen, I'll be back in +an hour or so. There's a pool of water. You can get a cold drink there +and wash up if you want to while I'm gone. But don't go to sleep!" + +"Why not?" + +"A place like this is sure to have a lot of stragglers hunting around +it. Bad characters. You understand?" + +She could not understand why he should make a mystery of it; but then, +he was almost as strange as her father. His careful English and his +ragged clothes were typical of him inside and out. + +"You have a gun there in your holster. Can you use it?" + +"Yes." + +"Try it." + +It was a thirty-two, a woman's light weapon. She took it out and +balanced it in her hand. + +"The blue rock down the hillside. Let me see you chip it." + +Her hand went up, and without pausing to sight along the barrel, she +fired; fire flew from the rock, and there appeared a white, small scar. +Donnegan sighed with relief. + +"If you squeezed the butt rather than pulled the trigger," he commented, +"you would have made a bull's-eye that time. Now, I don't mean that in +any likelihood you'll have to defend yourself. I simply want you to be +aware that there's plenty of trouble around The Corner." + +"Yes," said the girl. + +"You're not afraid?" + +"Oh, no." + +Donnegan settled his hat a little more firmly upon his head. He had been +on the verge of attributing her gentleness to a blank, stupid mind; he +began to realize that there was metal under the surface. He felt that +some of the qualities of the father were echoed faintly, and at a +distance, in the child. In a way, she made him think of an unawakened +creature. When she was roused, if the time ever came, it might be that +her eye could become a thing alternately of fire and ice, and her voice +might carry with a ring. + +"This business has to be gotten through quickly," he went on. "One +meeting with Jack Landis will be enough." + +She wondered why he set his jaw when he said this, but he was wondering +how deeply the colonel's ward had fallen into the clutches of Nelly +Lebrun. If that first meeting did not bring Landis to his senses, what +followed? One of two things. Either the girl must stay on in The Corner +and try her hand with her fiancé again, or else the final brutal +suggestion of the colonel must be followed; he must kill Landis. It was +a cold-blooded suggestion, but Donnegan was a cold-blooded man. As he +looked at the girl, where she sat on the boulder, he knew definitely, +first and last, that he loved her, and that he would never again love +any other woman. Every instinct drew him toward the necessity of +destroying Landis. There was his stumbling block. But what if she truly +loved Landis? + +He would have to wait in order to find that out. And as he stood there +with the sun shining on the red stubble on his face he made a resolution +the more profound because it was formed in silence: if she truly loved +Landis he would serve her hand and foot until she had her will. + +But all he said was simply: "I shall be back before it's dark." + +"I shall be comfortable here," replied the girl, and smiled farewell at +him. + +And while Donnegan went down the slope full of darkness he thought of +that smile. + +The Corner spread more clearly before him with every step he made. It +was a type of the gold-rush town. Of course most of the dwellings were +tents--dog tents many of them; but there was a surprising sprinkling of +wooden shacks, some of them of considerable size. Beginning at the very +edge of the town and spread over the sand flats were the mines and the +black sprinkling of laborers. And the town itself was roughly jumbled +around one street. Over to the left the main road into The Corner +crossed the wide, shallow ford of the Young Muddy River and up this road +he saw half a dozen wagons coming, wagons of all sizes; but nothing went +out of The Corner. People who came stayed there, it seemed. + +He dropped over the lower hills, and the voice of the gold town rose to +him. It was a murmur like that of an army preparing for battle. Now and +then a blast exploded, for what purpose he could not imagine in this +school of mining. But as a rule the sounds were subdued by the distance. +He caught the muttering of many voices, in which laughter and shouts +were brought to the level of a whisper at close hand; and through all +this there was a persistent clangor of metallic sounds. No doubt from +the blacksmith shops where picks and other implements were made or +sharpened and all sorts of repairing carried on. But the predominant +tone of the voice of The Corner was this persistent ringing of metal. It +suggested to Donnegan that here was a town filled with men of iron and +all the gentler parts of their natures forgotten. An odd place to bring +such a woman as Lou Macon, surely! + +He reached the level, and entered the town. + + + + +11 + + +Hunting for news, he went naturally to the news emporium which took the +place of the daily paper--namely, he went to the saloons. But on the way +he ran through a liberal cross-section of The Corner's populace. First +of all, the tents and the ruder shacks. He saw little sheet-iron stoves +with the tin dishes piled, unwashed, upon the tops of them when the +miners rushed back to their work; broken handles of picks and shovels; +worn-out shirts and overalls lay where they had been tossed; here was a +flat strip of canvas supported by four four-foot poles and without +shelter at the sides, and the belongings of one careless miner tumbled +beneath this miserable shelter; another man had striven for some +semblance of a home and he had framed a five-foot walk leading up to the +closed flap of his tent with stones of a regular size. But nowhere was +there a sign of life, and would not be until semidarkness brought the +unwilling workers back to the tents. + +Out of this district he passed quickly onto the main street, and here +there was a different atmosphere. The first thing he saw was a man +dressed as a cowpuncher from belt to spurs--spurs on a miner--but above +the waist he blossomed in a frock coat and a silk hat. Around the coat +he had fastened his belt, and the shirt beneath the coat was common +flannel, open at the throat. He walked, or rather staggered, on the arm +of an equally strange companion who was arrayed in a white silk shirt, +white flannel trousers, white dancing pumps, and a vast sombrero! But as +if this was not sufficient protection for his head, he carried a parasol +of the most brilliant green silk and twirled it above his head. The two +held a wavering course and went blindly past Donnegan. + +It was sufficiently clear that the storekeeper had followed the gold. + +He noted a cowboy sitting in his saddle while he rolled a cigarette. +Obviously he had come in to look things over rather than to share in the +mining, and he made the one sane, critical note in the carnival of noise +and color. Donnegan began to pass stores. There was the jeweler's; the +gent's furnishing; a real estate office--what could real estate be doing +on the Young Muddy's desert? Here was the pawnshop, the windows of which +were already packed. The blacksmith had a great establishment, and the +roar of the anvils never died away; feed and grain and a dozen +lunch-counter restaurants. All this had come to The Corner within six +weeks. + +Liquor seemed to be plentiful, too. In the entire length of the street +he hardly saw a sober man, except the cowboy. Half a dozen in one group +pitched silver dollars at a mark. But he was in the saloon district now, +and dominant among the rest was the big, unpainted front of a building +before which hung an enormous sign: + +LEBRUN'S JOY EMPORIUM + +Donnegan turned in under the sign. + +It was one big room. The bar stretched completely around two sides of +it. The floor was dirt, but packed to the hardness of wood. The low roof +was supported by a scattering of wooden pillars, and across the floor +the gaming tables were spread. At that vast bar not ten men were +drinking now; at the crowding tables there were not half a dozen +players; yet behind the bar stood a dozen tenders ready to meet the +evening rush from the mines. And at the tables waited an equal number of +the professional gamblers of the house. + +From the door Donnegan observed these things with one sweeping glance, +and then proceeded to transform himself. One jerk at the visor of his +cap brought it down over his eyes and covered his face with shadow; a +single shrug bunched the ragged coat high around his shoulders, and the +shoulders themselves he allowed to drop forward. With his hands in his +pockets he glided slowly across the room toward the bar, for all the +world a picture of the guttersnipe who had been kicked from pillar to +post until self-respect is dead in him. And pausing in his advance, he +leaned against one of the pillars and looked hungrily toward the bar. + +He was immediately hailed from behind the bar with: "Hey, you. No tramps +in here. Pay and stay in Lebrun's!" + +The command brought an immediate protest. A big fellow stepped from the +bar, his sombrero pushed to the back of his head, his shirt sleeves +rolled to the elbow away from vast hairy forearms. One of his long arms +swept out and brought Donnegan to the bar. + +"I ain't no prophet," declared the giant, "but I can spot a man that's +dry. What'll you have, bud?" And to the bartender he added: "Leave him +be, pardner, unless you're all set for considerable noise in here." + +"Long as his drinks are paid for," muttered the bartender, "here he +stays. But these floaters do make me tired!" + +He jabbed the bottle across the bar at Donnegan and spun a glass noisily +at him, and the "floater" observed the angry bartender with a frightened +side glance, and then poured his drink gingerly. When the glass was half +full he hesitated and sought the face of the bartender again, for +permission to go on. + +"Fill her up!" commanded the giant. "Fill her up, lad, and drink +hearty." + +"I never yet," observed the bartender darkly, "seen a beggar that wasn't +a hog." + +At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a +little more forward on his thigh. + +"Son," he said, "how long you been in these parts?" + +"Long enough," declared the other, and lowered his black brows. "Long +enough to be sick of it." + +"Maybe, maybe," returned the cowpuncher-miner, "meantime you tie to +this. We got queer ways out here. When a gent drinks with us he's our +friend. This lad here is my pardner, just now. If I was him I would of +knocked your head off before now for what you've said--" + +"I don't want no trouble," Donnegan said whiningly. + +At this the bartender chuckled, and the miner showed his teeth in his +disgust. + +"Every gent has got his own way," he said sourly. "But while you drink +with Hal Stern you drink with your chin up, bud. And don't forget it. +And them that tries to run over you got to run over me." + +Saying this, he laid his large left hand on the bar and leaned a little +toward the bartender, but his right hand remained hanging loosely at his +side. It was near the holster, as Donnegan noticed. And the bartender, +having met the boring glance of the big man for a moment, turned surlily +away. The giant looked to Donnegan and observed: "Know a good definition +of the word, skunk?" + +"Nope," said Donnegan, brightening now that the stern eye, of the +bartender was turned away. + +"Here's one that might do. A skunk is a critter that bites when your +back is turned and runs when you look it in the eye. Here's how!" + +He drained his own glass, and Donnegan dexterously followed the example. + +"And what might you be doing around these parts?" asked the big man, +veiling his contempt under a mild geniality. + +"Me? Oh, nothing." + +"Looking for a job, eh?" + +Donnegan shrugged. + +"Work ain't my line," he confided. + +"H'm-m-m," said Hal Stern. "Well, you don't make no bones about it." + +"But just now," continued Donnegan, "I thought maybe I'd pick up some +sort of a job for a while." He looked ruefully at the palms of his hands +which were as tender as the hands of a woman. "Heard a fellow say that +Jack Landis was a good sort to work for--didn't rush his men none. They +said I might find him here." + +The big man grunted. + +"Too early for him. He don't circulate around much till the sun goes +down. Kind of hard on his skin, the sun, maybe. So you're going to work +for him?" + +"I was figuring on it." + +"Well, tie to this, bud. If you work for him you won't have him over +you." + +"No?" + +"No, you'll have"--he glanced a little uneasily around him--"Lord Nick." + +"Who's he?" + +"Who's he?" The big man started in astonishment. "Sufferin' catamounts! +Who is he?" He laughed in a disagreeable manner. "Well, son, you'll +find out, right enough!" + +"The way you talk, he don't sound none too good." + +Hal Stern grew anxious. "The way I talk? Have I said anything agin' him? +Not a word! He's--he's--well, there ain't ever been trouble between us +and there never ain't going to be." He flushed and looked steadily at +Donnegan. "Maybe he sent you to talk to me?" he asked coldly. + +But Donnegan's eyes took on a childish wideness. + +"Why, I never seen him," he declared. Hall Stern allowed the muscles of +his face to relax. "All right," he said, "they's no harm done. But Lord +Nick is a name that ain't handled none too free in these here parts. +Remember that!" + +"But how," pondered Donnegan, "can I be working for Lord Nick when I +sign up to work under Jack Landis?" + +"I'll tell you how. Nick and Lebrun work together. Split profits. And +Nelly Lebrun works Landis for his dust. So the stuff goes in a +circle--Landis to Nelly to Lebrun to Nick. That clear?" + +"I don't quite see it," murmured Donnegan. + +"I didn't think you would," declared the other, and snorted his disgust. +"But that's all I'm going to say. Here come the boys--and dead dry!" + +For the afternoon was verging upon evening, and the first drift of +laborers from the mines was pouring into The Corner. One thing at least +was clear to Donnegan: that everyone knew how infatuated Landis had +become with Nelly Lebrun and that Landis had not built up an +extraordinarily good name for himself. + + + + +12 + + +By the time absolute darkness had set in, Donnegan, in the new role of +lady's chaperon, sat before a dying fire with Louise Macon beside him. +He had easily seen from his talk with Stern that Landis was a public +figure, whether from the richness of his claims or his relations with +Lord Nick and Lebrun, or because of all these things; but as a public +figure it would be impossible to see him alone in his own tent, and +unless Louise could meet him alone half her power over him--supposing +that she still retained any--would be lost. Better by far that Landis +should come to her than that she should come to him, so Donnegan had +rented two tents by the day at an outrageous figure from the +enterprising real estate company of The Corner and to this new home he +brought the girl. + +She accepted the arrangement with surprising equanimity. It seemed that +her father's training had eliminated from her mind any questioning of +the motives of others. She became even cheerful as she set about +arranging the pack which Donnegan put in her tent. Afterward she cooked +their supper over the fire which he built for her. Never was there such +a quick house-settling. And by the time it was absolutely dark they had +washed the dishes and sat before Lou's tent looking over the night +lights of The Corner and hearing the voice of its Great White Way +opening. + +She had not even asked why he did not bring her straight to Jack Landis. +She had looked into Donnegan's tent, furnished with a single blanket and +his canvas kit, and had offered to share her pack with him. And now they +sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about +what was to come. + +Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard +rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose +in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew +that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to +the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose--the death of Jack +Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his +mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership +which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do +all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was +only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home. + +A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him +and the girl lay a dead body. + +He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going +down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to +watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!" + +It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she +was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining +camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet +never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he +went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for +their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town. +Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her +voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred +could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question +to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis? + +The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same +rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of +lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of +those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing +sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to +mock at The Corner and all it contained. + +He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance +hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of +dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was +quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the merriment +was under way in the dance hall. If Lebrun's was the sun of the +amusement world in The Corner, Milligan's was the moon. Everybody who +had money to lose went to Lebrun's. Every one who was out for gayety +went to Milligan's. Milligan was a plunger. He had brought up an +orchestra which demanded fifteen dollars a day and he paid them that and +more. He not only was able to do this, but he established a bar at the +entrance from which all who entered were served with a free drink. The +entrance, also, was not subject to charge. The initial drink at the door +was spiced to encourage thirst, so Milligan made money as fast, and far +more easily, than if he had been digging it out of the ground. + +To the door of this pleasure emporium came Donnegan. He had transformed +himself into the ragged hobo by the jerking down of his cap again, and +the hunching of his shoulders. And shrinking past the bar with a hungry +sidewise glance, as one who did not dare present himself for free +liquor, he entered Milligan's. + +That is, he had put his foot across the threshold when he was caught +roughly by the shoulder and dragged to one side. He found himself +looking up into the face of a strapping fellow who served Milligan as +bouncer. Milligan had an eye for color. Andy Lewis was tolerably well +known as a fighting man of parts, who not only wore two guns but could +use them both at once, which is much more difficult than is generally +understood. But far more than for his fighting parts Milligan hired his +bouncer for the sake of his face. It was a countenance made to +discourage trouble makers. A mule had kicked Lewis in the chin, and a +great white welt deformed his lower lip. Scars of smallpox added to his +decorative effect, and he had those extremely bushy brows which for some +reason are generally considered to denote ferocity. Now, Donnegan was +not above middle height at best, and in his present shrinking attitude +he found himself looking up a full head into the formidable face of the +bouncer. + +"And what are you doing in here?" asked the genial Andy. "Don't you know +this joint is for white folks?" + +"I ain't colored," murmured Donnegan. + +"You took considerable yaller to me," declared Lewis. He straightway +chuckled, and his own keen appreciation of his wit softened his +expression. "What you want?" + +Donnegan shivered under his rags. + +"I want to see Jack Landis," he said. + +It had a wonderful effect upon the doorkeeper. Donnegan found that the +very name of Landis was a charm of power in The Corner. + +"You want to see him?" he queried in amazement. "You?" + +He looked Donnegan over again, and then grinned broadly, as if in +anticipation. "Well, go ahead. There he sits--no, he's dancing." + +The music was in full swing; it was chiefly brass; but now and then, in +softer moments, one could hear a violin squeaking uncertainly. At least +it went along with a marked, regular rhythm, and the dancers swirled +industriously around the floor. A very gay crowd; color was apparently +appreciated in The Corner. And Donnegan, standing modestly out of sight +behind a pillar until the dance ended, noted twenty phases of life in +twenty faces. And Donnegan saw the flushes of liquor, and heard the loud +voices of happy fellows who had made their "strikes"; but in all that +brilliant crew he had no trouble in picking out Jack Landis and Nelly +Lebrun. + +They danced together, and where they passed, the others steered a little +off so as to give them room on the dance floor, as if the men feared +that they might cross the formidable Landis, and as if the women feared +to be brought into too close comparison with Nelly Lebrun. She was, +indeed, a brilliant figure. She had eyes of the Creole duskiness, a +delicate olive skin, with a pastel coloring. The hand on the shoulder of +Landis was a thing of fairy beauty. And her eyes had that peculiar +quality of seeming to see everything, and rest on every face +particularly. So that, as she whirled toward Donnegan, he winced, +feeling that she had found him out among the shadows. + +She had a glorious partner to set her off. And Donnegan saw bitterly +why Lou Macon could love him. Height without clumsiness, bulk and a +light foot at once, a fine head, well poised, blond hair and a Grecian +profile--such was Jack Landis. He wore a vest of fawn skin; his boots +were black in the foot and finished with the softest red leather for the +leg. And he had yellow buckskin trousers, laced in a Mexican fashion +with silver at the sides; a narrow belt, a long, red silk handkerchief +flying from behind his neck in cowboy fashion. So much flashing +splendor, even in that gay assembly, would have been childishly +conspicuous on another man. But in big Jack Landis there was patently a +great deal of the unaffected child. He was having a glorious time on +this evening, and his eye roved the room challenging admiration in a +manner that was amusing rather than offensive. He was so overflowingly +proud of having the prettiest girl in The Corner upon his arm and so +conscious of being himself probably the finest-looking man that he +escaped conceit, it might almost be said, by his very excess of it. + +Upon this splendid individual, then, the obscure Donnegan bent his gaze. +He saw the dancers pause and scatter as the music ended, saw them drift +to the tables along the edges of the room, saw the scurry of waiters +hurrying drinks up in the interval, saw Nelly Lebrun sip a lemonade, saw +Jack Landis toss off something stronger. And then Donnegan skirted +around the room and came to the table of Jack Landis at the very moment +when the latter was tossing a gold piece to the waiter and giving a new +order. + +Prodigal sons in the distance of thought are apt to be both silly: and +disgusting, but at close hand they usually dazzle the eye. Even the cold +brain of Donnegan was daunted a little as he drew near. + +He came behind the chair of the tall master of The Corner, and while +Nelly Lebrun stopped her glass halfway to her lips and stared at the +ragged stranger, Donnegan was whispering in the ear of Jack Landis: +"I've got to see you alone." + +Landis turned his head slowly and his eye darkened a little as he met +the reddish, unshaven face of the stranger. Then, with a careless shrug +of distaste, he drew out a few coins and poured them into Donnegan's +palm; the latter pocketed them. + +"Lou Macon," said Donnegan. + +Jack Landis rose from his chair, and it was not until he stood so close +to Donnegan that the latter realized the truly Herculean proportions of +the young fellow. He bowed his excuses to Nelly Lebrun, not without +grace of manner, and then huddled Donnegan into a corner with a wave of +his vast arm. + +"Now what do you want? Who are you? Who put that name in your mouth?" + +"She's in The Corner," said Donnegan, and he dwelt upon the face of Jack +Landis with feverish suspense. A moment later a great weight had slipped +from his heart. If Lou Macon loved Landis it was beyond peradventure +that Landis was not breaking his heart because of the girl. For at her +name he flushed darkly, and then, that rush of color fading, he was left +with a white spot in the center of each cheek. + + + + +13 + + +First his glance plunged into vacancy; then it flicked over his shoulder +at Nelly Lebrun and he bit his lip. Plainly, it was not the most welcome +news that Jack Landis had ever heard. + +"Where is she?" he asked nervously of Donnegan, and he looked over the +ragged fellow again. + +"I'll take you to her." + +The big man swayed back and forth from foot to foot, balancing in his +hesitation. "Wait a moment." + +He strode to Nelly Lebrun and bent over her; Donnegan saw her eyes flash +up--oh, heart of the south, what eyes of shadow and fire! Jack Landis +trembled under the glance; yes, he was deeply in love with the girl. And +Donnegan watched her face shade with suspicion, stiffen with cold anger, +warm and soften again under the explanations of Jack Landis. + +Donnegan, looking from the distance, could read everything; it is +nearness that bewitches a man when he talks to a woman. When Odysseus +talked to Circe, no doubt he stood on the farther side of the room! + +When Landis came again, he was perspiring from the trial of fire +through which he had just passed. + +"Come," he ordered, and set out at a sweeping stride. + +Plainly he was anxious to get this matter done with as soon as possible. +As for Donnegan, he saw a man whom Landis had summoned to take his place +sit down at the table with Nelly Lebrun. She was laughing with the +newcomer as though nothing troubled her at all, but over his shoulder +her glance probed the distance and followed Jack Landis. She wanted to +see the messenger again, the man who had called her companion away; but +in this it was fox challenging fox. Donnegan took note and was careful +to place between him and the girl every pillar and every group of +people. As far as he was concerned, her first glance must do to read and +judge and remember him by. + +Outside Landis shot several questions at him in swift succession; he +wanted to know how the girl had happened to make the trip. Above all, +what the colonel was thinking and doing and if the colonel himself had +come. But Donnegan replied with monosyllables, and Landis, apparently +reconciling himself to the fact that the messenger was a fool, ceased +his questions. They kept close to a run all the way out of the camp and +up the hillside to the two detached tents where Donnegan and the girl +slept that night. A lantern burned in both the tents. + +"She has made things ready for me," thought Donnegan, his heart opening. +"She has kept house for me!" + +He pointed out Lou's tent to his companion and the big man, with a +single low word of warning, threw open the flap of the tent and strode +in. + +There was only the split part of a second between the rising and the +fall of the canvas, but in that swift interval, Donnegan saw the girl +starting up to receive Landis. Her calm was broken at last. Her cheeks +were flushed; her eyes were starry with what? Expectancy? Love? + +It stopped Donnegan like a blow in the face and turned his heart to +lead; and then, shamelessly, he glided around the tent and dropped down +beside it to eavesdrop. After all, there was some excuse. If she loved +the man he, Donnegan, would let him live; if she did not love him, he, +Donnegan, would kill him like a worthless rat under heel. That is, if he +could. No wonder that the wanderer listened with heart and soul! + +He missed the first greeting. It was only a jumble of exclamations, but +now he heard: "But, Lou, what a wild idea. Across the mountains--with +whom?" + +"The man who brought you here." + +"Who's he?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't know? He looks like a shifty little rat to me." + +"He's big enough, Jack." + +Such small praise was enough to set Donnegan's heart thumping. + +"Besides, father told me to go with him, to trust him." + +"Ah!" There was an abrupt chilling and lowering of Landis' voice. "The +colonel knows him? He's one of the colonel's men?" + +Plainly the colonel was to him as the rod to the child. + +"Why didn't you come directly to me?" + +"We thought it would be better not to." + +"H'm-m. Your guide--well, what was the colonel's idea in sending you +here? Heavens above, doesn't he know that a mining camp is no place for +a young girl? And you haven't a sign of a chaperon, Lou! What the devil +can I do? What was in his mind?" + +"You haven't written for a long time." + +"Good Lord! Written! Letters! Does he think I have time for letters?" +The lie came smoothly enough. "Working day and night?" + +Donnegan smoothed his whiskers and grinned into the night. Landis might +prove better game than he had anticipated. + +"He worried," said the girl, and her voice was as even as ever. "He +worried, and sent me to find out if anything is wrong." + +Then: "Nonsense! What is there to worry about? Lou, I'm half inclined to +think that the colonel doesn't trust me!" + +She did not answer. Was she reading beneath the boisterous assurance of +Landis? + +"One thing is clear to me--and to you, too, I hope. The first thing is +to send you back in a hurry." + +Still no answer. + +"Lou, do you distrust me?" + +At length she managed to speak, but it was with some difficulty: "There +is another reason for sending me." + +"Tell me." + +"Can't you guess, Jack?" + +"I'm not a mind reader." + +"The cad," said Donnegan through his teeth. + +"It's the old reason." + +"Money?" + +"Yes." + +A shadow swept across the side of the tent; it was Landis waving his arm +carelessly. + +"If that's all, I can fix you up and send you back with enough to carry +the colonel along. Look here--why, I have five hundred with me. Take it, +Lou. There's more behind it, but the colonel mustn't think that there's +as much money in the mines as people say. No idea how much living costs +up here. Heavens, no! And the prices for labor! And then they shirk the +job from dawn to dark. I have to watch 'em every minute, I tell you!" + +He sighed noisily. + +"But the end of it is, dear"--how that small word tore into the heart of +Donnegan, who crouched outside--"that you must go back tomorrow morning. +I'd send you tonight, if I could. As a matter of fact, I don't trust the +red-haired rat who--" + +The girl interrupted while Donnegan still had control of his +hair-trigger temper. + +"You forget, Jack. Father sent me here, but he did not tell me to come +back." + +At this Jack Landis burst into an enormous laughter. + +"You don't mean, Lou, that you actually intend to stay on?" + +"What else can I mean?" + +"Of course it makes it awkward if the colonel didn't expressly tell you +just what to do. I suppose he left it to my discretion, and I decide +definitely that you must go back at once." + +"I can't do it." + +"Lou, don't you hear me saying that I'll take the responsibility? If +your father blames you let him tell me--" + +He broke down in the middle of his sentence and another of those +uncomfortable little pauses ensued. Donnegan knew that their eyes were +miserably upon each other; the man tongue-tied by his guilt; the girl +wretchedly guessing at the things which lay behind her fiancé's words. + +"I'm sorry you don't want me here." + +"It isn't that, but--" + +He apparently expected to be interrupted, but she waited coolly for him +to finish the sentence, and, of course, he could not. After all, for a +helpless girl she had a devilish effective way of muzzling Landis. +Donnegan chuckled softly in admiration. + +All at once she broke through the scene; her voice did not rise or +harden, but it was filled with finality, as though she were weary of the +interview. + +"I'm tired out; it's been a hard ride, Jack. You go home now and look me +up again any time tomorrow." + +"I--Lou--I feel mighty bad about having you up here in this infernal +tent, when the camp is full, and--": + +"You can't lie across the entrance to my tent and guard me, Jack. +Besides, I don't need you for that. The man who's with me will protect +me." + +"He doesn't look capable of protecting a cat!" + +"My father said that in any circumstances he would be able to take care +of me." + +This reply seemed to overwhelm Landis. + +"The colonel trusts him as far as all that?" he muttered. "Then I +suppose you're safe enough. But what about comfort, Lou?" + +"I've done without comfort all my life. Run along, Jack. And take this +money with you. I can't have it." + +"But, didn't the colonel send--" + +"You can express it through to him. To me it's--not pleasant to take +it." + +"Why, Lou, you don't mean--" + +"Good night, Jack. I don't mean anything, except that I'm tired." + +The shadow swept along the wall of the tent again. Donnegan, with a +shaking pulse, saw the profile of the girl and the man approach as he +strove to take her in his arms and kiss her good night. And then one +slender bar of shadow checked Landis. + +"Not tonight." + +"Lou, you aren't angry with me?" + +"No. But you know I have queer ways. Just put this down as one of them. +I can't explain." + +There was a muffled exclamation and Landis went from the tent and strode +down the hill; he was instantly lost in the night. But Donnegan, turning +to the entrance flap, called softly. He was bidden to come in, and when +he raised the flap he saw her sitting with her hands clasped loosely and +resting upon her knees. Her lips were a little parted, and colorless; +her eyes were dull with a mist; and though she rallied herself a little, +the wanderer could see that she was only half-aware of him. + +The face which he saw was a milestone in his life. For he had loved her +jealously, fiercely before; but seeing her now, dazed, hurt, and +uncomplaining, tenderness came into Donnegan. It spread to his heart +with a strange pain and made his hands tremble. + +All that he said was: "Is there anything you need?" + +"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away. + +But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay, +selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this--if she loved him so +truly--then Jack Landis she should have. + +There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most +nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and +looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys. +What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in +such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as +a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out +his heart's blood on the snow. + +Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night. +Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out +of his place and give him to the girl. + + + + +14 + + +The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that, +Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a +plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly +under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's +place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas. + +Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth +of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The +pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he +took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room. +For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate +more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the +cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic +loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair, +with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely +into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have +observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan. + +Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play +of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one +table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the +gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it +with precision upon the wheel. + +He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his +clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not +play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came +back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so +easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan +greatly. + +It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat +was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards! + +Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to +the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his +chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be +about the height and build of Donnegan. + +Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man, +harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would +probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that +he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract +astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace +of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he +had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily +toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and +understood. + +Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the +kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood +brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance, +just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was +weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players +themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference +between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey +poker, but the man in the linen coat did more--he stacked the cards! + +For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a +slight faltering in the deal--an infinitely small hesitation which only +a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed--that he was +sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that. +He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand +but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards. + +And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the +smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a +straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his +consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been +exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table--a small fortune! + +The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks. +They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the +call. + +Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It +was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all +prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected +according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But +the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the +winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough +to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis. +They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led +the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest +conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was. +They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting +their mental notes on the game together. + +But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his +victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on +the way--it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he +broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would +be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers. + +The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads +close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the +genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd +and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless +saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making +himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace. + +At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his +arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which +stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of +the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the +line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This +Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the +horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on +horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a +neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were +both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro +throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught +the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped +into his saddle. + +It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst +of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the +building, shooting out the lights, if possible--trusting to the +confusion to help him--and there he would find his horse held ready for +him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no +doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others. + +At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor +grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into +the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal +broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden +at once. + +For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had +been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had +slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for +a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been +noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one +accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan +racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the +saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid +him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air, +and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the +linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle +jabbed into the back of the gambler. + +The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the +pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their +gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street. + +"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back; +the gun already gleamed in his hand. + +A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the +fellow continued to fall back. + +"Tell him to ride ahead." + +"Keep in front, George." + +"And not too far." + +"Very well. And now?" + +"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond +the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!" + +"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of +the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest +attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they +rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the +card, eh?" + +"You saw, eh?" muttered the other. + +"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward." + +"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one +of us, pal?" + +But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler +to gambler should fail. + +"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on." + + + + +15 + + +Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the +starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees. + +"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground." + +There was a flash and faint thud. + +"Now the other gun." + +"They ain't any more, sir." + +"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan. + +A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at +length, and a second weapon fell. + +"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on +Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss +you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take +chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then +dismount." + +He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was +now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his +right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground. + +Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that +I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous +to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be +careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife +throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than +a bullet. We understand each other?" + +"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And +suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was +impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to +this forced--touch. Now, if half--" + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question +is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is +now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin +was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles +me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I +fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail; +there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I +think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body +is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master +for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think +that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the +starlight shine through you!" + +The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the +meantime, had not spoken. + +"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause. + +"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared." + +There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was +able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble +by fear. + +"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here--he's a devil. If you +let him live he'll kill you--as sure as you're standing here. You don't +know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as +bad as the devil's name. He--he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man, +you and I could team it together. But George--not--" + +Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt. + +"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan. +"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close +together. A coward's eyes--a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George--have +you heard what he said?" + +No answer from George but a snarl. + +"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?" + +Dead silence. + +"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of +your clothes." + +The other fell on his knees. + +"For heaven's sake," he pleaded. + +"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never +intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting +the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes." + +He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he +succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly +steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who +accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly +into the clothes of his victim. + +"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased, +here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the +weight." + +Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse. + +"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of +those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers." + +"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?" + +"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes +in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to +dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!" + +The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along +with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move +to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong; +and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man. + +"Come here," said Donnegan. + +George Washington Green rode slowly closer. + +"If I let you go what would you do?" + +There was a glint of teeth. + +"I'd find him." + +"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where +you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something +about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if +you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very +well together. You hear?" + +The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing. + +"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go." + +He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two +tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll +of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and +Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to +a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not +be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in +possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew. + +A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek +down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while +the big Negro silently tended to the horses--removing the packs and +preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small +lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time--the skin +ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face +almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a +cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair +of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles, +and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of +fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength. + +At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more +commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single +room this had two compartments--one for the kitchen and another for the +living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of +the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the +corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer +appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's +winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on +the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the +papers. + +He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched +with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him. +He saw--rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in +waves--that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused, +and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again. + +Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his +head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious +humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled +him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very +act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body. +There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated, +balanced--and then slowly drew himself erect. + +He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would +have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan +and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and +yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was +the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple +explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole +incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and +Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small +link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was +necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew +the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade +had sunk into the wood--a mute tribute to the force and speed of +George's hand--and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the +point and gave it back to the other. + +"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you +have a better chance of sending the point home." + +He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken +box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a +sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve +and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have +wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last +lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again +cross his new master. + +At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine +farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first." + +"Yes--sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him. + +And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things. + +Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish" +of the blankets being unrolled--and then a slight pause. It seemed to +him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly +back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed +thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll. + +And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of +the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George +the canvas sack and its small treasure. + +"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and +go over every part." + +He could actually feel the start of George. + +Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper. + +If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident +had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his +head. + +And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the +hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away. + + + + +16 + + +His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of +nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring +Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty +eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one +way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough +and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun, +he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to +Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how +remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis +for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly +off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and +if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride +would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou +Macon. + +All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of +Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him +shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made +him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in +Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few +notorious escapades behind him--yes, Donnegan with such a flying start +might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have +the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle +The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, +feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish +all these things beginning at a literal zero. + +It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the +paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting +at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with +him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the +next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee +which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the +details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were +now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin +contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment, +for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and +his feet were encased in slippers. + +But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner, +and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, +overshadowing Jack Landis--that was the thing! But to startle The +Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just +now--where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now +averaged nearly three a day--to startle The Corner was like trying to +startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this +parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor +and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a +headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in +thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the +moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows. + +"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?" + +"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally +subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was +conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not +untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had +wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack +of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no +doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk, +the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally +George returned to his own place--softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the +master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that +he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the +first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected +provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed. + +"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways." + +The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the +sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently +altered his opinion of the gambler. + +"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should +never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that +happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface +cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the +grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You +understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And concerning the frying of bacon--" + +At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open +door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer, +who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The +Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was +patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the +unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents. + +"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in +the background. + +Donnegan looked at him and through him. + +"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why +you're in it." + +"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are +scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I +intend to stay in it on purpose." + +George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a +vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face +crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The +Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a +giant. + +"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented +this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and +they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I +want. Thirty minutes will--" + +"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft +voice. + +The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a +cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like +him." + +George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three. + +"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough +to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose--" + +He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a +kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown +himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he +approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached +easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play, +mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?" + +"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his +voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man +in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee. + +"It's Donnegan," whispered George. + +"Don--who's he?" + +"You don't know Donnegan?" + +The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing +of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three. + +"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law--and law's a +lame lady in these parts--or throw him out. Say which?" + +The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan, +absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood +exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too +much for them. + +There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and +that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the +rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy +passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners +receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of +womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning +coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked +at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but +to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of +them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left +Gloster both relieved and gloomy. + +"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the +shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price." + +The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George. +Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the +town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top +still untied--as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any +of the gold. + +"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep +money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll +get more." + +If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins +had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free +spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one +who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same +roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be +allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was +singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the +hill to the tent of Lou Macon. + +She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had +cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before; +and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold, +semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect +of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content +of which people were aware. + +"You missed me?" + +"Yes." + +"You were worried?" + +"No." + +He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to +her new home--the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast. +When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side. + +"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is +worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye. +And if a hair of her head is ever harmed--you see that fire burning +yonder--the bed of coals?" + +"Sir?" + +"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it--by +inches!" + +And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon. +George Washington Green saw, and never forgot. + +Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the +horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both +leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of +sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often +necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him +from getting into his problem. + +How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had +fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners? + +He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon, +informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun +and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the +colonel had suggestions to offer. + +The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before +midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do. + + + + +17 + + +The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar +in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed +to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at +two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion. +There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So +Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the +claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold +mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact +that furnished Donnegan with his idea. + +He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes--a riding suit in +which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions. +Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt, +the big man came before Donnegan for instructions. + +"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored +people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar. +They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come +from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep. +Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out." + +George showed his teeth. + +"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't +get in, come back here. Now, ride." + +So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and +dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into +the street to see the brilliant horseman pass. + +Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to +Andy, except an easier target. + +"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in +Milligan's? Get out!" + +Big George did not move. + +"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to +make a julep." + +"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his +cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?" + +And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons. + +"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George. + +"Who's he?" + +"Donnegan." + +"And who's Donnegan?" + +It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an +explanation. "Donnegan is--Donnegan," he explained. + +"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing +group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill." + +"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites +at Milligan's." + +"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this +heah place, but--don't make me go back and bring Donnegan." + +Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance. + +"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go." + +Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse. + +"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say +that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent +for Donnegan; it's him!" + +He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in +anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which +comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word +went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered. +The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch +the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered +and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through +the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town +appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On +the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made +up in intense interest. + +For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun, +most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the +offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a +conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising. +The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill +his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before +such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed +now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner. + +A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away +to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming. + +He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving +course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and +the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding +suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as +unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park +where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a +careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either +side. + +"That's Donnegan. There he comes!" + +"Who's Donnegan?" + +"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others." + +"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with +a chunk of lead." + +"D'you mean that?" + +"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?" + +"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money." + +"Looks like a confounded dude." + +"We'll see his hand in a minute." + +Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand +touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight +at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the +other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the +door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein +behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin. + +As who should say: "I promised you lightning; now watch it strike!" + +If the crowd had been expectant before, it was now reduced to wire-drawn +tenseness. + +"Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" asked Donnegan. + +His quiet voice fell coldly upon the soul of Andy. He strove to warm +himself by an outbreak of temper. + +"They ain't any poor fool dude can call me a fellow!" he shouted. + +The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not +occurred. The hand of Andy was relaxing from the butt of his gun and an +expression of astonishment and contempt was growing upon his face. + +"I haven't come to curse you," said the rider, still occupying his hands +with crop and reins. "I've come to ask you a question and get an answer. +Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" + +"I guess you ain't the kind I was expectin' to call on me," drawled +Andy, his fear gone, and he winked at the crowd. But the others were not +yet ready to laugh. Something about the calm face of Donnegan had +impressed them. "Sure, I'm the one that kicked him out. He ain't allowed +in there." + +"It's the last of my thoughts to break in upon a convention in your +city," replied the grave rider, "but my man was sent on an errand and +therefore he had a right to expect courtesy. George, get off your horse +and go into Milligan's place. I want that mint!" + +For a moment Andy was too stunned to answer. Then his voice came harshly +and he swayed from side to side, gathering and summoning his wrath. + +"Keep out boy! Keep out, or you're buzzard meat. I'm warnin'--" + +For the first time his glance left the rider to find George, and that +instant was fatal. The hand of Donnegan licked out as the snake's tongue +darts--the loaded quirt slipped over in his hand, and holding it by the +lash he brought the butt of it thudding on the head of Andy. + +Even then the instinct to fight remained in the stunned man; while he +fell, he was drawing the revolver; he lay in a crumpling heap at the +feet of Donnegan's horse with the revolver shoved muzzle first into the +sand. + +Donnegan's voice did not rise. + +"Go in and get that mint, George," he ordered. "And hurry. This rascal +has kept me waiting until I'm thirsty." + +Big George hesitated only one instant--it was to sweep the crowd for the +second time with his confident grin--and he strode through the door of +the dance hall. As for Donnegan, his only movement was to swing his +horse around and shift riding crop and reins into the grip of his left +hand. His other hand was dropped carelessly upon his hip. Now, both +these things were very simple maneuvers, but The Corner noted that his +change of face had enabled Donnegan to bring the crowd under his eye, +and that his right hand was now ready for a more serious bit of work if +need be. Moreover, he was probing faces with his glance. And every armed +man in that group felt that the eye of the rider was directed +particularly toward him. + +There had been one brief murmur; then the silence lay heavily again, for +it was seen that Andy had been only slightly stunned--knocked out, as a +boxer might be. Now his sturdy brains were clearing. His body stiffened +into a human semblance once more; he fumbled, found the butt of his gun +with his first move. He pushed his hat straight: and so doing he raked +the welt which the blow had left on his head. The pain finished clearing +the mist from his mind; in an instant he was on his feet, maddened with +shame. He saw the semicircle of white faces, and the whole episode +flashed back on him. He had been knocked down like a dog. + +For a moment he looked into the blank faces of the crowd; someone noted +that there was no gun strapped at the side of Donnegan. A voice shouted +a warning. + +"Stop, Lewis. The dude ain't got a gun. It's murder!" + +It was now that Lewis saw Donnegan sitting the saddle directly behind +him, and he whirled with a moan of fury. It was a twist of his body--in +his eagerness--rather than a turning upon his feet. And he was half +around before the rider moved. Then he conjured a gun from somewhere in +his clothes. There was the flash of the steel, an explosion, and +Scar-faced Lewis was on his knees with a scream of pain holding his +right forearm with his left hand. + +The crowd hesitated still for a second, as though it feared to +interfere; but Donnegan had already put up his weapon. A wave of the +curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the +injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of +the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to +the bone all the way to the elbow. It was a grisly wound. + +Big George Washington Green came running to the door of the dance hall +with a sprig of something green in his hand; one glance assured him that +all was well; and once more that wide, confident grin spread upon his +face. He came to the master and offered the mint; and Donnegan, raising +it to his face, inhaled the scent deeply. + +"Good," he said. "And now for a julep, George! Let's go home!" + +Across the street a dark-eyed girl had clasped the arm of her companion +in hysterical excitement. + +"Did you see?" she asked of her tall companion. + +"I saw a murderer shoot down a man; he ought to be hung for it!" + +"But the mint! Did you see him smile over it? Oh, what a devil he is; +and what a man!" + +Jack Landis flashed a glance of suspicion down at her, but her dancing +eyes had quite forgotten him. They were following the progress of +Donnegan down the street. He rode slowly, and George kept that formal +distance, just a length behind. + + + + +18 + + +Before Milligan's the crowd began to buzz like murmuring hornets around +a nest that has been tapped, when they pour out and cannot find the +disturber. It was a rather helpless milling around the wounded man, and +Nelly Lebrun was the one who worked her way through the crowd and came +to Andy Lewis. She did not like Andy. She had been known to refer to him +as a cowardly hawk of a man; but now she bullied the crowd in a shrill +voice and made them bring water and cloth. Then she cleansed and +bandaged the wound in Andy Lewis' arm and had some of them take him +away. + +By this time the outskirts of the crowd had melted away; but those who +had really seen all parts of the little drama remained to talk. The +subject was a real one. Had Donnegan aimed at the hand of Andy and +risked his own life on his ability to disable the other without killing +him? Or had he fired at Lewis' body and struck the hand and arm only by +a random lucky chance? + +If the second were the case, he was only a fair shot with plenty of +nerve and a great deal of luck. If the first were true, then this was a +nerve of ice-tempered steel, an eye vulture-sharp, and a hand, +miraculous, fast, and certain. To strike that swinging hand with a snap +shot, when a miss meant a bullet fired at his own body at deadly short +range--truly it would take a credulous man to believe that Donnegan had +coldly planned to disable his man without killing him. + +"A murderer by intention," exclaimed Milligan. He had hunted long and +hard before he found a man with a face like that of Lewis, capable of +maintaining order by a glance; now he wanted revenge. "A murder by +intention!" he cried to the crowd, standing beside the place where the +imprint of Andy's knees was still in the sand. "And like a murderer he +ought to be treated. He aimed to kill Andy; he had luck and only broke +his hand. Now, boys, I say it ain't so much what he's done as the way +he's done it. He's given us the laugh. He's come in here in his dude +clothes and tried to walk over us. But it don't work. Not in The Corner. +If Andy was dead, I'd say lynch the dude. But he ain't, and all I say +is: Run him out of town." + +Here there was a brief outburst of applause, but when it ended, it was +observed that there was a low, soft laughter. The crowd gave way between +Milligan and the mocker. It was seen that he who laughed was old Lebrun, +rubbing his olive-skinned hands together and showing his teeth in his +mirth. There was no love lost between Lebrun and Milligan, even if Nelly +was often in the dance hall and the center of its merriment. + +"It takes a thief to catch a thief," said Lebrun enigmatically, when he +saw that he had the ear of the crowd, "and it takes a man to catch a +man." + +"What the devil do you mean by that?" a dozen voices asked. + +"I mean, that if you got men enough to run out this man Donnegan, The +Corner is a better town than I think." + +It brought a growl, but no answer. Lebrun had never been seen to lift +his hand, but he was more dreaded than a rattler. + +"We'll try," said Milligan dryly. "I ain't much of a man myself"--there +were dark rumors about Milligan's past and the crowd chuckled at this +modesty--"but I'll try my hand agin' him with a bit of backing. And +first I want to tell you boys that they ain't any danger of him having +aimed at Andy's hand. I tell you, it ain't possible, hardly, for him to +have planned to hit a swingin' target like that. Maybe some could do it. +I dunno." + +"How about Lord Nick?" + +"Sure, Lord Nick might do anything. But Donnegan ain't Lord Nick." + +"Not by twenty pounds and three inches." + +This brought a laugh. And by comparison with the terrible and familiar +name of Lord Nick, Donnegan became a smaller danger. Besides, as +Milligan said, it was undoubtedly luck. And when he called for +volunteers, three or four stepped up at once. The others made a general +milling, as though each were trying to get forward and each were +prevented by the crowd in front. But in the background big Jack Landis +was seriously trying to get to the firing line. He was encumbered with +the clinging weight of Nelly Lebrun. + +"Don't go, Jack," she pleaded. "Please! Please! Be sensible. For my +sake!" + +She backed this appeal with a lifting of her eyes and a parting of her +lips, and Jack Landis paused. + +"You won't go, dear Jack?" + +Now, Jack knew perfectly well that the girl was only half sincere. It is +the peculiar fate of men that they always know when a woman is playing +with them, but, from Samson down, they always go to the slaughter with +open eyes, hoping each moment that the girl has been seriously impressed +at last. As for Jack Landis, his slow mind did not readily get under the +surface of the arts of Nelly, but he knew that there was at least a +tinge of real concern in the girl's desire to keep him from the posse +which Milligan was raising. + +"But they's something about him that I don't like, Nelly. Something sort +of familiar that I don't like." For naturally enough he did not +recognize the transformed Donnegan, and the name he had never heard +before. "A gunfighter, that's what he is!" + +"Why, Jack, sometimes they call you the same thing; say that you hunt +for trouble now and then!" + +"Do they say that?" asked the young chap quickly, flushing with vanity. +"Oh, I aim to take care of myself. And I'd like to take a hand with this +murdering Donnegan." + +"Jack, listen! Don't go; keep away from him!" + +"Why do you look like that? As if I was a dead one already." + +"I tell you, Jack, he'd kill you!" + +Something in her terrible assurance whitened the cheeks of Landis, but +he was also angered. When a very young man becomes both afraid and angry +he is apt to be dangerous. "What do you know of him?" he asked +suspiciously. + +"You silly! But I saw his face when he lifted that mint. He'd already +forgotten about the man he had just shot down. He was thinking of +nothing but the scent of the mint. And did you notice his giant servant? +He never had a moment's doubt of Donnegan's ability to handle the entire +crowd. I tell you, it gave me a chill of ghosts to see the big black +fellow's eyes. He knew that Donnegan would win. And Donnegan won! Jack, +you're a big man and a strong man and a brave man, and we all know it. +But don't be foolish. Stay away from Donnegan!" + +He wavered just an instant. If she could have sustained her pleading +gaze a moment longer she would have won him, but at the critical instant +her gaze became distant. She was seeing the calm face of Donnegan as he +raised the mint. And as though he understood, Jack Landis hardened. + +"I'm glad you don't want me shot up, Nelly," he said coldly. "Mighty +good of you to watch out for me. But--I'm going to run this Donnegan out +of town!" + +"He's never harmed you; why--" + +"I don't like his looks. For a man like me that's enough!" + +And he strode away toward Milligan. He was greeted by a cheer just as +the girl reached the side of her father. + +"Jack is going," she said. "Make him come back!" + +But the old man was still rubbing his hands; there seemed to be a +perpetual chill in the tips of the fingers. + +"He is a jackass. The moment I first saw his face I knew that he was +meant for gun fodder--buzzard food! Let him go. Bah!" + +The girl shivered. "And then the mines?" she asked, changing her +tactics. + +"Ah, yes. The mines! But leave that to Lord Nick. He'll handle it well +enough!" + +So Jack Landis strode up the hill first and foremost of the six stalwart +men who wished to correct the stranger's apparent misunderstandings of +the status of The Corner. They were each armed to the teeth and each +provided with enough bullets to disturb a small city. All this in honor +of Donnegan. + +They found the shack wrapped in the warm, mellow light of the late +afternoon; and on a flat-topped rock outside it big George sat +whittling a stick into a grotesque imitation of a snake coiled. He did +not rise when the posse approached. He merely rocked back upon the rock, +embraced his knees in both of his enormous arms, and, in a word, +transformed himself into a round ball of mirth. But having hugged away +his laughter he was able to convert his joy into a vast grin. That smile +stopped the posse. When a mob starts for a scene of violence the least +exhibition of fear incenses it, but mockery is apt to pour water on its +flames of anger. + +Decidedly the fury of the posse was chilled by the grin of George. +Milligan, who had lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, stepped up to +impress George properly. + +"Boy," he said, frowning, "go in and tell your man that we've come for +him. Tell him to step right out here and get ready to talk. We don't +mean him no harm less'n he can't explain one or two things. Hop along!" + +The "boy" did not stir. Only he shifted his eyes from face to face and +his grin broadened. Ripples of mirth waved along his chest and convulsed +his face, but still he did not laugh. "Go in and tell them things to +Donnegan," he said. "But don't ask me to wake him up. He's sleepin' +soun' an' fas'. Like a baby; mostly, he sleeps every day to get rested +up for the night. Now, can't you-all wait till Donnegan wakes up +tonight? No? Then step right in, gen'lemen; but if you-all is set on +wakin' him up now, George will jus' step over the hill, because he don't +want to be near the explosion." + +At this, he allowed his mirth free rein. His laughter shook up to his +throat, to his enormous mouth; it rolled and bellowed across the +hillside; and the posse stood, each man in his place, and looked +frigidly upon one another. But having been laughed at, they felt it +necessary to go on, and do or die. So they strode across the hill and +were almost to the door when another phenomenon occurred. A girl in a +cheap calico dress of blue was seen to run out of a neighboring shack +and spring up before the door of Donnegan's hut. When she faced the +crowd it stopped again. + +The soft wind was blowing the blue dress into lovely, long, curving +lines; about her throat a white collar of some sheer stuff was being +lifted into waves, or curling against her cheek; and the golden hair, in +disorder, was tousled low upon her forehead. + +Whirling thus upon the crowd, she shocked them to a pause, with her +parted lips, her flare of delicate color. + +"Have you come here," she cried, "for--for Donnegan?" + +"Lady," began someone, and then looked about for Jack Landis, who was +considered quite a hand with the ladies. But Jack Landis was discovered +fading out of view down the hillside. One glance at that blue dress had +quite routed him, for now he remembered the red-haired man who had +escorted Lou Macon to The Corner--and the colonel's singular trust in +this fellow. It explained much, and he fled before he should be noticed. + +Before the spokesman could continue his speech, the girl had whipped +inside the door. And the posse was dumbfounded. Milligan saw that the +advance was ruined. "Boys," he said, "we came to fight a man; not to +storm a house with a woman in it. Let's go back. We'll tend to Donnegan +later on." + +"We'll drill him clean!" muttered the others furiously, and straightway +the posse departed down the hill. + +But inside the girl had found, to her astonishment, that Donnegan was +stretched upon his bunk wrapped again in the silken dressing gown and +with a smile upon his lips. He looked much younger, as he slept, and +perhaps it was this that made the girl steal forward upon tiptoe and +touch his shoulder so gently. + +He was up on his feet in an instant. Alas, vanity, vanity! Donnegan in +shoes was one thing, for his shoes were of a particular kind; but +Donnegan in his slippers was a full two inches shorter. He was hardly +taller than the girl; he was, if the bitter truth must be known, almost +a small man. And Donnegan was furious at having been found by her in +such careless attire--and without those dignity-building shoes. First +he wanted to cut the throat of big George. + +"What have you done, what have you done?" cried the girl, in one of +those heart-piercing whispers of fear. "They have come for you--a whole +crowd--of armed men--they're outside the door! What have you done? It +was something done for me, I know!" + +Donnegan suddenly transferred his wrath from big George to the mob. + +"Outside my door?" he asked. And as he spoke he slipped on a belt at +which a heavy holster tugged down on one side, and buckled it around +him. + +"Oh, no, no, no!" she pleaded, and caught him in her arms. + +Donnegan allowed her to stop him with that soft power for a moment, +until his face went white--as if with pain. Then he adroitly gathered +both her wrists into one of his bony hands; and having rendered her +powerless, he slipped by her and cast open the door. + +It was an empty scene upon which they looked, with big George rocking +back and forth upon a rock, convulsed with silent laughter. Donnegan +looked sternly at the girl and swallowed. He was fearfully susceptible +to mockery. + +"There seems to have been a jest?" he said. + +But she lifted him a happy, tearful face. + +"Ah, thank heaven!" she cried gently. + +Oddly enough, Donnegan at this set his teeth and turned upon his heel, +and the girl stole out the door again, and closed it softly behind her. +As a matter of fact, not even the terrible colonel inspired in her quite +the fear which Donnegan instilled. + + + + +19 + + +"Big Landis lost his nerve and sidestepped at the last minute, and then +the whole gang faded." + +That was the way the rumors of the affair always ended at each +repetition in Lebrun's and Milligan's that night. The Corner had had +many things to talk about during its brief existence, but nothing to +compare with a man who entered a shooting scrape with such a fellow as +Scar-faced Lewis all for the sake of a spray of mint. And the main topic +of conversation was: Did Donnegan aim at the body or the hand of the +bouncer? + +On the whole, it was an excellent thing for Milligan's. The place was +fairly well crowded, with a few vacant tables. For everyone wanted to +hear Milligan's version of the affair. He had a short and vigorous one, +trimmed with neat oaths. It was all the girl in the blue calico dress, +according to him. The posse couldn't storm a house with a woman in it or +even conduct a proper lynching in her presence. And no one was able to +smile when Milligan said this. Neither was anyone nervy enough to +question the courage of Landis. It looked strange, that sudden flight of +his, but then, he was a proven man. Everyone remembered the affair of +Lester. It had been a clean-cut fight, and Jack Landis had won cleanly +on his merits. + +Nevertheless some of the whispers had not failed to come to the big man, +and his brow was black. + +The most terribly heartless and selfish passion of all is shame in a +young man. To repay the sidelong glances which he met on every side, +Jack Landis would have willingly crowded every living soul in The Corner +into one house and touched a match to it. And chiefly because he felt +the injustice of the suspicion. He had no fear of Donnegan. + +He had a theory that little men had little souls. Not that he ever +formulated the theory in words, but he vaguely felt it and adhered to +it. He had more fear of one man of six two than a dozen under five ten. +He reserved in his heart of hearts a place of awe for one man whom he +had never seen. That was for Lord Nick, for that celebrated character +was said to be as tall and as finely built as Jack Landis himself. But +as for Donnegan--Landis wished there were three Donnegans instead of +one. + +Tonight his cue was surly silence. For Nelly Lebrun had been warned by +her father, and she was making desperate efforts to recover any ground +she might have lost. Besides, to lose Jack Landis would be to lose the +most spectacular fellow in The Corner, to say nothing of the one who +held the largest and the choicest of the mines. The blond, good looks of +Landis made a perfect background for her dark beauty. With all these +stakes to play for, Nelly outdid herself. If she were attractive enough +ordinarily, when she exerted herself to fascinate, Nelly was +intoxicating. What chance had poor Jack Landis against her? He did not +call for her that night but went to play gloomily at Lebrun's until +Nelly walked into Lebrun's and drew him away from a table. Half an hour +later she had him whirling through a dance in Milligan's and had danced +the gloom out of his mind for the moment. Before the evening was well +under way, Landis was making love to her openly, and Nelly was in the +position of one who had roused the bear. + +It was a dangerous flirtation and it was growing clumsy. In any place +other than The Corner it would have been embarrassing long ago; and when +Jack Landis, after a dance, put his one big hand over both of Nelly's +and held her moveless while he poured out a passionate declaration, +Nelly realized that something must be done. Just what she could not +tell. + +And it was at this very moment that a wave of silence, beginning at the +door, rushed across Milligan's dance floor. It stopped the bartenders in +the act of mixing drinks; it put the musicians out of key, and in the +midst of a waltz phrase they broke down and came to a discordant pause. + +What was it? + +The men faced the door, wondering, and then the swift rumor passed from +lip to lip--almost from eye to eye, so rapidly it sped--Donnegan is +coming! Donnegan, and big George with him. + +"Someone tell Milligan!" + +But Milligan had already heard; he was back of the bar giving +directions; guns were actually unlimbering. What would happen? + +"Shall I get you out of this?" Landis asked the girl. + +"Leave now?" She laughed fiercely and silently. "I'm just beginning to +live! Miss Donnegan in action? No, sir!" + +She would have given a good deal to retract that sentence, for it washed +the face of Landis white with jealousy. + +Surely Donnegan had built greater than he knew. + +And suddenly he was there in the midst of the house. No one had stopped +him--at least, no one had interfered with his servant. Big George had on +a white suit and a dappled green necktie; he stood directly behind his +master and made him look like a small boy. For Donnegan was in black, +and he had a white neckcloth wrapped as high and stiffly as an +old-fashioned stock. Altogether he was a queer, drab figure compared +with the brilliant Donnegan of that afternoon. He looked older, more +weary. His lean face was pale; and his hair flamed with redoubled ardor +on that account. Never was hair as red as that, not even the hair of +Lord Nick, said the people in Milligan's this night. + +He was perfectly calm even in the midst of that deadly silence. He stood +looking about him. He saw Gloster, the real estate man, and bowed to him +deliberately. + +For some reason that drew a gasp. + +Then he observed a table which was apparently to his fancy and crossed +the floor with a light, noiseless step, big George padding heavily +behind him. At the little round table he waited until George had drawn +out the chair for him and then he sat down. He folded his arms lightly +upon his breast and once more surveyed the scene, and big George drew +himself up behind Donnegan. Just once his eyes rolled and flashed +savagely in delight at the sensation that they were making, then the +face of George was once again impassive. + +If Donnegan had not carried it off with a certain air, the whole +entrance would have seemed decidedly stagey, but The Corner, as it was, +found much to wonder at and little to criticize. And in the West grown +men are as shrewd judges of affectation as children are in other places. + +"Putting on a lot of style, eh?" said Jack Landis, and with fierce +intensity he watched the face of Nelly Lebrun. + +For once she was unguarded. + +"He's superb!" she exclaimed. "The big fellow is going to bring a drink +for him." + +She looked up, surprised by the silence of Landis, and found that his +face was actually yellow. + +"I'll tell you something. Do you remember the little red-headed tramp +who came in here the other night and spoke to me?" + +"Very well. You seemed to be bothered." + +"Maybe. I dunno. But that's the man--the one who's sitting over there +now all dressed up--the man The Corner is talking about--Donnegan! A +tramp!" + +She caught her breath. + +"Is that the one?" A pause. "Well, I believe it. He's capable of +anything!" + +"I think you like him all the better for knowing that." + +"Jack, you're angry." + +"Why should I be? I hate to see you fooled by the bluff of a tramp, +though." + +"Tush! Do you think I'm fooled by it? But it's an interesting bluff, +Jack, don't you think?" + +"Nelly, he's interesting enough to make you blush; by heaven, the hound +is lookin' right at you now, Nelly!" + +He had pressed her suddenly against the wall and she struck back +desperately in self-defense. + +"By the way, what did he want to see you about?" + +It spiked the guns of Landis for the time being, at least. And the girl +followed by striving to prove that her interest in Donnegan was purely +impersonal. + +"He's clever," she ran on, not daring to look at the set face of her +companion. "See how he fails to notice that he's making a sensation? +You'd think he was in a big restaurant in a city. He takes the drink off +the tray from that fellow as if it were a common thing to be waited on +by a body-servant in The Corner. Jack, I'll wager that there's something +crooked about him. A professional gambler, say!" + +Jack Landis thawed a little under this careless chatter. He still did +not quite trust her. + +"Do you know what they're whispering? That I was afraid to face him!" + +She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, +and she broke into laughter. + +"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to +The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all +the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest +of them. By the way, what was the reason?" + +She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but +the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the +query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and +covered up his confusion for him. + +"See how the girls are making eyes at him." + +"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man +who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that +out!" + +She shrugged that comment away. + +"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. +"He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?" + + + + +20 + + +It should be understood that before this the men in Milligan's had +reached a subtly unspoken agreement that red-haired Donnegan was not one +of them. In a word, they did not like him because he made a mystery of +himself. And, also, because he was different. Yet there was a growing +feeling that the shooting of Lewis through the hand had not been an +accident, for the whole demeanor of Donnegan composed the action of a +man who is a professional trouble maker. There was no reason why he +should go to Milligan's and take his servant with him unless he wished a +fight. And why a man should wish to fight the entire Corner was +something no one could guess. + +That he should have done all this merely to focus all eyes upon him, and +particularly the eyes of a girl, did not occur to anyone. It looked +rather like the bravado of a man who lived for the sake of fighting. +Now, men who hunt trouble in the mountain desert generally find all that +they may desire, but for the time being everyone held back, wolfishly, +waiting for another to take the first step toward Donnegan. Indeed, +there was an unspoken conviction that the man who took the first step +would probably not live to take another. In the meantime both men and +women gave Donnegan the lion's share of their attention. There was only +one who was clever enough to conceal it, and that one was the pair of +eyes to which the red-haired man was playing--Nelly Lebrun. She confined +herself strictly to Jack Landis. + +So it was that when Milligan announced a tag dance and the couples +swirled onto the floor gayly, Donnegan decided to take matters into his +own hands and offer the first overt act. It was clumsy; he did not like +it; but he hated this delay. And he knew that every moment he stayed on +there with big George behind his chair was another red rag flaunted in +the face of The Corner. + +He saw the men who had no girl with them brighten at the announcement of +the tag dance. And when the dance began he saw the prettiest girls +tagged quickly, one after the other. All except Nelly Lebrun. She swung +securely around the circle in the big arms of Jack Landis. She seemed to +be set apart and protected from the common touch by his size, and by his +formidable, challenging eye. Donnegan felt as never before the +unassailable position of this fellow; not only from his own fighting +qualities, but because he had behind him the whole unfathomable power of +Lord Nick and his gang. + +Nelly approached in the arms of Landis in making the first circle of the +dance floor; her eyes, grown dull as she surrendered herself wholly to +the rhythm of the waltz, saw nothing. They were blank as unlighted +charcoal. She came opposite Donnegan, her back was toward him; she swung +in the arms of Landis, and then, past the shoulder of her partner, she +flashed a glance at Donnegan. The spark had fallen on the charcoal, and +her eyes were aflame. Aflame to Donnegan; the next instant the veil had +dropped across her face once more. + +She was carried on, leaving Donnegan tingling. + +A wise man upon whom that look had fallen might have seen, not Nelly +Lebrun in the cheap dance hall, but Helen of Sparta and all Troy's dead. +But Donnegan was clever, not wise. And he saw only Nelly Lebrun and the +broad shoulders of Jack Landis. + +Let the critic deal gently with Donnegan. He loved Lou Macon with all +his heart and his soul, and yet because another beautiful girl had +looked at him, there he sat at his table with his jaw set and the devil +in his eye. And while she and Landis were whirling through the next +circumference of the room, Donnegan was seeing all sides of the problem. +If he tagged Landis it would be casting the glove in the face of the big +man--and in the face of old Lebrun--and in the face of that mysterious +and evil power, Lord Nick himself. And consider, that besides these he +had already insulted all of The Corner. + +Why not let things go on as they were? Suppose he were to allow Landis +to plunge deeper into his infatuation? Suppose he were to bring Lou +Macon to this place and let her see Landis sitting with Nelly, making +love to her with every tone in his voice, every light in his eye? Would +not that cure Lou? And would not that open the door to Donnegan? + +And remember, in considering how Donnegan was tempted, that he was not a +conscientious man. He was in fact what he seemed to be--a wanderer, a +careless vagrant, living by his wits. For all this, he had been touched +by the divine fire--a love that is greater than self. And the more +deeply he hated Landis, the more profoundly he determined that he should +be discarded by Nelly and forced back to Lou Macon. In the meantime, +Nelly and Jack were coming again. They were close; they were passing; +and this time her eye had no spark for Donnegan. + +Yet he rose from his table, reached the floor with a few steps, and +touched Landis lightly on the shoulder. The challenge was passed. Landis +stopped abruptly and turned his head; his face showed merely dull +astonishment. The current of dancers split and washed past on either +side of the motionless trio, and on every face there was a glittering +curiosity. What would Landis do? + +Nothing. He was too stupefied to act. He, Jack Landis, had actually been +tagged while he was dancing with the woman which all The Corner knew to +be his girl! And before his befogged senses cleared the girl was in the +arms of the red-haired man and was lost in the crowd. + +What a buzz went around the room! For a moment Landis could no more move +than he could think; then he sent a sullen glance toward the girl and +retreated to their table. A childish sullenness clouded his face while +he sat there; only one decision came clearly to him: he must kill +Donnegan! + +In the meantime people noted two things. The first was that Donnegan +danced very well with Nelly Lebrun; and his red hair beside the silken +black of the girl's was a startling contrast. It was not a common red. +It flamed, as though with phosphoric properties of its own. But they +danced well; and the eyes of both of them were gleaming. Another thing: +men did not tag Donnegan any more than they had offered to tag Landis. +One or two slipped out from the outskirts of the floor, but something in +the face of Donnegan discouraged them and made them turn elsewhere as +though they had never started for Nelly Lebrun in the first place. +Indeed, to a two-year-old child it would have been apparent that Nelly +and the red-headed chap were interested in each other. + +As a matter of fact they did not speak a single syllable until they had +gone around the floor one complete turn and the dance was coming toward +an end. + +It was he who spoke first, gloomily: "I shouldn't have done it; I +shouldn't have tagged him!" + +At this she drew back a little so that she could meet his eyes. + +"Why not?" + +"The whole crew will be on my trail." + +"What crew?" + +"Beginning with Lord Nick!" + +This shook her completely out of the thrall of the dance. + +"Lord Nick? What makes you think that?" + +"I know he's thick with Landis. It'll mean trouble." + +He was so simple about it that she began to laugh. It was not such a +voice as Lou Macon's. It was high and light, and one could suspect that +it might become shrill under a stress. + +"And yet it looks as though you've been hunting trouble," she said. + +"I couldn't help it," said Donnegan naïvely. + +It was a very subtle flattery, this frankness from a man who had puzzled +all The Corner. Nelly Lebrun felt that she was about to look behind the +scenes and she tingled with delight. + +"Tell me," she said. "Why not?" + +"Well," said Donnegan. "I had to make a noise because I wanted to be +noticed." + +She glanced about her; every eye was upon them. + +"You've made your point," she murmured. "The whole town is talking of +nothing else." + +"I don't care an ounce of lead about the rest of the town." + +"Then--" + +She stopped abruptly, seeing toward what he was tending. And the heart +of Nelly Lebrun fluttered for the first time in many a month. She +believed him implicitly. It was for her sake that he had made all this +commotion; to draw her attention. For every lovely girl, no matter how +cool-headed, has a foolish belief in the power of her beauty. As a +matter of fact Donnegan had told her the truth. It had all been to win +her attention, from the fight for the mint to the tagging for the dance. +How could she dream that it sprang out of anything other than a wild +devotion to her? And while Donnegan coldly calculated every effect, +Nelly Lebrun began to see in him the man of a dream, a spirit out of a +dead age, a soul of knightly, reckless chivalry. In that small +confession he cast a halo about himself which no other hand could ever +remove entirely so far as Nelly Lebrun was concerned. + +"You understand?" he was saying quietly. + +She countered with a question as direct as his confession. + +"What are you, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"A wanderer," said Donnegan instantly, "and an avoider of work." + +At that they laughed together. The strain was broken and in its place +there was a mutual excitement. She saw Landis in the distance watching +their laughter with a face contorted with anger, but it only increased +her unreasoning happiness. + +"Mr. Donnegan, let me give you friendly advice. I like you: I know you +have courage; and I saw you meet Scar-faced Lewis. But if I were you I'd +leave The Corner tonight and never come back. You've set every man +against you. You've stepped on the toes of Landis and he's a big man +here. And even if you were to prove too much for Jack you'd come against +Lord Nick, as you say yourself. Do you know Nick?" + +"No." + +"Then, Mr. Donnegan, leave The Corner!" + +The music, ending, left them face to face as he dropped his arm from +about her. And she could appreciate now, for the first time, that he was +smaller than he had seemed at a distance, or while he was dancing. He +seemed a frail figure indeed to face the entire banded Corner--and Lord +Nick. + +"Don't you see," said Donnegan, "that I can't stop now?" + +There was a double meaning that sent her color flaring. + +He added in a low, tense voice, "I've gone too far. Besides, I'm +beginning to hope!" + +She paused, then made a little gesture of abandon. + +"Then stay, stay!" she whispered with eyes on fire. "And good luck to +you, Mr. Donnegan!" + + + + +21 + + +As they went back, toward Nelly's table, where Jack Landis was trying to +appear carelessly at ease, the face of Donnegan was pale. One might have +thought that excitement and fear caused his pallor; but as a matter of +fact it was in him an unfailing sign of happiness and success. Landis +had manners enough to rise as they approached. He found himself being +presented to the smaller man. He heard the cool, precise voice of +Donnegan acknowledging the introduction; and then the red-headed man +went back to his table; and Jack Landis was alone with Nelly Lebrun +again. + +He scowled at her, and she tried to look repentant, but since she could +not keep the dancing light out of her eyes, she compromised by looking +steadfastly down at the table. Which convinced Landis that she was +thinking of her late partner. He made a great effort, swallowed, and was +able to speak smoothly enough. + +"Looked as if you were having a pretty good time with that--tramp." + +The color in her cheeks was anger; Landis took it for shame. + +"He dances beautifully," she replied. + +"Yeh; he's pretty smooth. Take a gent like that, it's hard for a girl +to see through him." + +"Let's not talk about him, Jack." + +"All right. Is he going to dance with you again?" + +"I promised him the third dance after this." + +For a time Landis could not trust his voice. Then: "Kind of sorry about +that. Because I'll be going home before then." + +At this she raised her eyes for the first time. He was astonished and a +little horrified to see that she was not in the least flustered, but +very angry. + +"You'll go home before I have a chance for that dance?" she asked. +"You're acting like a two-year-old, Jack. You are!" + +He flushed. Burning would be too easy a death for Donnegan. + +"He's making a laughingstock out of me; look around the room!" + +"Nobody's thinking about you at all, Jack. You're just self-conscious." + +Of course, it was pouring acid upon an open wound. But she was past the +point of caution. + +"Maybe they ain't," said Landis, controlling his rage. "I don't figure +that I amount to much. But I rate myself as high as a skunk like him!" + +It may have been a smile that she gave him. At any rate, he caught the +glint of teeth, and her eyes were as cold as steel points. If she had +actually defended the stranger she would not have infuriated Landis so +much. + +"Well, what does he say about himself?" + +"He says frankly that he's a vagrant." + +"And you don't believe him?" + +She did not speak. + +"Makin' a play for sympathy. Confound a man like that, I say!" + +Still she did not answer; and now Landis became alarmed. + +"D'you really like him, Nelly?" + +"I liked him well enough to introduce him to you, Jack." + +"I'm sorry I talked so plain if you put it that way," he admitted +heavily. "I didn't know you picked up friends so fast as all that!" He +could not avoid adding this last touch of the poison point. + +His back was to Donnegan, and consequently the girl, facing him, could +look straight across the room at the red-headed man. She allowed herself +one brief glance, and she saw that he was sitting with his elbow on the +table, his chin in his hand, looking fixedly at her. It was the gaze of +one who forgets all else and wraps himself in a dream. Other people in +the room were noting that changeless stare and the whisper buzzed more +and more loudly, but Donnegan had forgotten the rest of the world, it +seemed. It was a very cunning piece of acting, not too much overdone, +and once more the heart of Nelly Lebrun fluttered. + +She remembered that in spite of his frankness he had not talked with +insolent presumption to her. He had merely answered her individual +questions with an astonishing, childlike frankness. He had laid his +heart before her, it seemed. And now he sat at a distance looking at her +with the white, intense face of one who sees a dream. + +Nelly Lebrun was recalled by the heavy breathing of Jack Landis and she +discovered that she had allowed her eyes to rest too long on the +red-headed stranger. She had forgotten; her eyes had widened; and even +Jack Landis was able to look into her mind and see things that startled +him. For the first time he sensed that this was more than a careless +flirtation. And he sat stiffly at the table, looking at her and through +her with a fixed smile. Nelly, horrified, strove to cover her tracks. + +"You're right, Jack," she said. "I--I think there was something brazen +in the way he tagged you. And--let's go home together!" + +Too late. The mind of Landis was not oversharp, but now jealousy gave it +a point. He nodded his assent, and they got up, but there was no +increase in his color. She read as plain as day in his face that he +intended murder this night and Nelly was truly frightened. + +So she tried different tactics. All the way to the substantial little +house which Lebrun had built at a little distance from the gambling +hall, she kept up a running fire of steady conversation. But when she +said good night to him, his face was still set. She had not deceived +him. When he turned, she saw him go back into the night with long +strides, and within half an hour she knew, as clearly as if she were +remembering the picture instead of foreseeing it, that Jack and Donnegan +would face each other gun in hand on the floor of Milligan's dance hall. + +Still, she was not foolish enough to run after Jack, take his arm, and +make a direct appeal. It would be too much like begging for Donnegan, +and even if Jack forgave her for this interest in his rival, she had +sense enough to feel that Donnegan himself never would. Something, +however, must be done to prevent the fight, and she took the straightest +course. + +She went as fast as a run would carry her straight behind the +intervening houses and came to the back entrance to the gaming hall. +There she entered and stepped into the little office of her father. +Black Lebrun was not there. She did not want him. In his place there sat +the Pedlar and Joe Rix; they were members of Lord Nick's chosen crew, +and since Nick's temporary alliance with Lebrun for the sake of +plundering Jack Landis, Nick's men were Nelly's men. Indeed, this was a +formidable pair. They were the kind of men about whom many whispers and +no facts circulate: and yet the facts are far worse than the whispers. +It was said that Joe Rix, who was a fat little man with a great aversion +to a razor and a pair of shallow, pale blue eyes, was in reality a +merciless fiend. He was; and he was more than that, if there be a +stronger superlative. If Lord Nick had dirty work to be done, there was +the man who did it with a relish. The Pedlar, on the other hand, was an +exact opposite. He was long, lean, raw-boned, and prodigiously strong in +spite of his lack of flesh. He had vast hands, all loose skin and +outstanding tendons; he had a fleshless face over which his smile was +capable of extending limitlessly. He was the sort of a man from whom one +would expect shrewdness, some cunning, stubbornness, a dry humor, and +many principles. All of which, except the last, was true of the Pedlar. + +There was this peculiarity about the Pedlar. In spite of his broad grins +and his wise, bright eyes, none, even of Lord Nick's gang, extended a +friendship or familiarity toward him. When they spoke of the Pedlar they +never used his name. They referred to him as "him" or they indicated him +with gestures. If he had a fondness for any living creature it was for +fat Joe Rix. + +Yet on seeing this ominous pair, Nelly Lebrun cried out softly in +delight. She ran to them, and dropped a hand on the bony shoulder of the +Pedlar and one on the plump shoulder of Joe Rix, whose loose flesh +rolled under her finger tips. + +"It's Jack Landis!" she cried. "He's gone to Milligan's to fight the +new man. Stop him!" + +"Donnegan?" said Joe, and did not rise. + +"Him?" said the Pedlar, and moistened his broad lips like one on the +verge of starvation. + +"Are you going to sit here?" she cried. "What will Lord Nick say if he +finds out you've let Jack get into a fight?" + +"We ain't nursin' mothers," declared the Pedlar. "But I'd kind of like +to look on!" + +And he rose. Unkinking joint after joint, straightening his legs, his +back, his shoulders, his neck, he soared up and up until he stood a +prodigious height. The girl controlled a shudder of disgust. + +"Joe!" she appealed. + +"You want us to clean up Donnegan?" he asked, rising, but without +interest in his voice. + +To his surprise, she slipped back to the door and blocked it with her +outcast arms. + +"Not a hair of his head!" she said fiercely. "Swear that you won't harm +him, boys!" + +"What the devil!" ejaculated Joe, who was a blunt man in spite of his +fat. "You want us to keep Jack from fightin', but you don't want us to +hurt the other gent. What you want? Hogtie 'em both?" + +"Yes, yes; keep Jack out of Milligan's; but for heaven's sake don't try +to put a hand on Donnegan." + +"Why not?" + +"For your sakes; he'd kill you, Joe!" + +At this they both gaped in unison, and as one man they drawled in vast +admiration: "Good heavens!" + +"But go, go, go!" cried the girl. + +And she shoved them through the door and into the night. + + + + +22 + + +To the people in Milligan's it had been most incredible that Jack Landis +should withdraw from a competition of any sort. And though the girls +were able to understand his motives in taking Nelly Lebrun away they +were not able to explain this fully to their men companions. For one and +all they admitted that Jack was imperiling his hold on the girl in +question if he allowed her to stay near this red-headed fiend. But one +and all they swore that Jack Landis had ruined himself with her by +taking her away. And this was a paradox which made masculine heads in +The Corner spin. The main point was that Jack Landis had backed down +before a rival; and this fact was stunning enough. Donnegan, however, +was not confused. He sent big George to ask Milligan to come to him for +a moment. + +Milligan, at this, cursed George, but he was drawn by curiosity to +consent. A moment later he was seated at Donnegan's table, drinking his +own liquor as it was served to him from the hands of big George. If the +first emotions of the dance-hall proprietor were anger and intense +curiosity, his second emotion was that never-failing surprise which all +who came close to the wanderer felt. For he had that rare faculty of +seeming larger when in action, even when actually near much bigger men. +Only when one came close to Donnegan one stepped, as it were, through a +veil, and saw the almost fragile reality. When Milligan had caught his +breath and adjusted himself, he began as follows: + +"Now, Bud," he said, "you've made a pretty play. Not bad at all. But no +more bluffs in Milligan's." + +"Bluff!" Donnegan repeated gently. + +"About your servant. I let it pass for one night, but not for another." + +"My dear Mr. Milligan! However"--changing the subject easily--"what I +wish to speak to you about is a bit of trouble which I foresee. I think, +sir, that Jack Landis is coming back." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"It's a feeling I have. I have queer premonitions, Mr. Milligan, I'm +sure he's coming and I'm sure he's going to attempt a murder." + +Milligan's thick lips framed his question but he did not speak: fear +made his face ludicrous. + +"Right here?" + +"Yes." + +"A shootin' scrape here! You?" + +"He has me in mind. That's why I'm speaking to you." + +"Don't wait to speak to me about it. Get up and get out!" + +"Mr. Milligan, you're wrong. I'm going to stay here and you're going to +protect me." + +"Well, confound your soul! They ain't much nerve about you, is there?" + +"You run a public place. You have to protect your patrons from insult." + +"And who began it, then? Who started walkin' on Jack's toes? Now you +come whinin' to me! By heck, I hope Jack gets you!" + +"You're a genial soul," said Donnegan. "Here's to you!" + +But something in his smile as he sipped his liquor made Milligan sit +straighter in his chair. + +As for Donnegan, he was thinking hard and fast. If there were a shooting +affair and he won, he would nevertheless run a close chance of being +hung by a mob. He must dispose that mob to look upon him as the +defendant and Landis as the aggressor. He had not foreseen the crisis +until it was fairly upon him. He had thought of Nelly playing Landis +along more gradually and carefully, so that, while he was slowly +learning that she was growing cold to him, he would have a chance to +grow fond of Lou Macon once more. But even across the width of the room +he had seen the girl fire up, and from that moment he knew the result. +Landis already suspected him; Landis, with the feeling that he had been +robbed, would do his best to kill the thief. He might take a chance with +Landis, if it came to a fight, just as he had taken a chance with Lewis. +But how different this case would be! Landis was no dull-nerved ruffian +and drunkard. He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a +gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all. Of all this +Donnegan was fully aware. Either he must place his own life in terrible +hazard or else he must shoot to kill; and if he killed, what of Lou +Macon? + +While he smiled into the face of Milligan, perspiration was bursting out +under his armpits. + +"Mr. Milligan, I implore you to give me your aid." + +"What's the difference?" Milligan asked in a changed tone. "If he don't +fight you here he'll fight you later." + +"You're wrong, Mr. Milligan. He isn't the sort to hold malice. He'll +come here tonight and try to get at me like a bulldog straining on a +leash. If he is kept away he'll get over his bad temper." + +Milligan pushed back his chair. + +"You've tried to force yourself down the throat of The Corner," he said, +"and now you yell for help when you see the teeth." + +He had raised his voice. Now he got up and strode noisily away. Donnegan +waited until he was halfway across the dance floor and then rose in +turn. + +"Gentlemen," he said. + +The quiet voice cut into every conversation; the musicians lowered the +instruments. + +"I have just told Mr. Milligan that I am sure Jack Landis is coming back +here to try to kill me. I have asked for his protection. He has refused +it. I intend to stay here and wait for him, Jack Landis. In the meantime +I ask any able-bodied man who will do so, to try to stop Landis when he +enters." + +He sat down, raised his glass, and sipped the drink. Two hundred pairs +of eyes were fastened with hawklike intensity upon him, and they could +perceive no quiver of his hand. + +The sipping of his liquor was not an affectation. For he was drinking, +at incredible cost, liquors from Milligan's store of rareties. + +The effect of Donnegan's announcement was first a silence, then a hum, +then loud voices of protest, curiosity--and finally a scurrying toward +the doors. + +Yet really very few left. The rest valued a chance to see the fight +beyond the fear of random slugs of lead which might fly their way. +Besides, where such men as Donnegan and big Jack Landis were concerned, +there was not apt to be much wild shooting. The dancing stopped, of +course. The music was ordered by Milligan to play, in a frantic endeavor +to rouse custom again; but the music of its own accord fell away in the +middle of the piece. For the musicians could not watch the notes and the +door at the same time. + +As for Donnegan, he found that it was one thing to wait and another to +be waited for. He, too, wished to turn and watch that door until it +should be filled by the bulk of Jack Landis. Yet he fought the desire. + +And in the midst of this torturing suspense an idea came to him, and at +the same instant Jack Landis entered the doorway. He stood there looking +vast against the night. One glance around was sufficient to teach him +the meaning of the silence. The stage was set, and the way opened to +Donnegan. Without a word, big George stole to one side. + +Straight to the middle of the dance floor went Jack Landis, red-faced, +with long, heavy steps. He faced Donnegan. + +"You skunk!" shouted Landis. "I've come for you!" + +And he went for his gun. Donnegan, too, stirred. But when the revolver +leaped into the hand of Landis, it was seen that the hands of Donnegan +rose past the line of his waist, past his shoulders, and presently +locked easily behind his head. A terrible chance, for Landis had come +within a breath of shooting. So great was the impulse that, as he +checked the pressure of his forefinger, he stumbled a whole pace +forward. He walked on. + +"You need cause to fight?" he cried, striking Donnegan across the face +with the back of his left hand, jerking up the muzzle of the gun in his +right. + +Now a dark trickle was seen to come from the broken lips of Donnegan, +yet he was smiling faintly. + +Jack Landis muttered a curse and said sneeringly: "Are you afraid?" + +There were sick faces in that room; men turned their heads, for nothing +is so ghastly as the sight of a man who is taking water. + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "I'm going to kill you, Jack. But I want to kill +you fairly and squarely. There's no pleasure, you see, in beating a +youngster like you to the draw. I want to give you a fighting chance. +Besides"--he removed one hand from behind his head and waved it +carelessly to where the men of The Corner crouched in the shadow--"you +people have seen me drill one chap already, and I'd like to shoot you in +a new way. Is that agreeable?" + +Two terrible, known figures detached themselves from the gloom near the +door. + +"Hark to this gent sing," said one, and his name was the Pedlar. "Hark +to him sing, Jack, and we'll see that you get fair play." + +"Good," said his friend, Joe Rix. "Let him take his try, Jack." + +As a matter of fact, had Donnegan reached for a gun, he would have been +shot before even Landis could bring out a weapon, for the steady eye of +Joe Rix, hidden behind the Pedlar, had been looking down a revolver +barrel at the forehead of Donnegan, waiting for that first move. But +something about the coolness of Donnegan fascinated them. + +"Don't shoot, Joe," the Pedlar had said. "That bird is the chief over +again. Don't plug him!" + +And that was why Donnegan lived. + + + + +23 + + +If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, +he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for +his proposal to Jack Landis. + +He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken +out a handkerchief and wiped his chin. + +"I'm a methodical fellow, Landis," he said. "I hate to do an untidy +piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling +out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but +instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I +don't like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise +job. One that I'll be proud of." + +A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, +who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and was crooning softly, with +unspeakable joy: "Hark to him sing! Hark to him sing! A ringer for the +chief!" + +"Why should we be in such a hurry?" continued Donnegan. "You see that +clock in the corner? Tut, tut! Turn your head and look. Do you think +I'll drop you while you look around?" + +Landis flung one glance over his shoulder at the big clock, whose +pendulum worked solemnly back and forth. + +"In five minutes," said Donnegan, "it will be eleven o'clock. And when +it's eleven o'clock the clock will chime. Now, Landis, you and I shall +sit down here like gentlemen and drink our liquor and think our last +thoughts. Heavens, man, is there anything more disagreeable than being +hurried out of life? But when the clock chimes, we draw our guns and +shoot each other through the heart--the brain--wherever we have chosen. +But, Landis, if one of us should inadvertently--or through +nervousness--beat the clock's chime by the split part of a second, the +good people of The Corner will fill that one of us promptly full of +lead." + +He turned to the crowd. + +"Gentlemen, is it a good plan?" + +As well as a Roman crowd if it wanted to see a gladiator die, the frayed +nerves of The Corner responded to the stimulus of this delightful +entertainment. There was a joyous chorus of approval. + +"When the clock strikes, then," said Landis, and flung himself down in a +chair, setting his teeth over his rage. + +Donnegan smiled benevolently upon him; then he turned again and beckoned +to George. The big man strode closer and leaned. + +"George," he said. "I'm not going to kill this fellow." + +"No, sir; certainly, sir," whispered the other. "George can kill him for +you, sir." + +Donnegan smiled wanly. + +"I'm not going to kill him, George, on account of the girl on the hill. +You know? And the reason is that she's fond of the lubber. I'll try to +break his nerve, George, and drill him through the arm, say. No, I can't +take chances like that. But if I have him shaking in time, I'll shoot +him through the right shoulder, George. + +"But if I miss and he gets me instead, mind you, never raise a hand +against him. If you so much as touch his skin, I'll rise out of my grave +and haunt you. You hear? Good-by, George." + +But big George withdrew without a word, and the reason for his +speechlessness was the glistening of his eyes. + +"If I live," said Donnegan, "I'll show that George that I appreciate +him." + +He went on aloud to Landis: "So glum, my boy? Tush! We have still four +minutes left. Are you going to spend your last four minutes hating me?" + +He turned: "Another liqueur, George. Two of them." + +The big man brought the drinks, and having put one on the table of +Donnegan, he was directed to take the other to Landis. + +"It's really good stuff," said Donnegan. "I'm not an expert on these +matters; but I like the taste. Will you try it?" + +It seemed that Landis dared not trust himself to speech. As though a +vast and deadly hatred were gathered in him, and he feared lest it +should escape in words the first time he parted his teeth. + +He took the glass of liqueur and slowly poured it upon the floor. From +the crowd there was a deep murmur of disapproval. And Landis, feeling +that he had advanced the wrong foot in the matter, glowered scornfully +about him and then stared once more at Donnegan. + +"Just as you please," said Donnegan, sipping his glass. "But remember +this, my young friend, that a fool is a fool, drunk or sober." + +Landis showed his teeth, but made no other answer. And Donnegan +anxiously flashed a glance at the clock. He still had three minutes. +Three minutes in which he must reduce this stalwart fellow to a +trembling, nervous wreck. Otherwise, he must shoot to kill, or else sit +there and become a certain sacrifice for the sake of Lou Macon. Yet he +controlled the muscles of his face and was still able to smile as he +turned again to Landis. + +"Three minutes left," he said. "Three minutes for you to compose +yourself, Landis. Think of it, man! All the good life behind you. Have +you nothing to remember? Nothing to soften your mind? Why die, Landis, +with a curse in your heart and a scowl on your lips?" + +Once more Landis stirred his lips; but there was only the flash of his +teeth; he maintained his resolute silence. + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan, "I am sorry to see this. And before all your +admirers, Landis. Before all your friends. Look at them scattered there +under the lights and in the shadows. No farewell word for them? Nothing +kindly to say? Are you going to leave them without a syllable of +goodfellowship?" + +"Confound you!" muttered Landis. + +There was another hum from the crowd; it was partly wonder, partly +anger. Plainly they were not pleased with Jack Landis on this day. + +Donnegan shook his head sadly. + +"I hoped," he said, "that I could teach you how to die. But I fail. And +yet you should be grateful to me for one thing, Jack. I have kept you +from being a murderer in cold blood. I kept you from killing a +defenseless man as you intended to do when you walked up to me a moment +ago." + +He smiled genially in mockery, and there was a scowl on the face of +Landis. + +"Two minutes," said Donnegan. + +Leaning back in his chair, he yawned. For a whole minute he did not +stir. + +"One minute?" he murmured inquisitively. + +And there was a convulsive shudder through the limbs of Landis. It was +the first sign that he was breaking down under the strain. There +remained only one minute in which to reduce him to a nervous wreck! + +The strain was telling in other places. Donnegan turned and saw in the +shadow and about the edges of the room a host of drawn, tense faces and +burning eyes. Never while they lived would they forget that scene. + +"And now that the time is close," said Donnegan, "I must look to my +gun." + +He made a gesture; how it was, no one was swift enough of eye to tell, +but a gun appeared in his hand. At the flash of it, Landis' weapon +leaped up to the mark and his face convulsed. But Donnegan calmly spun +the cylinder of his revolver and held it toward Landis, dangling from +his forefinger under the guard. + +"You see?" he said to Landis. "Clean as a whistle, and easy as a girl's +smile. I hate a stiff action, Jack." + +And Landis slowly allowed the muzzle of his own gun to sink. For the +first time his eyes left the eyes of Donnegan, and sinking, inch by +inch, stared fascinated at the gun in the hand of the enemy. + +"Thirty seconds," said Donnegan by way of conversation. + +Landis jerked up his head and his eyes once more met the eyes of +Donnegan, but this time they were wide, and the pointed glance of +Donnegan sank into them. The lips of Landis parted. His tongue +tremblingly moistened them. + +"Keep your nerve," said Donnegan in an undertone. + +"You hound!" gasped Landis. + +"I knew it," said Donnegan sadly. "You'll die with a curse on your +lips." + +He added: "Ten seconds, Landis!" + +And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked +his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung +back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep +breath. + +And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and +crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would +send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming +through the big room. + +But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With +the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver +still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd. + +And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking +suspense. + +It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles +of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in +imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering. + +And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long +and reverberant clanging. + +With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the +weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a +distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan, +sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure, +unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through +the right shoulder of Jack Landis. + +The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the +victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?" + + + + +24 + + +That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a +flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of +this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They +greeted him with expectant glances. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?" + +They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group. + +"I have to thank you," said Donnegan. + +"For what?" + +"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them. + +And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye, +Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'." + +"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when +you get stirred up about a thing." + +"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely. + +"Ay, he's rare." + +"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?" + +The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil. + +"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of +been in politics." + +In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed. +It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and +sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be +useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound, +and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for +the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short +distance making nothing of its target. + +A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed +upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a +very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He +went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised +one finger as he looked at them. + +"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear." + +Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and +lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for +Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis. + +In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him. +Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near +Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled +against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered +him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible +for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple. + +"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan." + +Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split +before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew, +among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be +shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have +shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went +easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly. + +For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat +down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind +forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens, +the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of +Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly +upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing--that +Donnegan was capable of affection. + +The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for +many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the +outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The +one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst +with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and +he heard voices--the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something +was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly. + +What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon, +ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou +Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the +liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once. + +"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel. + +"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick +color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I +thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking +down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not +see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him. + +"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable +in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter +came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our +friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the +feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to +rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one +thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him +for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to +it." + +She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard +the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with +half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen +stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass +voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan. + +"And now for facts," he began. + +"But," said Donnegan, "how--that chair--how in the world have you come +here?" + +The colonel shook his head. + +"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing +is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for +my small mystery--a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon +stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for +your work here, lad?" + +"Bad," said Donnegan. + +"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?" + +"You have heard?" + +"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the +face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider, +glazed with the other thing." + +"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis." + +He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained +parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the +spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed +them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner +that made the blood of Donnegan run cold. + +"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I +underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were +qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and +from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done +it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the +mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He +misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick +and his compatriots!" + +"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead." + +Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his +face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It +was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a +single conversation. + +"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had +punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?" + +Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against +the point of his chin. + +"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as +good--it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and +having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under +your surveillance--this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook--for me +and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by +having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position +to excite all the sympathies of Lou?" + +Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there +existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He +looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but +with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins +something akin to admiration from more common people. + +"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent +scrutiny--silence was almost the only thing in the world that could +trouble him--"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?" + +"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him +back to health hold a gun--metaphorically speaking--to his head and make +him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?" + +The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair, +brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled +benevolently upon Donnegan. + +"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are +exquisite!" + +"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel." + +"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can +speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body, +and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw +Donnegan come to his feet. + +"Eh?" he called. + +"Good-by," said Donnegan. + +"But where--Landis--Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?" + +"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my +work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon +Jack Landis." + +The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping +silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear +foolish. + +"In heaven's name, Donnegan!" + +The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came +from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright +and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob +of the door. + +"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute." + + + + +25 + + +Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held +it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time +limit was taken literally. + +"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of +Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in +any way." + +"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile. + +"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I +have given to you?" + +The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the +eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the +two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan +slipped the watch into his pocket. + +"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of +his strong hands across his forehead. + +"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of +your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since +you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the +first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took +it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of +your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools +cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very +well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not +pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder +why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to +him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I +intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through +a legal act signed by the hand of Jack." + +"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly. + +A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan +caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel +possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he, +Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man. + +"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!" + +"Without force?" + +"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and +therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what +may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I +have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger +against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear +may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I +dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite +schools of action." + +The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the +colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of +the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be +very apt to do as the colonel wished. + +"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly. +"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the +self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would. +In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that +would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well--win her away +from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was +flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull. +I had to strike him down in self-defense. + +"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you +omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important--to me. +What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?" + +"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou, +though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well, +Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your +gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a +snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight, +and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into +my--er--paternal care--her sentiments may change. No, they will +change." + +Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more +self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the +presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's +insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan +after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in +his own way. At length, Donnegan paused. + +"What's the next step?" he asked. + +The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could +tell. + +"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step, +Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house." + +"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from +the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight. +A bad set, Colonel Macon." + +"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly. + +"Ah?" + +"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on. +"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away +to this house." + +"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that +she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and +tend him and grow to hate me?" + +"Grow to fear you," said the colonel. + +"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly. + +"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette. + +He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his +lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan. +Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but +fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned +without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his +hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and +slam the door behind him--to put a bar between him and the eye of the +colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and +closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to +compel himself to move with proper dignity. + +When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing +compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's +advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the +power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had +followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself +had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience? + +He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings, +he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed +the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference +lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one +corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little +table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent +livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her +art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity. +He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman. + +"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the +door. + +"Nothing." + +"Good night." + +"Wait." + +She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had +delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and +without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan. +What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these +dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a +soldier obeys a commander. + +"There has been trouble," said Donnegan. + +"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face. + +"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting +affair." + +There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes, +and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before +sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same +contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual +expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl. + +"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity +for them." + +For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her +confidence in his prowess as a fighting man? + +"It was only one man," he said huskily. + +Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she +shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both +his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him; +she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself, +and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He +found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager +lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble. + +"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?" + +And he said to himself: "She loves him with all her heart and soul!" + +"It is he," said Donnegan in an agony. Pain may be like a fire that +tempers some strong men; and now Donnegan, because he was in torment, +smiled, and his eye was as cold as steel. + +The girl flung away his hands. + +"You bought murderer!" she cried at him. + +"He is not dead." + +"But you shot him down!" + +"He attacked me; it was self-defense." + +She broke into a low-pitched, mirthless laughter. Where was the +filmy-eyed girl he had known? The laughter broke off short--like a sob. + +"Don't you suppose I've known?" she said. "That I've read my father? +That I knew he was sending a bloodhound when he sent you? But, oh, I +thought you had a touch of the other thing!" + +He cringed under her tone. + +"I'll bring him to you," said Donnegan desperately. "I'll bring him here +so that you can take care of him." + +"You'll take him away from Lord Nick--and Lebrun--and the rest?" And it +was the cold smile of her father with which she mocked him. + +"I'll do it." + +"You play a deep game," said the girl bitterly. "Why would you do it?" + +"Because," said Donnegan faintly. "I love you." + +Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and +was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled +eyes. + +"As if I were a leper," muttered Donnegan. "By heaven, she looked at me +as if I were unclean!" + +But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her +face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, +and her face tipped up. + +Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen +the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves. + + + + +26 + + +Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and +he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single +step, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrown +himself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly out +before him, his teeth set, his eyes closed. + +For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force when +he could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of all +was gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms to +take that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which could +encompass her. + +Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender form +of the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power of +one hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closed +his fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and sat +with his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he had +seen a ghost. + +But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, until +big George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure that +he slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for it +was the chill, gray time of the night. + +But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, he +found the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightly +across his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy. + +He spent the day in that chair. + +It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared face +and a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to see +him. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence as +acquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to see +you, sir." + +Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow with +sandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw. + +"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester. + +Donnegan did not reply. + +"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued the +sandy-haired man. + +There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work, +Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been in +The Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon. +Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because he +played crooked with me. You hear me talk?" + +Still Donnegan considered him without a word. + +"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we can +get you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with the +colonel." + +He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnerved +him. He even took a step back toward the door. + +"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behind +me. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't alone +yourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan, +you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but I +ask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?" + +He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you're +done!" + +For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George a +significant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However, +Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormous +oath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door and +slammed it after him. + +"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir." + +And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and the +evening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hills +around The Corner. + +Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to his +revolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, and +walked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping, +hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quiet +departure did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across the +threshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars. + +"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. He +ain't happy." + +And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle with +knife and gun. + +He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heart +of the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hour +vigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyes +with shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife, +competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had two +places in mind--Lebrun's and Milligan's. + +It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly, +he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; it +was like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realized +that in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl and +bring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear of +Donnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donnegan +wanted to tear Landis to shreds. + +It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to a +gambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan was +not a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wanted +something that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made him +a good deal of a boy. + +So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. A +murmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened for +him. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watched +it double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in the +winnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rose +disconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs it +never fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones she +punishes. + +In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner. + +"Donnegan is out hunting trouble." + +About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evil +she has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongues +wagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get the +meaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness of +his mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him more +sedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that The +Corner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, but +cornered, he will fight like a wildcat. + +So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed. + +He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him, +and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumor +was there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbed +cow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan had +occupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint and +sought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra, +and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of the +gunman. + +As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him. +Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes of +women brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him, +and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Not +that he had forethought in going toward it, but he was moving +absent-mindedly. + +Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner, +and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, he +let his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than one +brave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiled +back at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face of +Nelly Lebrun. + +She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted except +for the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly. +Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; but +that would have been too pointed. + +A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor to +Nelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hat +under his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he made +an old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightened +again. + +"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquired. + +Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She felt +that she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest which +surrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other hand +that her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with the +man. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, being +forbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lips +and eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement. + +"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things. + +"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute." + +"If I should--what would people say?"; + +"Let's find out." + +"It would be--daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night." + +"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us." + +She went a pace closer to it with him. + +"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sit +down with you, Mr. Donnegan." + +And she immediately slipped into the chair. + + + + +27 + + +She qualified her surrender, of course, by sitting on the very edge of +the chair. She had on a wine-colored dress, and, with the excitement +whipping color into her cheeks and her eyes dancing, Nelly Lebrun was a +lovely picture. + +"I must go at once," said Nelly. + +"Of course, I can't expect you to stay." + +She dropped one hand on the edge of the table. One would have thought +that she was in the very act of rising. + +"Do you know that you frighten me?" + +"I?" said Donnegan, with appropriate inflection. + +"As if I were a man and you were angry." + +"But you see?" And he made a gesture with both of his palms turned up. +"People have slandered me. I am harmless." + +"The minute is up, Mr. Donnegan. What is it you wish?" + +"Another minute." + +"Now you laugh at me." + +"No, no!" + +"And in the next minute?" + +"I hope to persuade you to stay till the third minute." + +"Of course, I can't." + +"I know; it's impossible." + +"Quite." She settled into the chair. "See how people stare at me! They +remember poor Jack Landis and they think--the whole crowd--" + +"A crowd is always foolish. In the meantime, I'm happy." + +"You?" + +"To be here; to sit close to you; to watch you." + +Her glance was like the tip of a rapier, searching him through for some +iota of seriousness under this banter. + +"Ah?" and Nelly Lebrun laughed. + +"Don't you see that I mean it?" + +"You can watch me from a distance, Mr. Donnegan." + +"May I say a bold thing?" + +"You have said several." + +"No one can really watch you from a distance." + +She canted her head a little to one side; such an encounter of personal +quips was a seventh heaven to her. + +"That's a riddle, Mr. Donnegan." + +"A simple one. The answer is, because there's too much to watch." + +He joined her when she laughed, but the laughter of Donnegan made not a +sound, and he broke in on her mirth suddenly. + +"Ah, don't you see I'm serious?" + +Her glance flicked on either side, as though she feared someone might +have read his lips. + +"Not a soul can hear me," murmured Donnegan, "and I'm going to be bolder +still, and tell you the truth." + +"It's the last thing I dare stay to hear." + +"You are too lovely to watch from a distance, Nelly Lebrun." + +He was so direct that even Nelly Lebrun, expert in flirtations, was +given pause, and became sober. She shook her head and raised a +cautioning finger. But Donnegan was not shaken. + +"Because there is a glamour about a beautiful girl," he said gravely. +"One has to step into the halo to see her, to know her. Are you +contented to look at a flower from a distance? That's an old comparison, +isn't it? But there is something like a fragrance about you, Nelly +Lebrun. Don't be afraid. No one can hear; no one shall ever dream I've +said such bold things to you. In the meantime, we have a truth party. +There is a fragrance, I say. It must be breathed. There is a glow which +must touch one. As it touches me now, you see?" + +Indeed, there was a faint color in his cheeks. And the girl flushed more +deeply; her eyes were still bright, but they no longer sharpened to such +a penetrating point. She was believing at least a little part of what he +said, and her disbelief only heightened her joy in what was real in this +strangest of lovemakings. + +"I shall stay here to learn one thing," she said. "What deviltry is +behind all this talk, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"Is that fair to me? Besides, I only follow a beaten trail in The +Corner." + +"And that?" + +"Toward Nelly Lebrun." + +"A beaten trail? You?" she cried, with just a touch of anger. "I'm not a +child, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You are not; and that's why I am frank." + +"You have done all these things--following this trail you speak of?" + +"Remember," said Donnegan soberly. "What have I done?" + +"Shot down two men; played like an actor on a stage a couple of times at +least, if I must be blunt; hunted danger like--like a reckless madman; +dared all The Corner to cross you; flaunted the red rag in the face of +the bull. Those are a few things you have done, sir! And all on one +trail? That trail you spoke of?" + +"Nelly Lebrun--" + +"I'm listening; and do you know I'm persuading myself to believe you?" + +"It's because you feel the truth before I speak it. Truth speaks for +itself, you know." + +"I have closed my eyes--you see? I have stepped into a masquerade. Now +you can talk." + +"Masquerades are exciting," murmured Donnegan. + +"And they are sometimes beautiful." + +"But this sober truth of mine--" + +"Well?" + +"I came here unknown--and I saw you, Nelly Lebrun." + +He paused; she was looking a little past him. + +"I came in rags; no friends; no following. And I saw that I should have +to make you notice me." + +"And why? No, I shouldn't have asked that." + +"You shouldn't ask that," agreed Donnegan. "But I saw you the queen of +The Corner, worshiped by all men. What could I do? I am not rich. I am +not big. You see?" + +He drew her attention to his smallness with a flush which never failed +to touch the face of Donnegan when he thought of his size; and he seemed +to swell and grow greater in the very instant she glanced at him. + +"What could I do? One thing; fight. I have fought. I fought to get the +eye of The Corner, but most of all to attract your attention. I came +closer to you. I saw that one man blocked the way--mostly. I decided to +brush him aside. How?" + +"By fighting?" She had not been carried away by his argument. She was +watching him like a lynx every moment. + +"Not by that. By bluffing. You see, I was not fool enough to think that +you would--particularly notice a fighting bully." + +He laid his open hand on the table. It was like exposing both strength +and weakness; and into such a trap it would have been a singularly +hard-minded woman who might not have stepped. Nelly Lebrun leaned a +little closer. She forgot to criticize. + +"It was bluff. I saw that Landis was big and good-looking. And what was +I beside him? Nothing. I could only hope that he was hollow; yellow--you +see? So I tried the bluff. You know about it. The clock, and all that +claptrap. But Landis wasn't yellow. He didn't crumble. He lasted long +enough to call my bluff, and I had to shoot in self-defense. And then, +when he lay on the floor, I saw that I had failed." + +"Failed?" + +He lowered his eyes for fear that she would catch the glitter of them. + +"I knew that you would hate me for what I had done because I had only +proved that Landis was a brave youngster with enough nerve for nine out +of ten. And I came tonight--to ask you to forgive me. No, not that--only +to ask you to understand. Do you?" + +He raised his glance suddenly at that, and their eyes met with one of +these electric shocks which will go tingling through two people. And +when the lips of Nelly Lebrun parted a little, he knew that she was in +the trap. He closed his hand that lay on the table--curling the fingers +slowly. In that way he expressed all his exultation. + +"There is something wrong," said the girl, in a tone of one who argues +with herself. "It's all too logical to be real." + +"Ah?" + +"Was that your only reason for fighting Jack Landis?" + +"Do I have to confess even that?" + +She smiled in the triumph of her penetration, but it was a brief, +unhappy smile. One might have thought that she would have been glad to +be deceived. + +"I came to serve a girl who was unhappy," said Donnegan. "Her fiancé had +left her; her fiancé was Jack Landis. And she's now in a hut up the hill +waiting for him. And I thought that if I ruined him in your eyes he'd go +back to a girl who wouldn't care so much about bravery. Who'd forgive +him for having left her. But you see what a fool I was and how clumsily +I worked? My bluff failed, and I only wounded him, put him in your +house, under your care, where he'll be happiest, and where there'll +never be a chance for this girl to get him back." + +Nelly Lebrun, with her folded hands under her chin, studied him. + +"Mr. Donnegan," she said, "I wish I knew whether you are the most +chivalrous, self-sacrificing of men, or simply the most gorgeous liar in +the desert." + +"And it's hardly fair," said Donnegan, "to expect me to tell you that." + + + + +28 + + +It gave them both a welcome opportunity to laugh, welcome to the girl +because it broke into an excitement which was rapidly telling upon her, +and welcome to Donnegan because the strain of so many distortions of the +truth was telling upon him as well. They laughed together. One hasty +glance told Donnegan that half the couples in the room were whispering +about Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun; but when he looked across the table he +saw that Nelly Lebrun had not a thought for what might be going on in +the minds of others. She was quite content. + +"And the girl?" she said. + +Donnegan rested his forehead upon his hand in thought. He dared not let +Nelly see his face at this moment, for the mention of Lou Macon had +poured the old flood of sorrow back upon him And therefore, when he +looked up, he was sneering. + +"You know these blond, pretty girls?" he said. + +"Oh, they are adorable!" + +"With dull eyes," said Donnegan coldly, and a twinkle came into the +responsive eye of Nelly Lebrun. "The sort of a girl who sees a hero in +such a fellow as Jack Landis." + +"And Jack is brave." + +"I shouldn't have said that." + +"Never mind. Brave, but such a boy." + +"Are you serious?" + +She looked questioningly at Donnegan and they smiled together, slowly. + +"I--I'm glad it's that way," and Donnegan sighed. + +"And did you really think it could be any other way?" + +"I didn't know. I'm afraid I was blind." + +"But the poor girl on the hill; I wish I could see her." + +She was watching Donnegan very sharply again. + +"A good idea. Why don't you?" + +"You seem to like her?" + +"Yes," said Donnegan judiciously. "She has an appealing way; I'm very +sorry for her. But I've done my best; I can't help her." + +"Isn't there some way?" + +"Of what?" + +"Of helping her." + +Donnegan laughed. "Go to your father and persuade him to send Landis +back to her." + +She shook her head. + +"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you +know." + +"Business? Well, I guessed at that." + +"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly. + +Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets. + +"They made me--flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!" + +How much the past tense may mean! + +"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with +gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? +Why couldn't you get him away from the house?" + +"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?" + +"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night." + +"But Jack would wake up and make a noise." + +"There are things that would make him sleep through anything." + +"But how could he be moved?" + +"On a horse litter kept ready outside." + +"And how carried to the litter?" + +"I would carry him." The girl looked at him with a question and then +with a faint smile beginning. "Easily," said Donnegan, stiffening in his +chair. "Very easily." + +It pleased her to find this weakness in the pride of the invincible +Donnegan. It gave her a secure feeling of mastery. So she controlled her +smile and looked with a sort of superior kindliness upon the red-headed +little man. + +"It's no good," Nelly Lebrun said with a sigh. "Even if he were taken +away--and then it would get you into a bad mess." + +"Would it? Worse than I'm in?" + +"Hush! Lord Nick is coming to The Corner; and no matter what you've done +so far--I think I could quiet him. But if you were to take Landis +away--then nothing could stop him." + +Donnegan sneered. + +"I begin to think Lord Nick is a bogie," he said. "Everyone whispers +when they speak of him." He leaned forward. "I should like to meet him, +Nelly Lebrun!" + +It staggered Nelly. "Do you mean that?" she cried softly. + +"I do." + +She caught her breath and then a spark of deviltry gleamed. "I wonder!" +said Nelly Lebrun, and her glance weighed Donnegan. + +"All I ask is a fair chance," he said. + +"He is a big man," said the girl maliciously. + +The never-failing blush burned in the face of Donnegan. + +"A large target is more easily hit," he said through his teeth. + +Her thoughts played back and forth in her eyes. + +"I can't do it," she said. + +Donnegan played a random card. + +"I was mistaken," he said darkly. "Jack was not the man I should have +faced. Lord Nick!" + +"No, no, no, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You can't persuade me. Well, I was a fool not to guess it!" + +"I really think," said the girl gloomily, "that as soon as Lord Nick +comes, you'll hunt him out!" + +He bowed to her with cold politeness. "In spite of his size," said +Donnegan through his teeth once more. + +And at this the girl's face softened and grew merry. + +"I'm going to help you to take Jack away," she said, "on one +condition." + +"And that?" + +"That you won't make a step toward Lord Nick when he comes." + +"I shall not avoid him," said Donnegan. + +"You're unreasonable! Well, not avoid him, but simply not provoke him. +I'll arrange it so that Lord Nick won't come hunting trouble." + +"And he'll let Jack stay with the girl and her father?" + +"Perhaps he'll persuade them to let him go of their own free will." + +Donnegan thought of the colonel and smiled. + +"In that case, of course, I shouldn't care at all." He added: "But do +you mean all this?" + +"You shall see." + +They talked only a moment longer and then Donnegan left the hall with +the girl on his arm. Certainly the thoughts of all in Milligan's +followed that pair; and it was seen that Donnegan took her to the door +of her house and then went away through the town and up the hill. And +big George followed him like a shadow cast from a lantern behind a man +walking in a fog. + +In the hut on the hill, Donnegan put George quickly to work, and with a +door and some bedding, a litter was hastily constructed and swung +between the two horses. In the meantime, Donnegan climbed higher up the +hill and watched steadily over the town until, in a house beneath him, +two lights were shown. He came back at that and hurried down the hill +with George behind and around the houses until they came to the +pretentious cabin of the gambler, Lebrun. + +Once there, Donnegan went straight to an unlighted window, tapped; and +it was opened from within, softly. Nelly Lebrun stood within. + +"It's done," she said. "Joe and the Pedlar are sound asleep. They drank +too much." + +"Your father." + +"Hasn't come home." + +"And Jack Landis?" + +"No matter what you do, he won't wake up; but be careful of his +shoulder. It's badly torn. How can you carry him?" + +She could not see Donnegan's flush, but she heard his teeth grit. And +he slipped through the window, gesturing to George to come close. It was +still darker inside the room--far darker than the starlit night outside. +And the one path of lighter gray was the bed of Jack Landis. His heavy +breathing was the only sound. Donnegan kneeled beside him and worked his +arms under the limp figure. + +And while he kneeled there a door in the house was opened and closed +softly. Donnegan stood up. + +"Is the door locked?" + +"No," whispered the girl. + +"Quick!" + +"Too late. It's father, and he'd hear the turning of the key." + +They waited, while the light, quick step came down the hall of the +cabin. It came to the door, it went past; and then the steps retraced +and the door was opened gently. + +There was a light in the hall; the form of Lebrun was outlined black and +distinct.. + +"Jack!" he whispered. + +No sound; he made as if to enter, and then he heard the heavy breathing +of the sleeper, apparently. + +"Asleep, poor fool," murmured the gambler, and closed the door. + +The door was no sooner closed than Donnegan had raised the body of the +sleeper. Once, as he rose, straining, it nearly slipped from his arms; +and when he stood erect he staggered. But once he had gained his +equilibrium, he carried the wounded man easily enough to the window +through which George reached his long arms and lifted out the burden. + +"You see?" said Donnegan, panting, to the girl. + +"Yes; it was really wonderful!" + +"You are laughing, now." + +"I? But hurry. My father has a fox's ear for noises." + +"He will not hear this, I think." There was a swift scuffle, very soft +of movement. + +"Nelly!" called a far-off voice. + +"Hurry, hurry! Don't you hear?" + +"You forgive me?" + +"No--yes--but hurry!" + +"You will remember me?" + +"Mr. Donnegan!" + +"Adieu!" + +She caught a picture of him sitting in the window for the split part of +a second, with his hat off, bowing to her. Then he was gone. And she +went into the hall, panting with excitement. + +"Heavens!" Nelly Lebrun murmured. "I feel as if I had been hunted, and I +must look it. What if he--" Whatever the thought was she did not +complete it. "It may have been for the best," added Nelly Lebrun. + + + + +29 + + +It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but an +active mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun roused +herself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand was +still rapping. + +"Yes?" she called drowsily. + +"This is Nick. May I come in?" + +"This is who?" + +The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she was +out of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped a +dressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was a +luxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of the +lynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, and +the soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threw +back the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place, +transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror. + +And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes, +Nick. May I come in?" + +She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on her +lips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; had +dipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awake +and brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into her +cheeks. + +Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock, +Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall. + +The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with the +pressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; and +while he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one hand +pressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expression +halfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did not +even smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentle +expressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominance +over all around him, his habitual expression was a proud +self-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in Lord +Nick it was rather leonine. + +He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily, +and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside another +man he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed by +the depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appear +quite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown and +set off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had the +combination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable in +Donnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the two +men; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, and +above all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from them +both. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of all +spirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terribly +mated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that the +mountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of the +careless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires an +exceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takes +a genius to make law-breaking glorious. + +No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek, +looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about his +immediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch, +and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had to +do with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, and +waited expectantly. + +"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frank +admirer. + +The girl merely looked at him. + +"Well?" he insisted. + +"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly. + +"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to the +contrary but that he was restraining himself--it was not worthwhile to +bother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tangle +since I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a father +has let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all this +was going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?" + +He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully. + +"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog." + +He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth I +suppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest. +Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint." + +"I suppose you'll get him back?" + +"First, I want to find out how he got away." + +"I know how." + +"Ah?" + +"Donnegan." + +"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he did +not raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softly +so that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger. +"Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as one +of them! You, too!" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terrible +voice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis; +Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him. +Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!" + +She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice. + +"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she asked +coldly. + +"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications; +have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheads +are beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas." + +"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come to +it; and you'll never come to it." + +"Never. Because I don't want him killed." + +"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?" + +"Because he's in love--with me." + +"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rare +fellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house without +help. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had to +find out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; not +the Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone who +doesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're the +one!" + +She hesitated a breathless instant. + +"Yes," she said. "I am." + +She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl in +the case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with her +once. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint; +haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kept +on with it." + +"No?" + +"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. I +haven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I got +rid of him." + +"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?" + +She flushed and then set her teeth. + +"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring +him back." + +"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it." + +"I suppose so." + +"You don't understand, Nick. He's different." + +"Eh?" + +"He's like you." + +"What are you driving at?" + +"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible +fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair +and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such a +man--except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fight +Donnegan!" + +For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little +forward. + +"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal, +Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you--" + +The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank. + +"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?" + +"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too. +And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?" + +"For your own sake." + +He stood up. + +"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him; +but I'm going to have Landis back!" + +She, also, rose. + +"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll get Donnegan to +leave the house." + +"I don't care what you do about that." + +"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunt +him out afterward?" + +"I never make promises, Nell." + +"But I'll trust you, Nick." + +"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long." + + + + +30 + + +The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the +north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly +Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She +sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, +which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to +the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave +him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took +the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The +Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance. + +She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her +appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was +in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her +that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is +touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of +it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have +really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he +had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan's. And that, +as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom. + +Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the +hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour +had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street +below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy +swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding +crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it +Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked +more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle. + +He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and +his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen +stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance. + +"There's no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought +you might agree with me." + +He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his +attitude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that +house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some +few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road--the chestnut at a +long-strided canter and Nelly's black at a soft and choppy pace--the +wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things +one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the +first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from +The Corner--and Lord Nick. + +The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had +Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a +violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the +lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared +with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her +make the comparison at all. + +"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a +hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could +be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, +and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away. + +"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and +see this." + +She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy. + +"You see, I'm a lazy man." + +"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?" + +"Two days, I think." + +"What's wrong?" + +He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought +his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even +in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under +his look. + +"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question." + +And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her +breath. The imp of perversity made her go on. + +"And why dangerous?" + +It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, +but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her. + +"You are not frank," he remarked. + +She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in +her excitement. + +"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm's length. After +last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for--days and +days." + +"That's why I'm curious," said Donnegan, "and not flattered. I'm trying +to find what purpose you have in taking me riding." + +"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if you will." + +And since such fencing with the wits delighted her, she let all her +delight come with a sparkle in her eyes. + +"I have one clue." + +"Yes?" + +"And that is that you may have the old-woman curiosity to find out how +many ways a man can tell her that he's fond of her." + +Though she flushed a little she kept her poise admirably. + +"I suppose that is part of my interest," she admitted. + +"I can think of a great many ways of saying it," said Donnegan. "I am +the dry desert, you are the rain, and yet I remain dry and produce no +grass." "A very pretty comparison," said the girl with a smile. + +"A very green one," and Donnegan smiled. "I am the wind and you are the +wild geese, and yet I keep on blowing after you are gone and do not +carry away a feather of you." + +"Pretty again." + +"And silly. But, really, you are very kind to me, and I shall try not to +take too much advantage of it." + +"Will you answer a question?" + +"I had rather ask one: but go on." + +"What made you so dry a desert, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"There is a very leading question again." + +"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the +first time I saw you--when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly +disguise." + +"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of +me; I am a beggarly person." + +"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an +education." + +"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and +long ago learned not to take myself too seriously." + +"Which leads to--" + +"The reason why I have wandered so much." + +"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?" + +"A chance to sit in a saddle--or a chair--and talk as we are talking." + +"Which seems to be idly." + +"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire." + +"Or ice." + +At the random hit he glanced sharply at her, but she was looking a +little past him, thinking. + +"I have tried to get at the reason behind all your reasons," she said. +"You came on me in a haphazard fashion, and yet you are not a haphazard +sort." + +"Do you see nothing serious about me?" + +"I see that you are unhappy," said the girl gently. "And I am sorry." + +Once again Donnegan was jarred, and he came within an ace of opening +his mind to her, of pouring out the truth about Lou Macon. Love is a +talking madness in all men and he came within an ace of confessing his +troubles. + +"Let's go on," she said, loosening her rein. + +"Why not cut back in a semicircle toward The Corner?" + +"Toward The Corner? No, no!" + +There was a brightening of his eye as he noted her shudder of distaste +or fear, and she strove to cover her traces. + +"I'm sick of the place," she said eagerly. "Let's get as far from it as +we may." + +"But yonder is a very good trail leading past it." + +"Of course we'll ride that way if you wish, but I'd rather go straight +ahead." + +If she had insisted stubbornly he would have thought nothing, but the +moment she became politic he was on his guard. + +"You dislike something in The Corner," he said, thinking carelessly and +aloud. "You are afraid of something back there. But what could you be +afraid of? Then you may be afraid of something for me. Ah, I have it! +They have decided to 'get' me for taking Jack Landis away; Joe Rix and +the Pedlar are waiting for me to come back!" + +He looked steadily and she attempted to laugh. + +"Joe Rix and the Pedlar? I would not stack ten like them against you!" + +"Then it is someone else." + +"I haven't said so. Of course there's no one." + +She shook her rein again, but Donnegan sat still in his saddle and +looked fixedly at her. + +"That's why you brought me out here," he announced. "Oh, Nelly Lebrun, +what's behind your mind? Who is it? By heaven, it's this Lord Nick!" + +"Mr. Donnegan, you're letting your imagination run wild." + +"It's gone straight to the point. But I'm not angry. I think I may get +back in time." + +He turned his horse, and the girl swung hers beside him and caught his +arm. + +"Don't go!" she pleaded. "You're right; it's Nick, and it's suicide to +face him!" + +The face of Donnegan set cruelly. + +"The main obstacle," he said. "Come and watch me handle it!" + +But she dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, and, sitting +there for a long time, she heard his careless whistling blow back to her +as he galloped toward The Corner. + + + + +31 + + +If Nelly Lebrun had consigned him mentally to the worms, that thought +made not the slightest impression upon Donnegan. A chance for action was +opening before him, and above all a chance of action in the eye of Lou +Macon; and he welcomed with open arms the thought that he would have an +opportunity to strike for her, and keep Landis with her. He went arrowy +straight and arrowy fast to the cabin on the hill, and he found ample +evidence that it had become a center of attention in The Corner. There +was a scattering of people in the distance, apparently loitering with no +particular purpose, but undoubtedly because they awaited an explosion of +some sort. He went by a group at which the chestnut shied, and as +Donnegan straightened out the horse again he caught a look of both +interest and pity on the faces of the men. + +Did they give him up so soon as it was known that Lord Nick had entered +the lists against him? Had all his display in The Corner gone for +nothing as against the repute of this terrible mystery man? His vanity +made him set his teeth again. + +Dismounting before the cabin of the colonel, he found that worthy in +his invalid chair, enjoying a sun bath in front of his house. But there +was no sign of Lord Nick--no sign of Lou. A grim fear came to Donnegan +that he might have to attack Nick in his own stronghold, for Jack Landis +might already have been taken away to the Lebrun house. + +So he went straight to the colonel, and when he came close he saw that +the fat man was apparently in the grip of a chill. He had gathered a +vast blanket about his shoulders and kept drawing it tighter; beneath +his eyes, which looked down to the ground, there were violet shadows. + +"I've lost," said Donnegan through his teeth. "Lord Nick has been here?" + +The invalid lifted his eyes, and Donnegan saw a terrible thing--that the +nerve of the fat man had been crushed. The folds of his face quivered as +he answered huskily: "He has been here!" + +"And Landis is gone?" + +"No." + +"Not gone? Then--" + +"Nick has gone to get a horse litter. He came up just to clear the way." + +"When he comes back he'll find me!" + +The glance of the colonel cleared long enough to survey Donnegan slowly +from head to foot, and his amusement sent the familiar hot flush over +the face of the little man. He straightened to his full height, which, +in his high heels, was not insignificant. But the colonel was apparently +so desperate that he was willing to throw caution away. + +"Compared with Lord Nick, Donnegan," he said, "you don't look half a +man--even with those heels." + +And he smiled calmly at Donnegan in the manner of one who, having +escaped the lightning bolt itself, does not fear mere thunder. + +"There is no fool like a fat fool," said Donnegan with childish +viciousness. "What did Lord Nick, as you call him, do to you? He's +brought out the yellow, my friend." + +The colonel accepted the insult without the quiver of an eyelid. +Throughout he seemed to be looking expectantly beyond Donnegan. + +"My young friend," he said, "you have been very useful to me. But I +must confess that you are no longer a tool equal to the task. I dismiss +you. I thank you cordially for your efforts. They are worthless. You see +that crowd gathering yonder? They have come to see Lord Nick prepare you +for a hole in the ground. And make no mistake: if you are here when he +returns that hole will have to be dug--unless they throw you out for the +claws of the buzzards. In the meantime, our efforts have been wasted +completely. I hadn't enough time. I had thrown the fear of sudden death +into Landis, and in another hour he would have signed away his soul to +me for fear of poison." + +The colonel paused to chuckle at some enjoyable memory. + +"Then Nick came. You see, I know all about Nick." + +"And Nick knows all about you?" + +For a moment the agate, catlike eyes of the colonel clouded and cleared +again in their unfathomable manner. + +"At moments, Donnegan," he said, "you have rare perceptions. That is +exactly it--Nick knows just about everything concerning me. And so--roll +your pack and climb on your horse and get away. I think you may have +another five minutes before he comes." + +Donnegan turned on his heel. He went to the door of the hut and threw it +open. Lou sat beside Landis holding his hand, and the murmur of her +voice was still pleasant as an echo through the room when she looked and +saw Donnegan. At that she rose and her face hardened as she looked at +him. Landis, also, lifted his head, and his face was convulsed with +hatred. So Donnegan closed the door and went softly away to his own +shack. + +She hated him even as Landis hated him, it seemed. He should have known +that he would not be thanked for bringing back her lover to her with a +bullet through his shoulder. Sitting in his cabin, he took his head +between his hands and thought of life and death, and made up his mind. +He was afraid. If Lord Nick had been the devil himself Donnegan could +not have been more afraid. But if the big stranger had been ten devils +instead of one Donnegan would not have found it in his soul to run away. + +Nothing remained for him in The Corner, it seemed, except his position +as a man of power--a dangerous fighter. It was a less than worthless +position, and yet, once having taken it up, he could not abandon it. +More than one gunfighter has been in the same place, forced to act as a +public menace long after he has ceased to feel any desire to fight. Of +selfish motives there remained not a scruple to him, but there was still +the happiness of Lou Macon. If the boy were taken back to Lebrun's, it +would be fatal to her. For even if Nelly wished, she could not teach her +eyes new habits, and she would ceaselessly play on the heart of the +wounded man. + +It was the cessation of all talk from the gathering crowd outside that +made Donnegan lift his head at length, and know that Lord Nick had come. +But before he had time to prepare himself, the door was cast open and +into it, filling it from side to side, stepped Lord Nick. + +There was no need of an introduction. Donnegan knew him by the aptness +with which the name fitted that glorious figure of a man and by the +calm, confident eye which now was looking him slowly over, from head to +foot. Lord Nick closed the door carefully behind him. + +"The colonel told me," he said in his deep, smooth voice, "that you were +waiting for me here." + +And Donnegan recognized the snakelike malice of the fat man in drawing +him into the fight. But he dismissed that quickly from his mind. He was +staring, fascinated, into the face of the other. He was a reader of men, +was Donnegan; he was a reader of mind, too. In his life of battle he had +learned to judge the prowess of others at a glance, just as a musician +can tell the quality of a violin by the first note he hears played upon +it. So Donnegan judged the quality of fighting men, and, looking into +the face of Lord Nick, he knew that he had met his equal at last. + +It was a great and a bitter moment to him. The sense of physical +smallness he had banished a thousand times by the recollection of his +speed of hand and his surety with weapons. He had looked at men +muscularly great and despised them in the knowledge that a gun or a +knife would make him their master. But in Lord Nick he recognized his +own nerveless speed of hand, his own hair-trigger balance, his own +deadly seriousness and contempt of life. The experience in battle was +there, too. And he began to feel that the size of the other crushed him +to the floor and made him hopeless. It was unnatural, it was wrong, that +this giant in the body should be a giant in adroitness also. + +Already Donnegan had died one death before he rose from his chair and +stood to the full of his height ready to die again and summoning his +nervous force to meet the enemy. He had seen that the big man had +followed his own example and had measured him at a glance. + +Indeed the history of some lives of action held less than the +concentrated silence of these two men during that second's space. + +And now Donnegan felt the cold eye of the other eating into his own, +striving to beat him down, break his nerve. For an instant panic got +hold on Donnegan. He, himself, had broken the nerve of other men by the +weight of his unaided eye. Had he not reduced poor Jack Landis to a +trembling wreck by five minutes of silence? And had he not seen other +brave men become trembling cowards unable to face the light, and all +because of that terrible power which lies in the eye of some? He fought +away the panic, though perspiration was pouring out upon his forehead +and beneath his armpits. + +"The colonel is very kind," said Donnegan. + +And that moment he sent up a prayer of thankfulness that his voice was +smooth as silk, and that he was able to smile into the face of Lord +Nick. The brow of the other clouded and then smoothed itself deftly. +Perhaps he, too, recognized the clang of steel upon steel and knew the +metal of his enemy. + +"And therefore," said Lord Nick, "since most of The Corner expects +business from us, it seems much as if one of us must kill the other +before we part." + +"As a matter of fact," said Donnegan, "I have been keeping that in +mind." He added, with that deadly smile of his that never reached his +eyes: "I never disappoint the public when it's possible to satisfy +them." + +"No," and Lord Nick nodded, "you seem to have most of the habits of an +actor--including an inclination to make up for your part." + +Donnegan bit his lip until it bled, and then smiled. + +"I have been playing to fools," he said. "Now I shall enjoy a +discriminating critic." + +"Yes," remarked Lord Nick, "actors generally desire an intelligent +audience for the death scene." + +"I applaud your penetration and I shall speak well of you when this +disagreeable duty is finished." + +"Come," and Lord Nick smiled genially, "you are a game little cock!" + +The telltale flush crimsoned Donnegan's face. And if the fight had begun +at that moment no power under heaven could have saved Lord Nick from the +frenzy of the little man. + +"My size keeps me from stooping," said Donnegan, "I shall look up to +you, sir, until the moment you fall." + +"Well hit again! You are also a wit, I see! Donnegan, I am almost sorry +for the necessity of this meeting. And if it weren't for the audience--" + +"Say no more," said Donnegan, bowing. "I read your heart and appreciate +all you intend." + +He had touched his stock as he bowed, and now he turned to the mirror +and carefully adjusted it, for it was a little awry from the ride; but +in reality he used that moment to examine his own face, and the set of +his jaw and the clearness of his eye reassured him. Turning again, he +surprised a glint of admiration in the glance of Lord Nick. + +"We are at one, sir, it appears," he said. "And there is no other way +out of this disagreeable necessity?" + +"Unfortunately not. I have a certain position in these parts. People are +apt to expect a good deal of me. And for my part I see no way out except +a gunplay--no way out between the devil and the moon!" + +Astonishment swept suddenly across the face of the big man, for +Donnegan, turning white as death, shrank toward the wall as though he +had that moment received cold steel in his body. + +"Say that again!" said Donnegan hoarsely. + +"I said there was no way out," repeated Lord Nick, and though he kept +his right hand in readiness, he passed his left through his red hair and +stared at Donnegan with a tinge of contempt; he had seen men buckle like +this at the last moment when their backs were to the wall. + +"Between--" repeated Donnegan. + +"The devil and the moon. Do you see a way yourself?" + +He was astonished again to see Donnegan wince as if from a blow. His +lips were trembling and they writhed stiffly over his words. + +"Who taught you that expression?" said Donnegan. + +"A gentleman," said Lord Nick. + +"Ah?" + +"My father, sir!" + +"Oh, heaven," moaned Donnegan, catching his hands to his breast. "Oh, +heaven, forgive us!" + +"What the devil is in you?" asked Lord Nick. + +The little man stood erect again and his eyes were now on fire. + +"You are Henry Nicholas Reardon," he said. + +Lord Nick set his teeth. + +"Now," he said, "it is certain that you must die!" + +But Donnegan cast out his arms and broke into a wild laughter. + +"Oh, you fool, you fool!" he cried. "Don't you know me? I am the +cripple!" + + + + +32 + + +The big man crossed the floor with one vast stride, and, seizing +Donnegan by both shoulders, dragged him under the full light of the +window; and still the crazy laughter shook Donnegan and made him +helpless. + +"They tied me to a board--like a papoose," said Donnegan, "and they +straightened my back--but they left me this way--wizened up." He was +stammering; hysterical, and the words tumbled from his lips in a jumble. +"That was a month after you ran away from home. I was going to find you. +Got bigger. Took the road. Kept hunting. Then I met a yegg who told +about Rusty Dick--described him like you--I thought--I thought you were +dead!" + +And the tears rolled down his face; he sobbed like a woman. + +A strange thing happened then. Lord Nick lifted the little man in his +arms as if he were a child and literally carried him in that fashion to +the bunk. He put him down tenderly, still with one mighty arm around his +back. + +"You are Garry? You!" + +"Garrison Donnegan Reardon. Aye, that's what I am. Henry, don't say +that you don't know me!" + +"But--your back--I thought--" + +"I know--hopeless they said I was. But they brought in a young doctor. +Now look at me. Little. I never grew big--but hard, Henry, as leather!" + +And he sprang to his feet. And knowing that Donnegan had begun life as a +cripple it was easy to appreciate certain things about his expression--a +cold wistfulness, and his manner of reading the minds of men. Lord Nick +was like a man in a dream. He dragged Donnegan back to the bunk and +forced him to sit down with the weight of his arms. And he could not +keep his hands from his younger brother. As though he were blind and had +to use the sense of touch to reassure him. + +"I heard lies. They said everybody was dead. I thought--" + +"The fever killed them all, except me. Uncle Toby took me in. He was a +devil. Helped me along, but I left him when I could. And--" + +"Don't tell me any more. All that matters is that I have you at last, +Garry. Heaven knows it's a horrible thing to be kithless and kinless, +but I have you now! Ah, lad, but the old pain has left its mark on you. +Poor Garry!" + +Donnegan shuddered. + +"I've forgotten it. Don't bring it back." + +"I keep feeling that you should be in that chair." + +"I know. But I'm not. I'm hard as nails, I tell you." + +He leaped to his feet again. + +"And not so small as you might think, Henry!" + +"Oh, big enough, Garry. Big enough to paralyze The Corner, from what +I've heard." + +"I've been playing a game with 'em, Henry. And now--if one of us could +clear the road, what will we do together? Eh?" + +The smile of Lord Nick showed his teeth. + +"Haven't I been hungry all my life for a man like you, lad? Somebody to +stand and guard my back while I faced the rest of the world?" + +"And I'll do my share of the facing, too." + +"You will, Garry. But I'm your elder." + +"Man, man! Nobody's my elder except one that's spent half his life--as I +have done!" + +"We'll teach you to forget the pain I'll make life roses for you, +Garry." + +"And the fools outside thought--" + +Donnegan broke into a soundless laughter, and, running to the door, +opened it a fraction of an inch and peeped out. + +"They're standing about in a circle. I can see 'em gaping. Even from +here. What will they think, Henry?" + +Lord Nick ground his teeth. + +"They'll think I've backed down from you," he said gloomily. "They'll +think I've taken water for the first time." + +"Why, confound 'em, the first man that opens his head--" + +"I know, I know. You'd fill his mouth with lead, and so would I. But if +it ever gets about--as it's sure to--that Lord, Nick, as they call me, +has been bluffed down without a fight, I'll have every Chinaman that +cooks on the range talking back to me. I'll have to start all over +again." + +"Don't say that, Henry. Don't you see that I'll go out and explain that +I'm your brother?" + +"What good will that do? No, do we look alike?" + +Donnegan stopped short. + +"I'm not very big," he said rather coldly, "but then I'm not so very +small, either. I've found myself big enough, speaking in general. +Besides, we have the same hair and eyes." + +"Why, man, people will laugh when they hear that we call ourselves +brothers." + +Donnegan ground his teeth and the old flush burned upon his face. + +"I'll cut some throats if they do," he said, trembling with his passion. + +"I can hear them say it. 'Lord Nick walked in on Donnegan prepared to +eat him up. He measured him up and down, saw that he was a fighting +wildcat in spite of his size, and decided to back out. And Donnegan was +willing. They couldn't come out without a story of some kind--with the +whole world expecting a death in that cabin--so they framed a crazy +cock-and-bull story about being brothers.' I can hear them say that, +Donnegan, and it makes me wild!" + +"Do you call me Donnegan?" said Donnegan sadly. + +"No, no. Garry, don't be so touchy. You've never got over that, I see. +Still all pride and fire." + +"You're not very humble yourself, Henry." + +"Maybe not, maybe not. But I've been in a certain position around these +parts, Don--Garry. And it's hard to see it go!" + +Donnegan closed his eyes in deep reverie. And then he forced out the +words one by one. + +"Henry, I'll let everybody know that it was I who backed down. That we +were about to fight." He was unable to speak; he tore the stock loose at +his throat and went on: "We were about to fight; I lost my nerve; you +couldn't shoot a helpless man. We began to talk. We found out we are +brothers--" + +"Damnation!" broke out Lord Nick, and he struck himself violently across +the forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm a skunk, Garry, lad. Why, +for a minute I was about to let you do it. No. no, no! A thousand times +no!" + +It was plain to be seen that he was arguing himself away from the +temptation. + +"What do I care what they say? We'll cram the words back down their +throats and be hanged to 'em. Here I am worrying about myself like a +selfish dog without letting myself be happy over finding you. But I am +happy, Garry. Heaven knows it. And you don't doubt it, do you, old +fellow?" + +"Ah," said Donnegan, and he smiled to cover a touch of sadness. "I hope +not. No, I don't doubt you, of course. I've spent my life wishing for +you since you left us, you see. And then I followed you for three years +on the road, hunting everywhere." + +"You did that?" + +"Yes. Three years. I liked the careless life. For to tell you the truth, +I'm not worth much, Henry. I'm a loafer by instinct, and--" + +"Not another word." There were tears in the eyes of Lord Nick, and he +frowned them away. "Confound it, Garry, you unman me. I'll be weeping +like a woman in a minute. But now, sit down. We still have some things +to talk over. And we'll get to a quick conclusion." + +"Ah, yes," said Donnegan, and at the emotion which had come in the face +of Lord Nick, his own expression softened wonderfully. A light seemed to +stand in his face. "We'll brush over the incidentals. And everything is +incidental aside from the fact that we're together again. They can +chisel iron chain apart, but we'll never be separated again, God +willing!" He looked up as he spoke, and his face was for the moment as +pure as the face of a child--Donnegan, the thief, the beggar, the liar +by gift, and the man-killer by trade and artistry. + +But Lord Nick in the meantime was looking down to the floor and +mustering his thoughts. + +"The main thing is entirely simple," he said. "You'll make one +concession to my pride, Garry, boy?" + +"Can you ask me?" said Donnegan softly, and he cast out his hands in a +gesture that offered his heart and his soul. "Can you ask me? Anything I +have is yours!" + +"Don't say that," answered Lord Nick tenderly. "But this small thing--my +pride, you know--I despise myself for caring what people think, but I'm +weak. I admit it, but I can't help it." + +"Talk out, man. You'll see if there's a bottom to things that I can +give!" + +"Well, it's this. Everyone knows that I came up here to get young Jack +Landis and bring him back to Lebrun's--from which you stole him, you +clever young devil! Well, I'll simply take him back there, Garry; and +then I'll never have to ask another favor of you." + +He was astonished by a sudden silence, and looking up again, he saw that +Donnegan sat with his hand at his breast. It was a singularly feminine +gesture to which he resorted. It was a habit which had come to him in +his youth in the invalid chair, when the ceaseless torment of his +crippled back became too great for him to bear. + +And clearly, indeed, those days were brought home to Lord Nick as he +glanced up, for Donnegan was staring at him in the same old, familiar +agony, mute and helpless. + + + + +33 + + +At this Lord Nick very frankly frowned in turn. And when he frowned his +face grew marvelously dark, like some wrathful god, for there was a +noble, a Grecian purity to the profile of Henry Nicholas Reardon, and +when he frowned he seemed to be scorning, from a distance, ignoble, +earthly things which troubled him. + +"I know it isn't exactly easy for you, Garry," he admitted. "You have +your own pride; you have your own position here in The Corner. But I +want you to notice that mine is different. You've spent a day for what +you have in The Corner, here. I've spent ten years. You've played a +prank, acted a part, and cast a jest for what you have. But for the +place which I hold, brother mine, I've schemed with my wits, played fast +and loose, and killed men. Do you hear? I've bought it with blood, and +things you buy at such a price ought to stick, eh?" + +He banished his frown; the smile played suddenly across his features. + +"Why, I'm arguing with myself. But that look you gave me a minute ago +had me worried for a little while." + +At this Donnegan, who had allowed his head to fall, so that he seemed +to be nodding in acquiescence, now raised his face and Lord Nick +perceived the same white pain upon it. The same look which had been on +the face of the cripple so often in the other days. + +"Henry," said the younger brother, "I give you my oath that my pride has +nothing to do with this. I'd let you drive me barefoot before you +through the street yonder. I'd let every soul in The Corner know that I +have no pride where you're concerned. I'll do whatever you wish--with +one exception--and that one is the unlucky thing you ask. Pardner, you +mustn't ask for Jack Landis! Anything else I'll work like a slave to get +for you: I'll fight your battles, I'll serve you in any way you name: +but don't take Landis back!" + +He had talked eagerly, the words coming with a rush, and he found at the +end that Lord Nick was looking at him in bewilderment. + +"When a man is condemned to death," said Lord Nick slowly, "suppose +somebody offers him anything in the world that he wants--palaces, +riches, power--everything except his life. What would the condemned man +say to a friend who made such an offer? He'd laugh at him and then call +him a traitor. Eh? But I don't laugh at you, Garry. I simply explain to +you why I have to have Landis back. Listen!" + +He counted off his points upon the tips of his fingers, in the confident +manner of a teacher who deals with a stupid child, waiting patiently for +the young mind to comprehend. + +"We've been bleeding Jack Landis. Do you know why? Because it was Lester +who made the strike up here. He started out to file his claim. He +stopped at the house of Colonel Macon. That old devil learned the +location, learned everything; detained Lester with a trick, and rushed +young Landis away to file the claims for himself. Then when Lester came +up here he found that his claims had been jumped, and when he went to +the law there was no law that could help him. He had nothing but his +naked word for what he had discovered. And naturally the word of a +ruffian like Lester had no weight against the word of Landis. And, you +see, Landis thought that he was entirely in the right. Lester tried the +other way; tried to jump the claims; and was shot down by Landis. So +Lester sent for me. What was I to do? Kill Landis? The mine would go to +his heirs. I tried a different way--bleeding him of his profits, after +I'd explained to him that he was in the wrong. He half admitted that, +but he naturally wouldn't give up the mines even after we'd almost +proved to him that Lester had the first right. So Landis has been mining +the gold and we've been drawing it away from him. It looks tricky, but +really it's only just. And Lester and Lebrun split with me. + +"But I tell you, Garry, that I'd give up everything without an +afterthought. I'll give up the money and I'll make Lebrun and Lester +shut up without a word. I'll make them play square and not try to knife +Landis in the back. I'll do all that willingly--for you! But, Garry, I +can't give up taking Landis back to Lebrun's and keeping him there until +he's well. Why, man, I saw him in the hut just now. He wants to go. He's +afraid of the old colonel as if he were poison--and I think he's wise in +being afraid." + +"The colonel won't touch him," said Donnegan. + +"No?" + +"No. I've told him what would happen if he does." + +"Tush. Garry, Colonel Macon is the coldest-blooded murderer I've ever +known. But come out in the open, lad. You see that I'm ready to listen +to reason--except on one point. Tell me why you're so set on this +keeping of Landis here against my will and even against the lad's own +will? I'm reasonable, Garry. Do you doubt that?" + +Explaining his own mildness, the voice of Lord Nick swelled again and +filled the room, and he frowned on his brother. But Donnegan looked on +him sadly. + +"There is a girl--" he began. + +"Why didn't I guess it?" exclaimed Lord Nick. "If ever you find a man +unreasonable, stubborn and foolish, you'll always find a woman behind +it! All this trouble because of a piece of calico?" + +He leaned back, laughing thunderously in his relief. + +"Come, come! I was prepared for a tragedy. Now tell me about this girl. +Who and what is she?" + +"The daughter of the colonel." + +"You're in love with her? I'm glad to hear it, Garry. As a matter of +fact I've been afraid that you were hunting in my own preserve, but if +it's the colonel's daughter, you're welcome to her. So you love the +girl? She's pretty, lad!" + +"I love her?" said Donnegan in an indescribably tender voice. "I love +her? Who am I to love her? A thief, a man-killer, a miserable play +actor, a gambler, a drunkard. I love her? Bah!" + +If there was one quality of the mind with which Lord Nick was less +familiar than with all others, it was humbleness of spirit. He now +abased his magnificent head, and resting his chin in the mighty palm of +his hand, he stared with astonishment and commiseration into the face of +Donnegan. He seemed to be learning new things every moment about his +brother. + +"Leave me out of the question," said Donnegan. + +"Can't be done. If I leave you out, dear boy, there's not one of them +that I care a hang about; I'd ride roughshod over the whole lot. I've +done it before to better men than these!" + +"Then you'll change, I know. This is the fact of the matter. She loves +Landis. And if you take Landis away where will you put him?" + +"Where he was stolen away. In Lebrun's." + +"And what will be in Lebrun's?" + +"Joe Rix to guard him and the old negress to nurse him."' + +"No, no! Nelly Lebrun will be there!" + +"Eh? Are you glancing at her, now?" + +"Henry, you yourself know that Landis is mad about that girl." + +"Oh, she's flirted a bit with him. Turned the fool's head. He'll come +out of it safe. She won't break his heart. I've seen her work on +others!" + +He chuckled at the memory. + +"What do I care about Landis?" said Donnegan with unutterable scorn. +"It's the girl. You'll break her heart, Henry; and if you do I'll never +forgive you." + +"Steady, lad. This is a good deal like a threat." + +"No, no, no! Not a threat, heaven knows!" + +"By heaven!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "I begin to be irritated to see you +stick on a silly point like this. Listen to me, lad. Do you mean to say +that you are making all! this trouble about a slip of a girl?" + +"The heart of a girl," said Donnegan calmly. + +"Let Landis go; then take her in your arms and kiss her worries away. I +warrant you can do it! I gather from Nell that you're not tongue-tied +around women!" + +"I?" echoed Donnegan, turning pale. "Don't jest at this, Henry. I'm as +serious as death. She's the type of woman made to love one man, and one +man only. Landis may be common as dirt; but she doesn't see it. She's +fastened her heart on him. I looked in on her a little while ago. She +turned white when she saw me. I brought Landis to her, but she hates me +because I had to shoot him down." + +"Garry," said the big man with a twinkle in his eye, "you're in love!" + +It shook Donnegan to the core, but he replied instantly; "If I were in +love, don't you suppose that I would have shot to kill when I met +Landis?" + +At this his brother blinked, frowned, and shook his head. The point was +apparently plain to him and wiped out his previous convictions. Also, it +eased his mind. + +"Then you don't love the girl?" + +"I?" + +"Either way, my hands are cleared of the worry. If you want her, let me +take Landis. If you don't want her, what difference does it make to you +except silly sentiment?" + +Donnegan made no answer. + +"If she comes to Lebrun's house, I'll see that Nell doesn't bother him +too much." + +"Can you control her? If she wants to see this fool can you keep her +away, and if she goes to him can you control her smiling?" + +"Certainly," said Lord Nick, but he flushed heavily. + +Donnegan smiled. + +"She's a devil of a girl," admitted Henry Reardon. "But this is beside +the point: which is, that you're sticking on a matter that means +everything to me, and which is only a secondhand interest to you--a +point of sentiment. You pity the girl. What's pity? Bah! I pity a dog in +the street, but would I cross you, Garry, lad, to save the dog? +Sentiment, I say, silly sentiment." + +Donnegan rose. + +"It was a silly sentiment," he said hoarsely, "that put me on the road +following you, Henry. It was a silly sentiment that turned me into a +wastrel, a wanderer, a man without a home and without friends." + +"It's wrong to throw that in my face," muttered Lord Nick. + +"It is. And I'm sorry for it. But I want you to see that matters of +sentiment may be matters of life and death with me." + +"Aye, if it were for you it would be different. I might see my way +clear--but for a girl you have only a distant interest in--" + +"It is a matter of whether or not her heart shall be broken." + +"Come, come. Let's talk man talk. Besides, girls' hearts don't break in +this country. You're old-fashioned." + +"I tell you the question of her happiness is worth more than a dozen +lives like yours and mine." + +There had been a gathering impatience in Lord Nick. Now he, also, leaped +to his feet; a giant. + +"Tell me in one word: You stick on this point?" + +"In one word--yes!" + +"Then you deny me, Garry. You set me aside for a silly purpose of your +own--a matter that really doesn't mean much to you. It shows me where I +stand in your eyes--and nothing between the devil and the moon shall +make me sidestep!" + +They remained silent, staring at each other. Lord Nick stood with a +flush of anger growing; Donnegan became whiter than ever, and he +stiffened himself to his full height, which, in all who knew him well, +was the danger signal. + +"You take Landis?" he said softly. + +"I do." + +"Not," said Donnegan, "while I live!" + +"You mean--" cried Lord Nick. + +"I mean it!" + +They had been swept back to the point at which that strangest of scenes +began, but this time there was an added element--horror. + +"You'd fight?" + +"To the death, Henry!" + +"Garry, if one of us should kill the other, he'd be cursed forever!" + +"I know it." + +"And she's worth even this?" + +"A thousand times more! What are we? Dust in the wind; dust in the wind. +But a woman like that is divine, Henry!" + +Lord Nick swayed a little, setting himself in balance like an animal +preparing for the leap. + +"If it comes to the pinch, it is you who will die," he said. + +"You've no chance against me, Garry. And I swear to you that I won't +weaken. You prove that you don't care for me. You put another above me. +It's my pride, my life, that you'd sacrifice to the whim of a girl!" His +passion choked him. + +"Are you ready?" said Donnegan. + +"Yes!" + +"Move first!" + +"I have never formed the habit." + +"Nor I! You fool, take what little advantage you can, because it won't +help you in the end." + +"You shall see. I have a second sight, Henry, and it shows me you dead +on the floor there, looking bigger than ever, and I see the gun smoking +in my hand and my heart as dead as ashes! Oh, Henry, if there were only +some other way!" + +They were both pale now. + +"Aye," murmured Lord Nick, "if we could find a judge. My hand turns to +lead when I think of fighting you, Garry." + +Perspiration stood on the face of Donnegan. + +"Name a judge; I'll abide by the decision." + +"Some man--" + +"No, no. What man could understand me? A woman, Henry!" + +"Nell Lebrun." + +"The girl who loves you? You want me to plead before her?" + +"Put her on her honor and she'll be as straight as a string with both of +us." + +For a moment Donnegan considered, and at length: "She loves you, Henry. +You have that advantage. You have only to let her know that this is a +vital matter to you and she'll speak as you wish her to speak." + +"Nonsense. You don't know her. You've seen yourself that no man can +control her absolutely." + +"Make a concession." + +"A thousand, Garry, dear boy, if they'll get us clear from this horrible +mess." + +"Only this. Leave The Corner for a few hours. Give me until--tonight. +Let me see Nelly during that time. You've had years to work on her. I +want only this time to put my own case before her." + +"Thank heaven that we're coming to see light and a way out!" + +"Aye, Henry." + +The big man wiped his forehead and sighed in his relief. + +"A minute ago I was ready--but we'll forget all this. What will you do? +How will you persuade Nelly? I almost think that you intend to make love +to her, Garry!" + +The little man turned paler still. + +"It is exactly what I intend," he said quietly. + +The brow of Lord Nick darkened solemnly, and then he forced a laugh. + +"She'll be afraid to turn me down, Garry. But try your own way." He bit +his lips. "Why, if you influence her that way--do it. What's a fickle +jade to me? Nothing!" + +"However I do it, you'll stick by her judgment, Henry?" + +The perspiration had started on Lord Nick's forehead again. Doubt swayed +him, but pride forced him on. + +"I'll come again tonight," he said gloomily. "I'll meet you +in--Milligan's?" + +"In Milligan's, then." + +Lord Nick, without a word of farewell, stamped across the hut and out. + +As for Donnegan, he stepped backward, his legs buckled beneath him, and +when big George entered, with a scared face, he found the little man +half sitting on the bunk, half lying against the wall with the face and +the staring eyes of a dead man. + + + + +34 + + +It was a long time before Donnegan left the hut, and when he came out +the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight, or at least to mark the +reports of the guns when those two terrible warriors met, was scattered. +There remained before Donnegan only the colonel in his invalid's chair. +Even from the distance one could see that his expression was changed, +and when the little red-headed man came near the colonel looked up to +him with something akin to humility. + +"Donnegan," he said, stopping the other as Donnegan headed for the door +of the hut, "Donnegan, don't go in there just now." + +Donnegan turned and came slowly toward him. + +"The reason," said the colonel, "is that you probably won't receive a +very cheery reception. Unfortunate--very unfortunate. Lou has turned +wrong-headed for the first time in her life and she won't listen to +reason." + +He chuckled softly. + +"I never dreamed there was so much of my metal in her. Blood will tell, +my boy; blood will tell. And when you finally get her you'll find that +she's worth waiting for." + +"Let me tell you a secret," said Donnegan dryly. "I am no longer waiting +for her!" + +"Ah?" smiled the colonel. "Of course not. This bringing of Landis to +her--it was all pure self-sacrifice. It was not an attempt to soften her +heart. It was not a cunning maneuver. Tush! Of course not!" + +"I am about to make a profound remark," said Donnegan carelessly. + +"By all means." + +"You read the minds of other people through a colored glass, colonel. +You see yourself everywhere." + +"In other words I put my own motives into the actions and behind the +actions of people? Perhaps. I am full of weaknesses. Very full. In the +meantime let me tell you one important thing--if you have not made the +heart of Lou tender toward you, you have at least frightened her." + +The jaw on Donnegan set. + +"Excellent!" he said huskily. + +"Perhaps better than you think; and to keep you abreast with the times, +you must know another thing. Lou has a silly idea that you are a lost +soul, Donnegan, but she attributes your fall entirely to my weakness. +Nothing can convince her that you did not intend to kill Landis; nothing +can convince her that you did not act on my inspiration. I have tried +arguing. Bah! she overwhelmed me with her scorn. You are a villain, says +Lou, and I have made you one. And for the first time in my memory of +her, her eyes fill with tears." + +"Tears?" + +"Upon my honor, and when a girl begins to weep about a man I don't need +to say he is close to her heart." + +"You are full of maxims, Colonel Macon." + +"As a nut is full of meat. Old experience, you know. In the meantime Lou +is perfectly certain that I intend to make away with Landis. Ha, ha, +ha!" The laughter of the colonel was a cheery thunder, and soft as with +distance. "Landis is equally convinced. He begs Lou not to fall asleep +lest I should steal in on him. She hardly dares leave him to cook his +food. I actually think she would have been glad to see that fiend, Lord +Nick, take Landis away!" + +Donnegan smiled wanly. But could he tell her, poor girl, the story of +Nelly Lebrun? Landis, in fear of his life, was no doubt at this moment +pouring out protestations of deathless affection. + +"And they both consider you an archdemon for keeping Lord Nick away!" + +Again Donnegan winced, and coughed behind his hand to cover it. + +"However," went on the colonel, "when it comes to matters with the +hearts of women, I trust to time. Time alone will show her that Landis +is a puppy." + +"In the meantime, colonel, she keeps you from coming near Landis?" + +"Not at all! You fail to understand me and my methods, dear boy. I have +only to roll my chair into the room and sit and smile at Jack in order +to send him into an hysteria of terror. It is amusing to watch. And I +can be there while Lou is in the room and through a few careful +innuendoes convey to Landis my undying determination to either remove +him from my path and automatically become his heir, or else secure from +him a legal transfer of his rights to the mines." + +"I have learned," said Donnegan, "that Landis has not the slightest +claim to them himself. And that you set him on the trail of the claims +by trickery." + +The colonel did not wince. + +"Of course not," said the fat trickster. "Not the slightest right. My +claim is a claim of superior wits, you see. And in the end all your +labor shall be rewarded, for my share will go to Lou and through her it +shall come to you. No?" + +"Quite logical." + +The colonel disregarded the other's smile. + +"But I have a painful confession to make." + +"Well?" + +"I misjudged you, Donnegan. A moment since, when I was nearly distraught +with disappointment, I said some most unpleasant things to you." + +"I have forgotten them." + +But the colonel raised his strong forefinger and shook his head, +smiling. + +"No, no, Donnegan. If you deny it, I shall know that you are harboring +the most undying grudge against me. As a matter of fact, I have just +had an interview with Lord Nick, and the cursed fellow put my nerves on +edge." + +The colonel made a wry face. + +"And when you came, I saw no manner in which you could possibly thwart +him." + +His eyes grew wistful. + +"Between friends--as a son to his future father," he said softly, "can't +you tell me what the charm was that you used on. Nick to send him away? +I watched him come out of the shack. He was in a fury. I could see that +by the way his head thrust out between his big shoulders. And when he +went down the hill he was striding like a giant, but every now and then +he would stop short, and his head would go up as if he were tempted to +turn around and go back, but didn't quite have the nerve. Donnegan, tell +me the trick of it?" + +"Willingly. I appealed to his gambling instinct." + +"Which leaves me as much in the dark as ever." + +But Donnegan smiled in his own peculiar and mirthless manner and he went +on to the hut. Not that he expected a cheery greeting from Lou Macon, +but he was drawn by the same perverse instinct which tempts a man to +throw himself from a great height. At the door he paused a moment. He +could distinguish no words, but he caught the murmur of Lou's voice as +she talked to Jack Landis, and it had that infinitely gentle quality +which only a woman's voice can have, and only when she nurses the sick. +It was a pleasant torture to Donnegan to hear it. At length he summoned +his resolution and tapped at the door. + +The voice of Lou Macon stopped. He heard a hurried and whispered +consultation. What did they expect? Then swift foot-falls on the floor, +and she opened the door. There was a smile of expectancy on her lips; +her eyes were bright; but when she saw Donnegan her lips pinched in. She +stared at him as if he were a ghost. + +"I knew; I knew!" she said piteously, falling back a step but still +keeping her hand upon the knob of the door as if to block the way to +Donnegan. "Oh, Jack, he has killed Lord Nick and now he is here--" + +To do what? To kill Landis in turn? Her horrified eyes implied as much. +He saw Landis in the distance raise himself upon one elbow and his face +was gray, not with pain but with dread. + +"It can't be!" groaned Landis. + +"Lord Nick is alive," said Donnegan. "And I have not come here to +torment you; I have only come to ask that you let me speak with you +alone for a moment, Lou!" + +He watched her face intently. All the cabin was in deep shadow, but the +golden hair of the girl glowed as if with an inherent light of its own, +and the same light touched her face. Jack Landis was stricken with +panic: he stammered in a dreadful eagerness of fear. + +"Don't leave me, Lou. You know what it means. He wants to get you out of +the way so that the colonel can be alone with me. Don't go, Lou! Don't +go!" + +As though she saw how hopeless it was to try to bar Donnegan by closing +the door against him, she fell back to the bed. She kept her eye on the +little man, as if to watch against a surprise attack, and, fumbling +behind her, her hand found the hand of Landis and closed over it with +the reassurance of a mother. + +"Don't be afraid, Jack. I won't leave you. Not unless they carry me away +by force." + +"I give you my solemn word." said Donnegan in torment, "that the colonel +shall not come near Landis while you're away with me." + +"Your word!" murmured the girl with a sort of horrified wonder. "Your +word!" + +And Donnegan bowed his head. + +But all at once she cast out her free hand toward him, while the other +still cherished the weakness of Jack Landis. + +"Oh, give them up!" she cried. "Give up my father and all his wicked +plans. There is something good in you. Give him up; come with us; +stand for us: and we shall be grateful all our lives!" + +The little man had removed his hat, so that the sunshine burned brightly +on his red hair. Indeed, there was always a flamelike quality about him. +In inaction he seemed femininely frail and pale; but when his spirit was +roused his eyes blazed as his hair burned in the sunlight. + +"You shall learn in the end," he said to the girl, "that everything I +do, I do for you." + +She cried out as if he had struck her. + +"It's not worthy of you," she said bitterly. "You are keeping Jack +here--in peril--for my sake?" + +"For your sake," said Donnegan. + +She looked at him with a queer pain in her eyes. + +"To keep you from needless lying," she said, "let me tell you that Jack +has told me everything. I am not angry because you come and pretend that +you do all these horrible things for my sake. I know my father has +tempted you with a promise of a great deal of money. But in the end you +will get nothing. No, he will twist everything away from you and leave +you nothing! But as for me--I know everything; Jack told me." + +"He has told you what? What?" + +"About the woman you love." + +"The woman I love?" echoed Donnegan, stupefied. + +It seemed that Lou Macon could only name her with an effort that left +her trembling. + +"The Lebrun woman," she said. "Jack has told me." + +"Did you tell her that?" he asked Landis. + +"The whole town knows it," stammered the wounded man. + +The cunning hypocrisy spurred Donnegan. He put his foot on the threshold +of the shack, and at this the girl cried out and shrank from him; but +Landis was too paralyzed to stir or speak. For a moment Donnegan was +wildly tempted to pour his torrent of contempt and accusation upon +Landis. To what end? To prove to the girl that the big fellow had coolly +tricked her? That it was to be near Nelly Lebrun as much as to be away +from the colonel that he wished so ardently to leave the shack? After +all, Lou Macon was made happy by an illusion; let her keep it. + +He looked at her sadly again. She stood defiant over Landis; ready to +protect the helpless bulk of the man. + +So Donnegan closed the door softly and turned away with ashes in his +heart. + + + + +35 + + +When Nelly Lebrun raised her head from her hands, Donnegan was a far +figure; yet even in the distance she could catch the lilt and easy sway +of his body; he rode as he walked, lightly, his feet in the stirrups +half taking his weight in a semi-English fashion. For a moment she was +on the verge of spurring after him, but she kept the rein taut and +merely stared until he dipped away among the hills. For one thing she +was quite assured that she could not overtake that hard rider; and, +again, she felt that it was useless to interfere. To step between Lord +Nick and one of his purposes would have been like stepping before an +avalanche and commanding it to halt with a raised hand. + +She watched miserably until even the dust cloud dissolved and the bare, +brown hills alone remained before her. Then she turned away, and hour +after hour let her black jog on. + +To Nelly Lebrun this day was one of those still times which come over +the life of a person, and in which they see themselves in relation to +the rest of the world clearly. It would not be true to say that Nelly +loved Donnegan. Certainly not as yet, for the familiar figure of Lord +Nick filled her imagination. But the little man was different. Lord +Nick commanded respect, admiration, obedience; but there was about +Donnegan something which touched her in an intimate and disturbing +manner. She had felt the will-o'-the-wisp flame which burned in him in +his great moments. It was possible for her to smile at Donnegan; it was +possible even to pity him for his fragility, his touchy pride about his +size; to criticize his fondness for taking the center of the stage even +in a cheap little mining camp like this and strutting about, the center +of all attention. Yet there were qualities in him which escaped her, a +possibility of metallic hardness, a pitiless fire of purpose. + +To Lord Nick, he was as the bull terrier to the mastiff. + +But above all she could not dislodge the memory of his strange talk with +her at Lebrun's. Not that she did not season the odd avowals of Donnegan +with a grain of salt, but even when she had discounted all that he said, +she retained a quivering interest. Somewhere beneath his words she +sensed reality. Somewhere beneath his actions she felt a selfless +willingness to throw himself away. + +As she rode she was comparing him steadily with Lord Nick. And as she +made the comparisons she felt more and more assured that she could pick +and choose between the two. They loved her, both of them. With Nick it +was an old story; with Donnegan it might be equally true in spite of its +newness. And Nelly Lebrun felt rich. Not that she would have been +willing to give up Lord Nick. By no means. But neither was she willing +to throw away Donnegan. Diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. +Which handful must she discard? + +She remained riding an unconscionable length of time, and when she drew +rein again before her father's house, the black was flecked with foam +from his clamped bit, and there was a thick lather under the stirrup +leathers. She threw the reins to the servant who answered her call and +went slowly into the house. + +Donnegan, by this time, was dead. She began to feel that it would be +hard to look Lord Nick in the face again. His other killings had often +seemed to her glorious. She had rejoiced in the invincibility of her +lover. + +Now he suddenly took on the aspect of a murderer. + +She found the house hushed. Perhaps everyone was at the gaming house; +for now it was midafternoon. But when she opened the door to the +apartment which they used as a living room she found Joe Rix and the +Pedlar and Lester sitting side by side, silent. There was no whisky in +sight; there were no cards to be seen. Marvel of marvels, these three +men were spending their time in solemn thought. A sudden thought rushed +over her, and her cry told where her heart really lay, at least at this +time. + +"Lord Nick--has he been--" + +The Pedlar lifted his gaunt head and stared at her without expression. +It was Joe Rix who answered. + +"Nick's upstairs." + +"Safe?" + +"Not a scratch." + +She sank into a chair with a sigh, but was instantly on edge again with +the second thought. + +"Donnegan?" she whispered. + +"Safe and sound," said Lester coldly. + +She could not gather the truth of the statement. + +"Then Nick got Landis back before Donnegan returned?" + +"No." + +Like any other girl, Nelly Lebrun hated a puzzle above all things in the +world, at least a puzzle which affected her new friends. + +"Lester, what's happened?" she demanded. + +At this Lester, who had been brooding upon the floor, raised his eyes +and then switched one leg over the other. He was a typical cowman, was +Lester, from his crimson handkerchief knotted around his throat to his +shop-made boots which fitted slenderly about his instep with the care of +a gloved hand. + +"I dunno what happened," said Lester. "Which looks like what counts is +the things that didn't happen. Landis is still with that devil, Macon. +Donnegan is loose without a scratch, and Lord Nick is in his room with a +face as black as a cloudy night." + +And briefly he described how Lord Nick had gone up the hill, seen the +colonel, come back, taken a horse litter, and gone up the hill again, +while the populace of The Corner waited for a crash. For Donnegan had +arrived in the meantime. And how Nick had gone into the cabin, remained +a singularly long time, and then come out, with a face half white and +half red and an eye that dared anyone to ask questions. He had strode +straight home to Lebrun's and gone to his room; and there he remained, +never making a sound. + +"But I'll give you my way of readin' the sign on that trail," said +Lester. "Nick goes up the hill to clean up on Donnegan. He sees him; +they size each other up in a flash; they figure that if they's a gun it +means a double killin'--and they simply haul off and say a perlite +fare-thee-well." + +The girl paid no attention to these remarks. She was sunk in a brown +study. + +"There's something behind it all," she said, more to herself than to the +men. "Nick is proud as the devil himself. And I can't imagine why he'd +let Donnegan go. Oh, it might have been done if they'd met alone in the +desert. But with the whole town looking on and waiting for Nick to clean +up on Donnegan--no, it isn't possible. There must have been a showdown +of some kind." + +There was a grim little silence after this. + +"Maybe there was," said the Pedlar dryly. "Maybe there was a +showdown--and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a +six-year-old broke down in front." + +She stared at him, first astonished, and then almost frightened. + +"You mean that Nick may have taken water?" + +The three, as one man, shrugged their shoulders, and met her glance with +cold eyes. + +"You fools!" cried the girl, springing to her feet. "He'd rather die!" + +Joe Rix leaned forward, and to emphasize his point he stabbed one dirty +forefinger into the fat palm of his other hand. + +"You just start thinkin' back," he said solemnly, "and you'll remember +that Donnegan has done some pretty slick things." + +Lester added with a touch of contempt: "Like shootin' down Landis one +day and then sittin' down and havin' a nice long chat with you the next. +I dunno how he does it." + +"That hunch of yours," said the girl fiercely, "ought to be roped and +branded--lie! Lester, don't look at me like that. And if you think Nick +has lost his grip on things you're dead wrong. Step light, Lester--and +the rest of you. Or Nick may hear you walk--and think." + +She flung out of the room and raced up the stairs to Lord Nick's room. +There was an interval without response after her first knock. But when +she rapped again he called out to know who was there. At her answer she +heard his heavy stride cross the room, and the door opened slowly. His +face, as she looked up to it, was so changed that she hardly knew him. +His hair was unkempt, on end, where he had sat with his fingers thrust +into it, buried in thought. And the marks of his palms were red upon his +forehead. + +"Nick," she whispered, frightened, "what is it?" + +He looked down half fiercely, half sadly at her. And though his lips +parted they closed again before he spoke. Fear jumped coldly in Nelly +Lebrun. + +"Did Donnegan--" she pleaded, white-faced. "Did he--" + +"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn't. That's what +everybody'll say. I know it, don't I? And that's why I'm staying here by +myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his +face, why--I'll break him in two." + +She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick +should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much +for credence. + +"You know I don't believe it, Nick? You know that I'm not doubting you?" + +But he brushed her hands roughly away. + +"You want to know what it's all about? Then go over to--well, to +Milligan's. Donnegan will be there. He'll explain things to you, I +guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I'll come over later and join +you." + +Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, +she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless. + +"Nick, dear--" she pleaded. + +He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back +across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire +had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had +robbed him of it. + + + + +36 + + +It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because +the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last +moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed +across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great +and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no +more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the +sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from +the first thrill of finding him not devil but man. + +Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick +or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; +for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she +wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the +invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His +love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a +superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly +visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came +to her eyes at the thought. + +Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her +room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no +one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn +to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt +her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most +lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by +this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring +Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale +under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the +love which he offered her? + +She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But +nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that +night. + +As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with +Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness +of the men, were what she pictured. + +In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, +Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and +file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could +readily control and subdue. + +To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At +the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual +murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any +chance. + +"Nelly, there's going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know +why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is +losing his head; he's losing it over you. So play your cards." + +"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly. + +"I've said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again. +But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick's star to be past +its full glory. + +Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan's and left +her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor. + +"I'm waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her +table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner--full of the +subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What +had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they +would all know in time: one thing was certain--Lord Nick had not taken +water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand. + +Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of +some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into +the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun. +Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and +regretted that he had interrupted. + +"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to +the girl. + +She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, +but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her +game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in +his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she +thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, +but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she +felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have +learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan's shack when Lord Nick +was there. + +"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said. +"This time it's five minutes." + +No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly. + +"When I talk about myself, I'm always long-winded." + +"Tonight it's someone else?" + +"Yes." + +She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as +bright as ever. + +"Of course I'm listening." + +"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?" + +"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Yes, she's a lovely child." + +And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had +hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but +he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly. + +He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick." + +"Ah," said the girl a little coldly. + +Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played +it to the full. + +"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick +went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting +for him to bring the youngster down?" + +"Of course." + +"There was only one obstacle--which you had so kindly removed--myself." + +"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Ah, don't you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came +to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so." + +Such frankness shocked her into a new attention. + +Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her +heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times +rather die than give way to any living man. + +"But I threw my case bodily before him--the girl--her love for +Landis--and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you +know, if he were sent back to your father's house. I placed it all +before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed +to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter +be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man +would see in my attitude nothing but foolishness. No man could have +appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named +another referee--yourself." + +She gasped. + +"And so I have come to place the question before you, because I know +that you will decide honestly." + +"Then I shall be honest," said the girl. + +She was thinking: Why not have Landis back? It would keep the three men +revolving around her. Landis on his feet and well would have been +nothing; either of these men would have killed him. But Landis sick she +might balance in turn against them both. Nelly had the instincts of a +fencer; she loved balance. + +But Donnegan was heaping up his effects. For by the shadow in her eyes +he well knew what was passing through her mind, and he dared not let her +speak too quickly. + +"There is more hanging upon it. In the first place, if Landis is left +with the girl it gives the colonel a chance to work on him, and like as +not the colonel will get the young fool to sign away the mines to +him--frighten him, you see, though I've made sure that the colonel will +not actually harm him." + +"How have you made sure? They say the colonel is a devil." + +"I have spoken with him. The colonel is not altogether without +sensibility to fear." + +She caught the glint in the little man's eye and she believed. + +"So much for that. Landis is safe, but his money may not be. Another +thing still hangs upon your decision. Lord Nick wanted to know why I +trusted to you? Because I felt you were honest. Why did I feel that? +There was nothing to do. Besides, how could I conceal myself from such a +man? I spoke frankly and told him that I trusted you because I love +you." + +She closed her hand hard on the edge of the table to steady herself. + +"And he made no move at you?" + +"He restrained himself." + +"Lord Nick?" gasped the incredulous girl. + +"He is a gentleman," said Donnegan with a singular pride which she could +not understand. + +He went on: "And unfortunately I fear that if you decide in favor of my +side of the argument, I fear that Lord Nick will feel that you--that +you--" + +He was apparently unable to complete his sentence. + +"He will feel that you no longer care for him," said Donnegan at length. + +The girl pondered him with cloudy eyes. + +"What is behind all this frankness?" she asked coldly. + +"I shall tell you. Hopelessness is behind it. Last night I poured my +heart at your feet. And I had hope. Today I have seen Lord Nick and I no +longer hope." + +"Ah?" + +"He is worthy of a lovely woman's affection; and I--" He called her +attention to himself with a deprecatory gesture. + +"Do you ask me to hurt him like this?" said the girl. "His pride is the +pride of the fiend. Love me? He would hate me!" + +"It might be true. Still I know you would risk it, because--" he paused. + +"Well?" asked the girl, whispering in her excitement. + +"Because you are a lady." + +He bowed to her. + +"Because you are fair; because you are honest, Nelly Lebrun. Personally +I think that you can win Lord Nick back with one minute of smiling. But +you might not. You might alienate him forever. It will be clumsy to +explain to him that you were influenced not by me, but by justice. He +will make it a personal matter, whereas you and I know that it is only +the right that you are seeing." + +She propped her chin on the tips of her fingers, and her arm was a thing +of grace. For the last moments that clouded expression had not cleared. + +"If I only could read your mind," she murmured now. "There is something +behind it all." + +"I shall tell you what it is. It is the restraint that has fallen upon +me. It is because I wish to lean closer to you across the table and +speak to you of things which are at the other end of the world from +Landis and the other girl. It is because I have to keep my hands gripped +hard to control myself. Because, though I have given up hope, I would +follow a forlorn chance, a lost cause, and tell you again and again that +I love you, Nelly Lebrun!" + +He had half lowered his eyes as he spoke; he had called up a vision, and +the face of Lou Macon hovered dimly between him and Nelly Lebrun. If all +that he spoke was a lie, let him be forgiven for it; it was the +golden-haired girl whom he addressed, and it was she who gave the tremor +and the fiber to his voice. And after all was he not pleading for her +happiness as he believed? + +He covered his eyes with his hand; but when he looked up again she could +see the shadow of the pain which was slowly passing. She had never seen +such emotion in any man's face, and if it was for another, how could she +guess it? Her blood was singing in her veins, and the old, old question +was flying back and forth through her brain like a shuttle through a +loom: Which shall it be? + +She called up the picture of Lord Nick, half-broken, but still terrible, +she well knew. She pitied him, but when did pity wholly rule the heart +of a woman? And as for Nelly Lebrun, she had the ambition of a young +Caesar; she could not fill a second place. He who loved her must stand +first, and she saw Donnegan as the invincible man. She had not believed +half of his explanation. No, he was shielding Lord Nick; behind that +shield the truth was that the big man had quailed before the small. + +Of course she saw that Donnegan, pretending to be constrained by his +agreement with Lord Nick, was in reality cunningly pleading his own +cause. But his passion excused him. When has a woman condemned a man for +loving her beyond the rules of fair play? + +"Whatever you may decide," Donnegan was saying. "I shall be prepared to +stand by it without a murmur. Send Landis back to your father's house +and I submit: I leave The Corner and say farewell. But now, think +quickly. For Lord Nick is coming to receive your answer." + + + + +37 + + +If the meeting between Lord Nick and Donnegan earlier that day had +wrought up the nerves of The Corner to the point of hysteria; if the +singular end of that meeting had piled mystery upon excitement; if the +appearance of Donnegan, sitting calmly at the table of the girl who was +known to be engaged to Nick, had further stimulated public curiosity, +the appearance of Lord Nick was now a crowning burden under which The +Corner staggered. + +Yet not a man or a woman stirred from his chair, for everyone knew that +if the long-delayed battle between these two gunfighters was at length +to take place, neither bullet was apt to fly astray. + +But what happened completed the wreck of The Corner's nerves, for Lord +Nick walked quietly across the floor and sat down with Nelly Lebrun and +his somber rival. + +Oddly enough, he looked at Donnegan, not at the girl, and this token of +the beaten man decided her. + +"Well?" said Lord Nick. + +"I have decided," said the girl. "Landis should stay where he is." + +Neither of the two men stirred hand or eye. But Lord Nick turned gray. +At length he rose and asked Donnegan, quietly, to step aside with him. +Seeing them together, the difference between their sizes was more +apparent: Donnegan seemed hardly larger than a child beside the splendid +bulk of Lord Nick. But she could not overhear their talk. + +"You've won," said Lord Nick, "both Landis and Nelly. And--" + +"Wait," broke in Donnegan eagerly. "Henry, I've persuaded Nelly to see +my side of the case, but that doesn't mean that she has turned from you +to--" + +"Stop!" put in Lord Nick, between his teeth. "I've not come to argue +with you or ask advice or opinions. I've come to state facts. You've +crawled in between me and Nelly like a snake in the grass. Very well. +You're my brother. That keeps me from handling you. You've broken my +reputation just as I said you would do. The bouncer at the door looked +me in the eye and smiled when I came in." + +He had to pause a little, breathing heavily, and avoiding Donnegan's +eyes. Finally he was able to continue. + +"I'm going to roll my blankets and leave The Corner and everything I +have in it. You'll get my share of most things, it seems." He smiled +after a ghastly, mirthless fashion. "I give you a free road. I surrender +everything to you, Donnegan. But there are two things I want to warn you +about. It may be that my men will not agree with me. It may be that +they'll want to put up a fight for the mine. They can't get at it +without getting at Macon. They can't get at him without removing you. +And they'll probably try it. I warn you now. + +"Another thing: from this moment there's no blood tie between us. I've +found a brother and lost him in the same day. And if I ever cross you +again, Donnegan, I'll shoot you on sight. Remember, I'm not threatening. +I simply warn you in advance. If I were you, I'd get out of the country. +Avoid me, Donnegan, as you'd avoid the devil." + +And he turned on his heel. He felt the eyes of the people in the room +follow him by jerks, dwelling on every one of his steps. Near the door, +stepping aside to avoid a group of people coming in, he half turned and +he could not avoid the sight of Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun at the other +end of the room. He was leaning across the table, talking with a smile +on his lips--at that distance he could not mark the pallor of the little +man's face--and Nelly Lebrun was laughing. Laughing already, and +oblivious of the rest of the world. + +Lord Nick turned, a blur coming before his eyes, and made blindly for +the door. A body collided with him; without a word he drew back his +massive right fist and knocked the man down. The stunned body struck +against the wall and collapsed along the floor. Lord Nick felt a great +madness swell in his heart. Yet he set his teeth, controlled himself, +and went on toward the house of Lebrun. He had come within an eyelash of +running amuck, and the quivering hunger for action was still swelling +and ebbing in him when he reached the gambler's house. + +Lebrun was not in the gaming house, no doubt, at this time of night--but +the rest of Nick's chosen men were there. They stood up as he entered +the room--Harry Masters, newly arrived--the Pedlar--Joe Rix--three names +famous in the mountain desert for deeds which were not altogether a +pleasant aroma in the nostrils of the law-abiding, but whose sins had +been deftly covered from legal proof by the cunning of Nick, and whose +bravery itself had half redeemed them. They rose now as three wolves +rise at the coming of the leader. But this time there was a question +behind their eyes, and he read it in gloomy silence. + +"Well?" asked Harry Masters. + +In the old days not one of them would have dared to voice the question, +but now things were changing, and well Lord Nick could read the change +and its causes. + +"Are you talking to me?" asked Nick, and he looked straight between the +eyes of Masters. + +The glance of the other did not falter, and it maddened Nick. + +"I'm talking to you," said Masters coolly enough. "What happened between +you and Donnegan?" + +"What should happen?" asked Lord Nick. + +"Maybe all this is a joke," said Masters bitterly. He was a square-built +man, with a square face and a wrinkled, fleshy forehead. In +intelligence, Nick ranked him first among the men. And if a new leader +were to be chosen there was no doubt as to where the choice of the men +would fall. No doubt that was why Masters put himself forward now, ready +to brave the wrath of the chief. "Maybe we're fooled," went on Masters. +"Maybe they ain't any call for you to fall out with Donnegan?" + +"Maybe there's a call to find out this," answered Lord Nick. "Why did +you leave the mines? What are you doing up here?" + +The other swallowed so hard that he blinked. + +"I left the mines," he declared through his set teeth, "because I was +run off 'em." + +"Ah," said Lord Nick, for the devil was rising in him, "I always had an +idea that you might be yellow, Masters." + +The right hand of Masters swayed toward his gun, hesitated, and then +poised idly. + +"You heard me talk?" persisted Lord Nick brutally. "I call you yellow. +Why don't you draw on me? I called you yellow, you swine, and I call the +rest of you yellow. You think you have me down? Why, curse you, if there +were thirty of your cut, I'd say the same to you!" + +There was a quick shift, the three men faced Lord Nick, but each from a +different angle. And opposing them, he stood superbly indifferent, his +arms folded, his feet braced. His arms were folded, but each hand, for +all they knew, might be grasping the butt of a gun hidden away in his +clothes. Once they flashed a glance from face to face; but there was no +action. They were remembering only too well some of the wild deeds of +this giant. + +"You think I'm through," went on Lord Nick. "Maybe I am--through with +you. You hear me talk?" + +One by one, his eyes dared them, and one by one they took up the +challenge, struggled, and lowered their glances. He was still their +master and in that mute moment the three admitted it, the Pedlar last of +all. + +Masters saw fit to fall back on the last remark. + +"I've swallowed a lot from you, Nick," he said gravely. + +"Maybe there'll be an end to what we take one of these days. But now +I'll tell you how yellow I was. A couple of gents come to me and tell me +I'm through at the mine. I told them they were crazy. They said old +Colonel Macon had sent them down to take charge. I laughed at 'em. They +went away and came back. Who with? With the sheriff. And he flashed a +paper on me. It was all drawn up clean as a whistle. Trimmed up with a +lot of 'whereases' and 'as hereinbefore mentioned' and such like things. +But the sheriff just gimme a look and then he tells me what it's about. +Jack Landis has signed over all the mines to the colonel and the +colonel has taken possession." + +As he stopped, a growl came from the others. + +"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick. "Where do +the rest of you figure in it? Lester had the mines; he lost 'em because +he couldn't drop Landis with his gun. He'd never have had a smell of the +gold if I hadn't come in. Who made Landis see light? I did! Who worked +it so that every nickel that came out of the mines went through the +fingers of Landis and came back to us? I did! But I'm through with you. +You can hunt for yourselves now. I've kept you together to guard one +another's backs. I've kept the law off your trail. You, Masters, you'd +have swung for killing the McKay brothers. Who saved you? Who was it +bribed the jury that tried you for the shooting up of Derbyville, +Pedlar? Who took the marshal off your trail after you'd knifed Lefty +Waller, Joe Rix? I've saved you all a dozen times. Now you whine at me. +I'm through with you forever!" + +Stopping, he glared about him. His knuckles stung from the impact of the +blow he had delivered in Milligan's place. He hungered to have one of +these three stir a hand and get into action. + +And they knew it. All at once they crumbled and became clay in his +hands. + +"Chief," said Joe Rix, the smoothest spoken of the lot, and one who was +supposed to stand specially well with Lord Nick on account of his +ability to bake beans, Spanish. "Chief, you've said a whole pile. You're +worth more'n the rest of us all rolled together. Sure. We know that. +There ain't any argument. But here's just one little point that I want +to make. + +"We was doing fine. The gold was running fine and free. Along comes this +Donnegan. He busts up our good time. He forks in on your girl--" + +A convulsion of the chief's face made Rix waver in his speech and then +he went on: "He shoots Landis, and when he misses killing him--by some +accident, he comes down here and grabs him out of Lebrun's own house. +Smooth, eh? Then he makes Landis sign that deed to the mines. Oh, very +nice work, I say. Too nice. + +"'Now, speakin' man to man, they ain't any doubt that you'd like to get +rid of Donnegan. Why don't you? Because everybody has a jinx, and he's +yours. I ain't easy scared, maybe, but I knew an albino with white eyes +once, and just to look at him made me some sick. Well, chief, they ain't +nobody can say that you ever took water or ever will. But maybe the fact +that this Donnegan has hair just as plumb red as yours may sort of get +you off your feed. I'm just suggesting. Now, what I say is, let the rest +of us take a crack at Donnegan, and you sit back and come in on the +results when we've cleaned up. D'you give us a free road?" + +How much went through the brain of Lord Nick? But in the end he gave his +brother up to death. For he remembered how Nelly Lebrun had sat in +Milligan's laughing. + +"Do what you want," he said suddenly. "But I want to know none of your +plans--and the man that tells me Donnegan is dead gets paid--in lead!" + + + + +38 + + +The smile of Joe Rix was the smile of a diplomat. It could be maintained +upon his face as unwaveringly as if it were wrought out of marble while +Joe heard insult and lie. As a matter of fact Joe had smiled in the face +of death more than once, and this is a school through which even +diplomats rarely pass. Yet it was with an effort that he maintained the +characteristic good-natured expression when the door to Donnegan's shack +opened and he saw big George and, beyond him, Donnegan himself. + +"Booze," said Joe Rix to himself instantly. + +For Donnegan was a wreck. The unshaven beard--it was the middle of +morning--was a reddish mist over his face. His eyes were sunken in +shadow. His hair was uncombed. He sat with his shoulders hunched up like +one who suffers from cold. Altogether his appearance was that of one +whose energy has been utterly sapped. + +"The top of the morning, Mr. Donnegan," said Joe Rix, and put his foot +on the threshold. + +But since big George did not move it was impossible to enter. + +"Who's there?" asked Donnegan. + +It was a strange question to ask, for by raising his eyes he could have +seen. But Donnegan was staring down at the floor. Even his voice was a +weak murmur. + +"What a party! What a party he's had!" thought Joe Rix, and after all, +there was cause for a celebration. Had not the little man in almost one +stroke won the heart of the prettiest girl in The Corner, and also did +he not probably have a working share in the richest of the diggings? + +"I'm Joe Rix," he said. + +"Joe Rix?" murmured Donnegan softly. "Then you're one of Lord Nick's +men?" + +"I was," said Joe Rix, "sort of attached to him, maybe." + +Perhaps this pointed remark won the interest of Donnegan. He raised his +eyes, and Joe Rix beheld the most unhappy face he had ever seen. "A bad +hangover," he decided, "and that makes it bad for me!" + +"Come in," said Donnegan in the same monotonous, lifeless voice. + +Big George reluctantly, it seemed, withdrew to one side, and Rix was +instantly in the room and drawing out a chair so that he could face +Donnegan. + +"I was," he proceeded "sort of tied up with Lord Nick. But"--and here he +winked broadly--"it ain't much of a secret that Nick ain't altogether a +lord any more. Nope. Seems he turned out sort of common, they say." + +"What fool," murmured Donnegan, "has told you that? What ass had told +you that Lord Nick is a common sort?" + +It shocked Joe Rix, but being a diplomat he avoided friction by changing +his tactics. + +"Between you and me," he said calmly enough, "I took what I heard with a +grain of salt. There's something about Nick that ain't common, no matter +what they say. Besides, they's some men that nobody but a fool would +stand up to. It ain't hardly a shame for a man to back down from 'em." + +He pointed this remark with a nod to Donnegan. + +"I'll give you a bit of free information," said the little man, with his +weary eyes lighted a little. "There's no man on the face of the earth +who could make Lord Nick back down." + +Once more Joe Rix was shocked to the verge of gaping, but again he +exercised a power of marvelous self control "About that," he remarked +as pointedly as before, "I got my doubts. Because there's some things +that any gent with sense will always clear away from. Maybe not one +man--but say a bunch of all standin' together." + +Donnegan leaned back in his chair and waited. Both of his hands remained +drooping from the edge of the table, and the tired eyes drifted slowly +across the face of Joe Rix. + +It was obviously not the aftereffects of liquor. The astonishing +possibility occurred to Joe Rix that this seemed to be a man with a +broken spirit and a great sorrow. He blinked that absurdity away. + +"Coming to cases," he went on, "there's yourself, Mr. Donnegan. Now, +you're the sort of a man that don't sidestep nobody. Too proud to do it. +But even you, I guess, would step careful if there was a whole bunch +agin' you." + +"No doubt," remarked Donnegan. + +"I don't mean any ordinary bunch," explained Joe Rix, "but a lot of hard +fellows. Gents that handle their guns like they was born with a holster +on the hip." + +"Fellows like Nick's crowd," suggested Donnegan quietly. + +At this thrust the eyes of Joe narrowed a little. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I see you get my drift." + +"I think so." + +"Two hard fighters would give the best man that ever pulled a gun a lot +of trouble. Eh?" + +"No doubt." + +"And three men--they ain't any question, Mr. Donnegan--would get him +ready for a hole in the ground." + +"I suppose so." + +"And four men would make it no fight--jest a plain butchery." + +"Yes?" + +"Now, I don't mean that Nick's crowd has any hard feeling about you, Mr. +Donnegan." + +"I'm glad to hear that." + +"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things +over. Suppose you look at it this way--" + +"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut +this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand." + +Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley. + +"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester +and the rest of us want--the mines!" + +"Ah?" + +"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get +'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel +while you're around." + +"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's +kind of you to warn me." + +"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in +a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our +side." + +"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?" + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the other, spreading out his hands solemnly on the +table, "you ain't doin' us justice. We don't hanker none for trouble +with you. Any way it comes, a fight with you means somebody dead besides +you. We'd get you. Four to one is too much for any man. But one or two +of us might go down. Who would it be? Maybe the Pedlar, maybe Harry +Masters, maybe Lester, maybe me! Oh, we know all that. No gunplay if we +can keep away from it." + +"You've left out the name of Lord Nick," said Donnegan. + +Joe Rix winked. + +"Seems like you tended to him once and for all when you got him alone in +this cabin. Must have thrown a mighty big scare into him. He won't lift +a hand agin' you now." + +"No?" murmured Donnegan hoarsely. + +"Not him! But that leaves four of us, and four is plenty, eh?" + +"Perhaps." + +"But I'm not here to insist on that point. No, we put a value on keepin' +up good feeling between us and you, Mr. Donnegan. We ain't fools. We +know a man when we see him--and the fastest gunman that ever slid a gun +out of leather ain't the sort of a man that me and the rest of the boys +pass over lightly. Not us! We know you, Mr. Donnegan; we respect you; we +want you with us; we're going to have you with us." + +"You flatter me and I thank you. But I'm glad to see that you are at +last coming to the point." + +"I am, and the point is five thousand dollars that's tied behind the +hoss that stands outside your door." + +He pushed his fat hand a little way across the table, as though the gold +even then were resting in it, a yellow tide of fortune. + +"For which," said Donnegan, "I'm to step aside and let you at the +colonel?" + +"Right." + +Donnegan smiled. + +"Wait," said Joe Rix. "I was makin' a first offer to see how you stood, +but you're right. Five thousand ain't enough and we ain't cheapskates. +Not us. Mr. Donnegan, they's ten thousand cold iron men behind that +saddle out there and every cent of it belongs to you when you come over +on our side." + +But Donnegan merely dropped his chin upon his hand and smiled +mirthlessly at Joe Rix. A wild thought came to the other man. Both of +Donnegan's hands were far from his weapons. Why not a quick draw, a snap +shot, and then the glory of having killed this manslayer in single +battle for Joe Rix? + +The thought rushed red across his brain and then faded slowly. Something +kept him back. Perhaps it was the singular calm of Donnegan; no matter +how quiet he sat he suggested the sleeping cat which can leap out of +dead sleep into fighting action at a touch. By the time a second thought +had come to Joe Rix the idea of an attack was like an idea of suicide. + +"Is that final?" he asked, though Donnegan had not said a word. + +"It is." + +Joe Rix stood up. + +"You put it to us kind of hard. But we want you, Mr. Donnegan. And +here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Come over to us. We'll stand +behind you. Lord Nick is slipping. We'll put you in his place. You won't +even have to face him; we'll get rid of him." + +"You'll kill him and give his place to me?" asked Donnegan. + +"We will. And when you're with us, you cut in on the whole amount of +coin that the mines turn out--and it'll be something tidy. And right +now, to show where we stand and how high we put you, I'll let you in on +the rock-bottom truth. Mr. Donnegan. out there tied behind my saddle +there's thirty thousand dollars in pure gold. You can take it in here +and weigh it out!" + +He stepped back to watch this blow take effect. To his unutterable +astonishment the little man had not moved. His chin still rested upon +the back of his hand, and the smile which was on the lips and not in the +eyes of Donnegan remained there, fixed. + +"Donnegan," muttered Joe Rix, "if we can't get you, we'll get rid of +you. You understand?" + +But the other continued to smile. + +It gave Joe Rix a shuddering feeling that someone was stealing behind +him to block his way to the door. He cast one swift glance over his +shoulder and then, seeing that the way was clear, he slunk back, always +keeping his face to the red-headed man. But when he came to the doorway +his nerve collapsed. He whirled, covered the rest of the distance with a +leap, and emerged from the cabin in a fashion ludicrously like one who +has been kicked through a door. + +His nerve returned as soon as the sunlight fell warmly upon him again; +and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had observed his flight. + +There was no one on the whole hillside except Colonel Macon in the +invalid chair, and the colonel was smiling broadly, beneficently. He had +his perfect hands folded across his breast and seemed to cast a prayer +of peace and goodwill upon Joe Rix. + + + + +39 + + +Nelly Lebrun smelled danger. She sensed it as plainly as the deer when +the puma comes between her and the wind. The many tokens that something +was wrong came to her by small hints which had to be put together before +they assumed any importance. + +First of all, her father, who should have burst out at her in a tirade +for having left Lord Nick for Donnegan said nothing at all, but kept a +dark smile on his face when she was near him. He even insinuated that +Nick's time was done and that another was due to supersede him. + +In the second place, she had passed into a room where Masters, Joe Rix, +and the Pedlar sat cheek by jowl in close conference with a hum of deep +voice. But at her appearance all talk was broken off. + +It was not strange that they should not invite her into their confidence +if they had some dark work ahead of them; but it was exceedingly +suspicious that Joe Rix attempted to pass off their whispers by +immediately breaking off the soft talk and springing into the midst of a +full-fledged jest; also, it was strangest of all that when the jest +ended even the Pedlar, who rarely smiled, now laughed uproariously and +smote Joe soundingly upon the back. + +Even a child could have strung these incidents into a chain of evidence +which pointed toward danger. Obviously the danger was not directly hers, +but then it must be directed at some one near to her. Her father? No, he +was more apt to be the mainspring of their action. Lord Nick? There was +nothing to gain by attacking him. Who was left? Donnegan! + +As the realization came upon her it took her breath away for a moment. +Donnegan was the man. At breakfast everyone had been talking about him. +Lebrun had remarked that he had a face for the cards--emotionless. Joe +Rix had commented upon his speed of hand, and the Pedlar had +complimented the little man on his dress. + +But at lunch not a word was spoken about Donnegan even after she had +dexterously introduced the subject twice. Why the sudden silence? +Between morning and noon Donnegan must have grievously offended them. + +Fear for his sake stimulated her; but above and beyond this, indeed, +there was a mighty feminine curiosity. She smelled the secret; it reeked +through the house, and she was devoured by eagerness to know. She +handpicked Lord Nick's gang in the hope of finding a weakness among +them; some weakness upon which she could play in one of them and draw +out what they were all concealing. The Pedlar was as unapproachable as a +crag on a mountaintop. Masters was wise as an outlaw broncho. Lester was +probably not even in the confidence of the others because since the +affair with Landis his nerve had been shattered to bits and the others +secretly despised him for being beaten by the youngster at the draw. +There remained, therefore, only Joe Rix. + +But Joe Rix was a fox of the first quality. He lied with the smoothness +of silk. He could show a dozen colors in as many moments. Come to the +windward of Joe Rix? It was a delicate business! But since there was +nothing else to do, she fixed her mind upon it, working out this puzzle. +Joe Rix wished to destroy Donnegan for reasons that were evidently +connected with the mines. And she must step into his confidence to +discover his plans. How should it be done? And there was a vital need +for speed, for they might be within a step of executing whatever +mischief it was that they were planning. + +She went down from her room; they were there still, only Joe Rix was +not with them. She went to the apartment where he and the other three of +Nick's gang slept and rapped at the door. He maintained his smile when +he saw her, but there was an uncertain quiver of his eyebrows that told +her much. Plainly he was ill at ease. Suspicious? Ay, there were always +clouds of suspicion drifting over the red, round face of Joe Rix. She +put a tremor of excitement and trouble in her voice. + +"Come into my room, Joe, where we won't be interrupted." + +He followed her without a word, and since she led the way she was able +to relax her expression for a necessary moment. When she closed the door +behind him and faced Joe again she was once more ready to step into her +part. She did not ask him to sit down. She remained for a moment with +her hand on the knob and searched the face of Joe Rix eagerly. + +"Do you think he can hear?" she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder. + +"Who?" + +"Who but Lord Nick!" she exclaimed softly. + +The bewilderment of Joe clouded his face a second and then he was able +to smooth it away. What on earth was the reason of her concern about +Lord Nick he was obviously wondering. + +"I'll tell you why," she said, answering the unspoken question at once. +"He's as jealous as the devil, Joe!" + +The fat little man sighed as he looked at her. + +"He can't hear. Not through that log wall. But we'll talk soft, if you +want." + +"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down. He's already jealous of you, Joe." + +"Of me?" + +"He knows I like you, that I trust you; and just now he's on edge about +everyone I look at." + +The surprising news which the first part of this sentence contained +caused Joe to gape, and the girl looked away in concern, enabling him to +control his expression. For she knew well enough that men hate to appear +foolishly surprised. And particularly a fox like Joe Rix. + +"But what's the trouble, Nelly?" He added with a touch of venom: "I +thought everything was going smoothly with you. And I thought you +weren't worrying much about what Lord Nick had in his mind." + +She stared at him as though astonished. + +"Do you think just the same as the rest of them?" she asked sadly. "Do +you mean to say that you're fooled just the same as Harry Masters and +the Pedlar and the rest of those fools--including Nick himself?" + +Joe Rix was by no means willing to declare himself a fool beforehand. He +now mustered a look of much reserved wisdom. + +"I have my own doubts, Nell, but I'm not talking about them." + +He was so utterly at sea that she had to bite her lip hard to keep from +breaking into ringing laughter. + +"Oh, I knew that you'd seen through it, Joe," she cried softly. "You see +what an awful mess I've gotten into?" + +He passed a hurried hand across his forehead and then looked at her +searchingly. But he could not penetrate her pretense of concern. + +"No matter what I think," said Joe Rix, "you come out with it frankly. +I'll listen." + +"As a friend, Joe?" + +She managed to throw a plea into her voice that made Joe sigh. + +"Sure. You've already said that I'm your friend, and you're right." + +"I'm in terrible, terrible trouble! You know how it happened. I was a +fool. I tried to play with Lord Nick. And now he thinks I was in +earnest." + +As though the strength of his legs had given way, Joe Rix slipped down +into a chair. + +"Go on," he said huskily. "You were playing with Lord Nick?" + +"Can't you put yourself in my place, Joe? It's always been taken for +granted that I'm to marry Nick. And the moment he comes around everybody +else avoids me as if I were poison. I was sick of it. And when he showed +up this time it was the same old story. A man would as soon sign his own +death warrant as ask me for a dance. You know how it is?" + +He nodded, still at sea, but with a light beginning to dawn in his +little eyes. + +"I'm only a girl, Joe. I have all the weakness of other girls. I don't +want to be locked up in a cage just because I--love one man!" + +The avowal made Joe blink. It was the second time that day that he had +been placed in an astonishing scene. But some of his old cunning +remained to him. + +"Nell," he said suddenly, rising from his chair and going to her. "What +are you trying to do to me? Pull the wool over my eyes?" + +It was too much for Nelly Lebrun. She knew that she could not face him +without betraying her guilt and therefore she did not attempt it. She +whirled and flung herself on her bed, face down, and began to sob +violently, suppressing the sounds. And so she waited. + +Presently a hand touched her shoulder lightly. + +"Go away," cried Nelly in a choked voice. "I hate you, Joe Rix. You're +like all the rest!" + +His knee struck the floor with a soft thud. + +"Come on, Nell. Don't be hard on me. I thought you were stringing me a +little. But if you're playing straight, tell me what you want?" + +At that she bounced upright on the bed, and before he could rise she +caught him by both shoulders. + +"I want Donnegan," she said fiercely. + +"What?" + +"I want him dead!" + +Joe Rix gasped. + +"Here's the cause of all my trouble. Just because I flirted with him +once or twice, Nick thought I was in earnest and now he's sulking. And +Donnegan puts on airs and acts as if I belonged to him. I hate him, Joe. +And if he's gone Nick will come back to me. He'll come back to me, Joe; +and I want him so!" + +She found that Joe Rix was staring straight into her eyes, striving to +probe her soul to its depths, and by a great effort she was enabled to +meet that gaze. Finally the fat little man rose slowly to his feet. Her +hands trailed from his shoulders as he stood up and fell helplessly upon +her lap. + +"Well, I'll be hanged, Nell!" exclaimed Joe Rix. + +"What do you mean?" + +"You're not acting a part? No, I can see you mean it. But what a +cold-blooded little--" He checked himself. His face was suddenly +jubilant. "Then we've got him, Nell. We've got him if you're with us. We +had him anyway, but we'll make sure of him if you're with us. Look at +this! You saw me put a paper in my pocket when I opened the door of my +room? Here it is!" + +He displayed before the astonished eyes of Nelly Lebrun a paper covered +with an exact duplicate of her own swift, dainty script. And she read: + + Nick is terribly angry and is making trouble. I have to get + away. It isn't safe for me to stay here. Will you help me? + Will you meet me at the shack by Donnell's ford tomorrow + morning at ten o'clock? + +"But I didn't write it," cried Nelly Lebrun, bewildered. + +"Nelly," Joe Rix chuckled, flushing with pleasure, "you didn't. It was +me. I kind of had an idea that you wanted to get rid of this Donnegan, +and I was going to do it for you and then surprise you with the good +news." + +"Joe, you forged it?" + +"Don't bother sayin' pretty things about me and my pen," said Rix +modestly. "This is nothin'! But if you want to help me, Nelly--" + +His voice faded partly out of her consciousness as she fought against a +tigerish desire to spring at the throat of the little fat man. But +gradually it dawned on her that he was asking her to write out that note +herself. Why? Because it was possible that Donnegan might have seen her +handwriting and in that case, though the imitation had been good enough +to deceive Nelly herself, it probably would not for a moment fool the +keen eyes of Donnegan. But if she herself wrote out the note, Donnegan +was already as good as dead. + +"That is," concluded Joe Rix, "if he really loves you, Nell." + +"The fool!" cried Nelly. "He worships the ground I walk on, Joe. And I +hate him for it." + +Even Joe Rix shivered, for he saw the hate in her eyes and could not +dream that he himself was the cause and the object of it. There was a +red haze of horror and confusion in front of her eyes, and yet she was +able to smile while she copied the note for Joe Rix. + +"But how are you going to work it?" she asked. "How are you going to +kill him, Joe?" + +"Don't bother your pretty head," said the fat man, smiling. "Just wait +till we bring you the good news." + +"But are you sure?" she asked eagerly. "See what he's done already. He's +taken Landis away from us; he's baffled Nick himself, in some manner; +and he's gathered the mines away from all of us. He's a devil, Joe, and +if you want to get him you'd better take ten men for the job." + +"You hate him, Nell, don't you?" queried Joe Rix, and his voice was both +hard and curious. "But how has he harmed you?" + +"Hasn't he taken Nick away from me? Isn't that enough?" + +The fat man shivered again. + +"All right. I'll tell you how it works. Now, listen!" + +And he began to check off the details of his plan. + + + + +40 + + +The day passed and the night, but how very slowly for Nelly Lebrun; she +went up to her room early for she could no longer bear the meaning +glances which Joe Rix cast at her from time to time. But once in her +room it was still harder to bear the suspense as she waited for the +noise to die away in the house. Midnight, and half an hour more went by, +and then, at last, the murmurs and the laughter stopped; she alone was +wakeful in Lebrun's. And when that time came she caught a scarf around +her hair and her shoulders, made of a filmy material which would veil +her face but through which she could see, and ventured out of her room +and down the hall. + +There was no particular need for such caution, however, it seemed. +Nothing stirred. And presently she was outside the house and hurrying +behind the houses and up the hill. Still she met nothing. If The Corner +lived tonight, its life was confined to Milligan's and the gambling +house. + +She found Donnegan's shack and the one next to it, which the terrible +colonel occupied, entirely dark, but only a moment after she tapped at +the door it was opened. Donnegan, fully dressed, stood in the entrance, +outlined blackly by the light which came faintly from the hooded lantern +hanging on the wall. Was he sitting up all the night, unable to sleep +because he waited breathlessly for that false tryst on the morrow? A +great tenderness came over the heart of Nelly Lebrun. + +"It is I," she whispered. + +There was a soft exclamation, then she was drawn into the room. + +"Is there anyone here?" + +"Only big George. But he's in the kitchen and he won't hear. He never +hears anything except what's meant for his ear. Take this chair!" + +He was putting a blanket over the rough wood to make it more +comfortable, and she submitted dumbly to his ministrations. It seemed +terrible and strange to her that one so gentle should be the object of +so much hate--such deadly hate as the members of Nick's gang felt for +him. And now that he was sitting before her she could see that he had +indeed been wakeful for a long time. His face was grimly wasted; the +lips were compressed as one who has endured long pain; and his eyes +gleamed at her out of a profound shadow. He remained in the gloom; the +light from the lantern fell brightly upon his hands alone--meager, +fleshless hands which seemed to represent hardly more strength than that +of a child. Truly this man was all a creature of spirit and nerve. +Therein lay his strength, as also his weakness, and again the cherishing +instinct grew strong and swept over her. + +"There is no one near," he said, "except the colonel and his daughter. +They are up the hillside, somewhere. Did you see them?" + +"No. What in the world are they out for at this time of night?" + +"Because the colonel only wakes up when the sun goes down. And now he's +out there humming to himself and never speaking a word to the girl. But +they won't be far away. They'll stay close to see that no one comes near +the cabin to get at Landis." + +He added: "They must have seen you come into my cabin!" + +And his lips set even harder than before. Was it fear because of her? + +"They may have seen me enter, but they won't know who it was. You have +the note from me?" + +"Yes." + +"It's a lie! It's a ruse. I was forced to write it to save you! For +they're planning to murder you. Oh, my dear!" + +"Hush! Hush! Murder?" + +"I've been nearly hysterical all day and all the night. But. thank +heaven, I'm here to warn you in time! You mustn't go. You mustn't go!" + +"Who is it?" + +He had drawn his chair closer: he had taken her hands, and she noted +that his own were icy cold, but steady as a rock. Their pressure soothed +her infinitely. + +"Joe Rix, the Pedlar, Harry Masters. They'll be at the shack at ten +o'clock, but not I!" + +"Murder, but a very clumsy scheme. Three men leave town and commit a +murder and then expect to go undetected? Not even in the mountain +desert!" + +"But you don't understand, you don't understand! They're wise as foxes. +They'll take no risk. They don't even leave town together or travel by +the same routes. Harry Masters starts first. He rides out at eight +o'clock in the morning and takes the north trail. He rides down the +gulch and winds out of it and strikes for the shack at the ford. At half +past eight the Pedlar starts. He goes past Sandy's place and then over +the trail through the marsh. You know it?" + +"Yes." + +"Last of all, Joe Rix starts at nine o'clock. Half an hour between +them." + +"How does he go to the shack?" + +"By the south trail. He takes the ridge of the hills. But they'll all be +at the shack long before you and they'll shoot you down from a distance +as you come up to it. Plain murder, but even for cowardly murder they +daren't face you except three to one." + +He was thoughtful. + +"Suppose they were to be met on the way?" + +"You're mad to think of it!" + +"But if they fail this time they'll try again. They must be taught a +lesson." + +"Three men? Oh, my dear, my dear! Promise!" + +"Very well. I shall do nothing rash. And I shall never forget that +you've come to tell me this and been in peril, Nell, for if they found +you had come to me--" + +"The Pedlar would cut my throat. I know him!" + +"Ah! But now you must go. I'll take you down the hill, dear." + +"No, no! It's much easier to get back alone. My face will be covered. +But there's no way you could be disguised. You have a way of +walking--good night--and God bless you!" + +She was in his arms, straining him to her; and then she slipped out the +door. + +And sure enough, there was the colonel in his chair not fifty feet away +with a girl pushing him. The moonlight was too dim for Nelly Lebrun to +make out the face of Lou Macon, but even the light which escaped through +the filter of clouds was enough to set her golden hair glowing. The +color was not apparent, but its luster was soft silver in the night. +There was a murmur of the colonel's voice as Nelly came out of the +cabin. + +And then, from the girl, a low cry. + +It brought the blood to the cheeks of Nelly as she hurried down the +hill, for she recognized the pain that was in it; and it occurred to her +that if the girl was in love with Jack Landis she was strangely +interested in Donnegan also. + +The thought came so sharply home to her that she paused abruptly on the +way down the hill. After all, this Macon girl would be a very strange +sort if she were not impressed by the little red-headed man, with his +gentle voice and his fiery ways, and his easy way of making himself a +brilliant spectacle whenever he appeared in public. And Nelly +remembered, also, with the keen suspicion of a woman in love how weakly +Donnegan had responded to her embrace this night. How absent-mindedly +his arms had held her, and how numbly they had fallen away when she +turned at the door. + +But she shook her head and made the suspicion shudder its way out of +her. Lou Macon, she decided, was just the sort of girl who would think +Jack Landis an ideal. Besides, she had never had an opportunity to see +Donnegan in his full glory at Milligan's. And as for Donnegan? He was +wearied out; his nerves relaxed; and for the deeds with which he had +startled The Corner and won her own heart he was now paying the penalty +in the shape of ruined nerves. Pity again swelled in her heart, and a +consuming hatred for the three murderers who lived in her father's +house. + +And when she reached her room again her heart was filled with a singing +happiness and a glorious knowledge that she had saved the man she loved. + +And Donnegan himself? + +He had seen Lou and her father: he had heard that low cry of pain; and +now he sat bowed again over his table, his face in his hands and a +raging devil in his heart. + + + + +41 + + +There was one complication which Nelly Lebrun might have foreseen after +her pretended change of heart and her simulated confession to Joe Rix +that she still loved the lionlike Lord Nick. But strangely enough she +did not think of this phase: and even when her father the next morning +approached her in the hall and tapping her arm whispered: "Good girl! +Nick has just heard and he's hunting for you now!" Even then the full +meaning did not come home to her. It was not until she saw the great +form of Lord Nick stalking swiftly down the hall that she knew. He came +with a glory in his face which the last day had graven with unfamiliar +lines; and when he saw her he threw up his hand so that it almost +brushed the ceiling, and cried out. + +What could she do? Try to push him away; to explain? + +There was nothing to be done. She had to submit when he swept her into +his arms. + +"Rix has told me. Rix has told me. Ah, Nell, you little fox!" + +"Told you what, Nick?" + +Was he, too, a party to the murderous plan? + +But he allowed himself to be pushed away. + +"I've gone through something in the last few days. Why did you do it, +girl?" + +She saw suddenly that she must continue to play her part. + +"Some day I'll tell you why it was that I gave you up so easily, Nell. +You thought I was afraid of Donnegan?" He ground his teeth and turned +pale at the thought. "But that wasn't it. Some day I can tell you. But +after this, the first man who comes between us--Donnegan or any +other--I'll turn him into powder--under my heel!" + +He ground it into the floor as he spoke. She decided that she would see +how much he knew. + +"It will never be Donnegan, at least," she said. "He's done for today. +And I'm almost sorry for him in spite of all that he's done." + +He became suddenly grave. + +"What are you saying, Nell?" + +"Why, Joe told you, didn't he? They've drawn Donnegan out of town, and +now they're lying in wait for him. Yes, they must have him, by this +time. It's ten o'clock!" + +A strangely tense exclamation broke from Lord Nick. "They've gone for +Donnegan?" + +"Yes. Are you angry?" + +The big man staggered; one would have said that he had been stunned with +a blow. + +"Garry!" he whispered. + +"What are you saying?" + +"Nell," he muttered hoarsely, "did you know about it?" + +"But I did it for you, Nick. I knew you hated--" + +"No, no! Don't say it!" He added bitterly, after a moment. "This is for +my sins." + +And then, to her: "But you knew about it and didn't warn him? You hated +him all the time you were laughing with him and smiling at him? Oh, +Nell! What a merciless witch of a woman you are! For the rest of +them--I'll wait till they come back!" + +"What are you going to do, Nick?" + +"I told them I'd pay the man who killed Donnegan--with lead. Did the +fools think I didn't mean it?" + +Truly, no matter what shadow had passed over the big man, he was the +lion again, and Nell shrank from him. + +"We'll wait for them," he said. "We'll wait for them here." + +And they sat down together in the room. She attempted to speak once in a +shaken voice, but he silenced her with a gesture, and after that she sat +and watched in quiet the singular play of varying expressions across his +face. Grief, rage, tenderness, murderous hate--they followed like a +puppet play. + +What was Donnegan to him? And then there was a tremor of fear. Would the +three suspect when they reached the shack by the ford and no Donnegan +came to them? The moments stole on. Then the soft beat of a galloping +horse in the sand. The horse stopped. Presently they saw Joe Rix and +Harry Masters pass in front of the window. And they looked as though a +cyclone had caught them up, juggled them a dizzy distance in the air, +and then flung them down carelessly upon bruising rocks. Their hats were +gone; and the clothes of burly Harry Masters were literally torn from +his back. Joe Rix was evidently far more terribly hurt, for he leaned on +the arm of Masters and they came on together, staggering. + +"They've done the business!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "And now, curse them, +I'll do theirs!" + +But the girl could not speak. A black haze crossed before her eyes. Had +Donnegan gone out madly to fight the three men in spite of her warning? + +The door opened. They stood in the doorway, and if they had seemed a +horrible sight passing the window, they were a deadly picture at close +range. And opposite them stood Lord Nick; in spite of their wounds there +was murder in his face and his revolver was out. + +"You've met him? You've met Donnegan?" he asked angrily. + +Masters literally carried Joe Rix to a chair and placed him in it. He +had been shot through both shoulders, and though tight bandages had +stanched the wound he was still in agony. Then Masters raised his head. + +"We've met him," he said. + +"What happened?" + +But Masters, in spite of the naked gun in the hand of Lord Nick, was +looking straight at Nelly Lebrun. + +"We fought him." + +"Then say your prayers, Masters." + +"Say prayers for the Pedlar, you fool," said Masters bitterly. "He's +dead, and Donnegan's still living!" + +There was a faint cry from Nelly Lebrun. She sank into her chair again. + +"We've been double-crossed," said Masters, still looking at the girl. "I +was going down the gulch the way we planned. I come to the narrow place +where the cliffs almost touch, and right off the wall above me drops a +wildcat. I thought it was a cat at first. And then I found it was +Donnegan. + +"The way he hit me from above knocked me off the horse. Then we hit the +ground. I started for my gun; he got it out of my hand; I pulled my +knife. He got that away, too. His fingers work with steel springs and +act like a cat's claws. Then we fought barehanded. He didn't say a word. +But kept snarling in his throat. Always like a cat. And his face was +devilish. Made me sick inside. Pretty soon he dived under my arms. Got +me up in the air. I came down on my head. + +"Of course I went out cold. When I came to there was still a mist in +front of my eyes and this lump on the back of my head. He'd figured that +my head was cracked and that I was dead. That's the only reason he left +me. Later I climbed on my hoss and fed him the spur. + +"But I was too late. I took the straight cut for the ford, and when I +got there I found that Donnegan had been there before me. Joe Rix was +lyin' on the floor. When he got to the shack Donnegan was waitin' for +him. They went for their guns and Donnegan beat him to it. The hound +didn't shoot to kill. He plugged him through both shoulders, and left +him lyin' helpless. But I got a couple of bandages on him and saved him. + +"Then we cut back for home and crossed the marsh. And there we found the +Pedlar. + +"Too late to help him. Maybe Donnegan knew that the Pedlar was something +of a flash with a gun himself, and he didn't take any chances. He'd met +him face to face the same way he met Joe Rix and killed him. Shot him +clean between the eyes. Think of shooting for the head with a snap shot! +That's what he done and Joe didn't have time to think twice after that +slug hit him. His gun wasn't even fired, he was beat so bad on the draw. + +"So Joe and me come back home. And we come full of questions!" + +"Let me tell you something," muttered Lord Nick, putting up the weapon +which he had kept exposed during all of the recital. "You've got what +was coming to you. If Donnegan hadn't cleaned up on you, you'd have had +to talk turkey with me. Understand?" + +"Wait a minute," protested Harry Masters. + +And Joe Rix, almost too far gone for speech, set his teeth over a groan +and cast a look of hatred at the girl. + +"Wait a minute, chief. There's one thing we all got to get straight. +Somebody had tipped off Donnegan about our whole plan. Was it the Pedlar +or Rix or me? I guess good sense'll tell a man that it wasn't none of +us, eh? Then who was it? The only other person that knew about the +plan--Nell--Nell, the crooked witch--and it's her that murdered the +Pedlar--curse her!" + +He thrust out his bulky arm as he spoke. + +"Her that lied her way into our confidence with a lot of talk about you, +Nick. Then what did she do? She goes runnin' to the gent that she said +she hated. Don't you see her play? She makes fools of us--she makes a +fool out of you!" + +She dared not meet the glance of Lord Nick. Even now she might have +acted out her part and filled in with lies, but she was totally +unnerved. + +"Get Rix to bed," was all he said, and he did not even glance at Nelly +Lebrun. + +Masters glowered at him, and then silently obeyed, lifting Joe as a +helpless bulk, for the fat man was nearly fainting with pain. Not until +they had gone and he had closed the door after them and upon the murmurs +of the servants in the hall did Lord Nick turn to Nelly. + +"Is it true?" he asked shortly. + +Between relief and terror her mind was whirling. + +"Is what true?" + +"You haven't even sense enough to lie, Nell, eh? It's all true, then? +And last night, after you'd wormed it out of Joe, you went to Donnegan?" + +She could only stare miserably at him. + +"And that was why you pushed me away when I kissed you a little while +ago?" + +Once more she was dumb. But she was beginning to be afraid. Not for +herself, but for Donnegan. + +"Nell, I told you I'd never let another man come between us again. I +meant it. I know you're treacherous now; but that doesn't keep me from +wanting you. It's Donnegan again--Donnegan still? Nell, you've killed +him. As sure as if your own finger pulled the trigger when I shoot him. +He's a dead one, and you've done it!" + +If words would only come! But her throat was stiff and cold and aching. +She could not speak. + +"You've done more than kill him," said Lord Nick. "You've put a curse on +me as well. And afterward I'm going to even up with you. You hear me? +Nell, when I shoot Donnegan I'm doing a thing worse than if he was a +girl--or a baby. You can't understand that; I don't want you to know. +But some time when you're happy again and you're through grieving for +Donnegan, I'll tell you the truth and make your heart black for the rest +of your life." + +Still words would not come. She strove to cling to him and stop him, but +he cast her away with a single gesture and strode out the door. + + + + +42 + + +There was no crowd to block the hill at this second meeting of Donnegan +and Lord Nick. There was a blank stretch of brown hillside with the wind +whispering stealthily through the dead grass when Lord Nick thrust open +the door of Donnegan's shack and entered. + +The little man had just finished shaving and was getting back into his +coat while George carried out the basin of water. And Donnegan, as he +buttoned the coat, was nodding slightly to the rhythm of a song which +came from the cabin of the colonel near by. It was a clear, high music, +and though the voice was light it carried the sound far. Donnegan looked +up to Lord Nick; but still he kept the beat of the music. + +He seemed even more fragile this morning than ever before. Yet Lord Nick +was fresh from the sight of the torn bodies of the two fighting men whom +this fellow had struck and left for dead, or dying, as he thought. + +"Dismiss your servant," said Lord Nick. + +"George, you may go out." + +"And keep him out." + +"Don't come back until I call for you." + +Big George disappeared into the kitchen and the outside door was closed. +Yet even with all the doors closed the singing of Lou Macon kept running +through the cabin in a sweet and continuous thread. + + What made the ball so fine? + Robin Adair! + What made the assembly shine? + Robin Adair! + +And no matter what Lord Nick could say, it seemed that with half his +mind Donnegan was listening to the song of the girl. + +"First," said the big man, "I've broken my word." + +Donnegan waved his hand and dismissed the charge. He pointed to a chair, +but Lord Nick paid no heed. + +"I've broken my word," he went on. "I promised that I'd give you a clear +road to win over Nelly Lebrun. I gave you the road and you've won her, +but now I'm taking her back!" + +"Ah, Henry," said Donnegan, and a flash of eagerness came in his eyes. +"You're a thousand times welcome to her." + +Lord Nick quivered. + +"Do you mean it?" + +"Henry, don't you see that I was only playing for a purpose all the +time? And if you've opened the eyes of Nelly to the fact that you truly +love her and I've been only acting out of a heartless sham--why, I'm +glad of it--I rejoice, Henry, I swear I do!" + +He came forward, smiling, and held out his hand; Lord Nick struck it +down, and Donnegan shrank back, holding his wrist tight in the fingers +of his other hand. + +"Is it possible?" murmured Henry Reardon. "Is it possible that she loves +a man who despises her?" + +"Not that! If any other man said this to me, I'd call for an explanation +of his meaning, Henry. No, no! I honor and respect her, I tell you. By +heaven, Nick, she has a thread of pure, generous gold in her nature!" + +"Ah?" + +"She has saved my life no longer ago than this morning." + +"It's perfect," said Lord Nick. And he writhed under a torment. "I am +discarded for the sake of a man who despises her!" + +Donnegan, frowning with thought, watched his older brother. And still +the thin singing entered the room, that matchless old melody of "Robin +Adair;" the day shall never come when that song does not go straight +from heart to heart. But because Donnegan still listened to it, Lord +Nick felt that he was contemptuously received, and a fresh spur was +driven into his tender pride. + +"Donnegan!" he said sharply. + +Donnegan raised his hand slowly. + +"Do you call me by that name?" + +"Aye. You've ceased to be a brother. There's no blood tie between us +now, as I warned you before." + +Donnegan, very white, moved back toward the wall and rested his +shoulders lightly against it, as though he needed the support. He made +no answer. + +"I warned you not to cross me again." exclaimed Lord Nick. + +"I have not." + +"Donnegan, you've murdered my men!" + +"Murder? I've met them fairly. Not murder, Henry." + +"Leave out that name, I say!" + +"If you wish," said Donnegan very faintly. + +The sight of his resistlessness seemed to madden Lord Nick. He made one +of his huge strides and came to the center of the room and dominated all +that was in it, including his brother. + +"You murdered my men," repeated Lord Nick. "You turned my girl against +me with your lying love-making and turned her into a spy. You made her +set the trap and then you saw that it was worked. You showed her how she +could wind me around her finger again." + +"Will you let me speak?" + +"Aye, but be short." + +"I swear to you, Henry, that I've never influenced her to act against +you; except to win her away for just one little time, and she will +return to you again. It is only a fancy that makes her interested in me. +Look at us! How could any woman in her senses prefer me?" + +"Are you done?" + +"No, no! I have more to say: I have a thousand things!" + +"I shall not hear them" + +"Henry, there is a black devil in your face. Beware of it." + +"Who put it there?" + +"It was not I." + +"What power then?" + +"Something over which I have no control." + +"Are you trying to mystify me?" + +"Listen!" And as Donnegan raised his hand, the singing poured clear and +small into the room. + +"That is the power," said Donnegan. + +"You're talking gibberish'" exclaimed the other pettishly. + +"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand." + +"On the other hand, what I have to say is short and to the point. A +child could comprehend it. You've stolen the girl. I tried to let her +go. I can't. I have to have her. Willing or unwilling she has to belong +to me, Donnegan." + +"If you wish, I shall promise that I shall never see her again or speak +to her." + +"You fool' Won't she find you out? Do you think I could trust you? Only +in one place--underground." + +Donnegan had clasped his hands upon his breast and his eyes were wide. + +"What is it you mean, Henry?" + +"I'll trust you--dead!" + +"Henry!" + +"That name means nothing to me I've forgotten it. The worlds has +forgotten it." + +"Henry, I implore you to keep cool--to give me five minutes for talk--" + +"No, not one. I know your cunning tongue!" + +"For the sake of the days when you loved me, my brother. For the sake of +the days when you used to wheel my chair and be kind to me." + +"You're wasting your time. You're torturing us both for nothing. +Donnegan, my will is a rock. It won't change." + +And drawing closer his right hand gripped his gun and the trembling +passion of the gunfighter set him shuddering. + +"You're armed, Garry. Go for your gun!" + +"No, no!" + +"Then I'll give you cause to fight." + +And as he spoke, he drew back his massive arm and with his open hand +smote Donnegan heavily across the face. The weight of that blow crushed +the little man against the wall. + +"Your gun!" cried Lord Nick, swaying from side to side as the passion +choked him. + +Donnegan fell upon his knees and raised his arms. + +"God have mercy on me, and on yourself!" + +At that the blackness cleared slowly on the face of the big man; he +thrust his revolver into the holster. + +"This time," he said, "there's no death. But sooner or later we meet, +Donnegan, and then, I swear by all that lives, I'll shoot you +down--without mercy--like a mad dog. You've robbed me; you've hounded +me: you've killed my men: you've taken the heart of the woman I love. +And now nothing can save you from the end." + +He turned on his heel and left the room. + +And Donnegan remained kneeling, holding a stained handkerchief to his +face. + +All at once his strength seemed to desert him like a tree chopped at the +root, and he wilted down against the wall with closed eyes. + +But the music still came out of the throat and the heart of Lou, and it +entered the room and came into the ears of Donnegan. He became aware +that there was a strength beyond himself which had sustained him, and +then he knew it had been the singing of Lou from first to last which had +kept the murder out of his own heart and restrained the hand of Lord +Nick. + +Perhaps of all Donnegan's life, this was the first moment of true +humility. + + + + +43 + + +One thing was now clear. He must not remain in The Corner unless he was +prepared for Lord Nick again: and in a third meeting guns must be drawn. +From that greater sin he shrank, and prepared to leave. His order to +George made the big man's eyes widen, but George had long since passed +the point where he cared to question the decision of his master. He +began to build the packs. + +As for Donnegan, he could see that there was little to be won by +remaining. That would save Landis to Lou Macon, to be sure, but after +all, he was beginning to wonder if it were not better to let the big +fellow go back to his own kind--Lebrun and the rest. For if it needed +compulsion to keep him with Lou now, might it not be the same story +hereafter? + +Indeed, Donnegan began to feel that all his labor in The Corner had been +running on a treadmill. It had all been grouped about the main purpose, +which was to keep Landis with the girl. To do that now he must be +prepared to face Nick again; and to face Nick meant the bringing of the +guilt of fratricide upon the head of one of them. There only remained +flight. He saw at last that he had been fighting blindly from the +first. He had won a girl whom he did not love--though doubtless her +liking was only the most fickle fancy. And she for whom he would have +died he had taught to hate him. It was a grim summing up. Donnegan +walked the room whistling softly to himself as he checked up his +accounts. + +One thing at least he had done; he had taken the joy out of his life +forever. + +And here, answering a rap at the door, he opened it upon Lou Macon. She +wore a dress of some very soft material. It was a pale blue--faded, no +doubt--but the color blended exquisitely with her hair and with the +flush of her face. It came to Donnegan that it was an unnecessary +cruelty of chance that made him see the girl lovelier than he had ever +seen her before at the very moment when he was surrendering the last +shadow of a claim upon her. + +And it hurt him, also, to see the freshness of her face, the clear eyes; +and to hear her smooth, untroubled voice. She had lived untouched by +anything save the sunshine in The Corner. + +Her glance flicked across his face and then fluttered down, and her +color increased guiltily. + +"I have come to ask you a favor," she said. + +"Step in," said Donnegan, recovering his poise at length. + +At this, she looked past him, and her eyes widened a little. There was +an imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, as though the very thought of +entering this cabin horrified her. And Donnegan had to bear that look as +well. + +"I'll stay here; I haven't much to say. It's a small thing." + +"Large or small," said Donnegan eagerly. "Tell me!" + +"My father has asked me to take a letter for him down to the town and +mail it. I--I understand that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. +Will you walk with me?" + +And Donnegan turned cold. Go down into The Corner? Where by five chances +out of ten he must meet his brother in the street? + +"I can do better still," he said, smiling. "I'll have George take the +letter down for you." + +"Thank you. But you see, father would not trust it to anyone save me. I +asked him; he was very firm about it." + +"Tush! I would trust George with my life." + +"Yes, yes It is not what I wish--but my father rarely changes his +mind." + +Perspiration beaded the forehead of Donnegan. Was there no way to evade +this easy request? + +"You see," he faltered, "I should be glad to go--" + +She raised her eyes slowly. + +"But I am terribly busy this morning." + +She did not answer, but half of her color left her face. + +"Upon my word of honor there is no danger to a woman in the town." + +"But some of the ruffians of Lord Nick--" + +"If they dared to even raise their voices at you, they would hear from +him in a manner that they would never forget." + +"Then you don't wish to go?" + +She was very pale now; and to Donnegan it was more terrible than the gun +in the hand of Lord Nick. Even if she thought he was slighting her why +should she take it so mortally to heart? For Donnegan, who saw all +things, was blind to read the face of this girl. + +"It doesn't really matter," she murmured and turned away. + +A gentle motion, but it wrenched the heart of Donnegan. He was instantly +before her. + +"Wait here a moment. I'll be ready to go down immediately." + +"No. I can't take you from your--work." + +What work did she assign to him in her imagination? Endless planning of +deviltry no doubt. + +"I shall go with you," said Donnegan. "At first--I didn't dream it could +be so important. Let me get my hat." + +He left her and leaped back into the cabin. + +"I am going down into The Corner for a moment," he said over his +shoulder to George, as he took his belt down from the wall. + +The big man strode to the wall and took his hat from a nail. + +"I shall not need you, George." + +But George merely grinned, and his big teeth flashed at the master. And +in the second place he took up a gun from the drawer and offered it to +Donnegan. + +"The gun in that holster ain't loaded," he said. + +Donnegan considered him soberly. + +"I know it. There'll be no need for a loaded gun." + +But once more George grinned. All at once Donnegan turned pale. + +"You dog," he whispered. "Did you listen at the door when Nick was +here?" + +"Me?" murmured George. "No, I just been thinking." + +And so it was that while Donnegan went down the hill with Lou Macon, +carrying an empty-chambered revolver, George followed at a distance of a +few paces, and he carried a loaded weapon unknown to Donnegan. + +It was the dull time of the day in The Corner. There were very few +people in the single street, and though most of them turned to look at +the little man and the girl who walked beside him, not one of them +either smiled or whispered. + +"You see?" said Donnegan. "You would have been perfectly safe--even from +Lord Nick's ruffians. That was one of his men we passed back there." + +"Yes. I'm safe with you," said the girl. + +And when she looked up to him, the blood of Donnegan turned to fire. + +Out of a shop door before them came a girl with a parcel under her arm. +She wore a gay, semi-masculine outfit, bright-colored, jaunty, and she +walked with a lilt toward them. It was Nelly Lebrun. And as she passed +them. Donnegan lifted his hat ceremoniously high. She nodded to him with +a smile, but the smile aimed wan and small in an instant. There was a +quick widening and then a narrowing of her eyes, and Donnegan knew that +she had judged Lou Macon as only one girl can judge another who is +lovelier. + +He glanced at Lou to see if she had noticed, and he saw her raise her +head and go on with her glance proudly straight before her; but her face +was very pale, and Donnegan knew that she had guessed everything that +was true and far more than the truth. Her tone at the door of the post +office was ice. + +"I think you are right, Mr. Donnegan. There's no danger. And if you have +anything else to do, I can get back home easily enough." + +"I'll wait for you," murmured Donnegan sadly, and he stood as the door +of the little building with bowed head. + +And then a murmur came down the street. How small it was, and how +sinister! It consisted of exclamations begun, and then broken sharply +off. A swirl of people divided as a cloud of dust divides before a blast +of wind, and through them came the gigantic figure of Lord Nick! + +On he came, a gorgeous figure, a veritable king of men. He carried his +hat in his hand and his red hair flamed, and he walked with great +strides. Donnegan glanced behind him. The way was clear. If he turned, +Lord Nick would not pursue him, he knew. + +But to flee even from his brother was more than he could do; for the +woman he loved would know of it and could never understand. + +He touched the holster that held his empty gun--and waited! + +An eternity between every step of Lord Nick. Others seemed to have +sensed the meaning of this silent scene. People seemed to stand frozen +in the midst of gestures. Or was that because Donnegan's own thoughts +were traveling at such lightning speed that the rest of the world seemed +standing still? What kept Lou Macon? If she were with him, not even Lord +Nick in his madness would force on a gunplay in the presence of a woman, +no doubt. + +Lord Nick was suddenly close; he had paused; his voice rang over the +street and struck upon Donnegan's ear as sounds come under water. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Aye!" called Donnegan softly. + +"It's the time!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +Then a huge body leaped before him; it was big George. And as he sprang +his gun went up with his hand in a line of light. The two reports came +close together as finger taps on a table, and big George, completing his +spring, lurched face downward into the sand. + +Dead? Not yet. All his faith and selflessness were nerving the big man. +And Donnegan stood behind him, unarmed! + +He reared himself upon his knees--an imposing bulk, even then, and fired +again. But his hand was trembling, and the bullet shattered a sign above +the head of Lord Nick. He, in his turn, it seemed to Donnegan that the +motion was slow, twitched up the muzzle of his weapon and fired once +more from his hip. And big George lurched back on the sand, with his +face upturned to Donnegan. He would have spoken, but a burst of blood +choked him; yet his eyes fixed and glazed, he mustered his last +strength and offered his revolver to Donnegan. + +But Donnegan let the hand fall limp to the ground. There were voices +about him; steps running; but all that he clearly saw was Lord Nick with +his feet braced, and his head high. + +"Donnegan! Your gun!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +"Take it then!" + +But in the crisis, automatically Donnegan flipped his useless revolver +out of its holster and into his hand. At the same instant the gun from +Nick's hand seemed to blaze in his eyes. He was struck a crushing blow +in his chest. He sank upon his knees: another blow struck his head, and +Donnegan collapsed on the body of big George. + + + + +44 + + +An ancient drunkard in the second story of one of the stores across the +street had roused himself at the sound of the shots and now he dragged +himself to the window and began to scream: "Murder! Murder!" over and +over, and even The Corner shuddered at the sound of his voice. + +Lord Nick, his revolver still in his hand, stalked through the film of +people who now swirled about him, eager to see the dead. There was no +call for the law to make its appearance, and the representatives of the +law were wisely dilatory in The Corner. + +He stood over the two motionless figures with a stony face. + +"You saw it, boys," he said. "You know what I've borne from this fellow. +The big man pulled his gun first on me. I shot in self-defense. As +for--the other--it was a square fight." + +"Square fight," someone answered. "You both went for your irons at the +same time. Pretty work, Nick." + +It was a solid phalanx of men which had collected around the moveless +bodies as swiftly as mercury sinks through water. Yet none of them +touched either Donnegan or George. And then the solid group dissolved at +one side. It was the moan of a woman which had scattered it, and a +yellow-haired girl slipped through them. She glanced once, in horror, at +the mute faces of the men, and then there was a wail as she threw +herself on the body of Donnegan. Somewhere she found the strength of a +man to lift him and place him face upward on the sand, the gun trailing +limply in his hand. And then she lay, half crouched over him, her face +pressed to his heart--listening--listening for the stir of life. + +Shootings were common in The Corner; the daily mortality ran high; but +there had never been aftermaths like this one. Men looked at one +another, and then at Lord Nick. A bright spot of color had come in his +cheeks, but his face was as hard as ever. + +"Get her away from him," someone murmured. + +And then another man cried out, stooped, wrenched the gun from the limp +hand of Donnegan and opened the cylinder. He spun it: daylight was +glittering through the empty cylinder. + +At this the man stiffened, and with a low bow which would have done +credit to a drawing-room, he presented the weapon butt first to Lord +Nick. + +"Here's something the sheriff will want to see," he said, "but maybe +you'll be interested, too." + +But Lord Nick, with the gun in his hand, stared at it dumbly, turned the +empty cylinder. And the full horror crept slowly on his mind. He had not +killed his brother, he had murdered him. As his eyes cleared, he caught +the glitter of the eyes which surrounded him. + +And then Lou Macon was on her knees with her hands clasped at her breast +and her face glorious. + +"Help!" she was crying. "Help me. He's not dead, but he's dying unless +you help me!" + +Then Lord Nick cast away his own revolver and the empty gun of Donnegan. +They heard him shout: "Garry!" and saw him stride forward. + +Instantly men pressed between, hard-jawed men who meant business. It was +a cordon he would have to fight his way through: but he dissolved it +with a word. + +"You fools! He's my brother!" + +And then he was on his knees opposite Lou Macon. + +"You?" she had stammered in horror. + +"His brother, girl." + +And ten minutes later, when the bandages had been wound, there was a +strange sight of Lord Nick striding up the street with his victim in his +arms. How lightly he walked; and he was talking to the calm, pale face +which rested in the hollow of his shoulder. + +"He will live? He will live?" Lou Macon was pleading as she hurried at +the side of Lord Nick. + +"God willing, he shall live!" + + +It was three hours before Donnegan opened his eyes. It was three days +before he recovered his senses, and looking aside toward the door he saw +a brilliant shaft of sunlight falling into the room. In the midst of it +sat Lou Macon. She had fallen asleep in her great weariness now that the +crisis was over. Behind her, standing, his great arms folded, stood the +indomitable figure of Lord Nick. + +Donnegan saw and wondered greatly. Then he closed his eyes dreamily. +"Hush," said Donnegan to himself, as if afraid that what he saw was all +a dream. "I'm in heaven, or if I'm not, it's still mighty good to be +alive." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + +***** This file should be named 10066-8.txt or 10066-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/6/10066/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gunman's Reckoning + +Author: Max Brand + +Release Date: November 22, 2003 [EBook #10066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> + +<a name="GUNMAN'S_RECKONING"></a><h2>GUNMAN'S RECKONING</h2> + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>Max Brand</h2> + + +<h3>1921</h3> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<h2>GUNMAN'S RECKONING</h2> + + +<table summary="" align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#1">1</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#2">2</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#3">3</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#4">4</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#5">5</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#6">6</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#7">7</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#8">8</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#9">9</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#10">10</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#11">11</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#12">12</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#13">13</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#14">14</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#15">15</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#16">16</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#17">17</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#18">18</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#19">19</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#21">21</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#22">22</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#23">23</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#24">24</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#25">25</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#26">26</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#27">27</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#28">28</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#29">29</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#31">31</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#32">32</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#33">33</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#34">34</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#35">35</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#36">36</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#37">37</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#38">38</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#39">39</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#41">41</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#42">42</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#43">43</a></td><td align="left"><a href="#44">44</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="1"></a><h2>1</h2> +<br> + +<p>The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road +bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring +and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the +locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a +freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a +stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary +tone—it is an overtone of conversation, one might say—and it is +distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of +course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on +the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and +staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places +as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had +touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since +the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money +the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance +with their talk.</p> + +<p>"It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to +play this line when you jumped from coast to coast."</p> + +<p>"Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side +of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched +eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's +been many a time."</p> + +<p>"Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising +in the world."</p> + +<p>He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe +was sufficiently concealed by the dark.</p> + +<p>"Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the +brakie.</p> + +<p>"Yeh?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that."</p> + +<p>"Yeh?"</p> + +<p>"But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Yep," agreed Lefty.</p> + +<p>The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced +him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. +He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty.</p> + +<p>"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; +you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they +said you was, and all that—well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em +that."</p> + +<p>"You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all +straight."</p> + +<p>The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period +to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was +in the mood for talk.</p> + +<p>"Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all +with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!"</p> + +<p>What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus +of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. +The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names.</p> + +<p>"Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?"</p> + +<p>"Even Suds!"</p> + +<p>The brakie stirred a little, wabbling from side to side as he found a +more comfortable position; instead of looking straight before him, he +kept a side-glance steadily upon his companion, and one could see that +he intended to remember what was said on this night.</p> + +<p>"Even Suds," echoed the brakie. "Good heavens, and ain't he a man for +you?"</p> + +<p>"He was a man," replied Lefty Joe with an indescribable emphasis.</p> + +<p>"Huh?"</p> + +<p>"He ain't a man any more."</p> + +<p>"Get bumped off?"</p> + +<p>"No. Busted."</p> + +<p>The brakie considered this bit of news and rolled it back and forth and +tried its flavor against his gossiping palate.</p> + +<p>"Did you fix him after he left you?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I see. You busted him while he was still with you. Then Kennebec Lou +and the Clipper get sore at the way you treat Suds. So here you are back +on the road with your gang all gone bust. Hard luck, Lefty."</p> + +<p>But Lefty whined with rage at this careless diagnosis of his downfall.</p> + +<p>"You're all wrong," he said. "You're all wrong. You don't know nothin'."</p> + +<p>The brakie waited, grinning securely into the night, and preparing his +mind for the story. But the story consisted of one word, flung bitterly +into the rushing air.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Him?" cried the brakie, starting in his place.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" cried Lefty, and his voice made the word into a curse.</p> + +<p>The brakie nodded.</p> + +<p>"Them that get tangled with Donnegan don't last long. You ought to know +that."</p> + +<p>At this the grief, hate, and rage in Lefty Joe were blended and caused +an explosion.</p> + +<p>"Confound Donnegan. Who's Donnegan? I ask you, who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"A guy that makes trouble," replied the brakie, evidently hard put to it +to find a definition.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't he make it, though? Confound him!"</p> + +<p>"You ought to of stayed shut of him, Lefty."</p> + +<p>"Did I hunt him up, I ask you? Am I a nut? No, I ain't. Do I go along +stepping on the tail of a rattlesnake? No more do I look up Donnegan."</p> + +<p>He groaned as he remembered.</p> + +<p>"I was going fine. Nothing could of been better. I had the boys +together. We was doing so well that I was riding the cushions and I went +around planning the jobs. Nice, clean work. No cans tied to it. But one +day I had to meet Suds down in the Meriton Jungle. You know?"</p> + +<p>"I've heard—plenty," said the brakie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it ain't so bad—the Meriton. I've seen a lot worse. Found Suds +there, and Suds was playing Black Jack with an ol gink. He was trimmin' +him close. Get Suds going good and he could read 'em three down and bury +'em as fast as they came under the bottom card. Takes a hand to do that +sort of work. And that's the sort of work Suds was doing for the old +man. Pretty soon the game was over and the old man was busted. He took +up his pack and beat it, saying nothing and looking sick. I started +talking to Suds.</p> + +<p>"And while he was talking, along comes a bo and gives us a once-over. He +knew me. 'Is this here a friend of yours, Lefty? he says.</p> + +<p>"'Sure,' says I.</p> + +<p>"'Then, he's in Dutch. He trimmed that old dad, and the dad is one of +Donnegan's pals. Wait till Donnegan hears how your friend made the cards +talk while he was skinning the old boy!</p> + +<p>"He passes me the wink and goes on. Made me sick. I turned to Suds, and +the fool hadn't batted an eye. Never even heard of Donnegan. You know +how it is? Half the road never heard of it; part of the roads don't know +nothin' else. He's like a jumpin tornado; hits every ten miles and don't +bend a blade of grass in between.</p> + +<p>"Took me about five minutes to tell Suds about Donnegan. Then Suds let +out a grunt and started down the trail for the old dad. Missed him. Dad +had got out of the Jungle and copped a rattler. Suds come back half +green and half yeller.</p> + +<p>"'I've done it; I've spilled the beans,' he says.</p> + +<p>"'That ain't half sayin' it,' says I.</p> + +<p>"Well, we lit out after that and beat it down the line as fast as we +could. We got the rest of the boys together; I had a swell job planned +up. Everything staked. Then, the first news come that Donnegan was after +Suds.</p> + +<p>"News just dropped on us out of the sky. Suds, you know how he is. +Strong bluff. Didn't bat an eye. Laughed at this Donnegan. Got a hold of +an old pal of his, named Levine, and he is a mighty hot scrapper. From a +knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a +fight. Suds sent him out to cross Donnegan's trail.</p> + +<p>"He crossed it, well enough. Suds got a telegram a couple days later +saying that Levine had run into a wild cat and was considerable chawed +and would Suds send him a stake to pay the doctor?</p> + +<p>"Well, after that Suds got sort of nervous. Didn't take no interest in +his work no more. Kept a weather eye out watching for the coming of +Donnegan. And pretty soon he up and cleaned out of camp.</p> + +<p>"Next day, sure enough, along comes Donnegan and asks for Suds. We kept +still—all but Kennebec Lou. Kennebec is some fighter himself. Two +hundred pounds of mule muscle with the brain of a devil to tell what to +do—yes, you can lay it ten to one that Kennebec is some fighter. That +day he had a good edge from a bottle of rye he was trying for a friend.</p> + +<p>"He didn't need to go far to find trouble in Donnegan. A wink and a grin +was all they needed for a password, and then they went at each other's +throats. Kennebec made the first pass and hit thin air; and before he +got back on his heels, Donnegan had hit him four times. Then Kennebec +jumped back and took a fresh start with a knife."</p> + +<p>Here Lefty Joe paused and sighed.</p> + +<p>He continued, after a long interval: "Five minutes later we was all busy +tyin' up what was left of Kennebec; Donnegan was down the road whistlin' +like a bird. And that was the end of my gang. What with Kennebec Lou and +Suds both gone, what chance did I have to hold the boys together?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="2"></a><h2>2</h2> +<br> + +<p>The brakie heard this recital with the keenest interest, nodding from +time to time.</p> + +<p>"What beats me, Lefty," he said at the end of the story, "is why you +didn't knife into the fight yourself and take a hand with Donnegan"</p> + +<p>At this Lefty was silent. It was rather the silence of one which cannot +tell whether or not it is worth while to speak than it was the silence +of one who needs time for thought.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why, bo. It's because when I take a trail like that it +only has one end I'm going to bump off the other bird or he's going to +bump off me"</p> + +<p>The brakie cleared his throat</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, "looks to me like a queer thing that you're on +this train"</p> + +<p>"Does it" queried Lefty softly "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because Donnegan is two cars back, asleep."</p> + +<p>"The devil you say!"</p> + +<p>The brakie broke into laughter</p> + +<p>"Don't kid yourself along," he warned. "Don't do it. It ain't +wise—with me."</p> + +<p>"What you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Come on, Lefty. Come clean. You better do a fade off this train."</p> + +<p>"Why, you fool—"</p> + +<p>"It don't work, Joe. Why, the minute I seen you I knew why you was here. +I knew you meant to croak Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Me croak him? Why should I croak him?"</p> + +<p>"Because you been trailing him two thousand miles. Because you ain't got +the nerve to meet him face to face and you got to sneak in and take a +crack at him while he's lying asleep. That's you, Lefty Joe!"</p> + +<p>He saw Lefty sway toward him; but, all stories aside, it is a very bold +tramp that cares for argument of a serious nature with a brakie. And +even Lefty Joe was deterred from violent action. In the darkness his +upper lip twitched, but he carefully smoothed his voice.</p> + +<p>"You don't know nothing, pal," he declared.</p> + +<p>"Don't I?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," repeated Lefty.</p> + +<p>He reached into his clothes and produced something which rustled in the +rush of wind. He fumbled, and finally passed a scrap of the paper into +the hand of the brakie.</p> + +<p>"My heavens," drawled the latter. "D'you think you can fix me with a +buck for a job like this? You can't bribe me to stand around while you +bump off Donnegan. Can't be done, Lefty!"</p> + +<p>"One buck, did you say?"</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe expertly lighted a match in spite of the roaring wind, and by +this wild light the brakie read the denomination of the bill with a +gasp. He rolled up his face and was in time to catch the sneer on the +face of Lefty before a gust snatched away the light of the match.</p> + +<p>They had topped the highest point in Jericho Pass and now the long train +dropped into the down grade with terrific speed. The wind became a +hurricane. But to the brakie all this was no more than a calm night. His +thoughts were raging in him, and if he looked back far enough he +remembered the dollar which Donnegan had given him; and how he had +promised Donnegan to give the warning before anything went wrong. He +thought of this, but rustling against the palm of his right hand was +the bill whose denomination he had read, and that figure ate into his +memory, ate into his brain.</p> + +<p>After all what was Donnegan to him? What was Donnegan but a worthless +tramp? Without any answer to that last monosyllabic query, the brakie +hunched forward, and began to work his way up the train.</p> + +<p>The tramp watched him go with laughter. It was silent laughter. In the +most quiet room it would not have sounded louder than a continual, light +hissing noise. Then he, in turn, moved from his place, and worked his +way along the train in the opposite direction to that in which the +brakie had disappeared.</p> + +<p>He went expertly, swinging from car to car with apelike clumsiness—and +surety. Two cars back. It was not so easy to reach the sliding side door +of that empty car. Considering the fact that it was night, that the +train was bucking furiously over the old roadbed, Lefty had a not +altogether simple task before him. But he managed it with the same +apelike adroitness. He could climb with his feet as well as his hands. +He would trust a ledge as well as he would trust the rung of a ladder.</p> + +<p>Under his discreet manipulations from above the door loosened and it +became possible to work it back. But even this the tramp did with +considerable care. He took advantage of the lurching of the train, and +every time the car jerked he forced the door to roll a little, so that +it might seem for all the world as though the motion of the train alone +were operating it.</p> + +<p>For suppose that Donnegan wakened out of his sound sleep and observed +the motion of the door; he would be suspicious if the door opened in a +single continued motion; but if it worked in these degrees he would be +hypersuspicious if he dreamed of danger. So the tramp gave five whole +minutes to that work.</p> + +<p>When it was done he waited for a time, another five minutes, perhaps, to +see if the door would be moved back. And when it was not disturbed, but +allowed to stand open, he knew that Donnegan still slept.</p> + +<p>It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into +the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this +moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man +might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping +foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome +by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought +that he was about to rid himself of this pest.</p> + +<p>True, the gang was broken up. But it might rise again. Donnegan had +fallen upon it like a blight. But with Donnegan out of the way would not +Suds come back to him instantly? And would not Kennebec Lou himself +return in admiration of a man who had done what he, Kennebec, could not +do? With those two as a nucleus, how greatly might he not build!</p> + +<p>Justice must be done to Lefty Joe. He approached this murder as a +statesman approaches the removal of a foe from the path of public +prosperity. There was no more rancor in his attitude. It was rather the +blissful largeness of the heart that comes to the politician when he +unearths the scandal which will blight the race of his rival.</p> + +<p>With the peaceful smile of a child, therefore, Lefty Joe lay stretched +at full length along the top of the car and made his choice of weapons. +On the whole, his usual preference, day or night, was for a revolver. +Give him a gat and Lefty was at home in any company. But he had reasons +for transferring his alliance on this occasion. In the first place, a +box car which is reeling and pitching to and fro, from side to side, is +not a very good shooting platform—even for a snapshot like Lefty Joe. +Also, the pitch darkness in the car would be a further annoyance to good +aim. And in the third and most decisive place, if he were to miss his +first shot he would not be extremely apt to place his second bullet. For +Donnegan had a reputation with his own revolver. Indeed, it was said +that he rarely carried the weapon, because when he did he was always +tempted too strongly to use it. So that the chances were large that +Donnegan would not have the gun now. Yet if he did have it—if he, +Lefty, did miss his first shot—then the story would be brief and bitter +indeed.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, a knife offered advantages almost too numerous to be +listed. It gave one the deadly assurance which only comes with the +knowledge of an edge of steel in one's hand. And when the knife reaches +its mark it ends a battle at a stroke.</p> + +<p>Of course these doubts and considerations pro and con went through the +mind of the tramp in about the same space of time that it requires for a +dog to waken, snap at a fly, and drowse again. Eventually, he took out +his knife. It was a sheath knife which he wore from a noose of silk +around his throat, and it always lay closest to his heart. The blade of +the knife was of the finest Spanish steel, in the days when Spanish +smiths knew how to draw out steel to a streak of light; the handle of +the knife was from Milan. On the whole, it was a delicate and beautiful +weapon—and it had the durable suppleness of—say—hatred itself.</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe, like a pirate in a tale, took this weapon between his teeth; +allowed his squat, heavy bulk to swing down and dangle at arm's length +for an instant, and then he swung himself a little and landed softly on +the floor of the car.</p> + +<p>Who has not heard snow drop from the branch upon other snow beneath? +That was the way Lefty Joe dropped to the floor of the car. He remained +as he had fallen; crouched, alert, with one hand spread out on the +boards to balance him and give him a leverage and a start in case he +should wish to spring in any direction.</p> + +<p>Then he began to probe the darkness in every direction; with every +glance he allowed his head to dart out a little. The movement was like a +chicken pecking at imaginary grains of corn. But eventually he satisfied +himself that his quarry lay in the forward end of the car; that he was +prone; that he, Lefty, had accomplished nine-tenths of his purpose by +entering the place of his enemy unobserved.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="3"></a><h2>3</h2> +<br> + +<p>But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe +was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise. The +roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those +of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though +he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house. He could see a vague +shadow—Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of +direction which some people possess in a dim light. The blind, of +course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even +those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted +sense of direction.</p> + +<p>With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first +and most dangerous stage of his journey. That is, he got away from the +square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve +to silhouette his body. After this, it was easier work.</p> + +<p>Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been +transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress +forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not +yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon. Just as a prize fighter +keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears +to lose his intimate touch with them.</p> + +<p>This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds. Now Lefty Joe rose +slowly. He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll +of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left +hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for +the leap. He had already taken the last preliminary movement—he had +swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, +had thrown all his weight upon the right—in fact, his body was +literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the +shadow which was Donnegan came to life.</p> + +<p>The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a +stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some +eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe.</p> + +<p>It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under +those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have +frustrated Lefty's spring so completely. Instead of launching out in a +compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty +crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife +hand to save his balance.</p> + +<p>It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men. Animals +fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet. +They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even +while they are dropping through the air. But man needs poise and balance +before he can act. What is speed in a fighter? It is not so much an +affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself +instantly to each new move and put the body in a state of balance. In +the prize ring speed does not mean the ability to strike one lightning +blow, but rather that, having finished one drive, the fighter is in +position to hit again, and then again, so that no matter where the +impetus of his last lunge has placed him he is ready and poised to shoot +all his weight behind his fist again and drive it accurately at a +vulnerable spot. Individually the actions may be slow; but the series of +efforts seem rapid. That is why a superior boxer seems to hypnotize his +antagonist with movements which to the spectator seem perfectly easy, +slow, and sure.</p> + +<p>But if Lefty lacked much in agility, he had an animallike sense of +balance. Sprawling, helpless, he saw the convulsed shadow that was +Donnegan take form as a straight shooting body that plunged through the +air above him. Lefty Joe dug his left elbow into the floor of the car +and whirled back upon his shoulders, bunching his knees high over his +stomach. Nine chances out of ten, if Donnegan had fallen flatwise upon +this alert enemy, he would have received those knees in the pit of his +own stomach and instantly been paralyzed. But in the jumping, rattling +car even Donnegan was capable of making mistakes. His mistake in this +instance saved his life, for springing too far, he came down not in +reaching distance of Lefty's throat, but with his chest on the knees of +the older tramp.</p> + +<p>As a result, Donnegan was promptly kicked head over heels and tumbled +the length of the car. Lefty was on his feet and plunging after the +tumbling form in the twinkling of an eye, literally speaking, and he was +only kept from burying his knife in the flesh of his foe by a sway of +the car that staggered him in the act of striking. Donnegan, the next +instant, was beyond reach. He had struck the end of the car and +rebounded like a ball of rubber at a tangent. He slid into the shadows, +and Lefty, putting his own shoulders to the wall, felt for his revolver +and knew that he was lost. He had failed in his first surprise attack, +and without surprise to help him now he was gone. He weighed his +revolver, decided that it would be madness to use it, for if he missed, +Donnegan would instantly be guided by the flash to shoot him full of +holes.</p> + +<p>Something slipped by the open door—something that glimmered faintly; +and Lefty Joe knew that it was the red head of Donnegan. Donnegan, +soft-footed as a shadow among shadows. Donnegan on a blood trail. It +lowered the heartbeat of Lefty Joe to a tremendous, slow pulse. In that +moment he gave up hope and, resigning himself to die, determined to +fight to the last gasp, as became one of his reputation and national +celebrity on "the road."</p> + +<p>Yet Lefty Joe was no common man and no common fighter. No, let the shade +of Rusty Dick, whom Lefty met and beat in his glorious prime—let this +shade arise and speak for the prowess of Lefty Joe. In fact it was +because he was such a good fighter himself that he recognized his +helplessness in the hands of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>The faint glimmer of color had passed the door. It was dissolved in +deeper shadows at once, and soundlessly; Lefty knew that Donnegan was +closer and closer.</p> + +<p>Of one thing he felt more and more confident, that Donnegan did not have +his revolver with him. Otherwise, he would have used it before. For what +was darkness to this devil, Donnegan. He walked like a cat, and most +likely he could see like a cat in the dark. Instinctively the older +tramp braced himself with his right hand held at a guard before his +breast and the knife poised in his left, just as a man would prepare to +meet the attack of a panther. He even took to probing the darkness in a +strange hope to catch the glimmer of the eyes of Donnegan as he moved to +the attack. If there were a hair's breadth of light, then Donnegan +himself must go down. A single blow would do it.</p> + +<p>But the devil had instructed his favorite Donnegan how to fight. He did +not come lunging through the shadows to meet the point of that knife. +Instead, he had worked a snaky way along the floor and now he leaped in +and up at Lefty, taking him under the arms.</p> + +<p>A dozen hands, it seemed, laid hold on Lefty. He fought like a demon and +tore himself away, but the multitude of hands pursued him. They were +small hands. Where they closed they tore the clothes and bit into his +very flesh. Once a hand had him by the throat, and when Lefty jerked +himself away it was with a feeling that his flesh had been seared by +five points of red-hot iron. All this time his knife was darting; once +it ripped through cloth, but never once did it find the target. And half +a second later Donnegan got his hold. The flash of the knife as Lefty +raised it must have guided the other. He shot his right hand up behind +the left shoulder of the other and imprisoned the wrist. Not only did it +make the knife hand helpless, but by bearing down with his own weight +Donnegan could put his enemy in most exquisite torture.</p> + +<p>For an instant they whirled; then they went down, and Lefty was on top. +Only for a moment. The impetus which had sent him to the floor was used +by Donnegan to turn them over, and once fairly on top his left hand was +instantly at the throat of Lefty.</p> + +<p>Twice Lefty made enormous efforts, but then he was done. About his body +the limbs of Donnegan were twisted, tightening with incredible force; +just as hot iron bands sink resistlessly into place. The strangle-hold +cut away life at its source. Once he strove to bury his teeth in the arm +of Donnegan. Once, as the horror caught at him, he strove to shriek for +help. All he succeeded in doing was in raising an awful, sobbing +whisper. Then, looking death in the face, Lefty plunged into the great +darkness.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="4"></a><h2>4</h2> +<br> + +<p>When he wakened, he jumped at a stride into the full possession of his +faculties. He had been placed near the open door, and the rush of night +air had done its work in reviving him. But Lefty, drawn back to life, +felt only a vague wonder that his life had not been taken. Perhaps he +was being reserved by the victor for an Indian death of torment. He felt +cautiously and found that not only were his hands free, but his revolver +had not been taken from him. A familiar weight was on his chest—the +very knife had been returned to its sheath.</p> + +<p>Had Donnegan returned these things to show how perfectly he despised his +enemy?</p> + +<p>"He's gone!" groaned the tramp, sitting up quickly.</p> + +<p>"He's here," said a voice that cut easily through the roar of the train. +"Waiting for you, Lefty."</p> + +<p>The tramp was staggered again. But then, who had ever been able to +fathom the ways of Donnegan?</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" he cried with a sudden recklessness.</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"You're a fool!"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"For not finishing the job."</p> + +<p>Donnegan began to laugh. In the uproar of the train it was impossible +really to hear the sound, but Lefty caught the pulse of it. He fingered +his bruised throat; swallowing was a painful effort. And an +indescribable feeling came over him as he realized that he sat armed to +the teeth within a yard of the man he wanted to kill, and yet he was as +effectively rendered helpless as though iron shackles had been locked on +his wrists and legs. The night light came through the doorway, and he +could make out the slender outline of Donnegan and again he caught the +faint luster of that red hair; and out of the shadowy form a singular +power emanated and sapped his strength at the root.</p> + +<p>Yet he went on viciously: "Sooner or later, Donnegan, I'll get you!"</p> + +<p>The red head of Donnegan moved, and Lefty Joe knew that the younger man +was laughing again.</p> + +<p>"Why are you after me?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>It was another blow in the face of Lefty. He sat for a time blinking +with owlish stupidity.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he echoed. And he spoke his astonishment from the heart.</p> + +<p>"Why am I after you?" he said again. "Why, confound you, ain't you +Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Don't the whole road know that I'm after you and you after me?"</p> + +<p>"The whole road is crazy. I'm not after you."</p> + +<p>Lefty choked.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I been dreaming. Maybe you didn't bust up the gang? Maybe you +didn't clean up on Suds and Kennebec?"</p> + +<p>"Suds? Kennebec? I sort of remember meeting them."</p> + +<p>"You sort of—the devil!" Lefty Joe sputtered the words. "And after you +cleaned up my crowd, ain't it natural and good sense for you to go on +and try to clean up on me?"</p> + +<p>"Sounds like it."</p> + +<p>"But I figured to beat you to it. I cut in on your trail, Donnegan, and +before I leave it you'll know a lot more about me."</p> + +<p>"You're warning me ahead of time?"</p> + +<p>"You've played this game square with me; I'll play square with you. +Next time there'll be no slips, Donnegan. I dunno why you should of +picked on me, though. Just the natural devil in you."</p> + +<p>"I haven't picked on you," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you my word."</p> + +<p>A tingle ran through the blood of Lefty Joe. Somewhere he had heard, in +rumor, that the word of Donnegan was as good as gold. He recalled that +rumor now and something of dignity in the manner with which Donnegan +made his announcement carried a heavy weight. As a rule, the tramps +vowed with many oaths; here was one of the nights of the road who made +his bare word sufficient. And Lefty Joe heard with great wonder.</p> + +<p>"All I ask," he said, "is why you hounded my gang, if you wasn't after +me?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't hound them. I ran into Suds by accident. We had trouble. Then +Levine. Then Kennebec Lou tried to take a fall out of me."</p> + +<p>A note of whimsical protest crept into the voice of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Somehow there's always a fight wherever I go," he said. "Fights just +sort of grow up around me."</p> + +<p>Lefty Joe snarled.</p> + +<p>"You didn't mean nothing by just 'happening' to run into three of my +boys one after another?"</p> + +<p>"Not a thing."</p> + +<p>Lefty rocked himself back and forth in an ecstasy of impatience.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you stay put?" he complained. "Why don't you stake out your +own ground and stay put in it? You cut in on every guy's territory. +There ain't any privacy any more since you hit the road. What you got? A +roving commission?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited for a moment before he answered. And when he spoke his +voice had altered. Indeed, he had remarkable ability to pitch his voice +into the roar of the freight train, and above or beneath it, and give it +a quality such as he pleased.</p> + +<p>"I'm following a trail, but not yours," he admitted at length. "I'm +following a trail. I've been at it these two years and nothing has +come of it."</p> + +<p>"Who you after?"</p> + +<p>"A man with red hair."</p> + +<p>"That tells me a lot."</p> + +<p>Donnegan refused to explain.</p> + +<p>"What you got against him—the color of his hair?"</p> + +<p>And Lefty roared contentedly at his own stale jest.</p> + +<p>"It's no good," replied Donnegan. "I'll never get on the trail."</p> + +<p>Lefty broke in: "You mean to say you've been working two solid years and +all on a trail that you ain't even found?"</p> + +<p>The silence answered him in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Ain't nobody been able to tip you off to him?" went on Lefty, intensely +interested.</p> + +<p>"Nobody. You see, he's a hard sort to describe. Red hair, that's all +there was about him for a clue. But if any one ever saw him stripped +they'd remember him by a big blotchy birthmark on his left shoulder."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" grunted Lefty Joe.</p> + +<p>He added: "What was his name?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know. He changed monikers when he took to the road."</p> + +<p>"What was he to you?"</p> + +<p>"A man I'm going to find."</p> + +<p>"No matter where the trail takes you?"</p> + +<p>"No matter where."</p> + +<p>At this Lefty was seized with unaccountable laughter. He literally +strained his lungs with that Homeric outburst. When he wiped the tears +from his eyes, at length, the shadow on the opposite side of the doorway +had disappeared. He found his companion leaning over him, and this time +he could catch the dull glint of starlight on both hair and eyes.</p> + +<p>"What d'you know?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"How do you stand toward this bird with the birthmark and the red hair?" +queried Lefty with caution.</p> + +<p>"What d'you know?" insisted Donnegan.</p> + +<p>All at once passion shook him; he fastened his grip in the shoulder of +the larger man, and his fingertips worked toward the bone.</p> + +<p>"What do you know?" he repeated for the third time, and now there was no +hint of laughter in the hard voice of Lefty.</p> + +<p>"You fool, if you follow that trail you'll go to the devil. It was +Rusty Dick; and he's dead!"</p> + +<p>His triumphant laughter came again, but Donnegan cut into it.</p> + +<p>"Rusty Dick was the one you—killed!"</p> + +<p>"Sure. What of it? We fought fair and square."</p> + +<p>"Then Rusty wasn't the man I want. The man I want would of eaten two +like you, Lefty."</p> + +<p>"What about the birthmark? It sure was on his shoulder; Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" whispered Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Rusty Dick," gasped Donnegan. "Yes, it must have been he."</p> + +<p>"Sure it was. What did you have against him?"</p> + +<p>"It was a matter of blood—between us," stammered Donnegan.</p> + +<p>His voice rose in a peculiar manner, so that Lefty shrank involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"You killed Rusty?"</p> + +<p>"Ask any of the boys. But between you and me, it was the booze that +licked Rusty Dick. I just finished up the job and surprised everybody."</p> + +<p>The train was out of the mountains and in a country of scattering hills, +but here it struck a steep grade and settled down to a grind of slow +labor; the rails hummed, and suspense filled the freight car.</p> + +<p>"Hey," cried Lefty suddenly. "You fool, you'll do a flop out the door in +about a minute!"</p> + +<p>He even reached out to steady the toppling figure, but Donnegan pitched +straight out into the night. Lefty craned his neck from the door, +studying the roadbed, but at that moment the locomotive topped the +little rise and the whole train lurched forward.</p> + +<p>"After all," murmured Lefty Joe, "it sounds like Donnegan. Hated a guy +so bad that he hadn't any use for livin' when he heard the other guy was +dead. But I'm never goin' to cross his path again, I hope."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="5"></a><h2>5</h2> +<br> + +<p>But Donnegan had leaped clear of the roadbed, and he struck almost to +the knees in a drift of sand. Otherwise, he might well have broken his +legs with that foolhardy chance. As it was, the fall whirled him over +and over, and by the time he had picked himself up the lighted caboose +of the train was rocking past him. Donnegan watched it grow small in the +distance, and then, when it was only a red, uncertain star far down the +track, he turned to the vast country around him.</p> + +<p>The mountains were to his right, not far away, but caught up behind the +shadows so that it seemed a great distance. Like all huge, half-seen +things they seemed in motion toward him. For the rest, he was in bare, +rolling country. The sky line everywhere was clean; there was hardly a +sign of a tree. He knew, by a little reflection, that this must be +cattle country, for the brakie had intimated as much in their talk just +before dusk. Now it was early night, and a wind began to rise, blowing +down the valley with a keen motion and a rapidly lessening temperature, +so that Donnegan saw he must get to a shelter. He could, if necessary, +endure any privation, but his tastes were for luxurious comfort. +Accordingly he considered the landscape with gloomy disapproval. He was +almost inclined to regret his plunge from the lumbering freight train. +Two things had governed him in making that move. First, when he +discovered that the long trail he followed was definitely fruitless, he +was filled with a great desire to cut himself away from his past and +make a new start. Secondly, when he learned that Rusty Dick had been +killed by Joe, he wanted desperately to get the throttle of the latter +under his thumb. If ever a man risked his life to avoid a sin, it was +Donnegan jumping from the train to keep from murder.</p> + +<p>He stooped to sight along the ground, for this is the best way at night +and often horizon lights are revealed in this manner. But now Donnegan +saw nothing to serve as a guide. He therefore drew in his belt until it +fitted snug about his gaunt waist, settled his cap firmly, and headed +straight into the wind.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have shown his character more distinctly.</p> + +<p>When in doubt, head into the wind.</p> + +<p>With a jaunty, swinging step he sauntered along, and this time, at +least, his tactics found an early reward. Topping the first large rise +of ground, he saw in the hollow beneath him the outline of a large +building. And as he approached it, the wind clearing a high blowing mist +from the stars, he saw a jumble of outlying houses. Sheds, barns, +corrals—it was the nucleus of a big ranch. It is a maxim that, if you +wish to know a man look at his library and if you wish to know a +rancher, look at his barn. Donnegan made a small detour to the left and +headed for the largest of the barns.</p> + +<p>He entered it by the big, sliding door, which stood open; he looked up, +and saw the stars shining through a gap in the roof. And then he stood +quietly for a time, listening to the voices of the wind in the ruin. +Oddly enough, it was pleasant to Donnegan. His own troubles and sorrow +had poured upon him so thickly in the past hour or so that it was +soothing to find evidence of the distress of others. But perhaps this +meant that the entire establishment was deserted.</p> + +<p>He left the barn and went toward the house. Not until he was close under +its wall did he come to appreciate its size. It was one of those great, +rambling, two-storied structures which the cattle kings of the past +generation were fond of building. Standing close to it, he heard none of +the intimate sounds of the storm blowing through cracks and broken +walls; no matter into what disrepair the barns had fallen, the house was +still solid; only about the edges of the building the storm kept +murmuring.</p> + +<p>Yet there was not a light, neither above nor below. He came to the front +of the house. Still no sign of life. He stood at the door and knocked +loudly upon it, and though, when he tried the knob, he found that the +door was latched, yet no one came in response. He knocked again, and +putting his ear close he heard the echoes walk through the interior of +the building.</p> + +<p>After this, the wind rose in sudden strength and deafened him with +rattlings; above him, a shutter was swung open and then crashed to, so +that the opening of the door was a shock of surprise to Donnegan. A dim +light from a source which he could not direct suffused the interior of +the hall; the door itself was worked open a matter of inches and +Donnegan was aware of two keen old eyes glittering out at him. Beyond +this he could distinguish nothing.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "And what do you want?"</p> + +<p>"I'm a stranger, and I want something to eat and a place to sleep. This +house looks as if it might have spare rooms."</p> + +<p>"Where d'you come from?"</p> + +<p>"Yonder," said Donnegan, with a sufficiently noncommittal gesture.</p> + +<p>"What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"I don't know you. Be off with you, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>He inserted his foot in the closing crack of the door.</p> + +<p>"Tell me where I'm to go?" he persisted.</p> + +<p>At this her voice rose in pitch, with squeaky rage.</p> + +<p>"I'll raise the house on you!"</p> + +<p>"Raise 'em. Call down the man of the house. I can talk to him better +than I can to you; but I won't walk off like this. If you can feed me, +I'll pay you for what I eat."</p> + +<p>A shrill cackling—he could not make out the words. And since patience +was not the first of Donnegan's virtues, he seized on the knob of the +door and deliberately pressed it wide. Standing in the hall, now, and +closing the door slowly behind him, he saw a woman with old, keen eyes +shrinking away toward the staircase. She was evidently in great fear, +but there was something infinitely malicious in the manner in which she +kept working her lips soundlessly. She was shrinking, and half turned +away, yet there was a suggestion that in an instant she might whirl and +fly at his face. The door now clicked, and with the windstorm shut away +Donnegan had a queer feeling of being trapped.</p> + +<p>"Now call the man of the house," he repeated. "See if I can't come to +terms with him."</p> + +<p>"He'd make short work of you if he came," she replied. She broke into a +shrill laughter, and Donnegan thought he had never seen a face so ugly. +"If he came," she said, "you'd rue the day."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll talk to you, then. I'm not asking charity. I want to pay for +what I get."</p> + +<p>"This ain't a hotel. You go on down the road. Inside eight miles you'll +come to the town."</p> + +<p>"Eight miles!"</p> + +<p>"That's nothing for a man to ride."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, if I had something to ride."</p> + +<p>"You ain't got a horse?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then how do you come here?"</p> + +<p>"I walked."</p> + +<p>If this sharpened her suspicions, it sharpened her fear also. She put +one foot on the lowest step of the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Be off with you, Mr. Donnegally, or whatever your outlandish name is. +You'll get nothing here. What brings you—"</p> + +<p>A door closed and a footstep sounded lightly on the floor above. And +Donnegan, already alert in the strange atmosphere of this house, gave +back a pace so as to get an honest wall behind him. He noted that the +step was quick and small, and preparing himself to meet a wisp of +manhood—which, for that matter, was the type he was most inclined to +fear—Donnegan kept a corner glance upon the old woman at the foot of +the stairs and steadily surveyed the shadows at the head of the rise.</p> + +<p>Out of that darkness a foot slipped; not even a boy's foot—a very +child's. The shock of it made Donnegan relax his caution for an instant, +and in that instant she came into the reach of the light. It was a +wretched light at best, for it came from a lamp with smoky chimney +which the old hag carried, and at the raising and lowering of her hand +the flame jumped and died in the throat of the chimney and set the hall +awash with shadows. Falling away to a point of yellow, the lamp allowed +the hall to assume a certain indefinite dignity of height and breadth +and calm proportions; but when the flame rose Donnegan could see the +broken balusters of the balustrade, the carpet, faded past any design +and worn to rattiness, wall paper which had rotted or dried away and +hung in crisp tatters here and there, and on the ceiling an irregular +patch from which the plaster had fallen and exposed the lathwork. But at +the coming of the girl the old woman had turned, and as she did the +flame tossed up in the lamp and Donnegan could see the newcomer +distinctly.</p> + +<p>Once before his heart had risen as it rose now. It had been the fag end +of a long party, and Donnegan, rousing from a drunken sleep, staggered +to the window. Leaning there to get the freshness of the night air +against his hot face, he had looked up, and saw the white face of the +moon going up the sky; and a sudden sense of the blackness and loathing +against the city had come upon Donnegan, and the murky color of his own +life; and when he turned away from the window he was sober. And so it +was that he now stared up at the girl. At her breast she held a cloak +together with one hand and the other hand touched the railing of the +stairs. He saw one foot suspended for the next step, as though the sight +of him kept her back in fear. To the miserable soul of Donnegan she +seemed all that was lovely, young, and pure; and her hair, old gold in +the shadow and pale gold where the lamp struck it, was to Donnegan like +a miraculous light about her face.</p> + +<p>Indeed, that little pause was a great and awful moment. For considering +that Donnegan, who had gone through his whole life with his eyes ready +either to mock or hate, and who had rarely used his hand except to make +a fist of it; Donnegan who had never, so far as is known, had a +companion; who had asked the world for action, not kindness; this +Donnegan now stood straight with his back against the wall, and poured +out the story of his wayward life to a mere slip of a girl.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="6"></a><h2>6</h2> +<br> + +<p>Even the old woman, whose eyes were sharpened by her habit of looking +constantly for the weaknesses and vices of men, could not guess what was +going on behind the thin, rather ugly face of Donnegan; the girl, +perhaps, may have seen more. For she caught the glitter of his active +eyes even at that distance. The hag began to explain with vicious +gestures that set the light flaring up and down.</p> + +<p>"He ain't come from nowhere, Lou," she said. "He ain't going nowhere; he +wants to stay here for the night."</p> + +<p>The foot which had been suspended to take the next step was now +withdrawn. Donnegan, remembered at last, whipped off his cap, and at +once the light flared and burned upon his hair. It was a wonderful red; +it shone, and it had a terrible blood tinge so that his face seemed pale +beneath it. There were three things that made up the peculiar dominance +of Donnegan's countenance. The three things were the hair, the uneasy, +bright eyes, and the rather thin, compressed lips. When Donnegan slept +he seemed about to waken from a vigorous dream; when he sat down he +seemed about to leap to his feet; and when he was standing he gave that +impression of a poise which is ready for anything. It was no wonder that +the girl, seeing that face and that alert, aggressive body, shrank a +little on the stairs. Donnegan, that instant, knew that these two women +were really alone in the house as far as fighting men were concerned.</p> + +<p>And the fact disturbed him more than a leveled gun would have done. He +went to the foot of the stairs, even past the old woman, and, raising +his head, he spoke to the girl.</p> + +<p>"My name's Donnegan. I came over from the railroad—walked. I don't want +to walk that other eight miles unless there's a real need for it. I—" +Why did he pause? "I'll pay for anything I get here."</p> + +<p>His voice was not too certain; behind his teeth there was knocking a +desire to cry out to her the truth. "I am Donnegan. Donnegan the tramp. +Donnegan the shiftless. Donnegan the fighter. Donnegan the killer. +Donnegan the penniless, worthless. But for heaven's sake let me stay +until morning and let me look at you—from a distance!"</p> + +<p>But, after all, perhaps he did not need to say all these things. His +clothes were rags, upon his face there was a stubble of unshaven red, +which made the pallor about his eyes more pronounced. If the girl had +been half blind she must have felt that here was a man of fire. He saw +her gather the wrap a little closer about her shoulders, and that sign +of fear made him sick at heart.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," said the girl. "I am sorry. We cannot take you into the +house. Eight miles—"</p> + +<p>Did she expect to turn a sinner from the gates of heaven with a mere +phrase? He cast out his hand, and she winced as though he had shaken his +fist at her.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid?" cried Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I don't control the house."</p> + +<p>He paused, not that her reply had baffled him, but the mere pleasure of +hearing her speak accounted for it. It was one of those low, light +voices which are apt to have very little range or volume, and which +break and tremble absurdly under any stress of emotion; and often they +become shrill in a higher register; but inside conversational limits, if +such a term may be used, there is no fiber so delightful, so purely +musical. Suppose the word "velvet" applied to a sound. That voice came +soothingly and delightfully upon the ear of Donnegan, from which the +roar and rattle of the empty freight train had not quite departed. He +smiled at her.</p> + +<p>"But," he protested, "this is west of the Rockies—and I don't see any +other way out."</p> + +<p>The girl, all this time, was studying him intently, a little sadly, he +thought. Now she shook her head, but there was more warmth in her voice.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry. I can't ask you to stay without first consulting my father."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead. Ask him."</p> + +<p>She raised her hand a little; the thought seemed to bring her to the +verge of trembling, as though he were asking a sacrilege.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he urged.</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but, instead, her eyes sought the old, woman, as if +to gain her interposition; she burst instantly into speech.</p> + +<p>"Which there's no good talking any more," declared the ancient vixen. +"Are you wanting to make trouble for her with the colonel? Be off, young +man. It ain't the first time I've told you you'd get nowhere in this +house!"</p> + +<p>There was no possible answer left to Donnegan, and he did as usual the +surprising thing. He broke into laughter of such clear and ringing +tone—such infectious laughter—that the old woman blinked in the midst +of her wrath as though she were seeing a new man, and he saw the lips of +the girl parted in wonder.</p> + +<p>"My father is an invalid," said the girl. "And he lives by strict rules. +I could not break in on him at this time of the evening."</p> + +<p>"If that's all"—Donnegan actually began to mount the steps—"I'll go in +and talk to your father myself."</p> + +<p>She had retired one pace as he began advancing, but as the import of +what he said became clear to her she was rooted to one position by +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Macon—my father—" she began. Then: "Do you really wish to see +him?"</p> + +<p>The hushed voice made Donnegan smile—it was such a voice as one boy +uses when he asks the other if he really dares enter the pasture of the +red bull. He chuckled again, and this time she smiled, and her eyes were +widened, partly by fear of his purpose and partly from his nearness. +They seemed to be suddenly closer together. As though they were on one +side against a common enemy, and that enemy was her father. The old +woman was cackling sharply from the bottom of the stairs, and then +bobbing in pursuit and calling on Donnegan to come back. At length the +girl raised her hand and silenced her with a gesture.</p> + +<p>Donnegan was now hardly a pace away; and he saw that she lived up to all +the promise of that first glance. Yet still she seemed unreal. There is +a quality of the unearthly about a girl's beauty; it is, after all, only +a gay moment between the formlessness of childhood and the hardness of +middle age. This girl was pale, Donnegan saw, and yet she had color. She +had the luster, say, of a white rose, and the same bloom. Lou, the old +woman had called her, and Macon was her father's name. Lou Macon—the +name fitted her, Donnegan thought. For that matter, if her name had been +Sally Smith, Donnegan would probably have thought it beautiful. The +keener a man's mind is and the more he knows about men and women and the +ways of the world, the more apt he is to be intoxicated by a touch of +grace and thoughtfulness; and all these age-long seconds the perfume of +girlhood had been striking up to Donnegan's brain.</p> + +<p>She brushed her timidity away and with the same gesture accepted +Donnegan as something more than a dangerous vagrant. She took the lamp +from the hands of the crone and sent her about her business, +disregarding the mutterings and the warnings which trailed behind the +departing form. Now she faced Donnegan, screening the light from her +eyes with a cupped hand and by the same device focusing it upon the face +of Donnegan. He mutely noted the small maneuver and gave her credit; but +for the pleasure of seeing the white of her fingers and the way they +tapered to a pink transparency at the tips, he forgot the poor figure he +must make with his soiled, ragged shirt, his unshaven face, his gaunt +cheeks.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he looked so straight at her that in spite of her advantage with +the light she had to avoid his glance.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," said Lou Macon, "and ashamed because we can't take you in. +The only house on the range where you wouldn't be welcome, I know. But +my father leads a very close life; he has set ways. The ways of an +invalid, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"And you're bothered about speaking to him of me?"</p> + +<p>"I'm almost afraid of letting you go in yourself."</p> + +<p>"Let me take the risk."</p> + +<p>She considered him again for a moment, and then turned with a nod and he +followed her up the stairs into the upper hall. The moment they stepped +into it he heard her clothes flutter and a small gale poured on them. It +was criminal to allow such a building to fall into this ruinous +condition. And a gloomy picture rose in Donnegan's mind of the invalid, +thin-faced, sallow-eyed, white-haired, lying in his bed listening to the +storm and silently gathering bitterness out of the pain of living. Lou +Macon paused again in the hall, close to a door on the right.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to send you in to speak to my father," she said gravely. +"First I have to tell you that he's different."</p> + +<p>Donnegan replied by looking straight at her, and this time she did not +wince from the glance. Indeed, she seemed to be probing him, searching +with a peculiar hope. What could she expect to find in him? What that +was useful to her? Not once in all his life had such a sense of +impotence descended upon Donnegan. Her father? Bah! Invalid or no +invalid he would handle that fellow, and if the old man had an acrid +temper, Donnegan at will could file his own speech to a point. But the +girl! In the meager hand which held the lamp there was a power which all +the muscles of Donnegan could not compass; and in his weakness he looked +wistfully at her.</p> + +<p>"I hope your talk will be pleasant. I hope so." She laid her hand on the +knob of the door and withdrew it hastily; then, summoning great +resolution, she opened the door and showed Donnegan in.</p> + +<p>"Father," she said, "this is Mr. Donnegan. He wishes to speak to you."</p> + +<p>The door closed behind Donnegan, and hearing that whishing sound which +the door of a heavy safe will make, he looked down at this, and saw that +it was actually inches thick! Once more the sense of being in a trap +descended upon him.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="7"></a><h2>7</h2> +<br> + +<p>He found himself in a large room which, before he could examine a single +feature of it, was effectively curtained from his sight. Straight into +his face shot a current of violent white light that made him blink. +There was the natural recoil, but in Donnegan recoils were generally +protected by several strata of willpower and seldom showed in any +physical action. On the present occasion his first dismay was swiftly +overwhelmed by a cold anger at the insulting trick. This was not the +trick of a helpless invalid; Donnegan could not see a single thing +before him, but he obeyed a very deep instinct and advanced straight +into the current of light.</p> + +<p>He was glad to see the light switched away. The comparative darkness +washed across his eyes in a pleasant wave and he was now able to +distinguish a few things in the room. It was, as he had first surmised, +quite large. The ceiling was high; the proportions comfortably spacious; +but what astounded Donnegan was the real elegance of the furnishings. +There was no mistaking the deep, silken texture of the rug upon which he +stepped; the glow of light barely reached the wall, and there showed +faintly in streaks along yellowish hangings. Beside a table which +supported a big reading lamp—gasoline, no doubt, from the intensity of +its light—sat Colonel Macon with a large volume spread across his +knees. Donnegan saw two highlights—fine silver hair that covered the +head of the invalid and a pair of white hands fallen idly upon the +surface of the big book, for if the silver hair suggested age the +smoothly finished hands suggested perennial youth. They were strong, +carefully tended, complacent hands. They suggested to Donnegan a man +sufficient unto himself.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, I am sorry that I cannot rise to receive you. Now, what +pleasant accident has brought me the favor of this call?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan was taken aback again, and this time more strongly than by the +flare of light against his eyes. For in the voice he recognized the +quality of the girl—the same softness, the same velvety richness, +though the pitch was a bass. In the voice of this man there was the same +suggestion that the tone would crack if it were forced either up or +down. With this great difference, one could hardly conceive of a +situation which would push that man's voice beyond its monotone. It +flowed with deadly, all-embracing softness. It clung about one; it +fascinated and baffled the mind of the listener.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not in the habit of being baffled by voices. Neither +was he a lover of formality. He looked about for a place to sit down, +and immediately discovered that while the invalid sat in an enormous +easy-chair bordered by shelves and supplied with wheels for raising and +lowering the back and for propelling the chair about the room on its +rubber tires, it was the only chair in the room which could make any +pretensions toward comfort. As a matter of fact, aside from this one +immense chair, devoted to the pleasure of the invalid, there was nothing +in the room for his visitors to sit upon except two or three miserable +backless stools.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not long taken aback. He tucked his cap under his arm, +bowed profoundly in honor of the colonel's compliments, and brought one +of the stools to a place where it was no nearer the rather ominous +circle of the lamplight than was the invalid himself. With his eyes +accustomed to the new light, Donnegan could now take better stock of his +host. He saw a rather handsome face, with eyes exceedingly blue, young, +and active; but the features of Macon as well as his body were blurred +and obscured by a great fatness. He was truly a prodigious man, and one +could understand the stoutness with which the invalid chair was made. +His great wrist dimpled like the wrist of a healthy baby, and his face +was so enlarged with superfluous flesh that the lower part of it quite +dwarfed the upper. He seemed, at first glance, a man with a low forehead +and bright, careless eyes and a body made immobile by flesh and +sickness. A man whose spirits despised and defied pain. Yet a second +glance showed that the forehead was, after all, a nobly proportioned +one, and for all the bulk of that figure, for all the cripple-chair, +Donnegan would not have been surprised to see the bulk spring lightly +out of the chair to meet him.</p> + +<p>For his own part, sitting back on the stool with his cap tucked under +his arm and his hands folded about one knee, he met the faint, cold +smile of the colonel with a broad grin of his own.</p> + +<p>"I can put it in a nutshell," said Donnegan. "I was tired; dead beat; +needed a handout, and rapped at your door. Along comes a mystery in the +shape of an ugly-looking woman and opens the door to me. Tries to shut +me out; I decided to come in. She insists on keeping me outside; all at +once I see that I have to get into the house. I am brought in; your +daughter tries to steer me off, sees that the job is more than she can +get away with, and shelves me off upon you. And that, Colonel Macon, is +the pleasant accident which brings you the favor of this call."</p> + +<p>It would have been a speech both stupid and pert in the mouth of +another; but Donnegan knew how to flavor words with a touch of mockery +of himself as well as another. There were two manners in which this +speech could have been received—with a wink or with a smile. But it +would have been impossible to hear it and grow frigid. As for the +colonel, he smiled.</p> + +<p>It was a tricky smile, however, as Donnegan felt. It spread easily upon +that vast face and again went out and left all to the dominion of the +cold, bright eyes.</p> + +<p>"A case of curiosity," commented the colonel.</p> + +<p>"A case of hunger," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mr. Donnegan, put it that way if you wish!"</p> + +<p>"And a case of blankets needed for one night."</p> + +<p>"Really? Have you ventured into such a country as this without any +equipment?"</p> + +<p>"Outside of my purse, my equipment is of the invisible kind."</p> + +<p>"Wits," suggested the colonel.</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. You hinted at it yourself."</p> + +<p>"However, a hint is harder to take than to make."</p> + +<p>The colonel raised his faultless right hand—and oddly enough his great +corpulence did not extend in the slightest degree to his hand, but +stopped short at the wrists—and stroked his immense chin. His skin was +like Lou Macon's, except that in place of the white-flower bloom his was +a parchment, dead pallor. He lowered his hand with the same slow +precision and folded it with the other, all the time probing Donnegan +with his difficult eyes.</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately—most unfortunately, it is impossible for me to +accommodate you, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>The reply was not flippant, but quick. "Not at all. I am the easiest +person in the world to accommodate."</p> + +<p>The big man smiled sadly.</p> + +<p>"My fortune has fallen upon evil days, sir. It is no longer what it was. +There are in this house three habitable rooms; this one; my daughter's +apartment; the kitchen where old Haggie sleeps. Otherwise you are in a +rat trap of a place."</p> + +<p>He shook his head, a slow, decisive motion.</p> + +<p>"A spare blanket," said Donnegan, "will be enough."</p> + +<p>There was another sigh and another shake of the head.</p> + +<p>"Even a corner of a rug to roll up in will do perfectly."</p> + +<p>"You see, it is impossible for me to entertain you."</p> + +<p>"Bare boards will do well enough for me, Colonel Macon. And if I have a +piece of bread, a plate of cold beans—anything—I can entertain +myself."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to see you so compliant, Mr. Donnegan, because that makes my +refusal seem the more unkind. But I cannot have you sleeping on the bare +floor. Not on such a night. Pneumonia comes on one like a cat in the +dark in such weather. It is really impossible to keep you here, sir."</p> + +<p>"H'm-m," said Donnegan. He began to feel that he was stumped, and it was +a most unusual feeling for him.</p> + +<p>"Besides, for a young fellow like you, with your agility, what is eight +miles? Walk down the road and you will come to a place where you will be +made at home and fed like a king."</p> + +<p>"Eight miles, that's not much! But on such a night as this?"</p> + +<p>There was a faint glint in the eyes of the colonel; was he not +sharpening his wits for his contest of words, and enjoying it?</p> + +<p>"The wind will be at your back and buoy your steps. It will shorten the +eight miles to four."</p> + +<p>Very definitely Donnegan felt that the other was reading him. What was +it that he saw as he turned the pages?</p> + +<p>"There is one thing you fail to take into your accounting."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"I have an irresistible aversion to walking."</p> + +<p>"Ah?" repeated Macon.</p> + +<p>"Or exercise in any form."</p> + +<p>"Then you are unfortunate to be in this country without a horse."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunate, perhaps, but the fact is that I'm here. Very sorry to +trouble you, though, colonel."</p> + +<p>"I am rarely troubled," said the colonel coldly. "And since I have no +means of accommodation, the laws of hospitality rest light on my +shoulders."</p> + +<p>"Yet I have an odd thought," replied Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Well? You have expressed a number already, it seems to me."</p> + +<p>"It's this: that you've already made up your mind to keep me here."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="8"></a><h2>8</h2> +<br> + +<p>The colonel stiffened in his chair, and under his bulk even those +ponderous timbers quaked a little. Once more Donnegan gained an +impression of chained activity ready to rise to any emergency. The +colonel's jaw set and the last vestige of the smile left his eyes. Yet +it was not anger that showed in its place. Instead, it was rather a +hungry searching. He looked keenly into the face and the soul of +Donnegan as a searchlight sweeps over waters by night.</p> + +<p>"You are a mind reader, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"No more of a mind reader than a Chinaman is."</p> + +<p>"Ah, they are great readers of mind, my friend."</p> + +<p>Donnegan grinned, and at this the colonel frowned.</p> + +<p>"A great and mysterious people, sir. I keep evidences of them always +about me. Look!"</p> + +<p>He swept the shaft of the reading light up and it fell upon a red vase +against the yellow hangings. Even Donnegan's inexperienced eye read a +price into that shimmering vase.</p> + +<p>"Queer color," he said.</p> + +<p>"Dusty claret. Ah, they have the only names for their colors. Think! +Peach bloom—liquid dawn—ripe cherry—oil green—green of powdered +tea—blue of the sky after rain—what names for color! What other land +possesses such a tongue that goes straight to the heart!"</p> + +<p>The colonel waved his faultless hands and then dropped them back upon +the book with the tenderness of a benediction.</p> + +<p>"And their terms for texture—pear's rind—lime peel—millet seed! Do +not scoff at China, Mr. Donnegan. She is the fairy godmother, and we are +the poor children."</p> + +<p>He changed the direction of the light; Donnegan watched him, fascinated.</p> + +<p>"But what convinced you that I wished to keep you here?"</p> + +<p>"To amuse you, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>The colonel exposed gleaming white teeth and laughed in that soft, +smooth-flowing voice.</p> + +<p>"Amuse me? For fifteen years I have sat in this room and amused myself +by taking in what I would and shutting out the rest of the world. I have +made the walls thick and padded them to keep out all sound. You observe +that there is no evidence here of the storm that is going on tonight. +Amuse me? Indeed!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan thought of Lou Macon in her old, drab dress, huddling the +poor cloak around her shoulders to keep out the cold, while her father +lounged here in luxury. He could gladly have buried his lean fingers in +that fat throat. From the first he had had an aversion to this man.</p> + +<p>"Very well, I shall go. It has been a pleasant chat, colonel."</p> + +<p>"Very pleasant. And thank you. But before you go, taste this whisky. It +will help you when you enter the wind."</p> + +<p>He opened a cabinet in the side of the chair and brought out a black +bottle and a pair of glasses and put them on the broad arm of the chair. +Donnegan sauntered back.</p> + +<p>"You see," he murmured, "you will not let me go."</p> + +<p>At this the colonel raised his head suddenly and glared into the eyes of +his guest, and yet so perfect was his muscular and nerve control that he +did not interrupt the thin stream of amber which trickled into one of +the glasses. Looking down again, he finished pouring the drinks. They +pledged each other with a motion, and drank. It was very old, very oily. +And Donnegan smiled as he put down the empty glass.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said the colonel in a new voice.</p> + +<p>Donnegan obeyed.</p> + +<p>"Fate," went on the colonel, "rules our lives. We give our honest +endeavors, but the deciding touch is the hand of Fate."</p> + +<p>He garnished this absurd truism with a wave of his hand so solemn that +Donnegan was chilled; as though the fat man were actually conversant +with the Three Sisters.</p> + +<p>"Fate has brought you to me; therefore, I intend to keep you."</p> + +<p>"Here?"</p> + +<p>"In my service. I am about to place a great mission and a great trust in +your hands."</p> + +<p>"In the hands of a man you know nothing about?"</p> + +<p>"I know you as if I had raised you."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled, and shaking his head, the red hair flashed and +shimmered.</p> + +<p>"As long as there is no work attached to the mission, it may be +agreeable to me."</p> + +<p>"But there is work."</p> + +<p>"Then the contract is broken before it is made."</p> + +<p>"You are rash. But I had rather begin with a dissent and then work +upward."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited.</p> + +<p>"To balance against work—"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me. Nothing balances against work for me."</p> + +<p>"To balance against work," continued the colonel, raising a white hand +and by that gesture crushing the protest of Donnegan, "there is a great +reward."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Macon, I have never worked for money before and I shall not +work for it now."</p> + +<p>"You trouble me with interruptions. Who mentioned money? You shall not +have a penny!"</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"The reward shall grow out of the work."</p> + +<p>"And the work?"</p> + +<p>"Is fighting."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan narrowed his eyes and searched the fat man thoroughly. +It sounded like the talk of a charlatan, and yet there was a crispness +to these sentences that made him suspect something underneath. For that +matter, in certain districts his name and his career were known. He had +never dreamed that that reputation could have come within a thousand +miles of this part of the mountain desert.</p> + +<p>"You should have told me in the first place," he said with some anger, +"that you knew me."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, upon my honor, I never heard your name before my daughter +uttered it."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waited soberly.</p> + +<p>"I despise charlatanry as much as the next man. You shall see the steps +by which I judged you. When you entered the room I threw a strong light +upon you. You did not blanch; you immediately walked straight into the +shaft of light although you could not see a foot before you."</p> + +<p>"And that proved?"</p> + +<p>"A combative instinct, and coolness; not the sort of brute +vindictiveness that fights for a rage, for a cool-minded love of +conflict. Is that clear?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"And above all, I need a fighter. Then I watched your eyes and your +hands. The first were direct and yet they were alert. And your hands +were perfectly steady."</p> + +<p>"Qualifications for a fighter, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Do you wish further proof?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"What of the fight to the death which you went through this same night?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan started. It was a small movement, that flinching, and he +covered it by continuing the upward gesture of his hand to his coat; he +drew out tobacco and cigarette papers and commenced to roll his smoke. +Looking up, he saw that the eyes of Colonel Macon were smiling, although +his face was grave.</p> + +<p>A glint of understanding passed between the two men, but not a spoken +word.</p> + +<p>"I assure you, there was no death tonight," said Donnegan at length.</p> + +<p>"Tush! Of course not! But the tear on the shoulder of your coat—ah, +that is too smooth edged for a tear, too long for the bite of a +scissors. Am I right? Tush! Not a word!"</p> + +<p>The colonel beamed with an almost tender pride, and Donnegan, knowing +that the fat man looked upon him as a murderer, newly come from a +death, considered the beaming face and thought many things in silence.</p> + +<p>"So it was easy to see that in coolness, courage, fighting instinct, +skill, you were probably what I want. Yet something more than all these +qualifications is necessary for the task which lies ahead of you."</p> + +<p>"You pile up the bad features, eh?"</p> + +<p>"To entice you, Donnegan. For one man, paint a rosy beginning, and once +under way he will manage the hard parts. For you, show you the hard +shell and you will trust it contains the choice flesh. I was saying, +that I waited to see other qualities in you; qualities of the judgment. +And suddenly you flashed upon me a single glance; I felt it clash +against my willpower. I felt your look go past my guard like a rapier +slipping around my blade. I, Colonel Macon, was for the first time +outfaced, out-maneuvered. I admit it, for I rejoice in meeting such a +man. And the next instant you told me that I should keep you here out of +my own wish! Admirable!"</p> + +<p>The admiration of the colonel, indeed, almost overwhelmed Donnegan, but +he saw that in spite of the genial smile, the face suffused with warmth, +the colonel was watching him every instant, flinty-eyed. Donnegan did as +he had done on the stairs; he burst into laughter.</p> + +<p>When he had done, the colonel was leaning forward in his chair with his +fingers interlacing, examining his guest from beneath somber brows. As +he sat lurched forward he gave a terrible impression of that reserved +energy which Donnegan had sensed before.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," said the colonel, "I shall talk no more nonsense to you. You +are a terrible fellow!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan knew that, for the first time in the colonel's life, he was +meeting another man upon equal ground.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="9"></a><h2>9</h2> +<br> + +<p>In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him: +that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absolute +evil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face of +Macon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would have +left the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou.</p> + +<p>"I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at once +Donnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense.</p> + +<p>"Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. A +waste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the first +man who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snapped +them on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last.</p> + +<p>"So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you. +Donnegan, we have met each other just in time."</p> + +<p>"True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot of +fighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night."</p> + +<p>"Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action in +which you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and in +the battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sad +past which lies behind you."</p> + +<p>Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; and +he stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and, +his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a panther +enduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape.</p> + +<p>"You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon his +stool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast, +and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyes +dull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from the +perspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossible +ten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallen +upon him.</p> + +<p>All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction. +Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as the +voice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than I +wished to say."</p> + +<p>Donnegan brushed the apology aside.</p> + +<p>His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I am +eager to learn from you, colonel."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interests +in this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised you +before, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into small +details. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all men +of mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heart +of it is perfectly clear to them."</p> + +<p>He settled into his narrative.</p> + +<p>"You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a few +weeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddy +and Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand, +and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from the +headwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meets +the other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sands +are rich—very rich!"</p> + +<p>He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to cover +his emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor beside +him and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word.</p> + +<p>"Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was brought +to my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them. +But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom should +I select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozen +years ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortune +was then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I could +have shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and—"</p> + +<p>Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing that +this hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest, +he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the need +for a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able to +take care of himself."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan pricked his ears.</p> + +<p>"He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filed +them as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It panned +out in nuggets."</p> + +<p>He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingers +Donnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring.</p> + +<p>"But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone. +This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as a +scoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimed +that he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claim +that I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump the +claims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lester +down. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was a +village; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner had +become the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint. +He sent me back a mere souvenir."</p> + +<p>The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow and +with a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly, +so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. But +his hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. He +found in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces, +and he flicked it back to the colonel.</p> + +<p>"He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I have +waited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that Jack +Landis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirable +woman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which I +had sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind is +hardened against adversity.</p> + +<p>"Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engaged +to marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in his +disaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. The +scoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?"</p> + +<p>The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more +safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the +distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the +colonel read something that set him beaming.</p> + +<p>"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with +his selfishness."</p> + +<p>"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan.</p> + +<p>The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he +believed that things were getting on very well.</p> + +<p>"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the +wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He +belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows +very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and +handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions. +They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the +cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool +fighters—the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters—all celebrated names in +the cattle country.</p> + +<p>"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and +partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and +even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within +the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first +establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else; +if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is the +aggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devil +knows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists the +hearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is the +leader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members. +He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had his +followers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, and +made Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the mines +to the gang—of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At the +same time, Lord Nick attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adopted +father, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolen +the claims from this wretched Lester!"</p> + +<p>He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hateful +softness.</p> + +<p>"The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines. +Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives him +absolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably will +continue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it on +this woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comes +through to me!"</p> + +<p>Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon a +great distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins of +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove with +Lord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so that +nine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back through +the hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. He +struts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and with +the power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gambling +houses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come to +consider himself a great man. Is it clear?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance.</p> + +<p>"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must +be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be +brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress +and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long +Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully +their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him +from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp—send +Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby +prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!"</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see.</p> + +<p>"Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling +spirit; you are willing to take great chances!"</p> + +<p>"So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should +never send her except with an adequate protector."</p> + +<p>"An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the +camp as you have already admitted?"</p> + +<p>"An adequate protector—you are the man!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shivered.</p> + +<p>"I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun +to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?"</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, +white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety.</p> + +<p>"She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing.</p> + +<p>"A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they +were children."</p> + +<p>"Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are +not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs."</p> + +<p>The colonel writhed in his chair.</p> + +<p>"But Lou—you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked +closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not +suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't +written for weeks."</p> + +<p>He saw Donnegan wince under the whip.</p> + +<p>"It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven +knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with +the sight of Lou?"</p> + +<p>The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would +undertake the journey.</p> + +<p>"In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you +astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away +from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In +that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you +also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis—namely, myself. And +in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure—oh, be sure that I should not +forget who brought the mines into my hands!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="10"></a><h2>10</h2> +<br> + +<p>Fifty miles over any sort of going is a stiff march. Fifty miles uphill +and down and mostly over districts where there was only a rough cow path +in lieu of a road made a prodigious day's work; and certainly it was an +almost incredible feat for one who professed to hate work with a +consuming passion and who had looked upon an eight-mile jaunt the night +before as an insuperable burden. Yet such was the distance which +Donnegan had covered, and now he drove the pack mule out on the shoulder +of the hill in full view of The Corner with the triangle of the Young +Muddy and Christobel Rivers embracing the little town. Even the gaunt, +leggy mule was tired to the dropping point, and the tough buckskin which +trailed up behind went with downward head. When Louise Macon turned to +him, he had reached the point where he swung his head around first and +then grudgingly followed the movement with his body. The girl was tired, +also, in spite of the fact that she had covered every inch of the +distance in the saddle. There was that violet shade of weariness under +her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward. Only Donnegan, the hater of +labor, was fresh.</p> + +<p>They had started in the first dusk of the coming day; it was now the +yellow time of the slant afternoon sunlight; between these two points +there had been a body of steady plodding. The girl had looked askance at +that gaunt form of Donnegan's when they began; but before three hours, +seeing that the spring never left his step nor the swinging rhythm his +stride, she began to wonder. This afternoon, nothing he did could have +surprised her. From the moment he entered the house the night before he +had been a mystery. Till her death day she would not forget the fire +with which he had stared up at her from the foot of the stairs. But when +he came out of her father's room—not cowed and whipped as most men left +it—he had looked at her with a veiled glance, and since that moment +there had always been a mist of indifference over his eyes when he +looked at her.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of that day's march all she knew was that her father +trusted her to this stranger, Donnegan, to take her to The Corner, where +he was to find Jack Landis and bring Jack back to his old allegiance and +find what he was doing with his time and his money. It was a quite +natural proceeding, for Jack was a wild sort, and he was probably +gambling away all the gold that was dug in his mines. It was perfectly +natural throughout, except that she should have been trusted so entirely +to a stranger. That was a remarkable thing, but, then, her father was a +remarkable man, and it was not the first time that his actions had been +inscrutable, whether concerning her or the affairs of other people. She +had heard men come into their house cursing Colonel Macon with death in +their faces; she had seen them sneak out after a soft-voiced interview +and never appear again. In her eyes, her father was invincible, +all-powerful. When she thought of superlatives, she thought of him. Her +conception of mystery was the smile of the colonel, and her conception +of tenderness was bounded by the gentle voice of the same man. +Therefore, it was entirely sufficient to her that the colonel had said: +"Go, and trust everything to Donnegan. He has the power to command you +and you must obey—until Jack comes back to you."</p> + +<p>That was odd, for, as far as she knew, Jack had never left her. But she +had early discarded any will to question her father. Curiosity was a +thing which the fat man hated above all else.</p> + +<p>Therefore, it was really not strange to her that throughout the journey +her guide did not speak half a dozen words to her. Once or twice when +she attempted to open the conversation he had replied with crushing +monosyllables, and there was an end. For the rest, he was always +swinging down the trail ahead of her at a steady, unchanging, rapid +stride. Uphill and down it never varied. And so they came out upon the +shoulder of the hill and saw the storm center of The Corner. They were +in the hills behind the town; two miles would bring them into it. And +now Donnegan came back to her from the mule. He took off his hat and +shook the dust away; he brushed a hand across his face. He was still +unshaven. The red stubble made him hideous, and the dust and +perspiration covered his face as with a mask. Only his eyes were rimmed +with white skin.</p> + +<p>"You'd better get off the horse, here," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>He held her stirrup, and she obeyed without a word.</p> + +<p>"Sit down."</p> + +<p>She sat down on the flat-topped boulder which he designated, and, +looking up, observed the first sign of emotion in his face. He was +frowning, and his face was drawn a little.</p> + +<p>"You are tired," he stated.</p> + +<p>"A little."</p> + +<p>"You are tired," said the wanderer in a tone that implied dislike of any +denial. Therefore she made no answer. "I'm going down into the town to +look things over. I don't want to parade you through the streets until I +know where Landis is to be found and how he'll receive you. The Corner +is a wild town; you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said blankly, and noted nervously that the reply did not +please him. He actually scowled at her.</p> + +<p>"You'll be all right here. I'll leave the pack mule with you; if +anything should happen—but nothing is going to happen, I'll be back in +an hour or so. There's a pool of water. You can get a cold drink there +and wash up if you want to while I'm gone. But don't go to sleep!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"A place like this is sure to have a lot of stragglers hunting around +it. Bad characters. You understand?"</p> + +<p>She could not understand why he should make a mystery of it; but then, +he was almost as strange as her father. His careful English and his +ragged clothes were typical of him inside and out.</p> + +<p>"You have a gun there in your holster. Can you use it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Try it."</p> + +<p>It was a thirty-two, a woman's light weapon. She took it out and +balanced it in her hand.</p> + +<p>"The blue rock down the hillside. Let me see you chip it."</p> + +<p>Her hand went up, and without pausing to sight along the barrel, she +fired; fire flew from the rock, and there appeared a white, small scar. +Donnegan sighed with relief.</p> + +<p>"If you squeezed the butt rather than pulled the trigger," he commented, +"you would have made a bull's-eye that time. Now, I don't mean that in +any likelihood you'll have to defend yourself. I simply want you to be +aware that there's plenty of trouble around The Corner."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the girl.</p> + +<p>"You're not afraid?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no."</p> + +<p>Donnegan settled his hat a little more firmly upon his head. He had been +on the verge of attributing her gentleness to a blank, stupid mind; he +began to realize that there was metal under the surface. He felt that +some of the qualities of the father were echoed faintly, and at a +distance, in the child. In a way, she made him think of an unawakened +creature. When she was roused, if the time ever came, it might be that +her eye could become a thing alternately of fire and ice, and her voice +might carry with a ring.</p> + +<p>"This business has to be gotten through quickly," he went on. "One +meeting with Jack Landis will be enough."</p> + +<p>She wondered why he set his jaw when he said this, but he was wondering +how deeply the colonel's ward had fallen into the clutches of Nelly +Lebrun. If that first meeting did not bring Landis to his senses, what +followed? One of two things. Either the girl must stay on in The Corner +and try her hand with her fiancé again, or else the final brutal +suggestion of the colonel must be followed; he must kill Landis. It was +a cold-blooded suggestion, but Donnegan was a cold-blooded man. As he +looked at the girl, where she sat on the boulder, he knew definitely, +first and last, that he loved her, and that he would never again love +any other woman. Every instinct drew him toward the necessity of +destroying Landis. There was his stumbling block. But what if she truly +loved Landis?</p> + +<p>He would have to wait in order to find that out. And as he stood there +with the sun shining on the red stubble on his face he made a resolution +the more profound because it was formed in silence: if she truly loved +Landis he would serve her hand and foot until she had her will.</p> + +<p>But all he said was simply: "I shall be back before it's dark."</p> + +<p>"I shall be comfortable here," replied the girl, and smiled farewell at +him.</p> + +<p>And while Donnegan went down the slope full of darkness he thought of +that smile.</p> + +<p>The Corner spread more clearly before him with every step he made. It +was a type of the gold-rush town. Of course most of the dwellings were +tents—dog tents many of them; but there was a surprising sprinkling of +wooden shacks, some of them of considerable size. Beginning at the very +edge of the town and spread over the sand flats were the mines and the +black sprinkling of laborers. And the town itself was roughly jumbled +around one street. Over to the left the main road into The Corner +crossed the wide, shallow ford of the Young Muddy River and up this road +he saw half a dozen wagons coming, wagons of all sizes; but nothing went +out of The Corner. People who came stayed there, it seemed.</p> + +<p>He dropped over the lower hills, and the voice of the gold town rose to +him. It was a murmur like that of an army preparing for battle. Now and +then a blast exploded, for what purpose he could not imagine in this +school of mining. But as a rule the sounds were subdued by the distance. +He caught the muttering of many voices, in which laughter and shouts +were brought to the level of a whisper at close hand; and through all +this there was a persistent clangor of metallic sounds. No doubt from +the blacksmith shops where picks and other implements were made or +sharpened and all sorts of repairing carried on. But the predominant +tone of the voice of The Corner was this persistent ringing of metal. It +suggested to Donnegan that here was a town filled with men of iron and +all the gentler parts of their natures forgotten. An odd place to bring +such a woman as Lou Macon, surely!</p> + +<p>He reached the level, and entered the town.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="11"></a><h2>11</h2> +<br> + +<p>Hunting for news, he went naturally to the news emporium which took the +place of the daily paper—namely, he went to the saloons. But on the way +he ran through a liberal cross-section of The Corner's populace. First +of all, the tents and the ruder shacks. He saw little sheet-iron stoves +with the tin dishes piled, unwashed, upon the tops of them when the +miners rushed back to their work; broken handles of picks and shovels; +worn-out shirts and overalls lay where they had been tossed; here was a +flat strip of canvas supported by four four-foot poles and without +shelter at the sides, and the belongings of one careless miner tumbled +beneath this miserable shelter; another man had striven for some +semblance of a home and he had framed a five-foot walk leading up to the +closed flap of his tent with stones of a regular size. But nowhere was +there a sign of life, and would not be until semidarkness brought the +unwilling workers back to the tents.</p> + +<p>Out of this district he passed quickly onto the main street, and here +there was a different atmosphere. The first thing he saw was a man +dressed as a cowpuncher from belt to spurs—spurs on a miner—but above +the waist he blossomed in a frock coat and a silk hat. Around the coat +he had fastened his belt, and the shirt beneath the coat was common +flannel, open at the throat. He walked, or rather staggered, on the arm +of an equally strange companion who was arrayed in a white silk shirt, +white flannel trousers, white dancing pumps, and a vast sombrero! But as +if this was not sufficient protection for his head, he carried a parasol +of the most brilliant green silk and twirled it above his head. The two +held a wavering course and went blindly past Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was sufficiently clear that the storekeeper had followed the gold.</p> + +<p>He noted a cowboy sitting in his saddle while he rolled a cigarette. +Obviously he had come in to look things over rather than to share in the +mining, and he made the one sane, critical note in the carnival of noise +and color. Donnegan began to pass stores. There was the jeweler's; the +gent's furnishing; a real estate office—what could real estate be doing +on the Young Muddy's desert? Here was the pawnshop, the windows of which +were already packed. The blacksmith had a great establishment, and the +roar of the anvils never died away; feed and grain and a dozen +lunch-counter restaurants. All this had come to The Corner within six +weeks.</p> + +<p>Liquor seemed to be plentiful, too. In the entire length of the street +he hardly saw a sober man, except the cowboy. Half a dozen in one group +pitched silver dollars at a mark. But he was in the saloon district now, +and dominant among the rest was the big, unpainted front of a building +before which hung an enormous sign:</p> + +<h3 align=center>LEBRUN'S JOY EMPORIUM</h3> + +<p>Donnegan turned in under the sign.</p> + +<p>It was one big room. The bar stretched completely around two sides of +it. The floor was dirt, but packed to the hardness of wood. The low roof +was supported by a scattering of wooden pillars, and across the floor +the gaming tables were spread. At that vast bar not ten men were +drinking now; at the crowding tables there were not half a dozen +players; yet behind the bar stood a dozen tenders ready to meet the +evening rush from the mines. And at the tables waited an equal number of +the professional gamblers of the house.</p> + +<p>From the door Donnegan observed these things with one sweeping glance, +and then proceeded to transform himself. One jerk at the visor of his +cap brought it down over his eyes and covered his face with shadow; a +single shrug bunched the ragged coat high around his shoulders, and the +shoulders themselves he allowed to drop forward. With his hands in his +pockets he glided slowly across the room toward the bar, for all the +world a picture of the guttersnipe who had been kicked from pillar to +post until self-respect is dead in him. And pausing in his advance, he +leaned against one of the pillars and looked hungrily toward the bar.</p> + +<p>He was immediately hailed from behind the bar with: "Hey, you. No tramps +in here. Pay and stay in Lebrun's!"</p> + +<p>The command brought an immediate protest. A big fellow stepped from the +bar, his sombrero pushed to the back of his head, his shirt sleeves +rolled to the elbow away from vast hairy forearms. One of his long arms +swept out and brought Donnegan to the bar.</p> + +<p>"I ain't no prophet," declared the giant, "but I can spot a man that's +dry. What'll you have, bud?" And to the bartender he added: "Leave him +be, pardner, unless you're all set for considerable noise in here."</p> + +<p>"Long as his drinks are paid for," muttered the bartender, "here he +stays. But these floaters do make me tired!"</p> + +<p>He jabbed the bottle across the bar at Donnegan and spun a glass noisily +at him, and the "floater" observed the angry bartender with a frightened +side glance, and then poured his drink gingerly. When the glass was half +full he hesitated and sought the face of the bartender again, for +permission to go on.</p> + +<p>"Fill her up!" commanded the giant. "Fill her up, lad, and drink +hearty."</p> + +<p>"I never yet," observed the bartender darkly, "seen a beggar that wasn't +a hog."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a +little more forward on his thigh.</p> + +<p>"Son," he said, "how long you been in these parts?"</p> + +<p>"Long enough," declared the other, and lowered his black brows. "Long +enough to be sick of it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe, maybe," returned the cowpuncher-miner, "meantime you tie to +this. We got queer ways out here. When a gent drinks with us he's our +friend. This lad here is my pardner, just now. If I was him I would of +knocked your head off before now for what you've said—"</p> + +<p>"I don't want no trouble," Donnegan said whiningly.</p> + +<p>At this the bartender chuckled, and the miner showed his teeth in his +disgust.</p> + +<p>"Every gent has got his own way," he said sourly. "But while you drink +with Hal Stern you drink with your chin up, bud. And don't forget it. +And them that tries to run over you got to run over me."</p> + +<p>Saying this, he laid his large left hand on the bar and leaned a little +toward the bartender, but his right hand remained hanging loosely at his +side. It was near the holster, as Donnegan noticed. And the bartender, +having met the boring glance of the big man for a moment, turned surlily +away. The giant looked to Donnegan and observed: "Know a good definition +of the word, skunk?"</p> + +<p>"Nope," said Donnegan, brightening now that the stern eye, of the +bartender was turned away.</p> + +<p>"Here's one that might do. A skunk is a critter that bites when your +back is turned and runs when you look it in the eye. Here's how!"</p> + +<p>He drained his own glass, and Donnegan dexterously followed the example.</p> + +<p>"And what might you be doing around these parts?" asked the big man, +veiling his contempt under a mild geniality.</p> + +<p>"Me? Oh, nothing."</p> + +<p>"Looking for a job, eh?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shrugged.</p> + +<p>"Work ain't my line," he confided.</p> + +<p>"H'm-m-m," said Hal Stern. "Well, you don't make no bones about it."</p> + +<p>"But just now," continued Donnegan, "I thought maybe I'd pick up some +sort of a job for a while." He looked ruefully at the palms of his hands +which were as tender as the hands of a woman. "Heard a fellow say that +Jack Landis was a good sort to work for—didn't rush his men none. They +said I might find him here."</p> + +<p>The big man grunted.</p> + +<p>"Too early for him. He don't circulate around much till the sun goes +down. Kind of hard on his skin, the sun, maybe. So you're going to work +for him?"</p> + +<p>"I was figuring on it."</p> + +<p>"Well, tie to this, bud. If you work for him you won't have him over +you."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"No, you'll have"—he glanced a little uneasily around him—"Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Who's he?" The big man started in astonishment. "Sufferin' catamounts! +Who is he?" He laughed in a disagreeable manner. "Well, son, you'll +find out, right enough!"</p> + +<p>"The way you talk, he don't sound none too good."</p> + +<p>Hal Stern grew anxious. "The way I talk? Have I said anything agin' him? +Not a word! He's—he's—well, there ain't ever been trouble between us +and there never ain't going to be." He flushed and looked steadily at +Donnegan. "Maybe he sent you to talk to me?" he asked coldly.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan's eyes took on a childish wideness.</p> + +<p>"Why, I never seen him," he declared. Hall Stern allowed the muscles of +his face to relax. "All right," he said, "they's no harm done. But Lord +Nick is a name that ain't handled none too free in these here parts. +Remember that!"</p> + +<p>"But how," pondered Donnegan, "can I be working for Lord Nick when I +sign up to work under Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you how. Nick and Lebrun work together. Split profits. And +Nelly Lebrun works Landis for his dust. So the stuff goes in a +circle—Landis to Nelly to Lebrun to Nick. That clear?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite see it," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I didn't think you would," declared the other, and snorted his disgust. +"But that's all I'm going to say. Here come the boys—and dead dry!"</p> + +<p>For the afternoon was verging upon evening, and the first drift of +laborers from the mines was pouring into The Corner. One thing at least +was clear to Donnegan: that everyone knew how infatuated Landis had +become with Nelly Lebrun and that Landis had not built up an +extraordinarily good name for himself.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="12"></a><h2>12</h2> +<br> + +<p>By the time absolute darkness had set in, Donnegan, in the new role of +lady's chaperon, sat before a dying fire with Louise Macon beside him. +He had easily seen from his talk with Stern that Landis was a public +figure, whether from the richness of his claims or his relations with +Lord Nick and Lebrun, or because of all these things; but as a public +figure it would be impossible to see him alone in his own tent, and +unless Louise could meet him alone half her power over him—supposing +that she still retained any—would be lost. Better by far that Landis +should come to her than that she should come to him, so Donnegan had +rented two tents by the day at an outrageous figure from the +enterprising real estate company of The Corner and to this new home he +brought the girl.</p> + +<p>She accepted the arrangement with surprising equanimity. It seemed that +her father's training had eliminated from her mind any questioning of +the motives of others. She became even cheerful as she set about +arranging the pack which Donnegan put in her tent. Afterward she cooked +their supper over the fire which he built for her. Never was there such +a quick house-settling. And by the time it was absolutely dark they had +washed the dishes and sat before Lou's tent looking over the night +lights of The Corner and hearing the voice of its Great White Way +opening.</p> + +<p>She had not even asked why he did not bring her straight to Jack Landis. +She had looked into Donnegan's tent, furnished with a single blanket and +his canvas kit, and had offered to share her pack with him. And now they +sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about +what was to come.</p> + +<p>Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard +rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose +in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew +that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to +the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose—the death of Jack +Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his +mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership +which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do +all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was +only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home.</p> + +<p>A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him +and the girl lay a dead body.</p> + +<p>He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going +down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to +watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!"</p> + +<p>It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she +was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining +camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet +never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he +went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for +their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town. +Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her +voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred +could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question +to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis?</p> + +<p>The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same +rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of +lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of +those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing +sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to +mock at The Corner and all it contained.</p> + +<p>He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance +hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of +dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was +quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the merriment +was under way in the dance hall. If Lebrun's was the sun of the +amusement world in The Corner, Milligan's was the moon. Everybody who +had money to lose went to Lebrun's. Every one who was out for gayety +went to Milligan's. Milligan was a plunger. He had brought up an +orchestra which demanded fifteen dollars a day and he paid them that and +more. He not only was able to do this, but he established a bar at the +entrance from which all who entered were served with a free drink. The +entrance, also, was not subject to charge. The initial drink at the door +was spiced to encourage thirst, so Milligan made money as fast, and far +more easily, than if he had been digging it out of the ground.</p> + +<p>To the door of this pleasure emporium came Donnegan. He had transformed +himself into the ragged hobo by the jerking down of his cap again, and +the hunching of his shoulders. And shrinking past the bar with a hungry +sidewise glance, as one who did not dare present himself for free +liquor, he entered Milligan's.</p> + +<p>That is, he had put his foot across the threshold when he was caught +roughly by the shoulder and dragged to one side. He found himself +looking up into the face of a strapping fellow who served Milligan as +bouncer. Milligan had an eye for color. Andy Lewis was tolerably well +known as a fighting man of parts, who not only wore two guns but could +use them both at once, which is much more difficult than is generally +understood. But far more than for his fighting parts Milligan hired his +bouncer for the sake of his face. It was a countenance made to +discourage trouble makers. A mule had kicked Lewis in the chin, and a +great white welt deformed his lower lip. Scars of smallpox added to his +decorative effect, and he had those extremely bushy brows which for some +reason are generally considered to denote ferocity. Now, Donnegan was +not above middle height at best, and in his present shrinking attitude +he found himself looking up a full head into the formidable face of the +bouncer.</p> + +<p>"And what are you doing in here?" asked the genial Andy. "Don't you know +this joint is for white folks?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't colored," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You took considerable yaller to me," declared Lewis. He straightway +chuckled, and his own keen appreciation of his wit softened his +expression. "What you want?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shivered under his rags.</p> + +<p>"I want to see Jack Landis," he said.</p> + +<p>It had a wonderful effect upon the doorkeeper. Donnegan found that the +very name of Landis was a charm of power in The Corner.</p> + +<p>"You want to see him?" he queried in amazement. "You?"</p> + +<p>He looked Donnegan over again, and then grinned broadly, as if in +anticipation. "Well, go ahead. There he sits—no, he's dancing."</p> + +<p>The music was in full swing; it was chiefly brass; but now and then, in +softer moments, one could hear a violin squeaking uncertainly. At least +it went along with a marked, regular rhythm, and the dancers swirled +industriously around the floor. A very gay crowd; color was apparently +appreciated in The Corner. And Donnegan, standing modestly out of sight +behind a pillar until the dance ended, noted twenty phases of life in +twenty faces. And Donnegan saw the flushes of liquor, and heard the loud +voices of happy fellows who had made their "strikes"; but in all that +brilliant crew he had no trouble in picking out Jack Landis and Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>They danced together, and where they passed, the others steered a little +off so as to give them room on the dance floor, as if the men feared +that they might cross the formidable Landis, and as if the women feared +to be brought into too close comparison with Nelly Lebrun. She was, +indeed, a brilliant figure. She had eyes of the Creole duskiness, a +delicate olive skin, with a pastel coloring. The hand on the shoulder of +Landis was a thing of fairy beauty. And her eyes had that peculiar +quality of seeming to see everything, and rest on every face +particularly. So that, as she whirled toward Donnegan, he winced, +feeling that she had found him out among the shadows.</p> + +<p>She had a glorious partner to set her off. And Donnegan saw bitterly +why Lou Macon could love him. Height without clumsiness, bulk and a +light foot at once, a fine head, well poised, blond hair and a Grecian +profile—such was Jack Landis. He wore a vest of fawn skin; his boots +were black in the foot and finished with the softest red leather for the +leg. And he had yellow buckskin trousers, laced in a Mexican fashion +with silver at the sides; a narrow belt, a long, red silk handkerchief +flying from behind his neck in cowboy fashion. So much flashing +splendor, even in that gay assembly, would have been childishly +conspicuous on another man. But in big Jack Landis there was patently a +great deal of the unaffected child. He was having a glorious time on +this evening, and his eye roved the room challenging admiration in a +manner that was amusing rather than offensive. He was so overflowingly +proud of having the prettiest girl in The Corner upon his arm and so +conscious of being himself probably the finest-looking man that he +escaped conceit, it might almost be said, by his very excess of it.</p> + +<p>Upon this splendid individual, then, the obscure Donnegan bent his gaze. +He saw the dancers pause and scatter as the music ended, saw them drift +to the tables along the edges of the room, saw the scurry of waiters +hurrying drinks up in the interval, saw Nelly Lebrun sip a lemonade, saw +Jack Landis toss off something stronger. And then Donnegan skirted +around the room and came to the table of Jack Landis at the very moment +when the latter was tossing a gold piece to the waiter and giving a new +order.</p> + +<p>Prodigal sons in the distance of thought are apt to be both silly: and +disgusting, but at close hand they usually dazzle the eye. Even the cold +brain of Donnegan was daunted a little as he drew near.</p> + +<p>He came behind the chair of the tall master of The Corner, and while +Nelly Lebrun stopped her glass halfway to her lips and stared at the +ragged stranger, Donnegan was whispering in the ear of Jack Landis: +"I've got to see you alone."</p> + +<p>Landis turned his head slowly and his eye darkened a little as he met +the reddish, unshaven face of the stranger. Then, with a careless shrug +of distaste, he drew out a few coins and poured them into Donnegan's +palm; the latter pocketed them.</p> + +<p>"Lou Macon," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Jack Landis rose from his chair, and it was not until he stood so close +to Donnegan that the latter realized the truly Herculean proportions of +the young fellow. He bowed his excuses to Nelly Lebrun, not without +grace of manner, and then huddled Donnegan into a corner with a wave of +his vast arm.</p> + +<p>"Now what do you want? Who are you? Who put that name in your mouth?"</p> + +<p>"She's in The Corner," said Donnegan, and he dwelt upon the face of Jack +Landis with feverish suspense. A moment later a great weight had slipped +from his heart. If Lou Macon loved Landis it was beyond peradventure +that Landis was not breaking his heart because of the girl. For at her +name he flushed darkly, and then, that rush of color fading, he was left +with a white spot in the center of each cheek.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="13"></a><h2>13</h2> +<br> + +<p>First his glance plunged into vacancy; then it flicked over his shoulder +at Nelly Lebrun and he bit his lip. Plainly, it was not the most welcome +news that Jack Landis had ever heard.</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" he asked nervously of Donnegan, and he looked over the +ragged fellow again.</p> + +<p>"I'll take you to her."</p> + +<p>The big man swayed back and forth from foot to foot, balancing in his +hesitation. "Wait a moment."</p> + +<p>He strode to Nelly Lebrun and bent over her; Donnegan saw her eyes flash +up—oh, heart of the south, what eyes of shadow and fire! Jack Landis +trembled under the glance; yes, he was deeply in love with the girl. And +Donnegan watched her face shade with suspicion, stiffen with cold anger, +warm and soften again under the explanations of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>Donnegan, looking from the distance, could read everything; it is +nearness that bewitches a man when he talks to a woman. When Odysseus +talked to Circe, no doubt he stood on the farther side of the room!</p> + +<p>When Landis came again, he was perspiring from the trial of fire +through which he had just passed.</p> + +<p>"Come," he ordered, and set out at a sweeping stride.</p> + +<p>Plainly he was anxious to get this matter done with as soon as possible. +As for Donnegan, he saw a man whom Landis had summoned to take his place +sit down at the table with Nelly Lebrun. She was laughing with the +newcomer as though nothing troubled her at all, but over his shoulder +her glance probed the distance and followed Jack Landis. She wanted to +see the messenger again, the man who had called her companion away; but +in this it was fox challenging fox. Donnegan took note and was careful +to place between him and the girl every pillar and every group of +people. As far as he was concerned, her first glance must do to read and +judge and remember him by.</p> + +<p>Outside Landis shot several questions at him in swift succession; he +wanted to know how the girl had happened to make the trip. Above all, +what the colonel was thinking and doing and if the colonel himself had +come. But Donnegan replied with monosyllables, and Landis, apparently +reconciling himself to the fact that the messenger was a fool, ceased +his questions. They kept close to a run all the way out of the camp and +up the hillside to the two detached tents where Donnegan and the girl +slept that night. A lantern burned in both the tents.</p> + +<p>"She has made things ready for me," thought Donnegan, his heart opening. +"She has kept house for me!"</p> + +<p>He pointed out Lou's tent to his companion and the big man, with a +single low word of warning, threw open the flap of the tent and strode +in.</p> + +<p>There was only the split part of a second between the rising and the +fall of the canvas, but in that swift interval, Donnegan saw the girl +starting up to receive Landis. Her calm was broken at last. Her cheeks +were flushed; her eyes were starry with what? Expectancy? Love?</p> + +<p>It stopped Donnegan like a blow in the face and turned his heart to +lead; and then, shamelessly, he glided around the tent and dropped down +beside it to eavesdrop. After all, there was some excuse. If she loved +the man he, Donnegan, would let him live; if she did not love him, he, +Donnegan, would kill him like a worthless rat under heel. That is, if he +could. No wonder that the wanderer listened with heart and soul!</p> + +<p>He missed the first greeting. It was only a jumble of exclamations, but +now he heard: "But, Lou, what a wild idea. Across the mountains—with +whom?"</p> + +<p>"The man who brought you here."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"You don't know? He looks like a shifty little rat to me."</p> + +<p>"He's big enough, Jack."</p> + +<p>Such small praise was enough to set Donnegan's heart thumping.</p> + +<p>"Besides, father told me to go with him, to trust him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" There was an abrupt chilling and lowering of Landis' voice. "The +colonel knows him? He's one of the colonel's men?"</p> + +<p>Plainly the colonel was to him as the rod to the child.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you come directly to me?"</p> + +<p>"We thought it would be better not to."</p> + +<p>"H'm-m. Your guide—well, what was the colonel's idea in sending you +here? Heavens above, doesn't he know that a mining camp is no place for +a young girl? And you haven't a sign of a chaperon, Lou! What the devil +can I do? What was in his mind?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't written for a long time."</p> + +<p>"Good Lord! Written! Letters! Does he think I have time for letters?" +The lie came smoothly enough. "Working day and night?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan smoothed his whiskers and grinned into the night. Landis might +prove better game than he had anticipated.</p> + +<p>"He worried," said the girl, and her voice was as even as ever. "He +worried, and sent me to find out if anything is wrong."</p> + +<p>Then: "Nonsense! What is there to worry about? Lou, I'm half inclined to +think that the colonel doesn't trust me!"</p> + +<p>She did not answer. Was she reading beneath the boisterous assurance of +Landis?</p> + +<p>"One thing is clear to me—and to you, too, I hope. The first thing is +to send you back in a hurry."</p> + +<p>Still no answer.</p> + +<p>"Lou, do you distrust me?"</p> + +<p>At length she managed to speak, but it was with some difficulty: "There +is another reason for sending me."</p> + +<p>"Tell me."</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not a mind reader."</p> + +<p>"The cad," said Donnegan through his teeth.</p> + +<p>"It's the old reason."</p> + +<p>"Money?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>A shadow swept across the side of the tent; it was Landis waving his arm +carelessly.</p> + +<p>"If that's all, I can fix you up and send you back with enough to carry +the colonel along. Look here—why, I have five hundred with me. Take it, +Lou. There's more behind it, but the colonel mustn't think that there's +as much money in the mines as people say. No idea how much living costs +up here. Heavens, no! And the prices for labor! And then they shirk the +job from dawn to dark. I have to watch 'em every minute, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>He sighed noisily.</p> + +<p>"But the end of it is, dear"—how that small word tore into the heart of +Donnegan, who crouched outside—"that you must go back tomorrow morning. +I'd send you tonight, if I could. As a matter of fact, I don't trust the +red-haired rat who—"</p> + +<p>The girl interrupted while Donnegan still had control of his +hair-trigger temper.</p> + +<p>"You forget, Jack. Father sent me here, but he did not tell me to come +back."</p> + +<p>At this Jack Landis burst into an enormous laughter.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean, Lou, that you actually intend to stay on?"</p> + +<p>"What else can I mean?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it makes it awkward if the colonel didn't expressly tell you +just what to do. I suppose he left it to my discretion, and I decide +definitely that you must go back at once."</p> + +<p>"I can't do it."</p> + +<p>"Lou, don't you hear me saying that I'll take the responsibility? If +your father blames you let him tell me—"</p> + +<p>He broke down in the middle of his sentence and another of those +uncomfortable little pauses ensued. Donnegan knew that their eyes were +miserably upon each other; the man tongue-tied by his guilt; the girl +wretchedly guessing at the things which lay behind her fiancé's words.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry you don't want me here."</p> + +<p>"It isn't that, but—"</p> + +<p>He apparently expected to be interrupted, but she waited coolly for him +to finish the sentence, and, of course, he could not. After all, for a +helpless girl she had a devilish effective way of muzzling Landis. +Donnegan chuckled softly in admiration.</p> + +<p>All at once she broke through the scene; her voice did not rise or +harden, but it was filled with finality, as though she were weary of the +interview.</p> + +<p>"I'm tired out; it's been a hard ride, Jack. You go home now and look me +up again any time tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"I—Lou—I feel mighty bad about having you up here in this infernal +tent, when the camp is full, and—":</p> + +<p>"You can't lie across the entrance to my tent and guard me, Jack. +Besides, I don't need you for that. The man who's with me will protect +me."</p> + +<p>"He doesn't look capable of protecting a cat!"</p> + +<p>"My father said that in any circumstances he would be able to take care +of me."</p> + +<p>This reply seemed to overwhelm Landis.</p> + +<p>"The colonel trusts him as far as all that?" he muttered. "Then I +suppose you're safe enough. But what about comfort, Lou?"</p> + +<p>"I've done without comfort all my life. Run along, Jack. And take this +money with you. I can't have it."</p> + +<p>"But, didn't the colonel send—"</p> + +<p>"You can express it through to him. To me it's—not pleasant to take +it."</p> + +<p>"Why, Lou, you don't mean—"</p> + +<p>"Good night, Jack. I don't mean anything, except that I'm tired."</p> + +<p>The shadow swept along the wall of the tent again. Donnegan, with a +shaking pulse, saw the profile of the girl and the man approach as he +strove to take her in his arms and kiss her good night. And then one +slender bar of shadow checked Landis.</p> + +<p>"Not tonight."</p> + +<p>"Lou, you aren't angry with me?"</p> + +<p>"No. But you know I have queer ways. Just put this down as one of them. +I can't explain."</p> + +<p>There was a muffled exclamation and Landis went from the tent and strode +down the hill; he was instantly lost in the night. But Donnegan, turning +to the entrance flap, called softly. He was bidden to come in, and when +he raised the flap he saw her sitting with her hands clasped loosely and +resting upon her knees. Her lips were a little parted, and colorless; +her eyes were dull with a mist; and though she rallied herself a little, +the wanderer could see that she was only half-aware of him.</p> + +<p>The face which he saw was a milestone in his life. For he had loved her +jealously, fiercely before; but seeing her now, dazed, hurt, and +uncomplaining, tenderness came into Donnegan. It spread to his heart +with a strange pain and made his hands tremble.</p> + +<p>All that he said was: "Is there anything you need?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away.</p> + +<p>But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay, +selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this—if she loved him so +truly—then Jack Landis she should have.</p> + +<p>There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most +nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and +looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys. +What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in +such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as +a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out +his heart's blood on the snow.</p> + +<p>Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night. +Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out +of his place and give him to the girl.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="14"></a><h2>14</h2> +<br> + +<p>The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that, +Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a +plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly +under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's +place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas.</p> + +<p>Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth +of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The +pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he +took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room. +For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate +more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the +cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic +loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair, +with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely +into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have +observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play +of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one +table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the +gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it +with precision upon the wheel.</p> + +<p>He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his +clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not +play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came +back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so +easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan +greatly.</p> + +<p>It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat +was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards!</p> + +<p>Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to +the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his +chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be +about the height and build of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man, +harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would +probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that +he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract +astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace +of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he +had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily +toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and +understood.</p> + +<p>Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the +kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood +brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance, +just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was +weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players +themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference +between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey +poker, but the man in the linen coat did more—he stacked the cards!</p> + +<p>For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a +slight faltering in the deal—an infinitely small hesitation which only +a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed—that he was +sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that. +He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand +but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards.</p> + +<p>And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the +smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a +straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his +consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been +exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table—a small fortune!</p> + +<p>The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks. +They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the +call.</p> + +<p>Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It +was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all +prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected +according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But +the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the +winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough +to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis. +They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led +the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest +conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was. +They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting +their mental notes on the game together.</p> + +<p>But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his +victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on +the way—it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he +broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would +be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers.</p> + +<p>The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads +close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the +genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd +and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless +saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making +himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace.</p> + +<p>At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his +arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which +stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of +the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the +line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This +Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the +horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on +horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a +neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were +both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro +throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught +the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped +into his saddle.</p> + +<p>It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst +of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the +building, shooting out the lights, if possible—trusting to the +confusion to help him—and there he would find his horse held ready for +him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no +doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others.</p> + +<p>At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor +grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into +the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal +broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden +at once.</p> + +<p>For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had +been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had +slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for +a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been +noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one +accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan +racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the +saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid +him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air, +and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the +linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle +jabbed into the back of the gambler.</p> + +<p>The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the +pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their +gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street.</p> + +<p>"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back; +the gun already gleamed in his hand.</p> + +<p>A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the +fellow continued to fall back.</p> + +<p>"Tell him to ride ahead."</p> + +<p>"Keep in front, George."</p> + +<p>"And not too far."</p> + +<p>"Very well. And now?"</p> + +<p>"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond +the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!"</p> + +<p>"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of +the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest +attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they +rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the +card, eh?"</p> + +<p>"You saw, eh?" muttered the other.</p> + +<p>"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward."</p> + +<p>"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one +of us, pal?"</p> + +<p>But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler +to gambler should fail.</p> + +<p>"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="15"></a><h2>15</h2> +<br> + +<p>Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the +starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees.</p> + +<p>"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground."</p> + +<p>There was a flash and faint thud.</p> + +<p>"Now the other gun."</p> + +<p>"They ain't any more, sir."</p> + +<p>"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan.</p> + +<p>A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at +length, and a second weapon fell.</p> + +<p>"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on +Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss +you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take +chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then +dismount."</p> + +<p>He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was +now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his +right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground.</p> + +<p>Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that +I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous +to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be +careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife +throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than +a bullet. We understand each other?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And +suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was +impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to +this forced—touch. Now, if half—"</p> + +<p>"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question +is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is +now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin +was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles +me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I +fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail; +there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I +think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body +is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master +for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think +that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the +starlight shine through you!"</p> + +<p>The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the +meantime, had not spoken.</p> + +<p>"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause.</p> + +<p>"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared."</p> + +<p>There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was +able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble +by fear.</p> + +<p>"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here—he's a devil. If you +let him live he'll kill you—as sure as you're standing here. You don't +know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as +bad as the devil's name. He—he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man, +you and I could team it together. But George—not—"</p> + +<p>Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt.</p> + +<p>"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan. +"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close +together. A coward's eyes—a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George—have +you heard what he said?"</p> + +<p>No answer from George but a snarl.</p> + +<p>"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?"</p> + +<p>Dead silence.</p> + +<p>"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of +your clothes."</p> + +<p>The other fell on his knees.</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake," he pleaded.</p> + +<p>"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never +intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting +the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes."</p> + +<p>He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he +succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly +steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who +accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly +into the clothes of his victim.</p> + +<p>"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased, +here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the +weight."</p> + +<p>Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse.</p> + +<p>"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of +those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers."</p> + +<p>"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?"</p> + +<p>"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes +in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to +dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!"</p> + +<p>The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along +with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move +to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong; +and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man.</p> + +<p>"Come here," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>George Washington Green rode slowly closer.</p> + +<p>"If I let you go what would you do?"</p> + +<p>There was a glint of teeth.</p> + +<p>"I'd find him."</p> + +<p>"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where +you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something +about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if +you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very +well together. You hear?"</p> + +<p>The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing.</p> + +<p>"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go."</p> + +<p>He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two +tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll +of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and +Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to +a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not +be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in +possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew.</p> + +<p>A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek +down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while +the big Negro silently tended to the horses—removing the packs and +preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small +lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time—the skin +ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face +almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a +cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair +of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles, +and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of +fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength.</p> + +<p>At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more +commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single +room this had two compartments—one for the kitchen and another for the +living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of +the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the +corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer +appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's +winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on +the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the +papers.</p> + +<p>He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched +with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him. +He saw—rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in +waves—that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused, +and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again.</p> + +<p>Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his +head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious +humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled +him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very +act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body. +There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated, +balanced—and then slowly drew himself erect.</p> + +<p>He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would +have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan +and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and +yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was +the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple +explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole +incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and +Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small +link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was +necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew +the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade +had sunk into the wood—a mute tribute to the force and speed of +George's hand—and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the +point and gave it back to the other.</p> + +<p>"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you +have a better chance of sending the point home."</p> + +<p>He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken +box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a +sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve +and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have +wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last +lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again +cross his new master.</p> + +<p>At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine +farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first."</p> + +<p>"Yes—sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him.</p> + +<p>And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things.</p> + +<p>Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish" +of the blankets being unrolled—and then a slight pause. It seemed to +him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly +back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed +thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll.</p> + +<p>And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of +the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George +the canvas sack and its small treasure.</p> + +<p>"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and +go over every part."</p> + +<p>He could actually feel the start of George.</p> + +<p>Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper.</p> + +<p>If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident +had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his +head.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the +hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="16"></a><h2>16</h2> +<br> + +<p>His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of +nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring +Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty +eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one +way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough +and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun, +he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to +Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how +remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis +for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly +off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and +if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride +would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou +Macon.</p> + +<p>All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of +Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him +shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made +him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in +Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few +notorious escapades behind him—yes, Donnegan with such a flying start +might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have +the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle +The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, +feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish +all these things beginning at a literal zero.</p> + +<p>It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the +paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting +at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with +him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the +next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee +which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the +details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were +now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin +contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment, +for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and +his feet were encased in slippers.</p> + +<p>But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner, +and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, +overshadowing Jack Landis—that was the thing! But to startle The +Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just +now—where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now +averaged nearly three a day—to startle The Corner was like trying to +startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this +parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor +and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a +headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in +thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the +moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows.</p> + +<p>"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally +subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was +conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not +untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had +wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack +of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no +doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk, +the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally +George returned to his own place—softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the +master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that +he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the +first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected +provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed.</p> + +<p>"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways."</p> + +<p>The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the +sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently +altered his opinion of the gambler.</p> + +<p>"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should +never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that +happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface +cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the +grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You +understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And concerning the frying of bacon—"</p> + +<p>At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open +door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer, +who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The +Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was +patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the +unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents.</p> + +<p>"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in +the background.</p> + +<p>Donnegan looked at him and through him.</p> + +<p>"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why +you're in it."</p> + +<p>"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are +scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I +intend to stay in it on purpose."</p> + +<p>George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a +vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face +crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The +Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a +giant.</p> + +<p>"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented +this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and +they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I +want. Thirty minutes will—"</p> + +<p>"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft +voice.</p> + +<p>The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a +cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like +him."</p> + +<p>George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three.</p> + +<p>"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough +to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose—"</p> + +<p>He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a +kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown +himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he +approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached +easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play, +mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?"</p> + +<p>"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his +voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man +in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee.</p> + +<p>"It's Donnegan," whispered George.</p> + +<p>"Don—who's he?"</p> + +<p>"You don't know Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing +of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three.</p> + +<p>"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law—and law's a +lame lady in these parts—or throw him out. Say which?"</p> + +<p>The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan, +absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood +exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too +much for them.</p> + +<p>There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and +that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the +rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy +passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners +receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of +womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning +coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked +at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but +to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of +them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left +Gloster both relieved and gloomy.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the +shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price."</p> + +<p>The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George. +Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the +town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top +still untied—as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any +of the gold.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep +money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll +get more."</p> + +<p>If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins +had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free +spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one +who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same +roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be +allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was +singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the +hill to the tent of Lou Macon.</p> + +<p>She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had +cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before; +and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold, +semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect +of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content +of which people were aware.</p> + +<p>"You missed me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You were worried?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to +her new home—the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast. +When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side.</p> + +<p>"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is +worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye. +And if a hair of her head is ever harmed—you see that fire burning +yonder—the bed of coals?"</p> + +<p>"Sir?"</p> + +<p>"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it—by +inches!"</p> + +<p>And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon. +George Washington Green saw, and never forgot.</p> + +<p>Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the +horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both +leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of +sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often +necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him +from getting into his problem.</p> + +<p>How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had +fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners?</p> + +<p>He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon, +informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun +and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the +colonel had suggestions to offer.</p> + +<p>The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before +midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="17"></a><h2>17</h2> +<br> + +<p>The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar +in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed +to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at +two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion. +There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So +Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the +claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold +mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact +that furnished Donnegan with his idea.</p> + +<p>He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes—a riding suit in +which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions. +Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt, +the big man came before Donnegan for instructions.</p> + +<p>"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored +people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar. +They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come +from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep. +Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out."</p> + +<p>George showed his teeth.</p> + +<p>"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't +get in, come back here. Now, ride."</p> + +<p>So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and +dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into +the street to see the brilliant horseman pass.</p> + +<p>Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to +Andy, except an easier target.</p> + +<p>"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in +Milligan's? Get out!"</p> + +<p>Big George did not move.</p> + +<p>"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to +make a julep."</p> + +<p>"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his +cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?"</p> + +<p>And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons.</p> + +<p>"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George.</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"And who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an +explanation. "Donnegan is—Donnegan," he explained.</p> + +<p>"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing +group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill."</p> + +<p>"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites +at Milligan's."</p> + +<p>"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this +heah place, but—don't make me go back and bring Donnegan."</p> + +<p>Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance.</p> + +<p>"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go."</p> + +<p>Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse.</p> + +<p>"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say +that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent +for Donnegan; it's him!"</p> + +<p>He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in +anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which +comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word +went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered. +The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch +the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered +and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through +the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town +appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On +the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made +up in intense interest.</p> + +<p>For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun, +most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the +offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a +conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising. +The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill +his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before +such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed +now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner.</p> + +<p>A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away +to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming.</p> + +<p>He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving +course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and +the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding +suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as +unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park +where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a +careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either +side.</p> + +<p>"That's Donnegan. There he comes!"</p> + +<p>"Who's Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others."</p> + +<p>"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with +a chunk of lead."</p> + +<p>"D'you mean that?"</p> + +<p>"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?"</p> + +<p>"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money."</p> + +<p>"Looks like a confounded dude."</p> + +<p>"We'll see his hand in a minute."</p> + +<p>Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand +touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight +at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the +other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the +door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein +behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin.</p> + +<p>As who should say: "I promised you lightning; now watch it strike!"</p> + +<p>If the crowd had been expectant before, it was now reduced to wire-drawn +tenseness.</p> + +<p>"Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>His quiet voice fell coldly upon the soul of Andy. He strove to warm +himself by an outbreak of temper.</p> + +<p>"They ain't any poor fool dude can call me a fellow!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not +occurred. The hand of Andy was relaxing from the butt of his gun and an +expression of astonishment and contempt was growing upon his face.</p> + +<p>"I haven't come to curse you," said the rider, still occupying his hands +with crop and reins. "I've come to ask you a question and get an answer. +Are you the fellow who turned back my man?"</p> + +<p>"I guess you ain't the kind I was expectin' to call on me," drawled +Andy, his fear gone, and he winked at the crowd. But the others were not +yet ready to laugh. Something about the calm face of Donnegan had +impressed them. "Sure, I'm the one that kicked him out. He ain't allowed +in there."</p> + +<p>"It's the last of my thoughts to break in upon a convention in your +city," replied the grave rider, "but my man was sent on an errand and +therefore he had a right to expect courtesy. George, get off your horse +and go into Milligan's place. I want that mint!"</p> + +<p>For a moment Andy was too stunned to answer. Then his voice came harshly +and he swayed from side to side, gathering and summoning his wrath.</p> + +<p>"Keep out boy! Keep out, or you're buzzard meat. I'm warnin'—"</p> + +<p>For the first time his glance left the rider to find George, and that +instant was fatal. The hand of Donnegan licked out as the snake's tongue +darts—the loaded quirt slipped over in his hand, and holding it by the +lash he brought the butt of it thudding on the head of Andy.</p> + +<p>Even then the instinct to fight remained in the stunned man; while he +fell, he was drawing the revolver; he lay in a crumpling heap at the +feet of Donnegan's horse with the revolver shoved muzzle first into the +sand.</p> + +<p>Donnegan's voice did not rise.</p> + +<p>"Go in and get that mint, George," he ordered. "And hurry. This rascal +has kept me waiting until I'm thirsty."</p> + +<p>Big George hesitated only one instant—it was to sweep the crowd for the +second time with his confident grin—and he strode through the door of +the dance hall. As for Donnegan, his only movement was to swing his +horse around and shift riding crop and reins into the grip of his left +hand. His other hand was dropped carelessly upon his hip. Now, both +these things were very simple maneuvers, but The Corner noted that his +change of face had enabled Donnegan to bring the crowd under his eye, +and that his right hand was now ready for a more serious bit of work if +need be. Moreover, he was probing faces with his glance. And every armed +man in that group felt that the eye of the rider was directed +particularly toward him.</p> + +<p>There had been one brief murmur; then the silence lay heavily again, for +it was seen that Andy had been only slightly stunned—knocked out, as a +boxer might be. Now his sturdy brains were clearing. His body stiffened +into a human semblance once more; he fumbled, found the butt of his gun +with his first move. He pushed his hat straight: and so doing he raked +the welt which the blow had left on his head. The pain finished clearing +the mist from his mind; in an instant he was on his feet, maddened with +shame. He saw the semicircle of white faces, and the whole episode +flashed back on him. He had been knocked down like a dog.</p> + +<p>For a moment he looked into the blank faces of the crowd; someone noted +that there was no gun strapped at the side of Donnegan. A voice shouted +a warning.</p> + +<p>"Stop, Lewis. The dude ain't got a gun. It's murder!"</p> + +<p>It was now that Lewis saw Donnegan sitting the saddle directly behind +him, and he whirled with a moan of fury. It was a twist of his body—in +his eagerness—rather than a turning upon his feet. And he was half +around before the rider moved. Then he conjured a gun from somewhere in +his clothes. There was the flash of the steel, an explosion, and +Scar-faced Lewis was on his knees with a scream of pain holding his +right forearm with his left hand.</p> + +<p>The crowd hesitated still for a second, as though it feared to +interfere; but Donnegan had already put up his weapon. A wave of the +curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the +injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of +the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to +the bone all the way to the elbow. It was a grisly wound.</p> + +<p>Big George Washington Green came running to the door of the dance hall +with a sprig of something green in his hand; one glance assured him that +all was well; and once more that wide, confident grin spread upon his +face. He came to the master and offered the mint; and Donnegan, raising +it to his face, inhaled the scent deeply.</p> + +<p>"Good," he said. "And now for a julep, George! Let's go home!"</p> + +<p>Across the street a dark-eyed girl had clasped the arm of her companion +in hysterical excitement.</p> + +<p>"Did you see?" she asked of her tall companion.</p> + +<p>"I saw a murderer shoot down a man; he ought to be hung for it!"</p> + +<p>"But the mint! Did you see him smile over it? Oh, what a devil he is; +and what a man!"</p> + +<p>Jack Landis flashed a glance of suspicion down at her, but her dancing +eyes had quite forgotten him. They were following the progress of +Donnegan down the street. He rode slowly, and George kept that formal +distance, just a length behind.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="18"></a><h2>18</h2> +<br> + +<p>Before Milligan's the crowd began to buzz like murmuring hornets around +a nest that has been tapped, when they pour out and cannot find the +disturber. It was a rather helpless milling around the wounded man, and +Nelly Lebrun was the one who worked her way through the crowd and came +to Andy Lewis. She did not like Andy. She had been known to refer to him +as a cowardly hawk of a man; but now she bullied the crowd in a shrill +voice and made them bring water and cloth. Then she cleansed and +bandaged the wound in Andy Lewis' arm and had some of them take him +away.</p> + +<p>By this time the outskirts of the crowd had melted away; but those who +had really seen all parts of the little drama remained to talk. The +subject was a real one. Had Donnegan aimed at the hand of Andy and +risked his own life on his ability to disable the other without killing +him? Or had he fired at Lewis' body and struck the hand and arm only by +a random lucky chance?</p> + +<p>If the second were the case, he was only a fair shot with plenty of +nerve and a great deal of luck. If the first were true, then this was a +nerve of ice-tempered steel, an eye vulture-sharp, and a hand, +miraculous, fast, and certain. To strike that swinging hand with a snap +shot, when a miss meant a bullet fired at his own body at deadly short +range—truly it would take a credulous man to believe that Donnegan had +coldly planned to disable his man without killing him.</p> + +<p>"A murderer by intention," exclaimed Milligan. He had hunted long and +hard before he found a man with a face like that of Lewis, capable of +maintaining order by a glance; now he wanted revenge. "A murder by +intention!" he cried to the crowd, standing beside the place where the +imprint of Andy's knees was still in the sand. "And like a murderer he +ought to be treated. He aimed to kill Andy; he had luck and only broke +his hand. Now, boys, I say it ain't so much what he's done as the way +he's done it. He's given us the laugh. He's come in here in his dude +clothes and tried to walk over us. But it don't work. Not in The Corner. +If Andy was dead, I'd say lynch the dude. But he ain't, and all I say +is: Run him out of town."</p> + +<p>Here there was a brief outburst of applause, but when it ended, it was +observed that there was a low, soft laughter. The crowd gave way between +Milligan and the mocker. It was seen that he who laughed was old Lebrun, +rubbing his olive-skinned hands together and showing his teeth in his +mirth. There was no love lost between Lebrun and Milligan, even if Nelly +was often in the dance hall and the center of its merriment.</p> + +<p>"It takes a thief to catch a thief," said Lebrun enigmatically, when he +saw that he had the ear of the crowd, "and it takes a man to catch a +man."</p> + +<p>"What the devil do you mean by that?" a dozen voices asked.</p> + +<p>"I mean, that if you got men enough to run out this man Donnegan, The +Corner is a better town than I think."</p> + +<p>It brought a growl, but no answer. Lebrun had never been seen to lift +his hand, but he was more dreaded than a rattler.</p> + +<p>"We'll try," said Milligan dryly. "I ain't much of a man myself"—there +were dark rumors about Milligan's past and the crowd chuckled at this +modesty—"but I'll try my hand agin' him with a bit of backing. And +first I want to tell you boys that they ain't any danger of him having +aimed at Andy's hand. I tell you, it ain't possible, hardly, for him to +have planned to hit a swingin' target like that. Maybe some could do it. +I dunno."</p> + +<p>"How about Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>"Sure, Lord Nick might do anything. But Donnegan ain't Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Not by twenty pounds and three inches."</p> + +<p>This brought a laugh. And by comparison with the terrible and familiar +name of Lord Nick, Donnegan became a smaller danger. Besides, as +Milligan said, it was undoubtedly luck. And when he called for +volunteers, three or four stepped up at once. The others made a general +milling, as though each were trying to get forward and each were +prevented by the crowd in front. But in the background big Jack Landis +was seriously trying to get to the firing line. He was encumbered with +the clinging weight of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"Don't go, Jack," she pleaded. "Please! Please! Be sensible. For my +sake!"</p> + +<p>She backed this appeal with a lifting of her eyes and a parting of her +lips, and Jack Landis paused.</p> + +<p>"You won't go, dear Jack?"</p> + +<p>Now, Jack knew perfectly well that the girl was only half sincere. It is +the peculiar fate of men that they always know when a woman is playing +with them, but, from Samson down, they always go to the slaughter with +open eyes, hoping each moment that the girl has been seriously impressed +at last. As for Jack Landis, his slow mind did not readily get under the +surface of the arts of Nelly, but he knew that there was at least a +tinge of real concern in the girl's desire to keep him from the posse +which Milligan was raising.</p> + +<p>"But they's something about him that I don't like, Nelly. Something sort +of familiar that I don't like." For naturally enough he did not +recognize the transformed Donnegan, and the name he had never heard +before. "A gunfighter, that's what he is!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, sometimes they call you the same thing; say that you hunt +for trouble now and then!"</p> + +<p>"Do they say that?" asked the young chap quickly, flushing with vanity. +"Oh, I aim to take care of myself. And I'd like to take a hand with this +murdering Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Jack, listen! Don't go; keep away from him!"</p> + +<p>"Why do you look like that? As if I was a dead one already."</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Jack, he'd kill you!"</p> + +<p>Something in her terrible assurance whitened the cheeks of Landis, but +he was also angered. When a very young man becomes both afraid and angry +he is apt to be dangerous. "What do you know of him?" he asked +suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"You silly! But I saw his face when he lifted that mint. He'd already +forgotten about the man he had just shot down. He was thinking of +nothing but the scent of the mint. And did you notice his giant servant? +He never had a moment's doubt of Donnegan's ability to handle the entire +crowd. I tell you, it gave me a chill of ghosts to see the big black +fellow's eyes. He knew that Donnegan would win. And Donnegan won! Jack, +you're a big man and a strong man and a brave man, and we all know it. +But don't be foolish. Stay away from Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>He wavered just an instant. If she could have sustained her pleading +gaze a moment longer she would have won him, but at the critical instant +her gaze became distant. She was seeing the calm face of Donnegan as he +raised the mint. And as though he understood, Jack Landis hardened.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you don't want me shot up, Nelly," he said coldly. "Mighty +good of you to watch out for me. But—I'm going to run this Donnegan out +of town!"</p> + +<p>"He's never harmed you; why—"</p> + +<p>"I don't like his looks. For a man like me that's enough!"</p> + +<p>And he strode away toward Milligan. He was greeted by a cheer just as +the girl reached the side of her father.</p> + +<p>"Jack is going," she said. "Make him come back!"</p> + +<p>But the old man was still rubbing his hands; there seemed to be a +perpetual chill in the tips of the fingers.</p> + +<p>"He is a jackass. The moment I first saw his face I knew that he was +meant for gun fodder—buzzard food! Let him go. Bah!"</p> + +<p>The girl shivered. "And then the mines?" she asked, changing her +tactics.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes. The mines! But leave that to Lord Nick. He'll handle it well +enough!"</p> + +<p>So Jack Landis strode up the hill first and foremost of the six stalwart +men who wished to correct the stranger's apparent misunderstandings of +the status of The Corner. They were each armed to the teeth and each +provided with enough bullets to disturb a small city. All this in honor +of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>They found the shack wrapped in the warm, mellow light of the late +afternoon; and on a flat-topped rock outside it big George sat +whittling a stick into a grotesque imitation of a snake coiled. He did +not rise when the posse approached. He merely rocked back upon the rock, +embraced his knees in both of his enormous arms, and, in a word, +transformed himself into a round ball of mirth. But having hugged away +his laughter he was able to convert his joy into a vast grin. That smile +stopped the posse. When a mob starts for a scene of violence the least +exhibition of fear incenses it, but mockery is apt to pour water on its +flames of anger.</p> + +<p>Decidedly the fury of the posse was chilled by the grin of George. +Milligan, who had lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, stepped up to +impress George properly.</p> + +<p>"Boy," he said, frowning, "go in and tell your man that we've come for +him. Tell him to step right out here and get ready to talk. We don't +mean him no harm less'n he can't explain one or two things. Hop along!"</p> + +<p>The "boy" did not stir. Only he shifted his eyes from face to face and +his grin broadened. Ripples of mirth waved along his chest and convulsed +his face, but still he did not laugh. "Go in and tell them things to +Donnegan," he said. "But don't ask me to wake him up. He's sleepin' +soun' an' fas'. Like a baby; mostly, he sleeps every day to get rested +up for the night. Now, can't you-all wait till Donnegan wakes up +tonight? No? Then step right in, gen'lemen; but if you-all is set on +wakin' him up now, George will jus' step over the hill, because he don't +want to be near the explosion."</p> + +<p>At this, he allowed his mirth free rein. His laughter shook up to his +throat, to his enormous mouth; it rolled and bellowed across the +hillside; and the posse stood, each man in his place, and looked +frigidly upon one another. But having been laughed at, they felt it +necessary to go on, and do or die. So they strode across the hill and +were almost to the door when another phenomenon occurred. A girl in a +cheap calico dress of blue was seen to run out of a neighboring shack +and spring up before the door of Donnegan's hut. When she faced the +crowd it stopped again.</p> + +<p>The soft wind was blowing the blue dress into lovely, long, curving +lines; about her throat a white collar of some sheer stuff was being +lifted into waves, or curling against her cheek; and the golden hair, in +disorder, was tousled low upon her forehead.</p> + +<p>Whirling thus upon the crowd, she shocked them to a pause, with her +parted lips, her flare of delicate color.</p> + +<p>"Have you come here," she cried, "for—for Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Lady," began someone, and then looked about for Jack Landis, who was +considered quite a hand with the ladies. But Jack Landis was discovered +fading out of view down the hillside. One glance at that blue dress had +quite routed him, for now he remembered the red-haired man who had +escorted Lou Macon to The Corner—and the colonel's singular trust in +this fellow. It explained much, and he fled before he should be noticed.</p> + +<p>Before the spokesman could continue his speech, the girl had whipped +inside the door. And the posse was dumbfounded. Milligan saw that the +advance was ruined. "Boys," he said, "we came to fight a man; not to +storm a house with a woman in it. Let's go back. We'll tend to Donnegan +later on."</p> + +<p>"We'll drill him clean!" muttered the others furiously, and straightway +the posse departed down the hill.</p> + +<p>But inside the girl had found, to her astonishment, that Donnegan was +stretched upon his bunk wrapped again in the silken dressing gown and +with a smile upon his lips. He looked much younger, as he slept, and +perhaps it was this that made the girl steal forward upon tiptoe and +touch his shoulder so gently.</p> + +<p>He was up on his feet in an instant. Alas, vanity, vanity! Donnegan in +shoes was one thing, for his shoes were of a particular kind; but +Donnegan in his slippers was a full two inches shorter. He was hardly +taller than the girl; he was, if the bitter truth must be known, almost +a small man. And Donnegan was furious at having been found by her in +such careless attire—and without those dignity-building shoes. First +he wanted to cut the throat of big George.</p> + +<p>"What have you done, what have you done?" cried the girl, in one of +those heart-piercing whispers of fear. "They have come for you—a whole +crowd—of armed men—they're outside the door! What have you done? It +was something done for me, I know!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan suddenly transferred his wrath from big George to the mob.</p> + +<p>"Outside my door?" he asked. And as he spoke he slipped on a belt at +which a heavy holster tugged down on one side, and buckled it around +him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, no!" she pleaded, and caught him in her arms.</p> + +<p>Donnegan allowed her to stop him with that soft power for a moment, +until his face went white—as if with pain. Then he adroitly gathered +both her wrists into one of his bony hands; and having rendered her +powerless, he slipped by her and cast open the door.</p> + +<p>It was an empty scene upon which they looked, with big George rocking +back and forth upon a rock, convulsed with silent laughter. Donnegan +looked sternly at the girl and swallowed. He was fearfully susceptible +to mockery.</p> + +<p>"There seems to have been a jest?" he said.</p> + +<p>But she lifted him a happy, tearful face.</p> + +<p>"Ah, thank heaven!" she cried gently.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, Donnegan at this set his teeth and turned upon his heel, +and the girl stole out the door again, and closed it softly behind her. +As a matter of fact, not even the terrible colonel inspired in her quite +the fear which Donnegan instilled.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="19"></a><h2>19</h2> +<br> + +<p>"Big Landis lost his nerve and sidestepped at the last minute, and then +the whole gang faded."</p> + +<p>That was the way the rumors of the affair always ended at each +repetition in Lebrun's and Milligan's that night. The Corner had had +many things to talk about during its brief existence, but nothing to +compare with a man who entered a shooting scrape with such a fellow as +Scar-faced Lewis all for the sake of a spray of mint. And the main topic +of conversation was: Did Donnegan aim at the body or the hand of the +bouncer?</p> + +<p>On the whole, it was an excellent thing for Milligan's. The place was +fairly well crowded, with a few vacant tables. For everyone wanted to +hear Milligan's version of the affair. He had a short and vigorous one, +trimmed with neat oaths. It was all the girl in the blue calico dress, +according to him. The posse couldn't storm a house with a woman in it or +even conduct a proper lynching in her presence. And no one was able to +smile when Milligan said this. Neither was anyone nervy enough to +question the courage of Landis. It looked strange, that sudden flight of +his, but then, he was a proven man. Everyone remembered the affair of +Lester. It had been a clean-cut fight, and Jack Landis had won cleanly +on his merits.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless some of the whispers had not failed to come to the big man, +and his brow was black.</p> + +<p>The most terribly heartless and selfish passion of all is shame in a +young man. To repay the sidelong glances which he met on every side, +Jack Landis would have willingly crowded every living soul in The Corner +into one house and touched a match to it. And chiefly because he felt +the injustice of the suspicion. He had no fear of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>He had a theory that little men had little souls. Not that he ever +formulated the theory in words, but he vaguely felt it and adhered to +it. He had more fear of one man of six two than a dozen under five ten. +He reserved in his heart of hearts a place of awe for one man whom he +had never seen. That was for Lord Nick, for that celebrated character +was said to be as tall and as finely built as Jack Landis himself. But +as for Donnegan—Landis wished there were three Donnegans instead of +one.</p> + +<p>Tonight his cue was surly silence. For Nelly Lebrun had been warned by +her father, and she was making desperate efforts to recover any ground +she might have lost. Besides, to lose Jack Landis would be to lose the +most spectacular fellow in The Corner, to say nothing of the one who +held the largest and the choicest of the mines. The blond, good looks of +Landis made a perfect background for her dark beauty. With all these +stakes to play for, Nelly outdid herself. If she were attractive enough +ordinarily, when she exerted herself to fascinate, Nelly was +intoxicating. What chance had poor Jack Landis against her? He did not +call for her that night but went to play gloomily at Lebrun's until +Nelly walked into Lebrun's and drew him away from a table. Half an hour +later she had him whirling through a dance in Milligan's and had danced +the gloom out of his mind for the moment. Before the evening was well +under way, Landis was making love to her openly, and Nelly was in the +position of one who had roused the bear.</p> + +<p>It was a dangerous flirtation and it was growing clumsy. In any place +other than The Corner it would have been embarrassing long ago; and when +Jack Landis, after a dance, put his one big hand over both of Nelly's +and held her moveless while he poured out a passionate declaration, +Nelly realized that something must be done. Just what she could not +tell.</p> + +<p>And it was at this very moment that a wave of silence, beginning at the +door, rushed across Milligan's dance floor. It stopped the bartenders in +the act of mixing drinks; it put the musicians out of key, and in the +midst of a waltz phrase they broke down and came to a discordant pause.</p> + +<p>What was it?</p> + +<p>The men faced the door, wondering, and then the swift rumor passed from +lip to lip—almost from eye to eye, so rapidly it sped—Donnegan is +coming! Donnegan, and big George with him.</p> + +<p>"Someone tell Milligan!"</p> + +<p>But Milligan had already heard; he was back of the bar giving +directions; guns were actually unlimbering. What would happen?</p> + +<p>"Shall I get you out of this?" Landis asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"Leave now?" She laughed fiercely and silently. "I'm just beginning to +live! Miss Donnegan in action? No, sir!"</p> + +<p>She would have given a good deal to retract that sentence, for it washed +the face of Landis white with jealousy.</p> + +<p>Surely Donnegan had built greater than he knew.</p> + +<p>And suddenly he was there in the midst of the house. No one had stopped +him—at least, no one had interfered with his servant. Big George had on +a white suit and a dappled green necktie; he stood directly behind his +master and made him look like a small boy. For Donnegan was in black, +and he had a white neckcloth wrapped as high and stiffly as an +old-fashioned stock. Altogether he was a queer, drab figure compared +with the brilliant Donnegan of that afternoon. He looked older, more +weary. His lean face was pale; and his hair flamed with redoubled ardor +on that account. Never was hair as red as that, not even the hair of +Lord Nick, said the people in Milligan's this night.</p> + +<p>He was perfectly calm even in the midst of that deadly silence. He stood +looking about him. He saw Gloster, the real estate man, and bowed to him +deliberately.</p> + +<p>For some reason that drew a gasp.</p> + +<p>Then he observed a table which was apparently to his fancy and crossed +the floor with a light, noiseless step, big George padding heavily +behind him. At the little round table he waited until George had drawn +out the chair for him and then he sat down. He folded his arms lightly +upon his breast and once more surveyed the scene, and big George drew +himself up behind Donnegan. Just once his eyes rolled and flashed +savagely in delight at the sensation that they were making, then the +face of George was once again impassive.</p> + +<p>If Donnegan had not carried it off with a certain air, the whole +entrance would have seemed decidedly stagey, but The Corner, as it was, +found much to wonder at and little to criticize. And in the West grown +men are as shrewd judges of affectation as children are in other places.</p> + +<p>"Putting on a lot of style, eh?" said Jack Landis, and with fierce +intensity he watched the face of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>For once she was unguarded.</p> + +<p>"He's superb!" she exclaimed. "The big fellow is going to bring a drink +for him."</p> + +<p>She looked up, surprised by the silence of Landis, and found that his +face was actually yellow.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you something. Do you remember the little red-headed tramp +who came in here the other night and spoke to me?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. You seemed to be bothered."</p> + +<p>"Maybe. I dunno. But that's the man—the one who's sitting over there +now all dressed up—the man The Corner is talking about—Donnegan! A +tramp!"</p> + +<p>She caught her breath.</p> + +<p>"Is that the one?" A pause. "Well, I believe it. He's capable of +anything!"</p> + +<p>"I think you like him all the better for knowing that."</p> + +<p>"Jack, you're angry."</p> + +<p>"Why should I be? I hate to see you fooled by the bluff of a tramp, +though."</p> + +<p>"Tush! Do you think I'm fooled by it? But it's an interesting bluff, +Jack, don't you think?"</p> + +<p>"Nelly, he's interesting enough to make you blush; by heaven, the hound +is lookin' right at you now, Nelly!"</p> + +<p>He had pressed her suddenly against the wall and she struck back +desperately in self-defense.</p> + +<p>"By the way, what did he want to see you about?"</p> + +<p>It spiked the guns of Landis for the time being, at least. And the girl +followed by striving to prove that her interest in Donnegan was purely +impersonal.</p> + +<p>"He's clever," she ran on, not daring to look at the set face of her +companion. "See how he fails to notice that he's making a sensation? +You'd think he was in a big restaurant in a city. He takes the drink off +the tray from that fellow as if it were a common thing to be waited on +by a body-servant in The Corner. Jack, I'll wager that there's something +crooked about him. A professional gambler, say!"</p> + +<p>Jack Landis thawed a little under this careless chatter. He still did +not quite trust her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what they're whispering? That I was afraid to face him!"</p> + +<p>She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, +and she broke into laughter.</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to +The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all +the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest +of them. By the way, what was the reason?"</p> + +<p>She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but +the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the +query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and +covered up his confusion for him.</p> + +<p>"See how the girls are making eyes at him."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man +who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that +out!"</p> + +<p>She shrugged that comment away.</p> + +<p>"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. +"He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="20"></a><h2>20</h2> +<br> + +<p>It should be understood that before this the men in Milligan's had +reached a subtly unspoken agreement that red-haired Donnegan was not one +of them. In a word, they did not like him because he made a mystery of +himself. And, also, because he was different. Yet there was a growing +feeling that the shooting of Lewis through the hand had not been an +accident, for the whole demeanor of Donnegan composed the action of a +man who is a professional trouble maker. There was no reason why he +should go to Milligan's and take his servant with him unless he wished a +fight. And why a man should wish to fight the entire Corner was +something no one could guess.</p> + +<p>That he should have done all this merely to focus all eyes upon him, and +particularly the eyes of a girl, did not occur to anyone. It looked +rather like the bravado of a man who lived for the sake of fighting. +Now, men who hunt trouble in the mountain desert generally find all that +they may desire, but for the time being everyone held back, wolfishly, +waiting for another to take the first step toward Donnegan. Indeed, +there was an unspoken conviction that the man who took the first step +would probably not live to take another. In the meantime both men and +women gave Donnegan the lion's share of their attention. There was only +one who was clever enough to conceal it, and that one was the pair of +eyes to which the red-haired man was playing—Nelly Lebrun. She confined +herself strictly to Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>So it was that when Milligan announced a tag dance and the couples +swirled onto the floor gayly, Donnegan decided to take matters into his +own hands and offer the first overt act. It was clumsy; he did not like +it; but he hated this delay. And he knew that every moment he stayed on +there with big George behind his chair was another red rag flaunted in +the face of The Corner.</p> + +<p>He saw the men who had no girl with them brighten at the announcement of +the tag dance. And when the dance began he saw the prettiest girls +tagged quickly, one after the other. All except Nelly Lebrun. She swung +securely around the circle in the big arms of Jack Landis. She seemed to +be set apart and protected from the common touch by his size, and by his +formidable, challenging eye. Donnegan felt as never before the +unassailable position of this fellow; not only from his own fighting +qualities, but because he had behind him the whole unfathomable power of +Lord Nick and his gang.</p> + +<p>Nelly approached in the arms of Landis in making the first circle of the +dance floor; her eyes, grown dull as she surrendered herself wholly to +the rhythm of the waltz, saw nothing. They were blank as unlighted +charcoal. She came opposite Donnegan, her back was toward him; she swung +in the arms of Landis, and then, past the shoulder of her partner, she +flashed a glance at Donnegan. The spark had fallen on the charcoal, and +her eyes were aflame. Aflame to Donnegan; the next instant the veil had +dropped across her face once more.</p> + +<p>She was carried on, leaving Donnegan tingling.</p> + +<p>A wise man upon whom that look had fallen might have seen, not Nelly +Lebrun in the cheap dance hall, but Helen of Sparta and all Troy's dead. +But Donnegan was clever, not wise. And he saw only Nelly Lebrun and the +broad shoulders of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>Let the critic deal gently with Donnegan. He loved Lou Macon with all +his heart and his soul, and yet because another beautiful girl had +looked at him, there he sat at his table with his jaw set and the devil +in his eye. And while she and Landis were whirling through the next +circumference of the room, Donnegan was seeing all sides of the problem. +If he tagged Landis it would be casting the glove in the face of the big +man—and in the face of old Lebrun—and in the face of that mysterious +and evil power, Lord Nick himself. And consider, that besides these he +had already insulted all of The Corner.</p> + +<p>Why not let things go on as they were? Suppose he were to allow Landis +to plunge deeper into his infatuation? Suppose he were to bring Lou +Macon to this place and let her see Landis sitting with Nelly, making +love to her with every tone in his voice, every light in his eye? Would +not that cure Lou? And would not that open the door to Donnegan?</p> + +<p>And remember, in considering how Donnegan was tempted, that he was not a +conscientious man. He was in fact what he seemed to be—a wanderer, a +careless vagrant, living by his wits. For all this, he had been touched +by the divine fire—a love that is greater than self. And the more +deeply he hated Landis, the more profoundly he determined that he should +be discarded by Nelly and forced back to Lou Macon. In the meantime, +Nelly and Jack were coming again. They were close; they were passing; +and this time her eye had no spark for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Yet he rose from his table, reached the floor with a few steps, and +touched Landis lightly on the shoulder. The challenge was passed. Landis +stopped abruptly and turned his head; his face showed merely dull +astonishment. The current of dancers split and washed past on either +side of the motionless trio, and on every face there was a glittering +curiosity. What would Landis do?</p> + +<p>Nothing. He was too stupefied to act. He, Jack Landis, had actually been +tagged while he was dancing with the woman which all The Corner knew to +be his girl! And before his befogged senses cleared the girl was in the +arms of the red-haired man and was lost in the crowd.</p> + +<p>What a buzz went around the room! For a moment Landis could no more move +than he could think; then he sent a sullen glance toward the girl and +retreated to their table. A childish sullenness clouded his face while +he sat there; only one decision came clearly to him: he must kill +Donnegan!</p> + +<p>In the meantime people noted two things. The first was that Donnegan +danced very well with Nelly Lebrun; and his red hair beside the silken +black of the girl's was a startling contrast. It was not a common red. +It flamed, as though with phosphoric properties of its own. But they +danced well; and the eyes of both of them were gleaming. Another thing: +men did not tag Donnegan any more than they had offered to tag Landis. +One or two slipped out from the outskirts of the floor, but something in +the face of Donnegan discouraged them and made them turn elsewhere as +though they had never started for Nelly Lebrun in the first place. +Indeed, to a two-year-old child it would have been apparent that Nelly +and the red-headed chap were interested in each other.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact they did not speak a single syllable until they had +gone around the floor one complete turn and the dance was coming toward +an end.</p> + +<p>It was he who spoke first, gloomily: "I shouldn't have done it; I +shouldn't have tagged him!"</p> + +<p>At this she drew back a little so that she could meet his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"The whole crew will be on my trail."</p> + +<p>"What crew?"</p> + +<p>"Beginning with Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>This shook her completely out of the thrall of the dance.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick? What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"I know he's thick with Landis. It'll mean trouble."</p> + +<p>He was so simple about it that she began to laugh. It was not such a +voice as Lou Macon's. It was high and light, and one could suspect that +it might become shrill under a stress.</p> + +<p>"And yet it looks as though you've been hunting trouble," she said.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it," said Donnegan naïvely.</p> + +<p>It was a very subtle flattery, this frankness from a man who had puzzled +all The Corner. Nelly Lebrun felt that she was about to look behind the +scenes and she tingled with delight.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she said. "Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Donnegan. "I had to make a noise because I wanted to be +noticed."</p> + +<p>She glanced about her; every eye was upon them.</p> + +<p>"You've made your point," she murmured. "The whole town is talking of +nothing else."</p> + +<p>"I don't care an ounce of lead about the rest of the town."</p> + +<p>"Then—"</p> + +<p>She stopped abruptly, seeing toward what he was tending. And the heart +of Nelly Lebrun fluttered for the first time in many a month. She +believed him implicitly. It was for her sake that he had made all this +commotion; to draw her attention. For every lovely girl, no matter how +cool-headed, has a foolish belief in the power of her beauty. As a +matter of fact Donnegan had told her the truth. It had all been to win +her attention, from the fight for the mint to the tagging for the dance. +How could she dream that it sprang out of anything other than a wild +devotion to her? And while Donnegan coldly calculated every effect, +Nelly Lebrun began to see in him the man of a dream, a spirit out of a +dead age, a soul of knightly, reckless chivalry. In that small +confession he cast a halo about himself which no other hand could ever +remove entirely so far as Nelly Lebrun was concerned.</p> + +<p>"You understand?" he was saying quietly.</p> + +<p>She countered with a question as direct as his confession.</p> + +<p>"What are you, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"A wanderer," said Donnegan instantly, "and an avoider of work."</p> + +<p>At that they laughed together. The strain was broken and in its place +there was a mutual excitement. She saw Landis in the distance watching +their laughter with a face contorted with anger, but it only increased +her unreasoning happiness.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, let me give you friendly advice. I like you: I know you +have courage; and I saw you meet Scar-faced Lewis. But if I were you I'd +leave The Corner tonight and never come back. You've set every man +against you. You've stepped on the toes of Landis and he's a big man +here. And even if you were to prove too much for Jack you'd come against +Lord Nick, as you say yourself. Do you know Nick?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then, Mr. Donnegan, leave The Corner!"</p> + +<p>The music, ending, left them face to face as he dropped his arm from +about her. And she could appreciate now, for the first time, that he was +smaller than he had seemed at a distance, or while he was dancing. He +seemed a frail figure indeed to face the entire banded Corner—and Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see," said Donnegan, "that I can't stop now?"</p> + +<p>There was a double meaning that sent her color flaring.</p> + +<p>He added in a low, tense voice, "I've gone too far. Besides, I'm +beginning to hope!"</p> + +<p>She paused, then made a little gesture of abandon.</p> + +<p>"Then stay, stay!" she whispered with eyes on fire. "And good luck to +you, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="21"></a><h2>21</h2> +<br> + +<p>As they went back, toward Nelly's table, where Jack Landis was trying to +appear carelessly at ease, the face of Donnegan was pale. One might have +thought that excitement and fear caused his pallor; but as a matter of +fact it was in him an unfailing sign of happiness and success. Landis +had manners enough to rise as they approached. He found himself being +presented to the smaller man. He heard the cool, precise voice of +Donnegan acknowledging the introduction; and then the red-headed man +went back to his table; and Jack Landis was alone with Nelly Lebrun +again.</p> + +<p>He scowled at her, and she tried to look repentant, but since she could +not keep the dancing light out of her eyes, she compromised by looking +steadfastly down at the table. Which convinced Landis that she was +thinking of her late partner. He made a great effort, swallowed, and was +able to speak smoothly enough.</p> + +<p>"Looked as if you were having a pretty good time with that—tramp."</p> + +<p>The color in her cheeks was anger; Landis took it for shame.</p> + +<p>"He dances beautifully," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Yeh; he's pretty smooth. Take a gent like that, it's hard for a girl +to see through him."</p> + +<p>"Let's not talk about him, Jack."</p> + +<p>"All right. Is he going to dance with you again?"</p> + +<p>"I promised him the third dance after this."</p> + +<p>For a time Landis could not trust his voice. Then: "Kind of sorry about +that. Because I'll be going home before then."</p> + +<p>At this she raised her eyes for the first time. He was astonished and a +little horrified to see that she was not in the least flustered, but +very angry.</p> + +<p>"You'll go home before I have a chance for that dance?" she asked. +"You're acting like a two-year-old, Jack. You are!"</p> + +<p>He flushed. Burning would be too easy a death for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"He's making a laughingstock out of me; look around the room!"</p> + +<p>"Nobody's thinking about you at all, Jack. You're just self-conscious."</p> + +<p>Of course, it was pouring acid upon an open wound. But she was past the +point of caution.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they ain't," said Landis, controlling his rage. "I don't figure +that I amount to much. But I rate myself as high as a skunk like him!"</p> + +<p>It may have been a smile that she gave him. At any rate, he caught the +glint of teeth, and her eyes were as cold as steel points. If she had +actually defended the stranger she would not have infuriated Landis so +much.</p> + +<p>"Well, what does he say about himself?"</p> + +<p>"He says frankly that he's a vagrant."</p> + +<p>"And you don't believe him?"</p> + +<p>She did not speak.</p> + +<p>"Makin' a play for sympathy. Confound a man like that, I say!"</p> + +<p>Still she did not answer; and now Landis became alarmed.</p> + +<p>"D'you really like him, Nelly?"</p> + +<p>"I liked him well enough to introduce him to you, Jack."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I talked so plain if you put it that way," he admitted +heavily. "I didn't know you picked up friends so fast as all that!" He +could not avoid adding this last touch of the poison point.</p> + +<p>His back was to Donnegan, and consequently the girl, facing him, could +look straight across the room at the red-headed man. She allowed herself +one brief glance, and she saw that he was sitting with his elbow on the +table, his chin in his hand, looking fixedly at her. It was the gaze of +one who forgets all else and wraps himself in a dream. Other people in +the room were noting that changeless stare and the whisper buzzed more +and more loudly, but Donnegan had forgotten the rest of the world, it +seemed. It was a very cunning piece of acting, not too much overdone, +and once more the heart of Nelly Lebrun fluttered.</p> + +<p>She remembered that in spite of his frankness he had not talked with +insolent presumption to her. He had merely answered her individual +questions with an astonishing, childlike frankness. He had laid his +heart before her, it seemed. And now he sat at a distance looking at her +with the white, intense face of one who sees a dream.</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun was recalled by the heavy breathing of Jack Landis and she +discovered that she had allowed her eyes to rest too long on the +red-headed stranger. She had forgotten; her eyes had widened; and even +Jack Landis was able to look into her mind and see things that startled +him. For the first time he sensed that this was more than a careless +flirtation. And he sat stiffly at the table, looking at her and through +her with a fixed smile. Nelly, horrified, strove to cover her tracks.</p> + +<p>"You're right, Jack," she said. "I—I think there was something brazen +in the way he tagged you. And—let's go home together!"</p> + +<p>Too late. The mind of Landis was not oversharp, but now jealousy gave it +a point. He nodded his assent, and they got up, but there was no +increase in his color. She read as plain as day in his face that he +intended murder this night and Nelly was truly frightened.</p> + +<p>So she tried different tactics. All the way to the substantial little +house which Lebrun had built at a little distance from the gambling +hall, she kept up a running fire of steady conversation. But when she +said good night to him, his face was still set. She had not deceived +him. When he turned, she saw him go back into the night with long +strides, and within half an hour she knew, as clearly as if she were +remembering the picture instead of foreseeing it, that Jack and Donnegan +would face each other gun in hand on the floor of Milligan's dance hall.</p> + +<p>Still, she was not foolish enough to run after Jack, take his arm, and +make a direct appeal. It would be too much like begging for Donnegan, +and even if Jack forgave her for this interest in his rival, she had +sense enough to feel that Donnegan himself never would. Something, +however, must be done to prevent the fight, and she took the straightest +course.</p> + +<p>She went as fast as a run would carry her straight behind the +intervening houses and came to the back entrance to the gaming hall. +There she entered and stepped into the little office of her father. +Black Lebrun was not there. She did not want him. In his place there sat +the Pedlar and Joe Rix; they were members of Lord Nick's chosen crew, +and since Nick's temporary alliance with Lebrun for the sake of +plundering Jack Landis, Nick's men were Nelly's men. Indeed, this was a +formidable pair. They were the kind of men about whom many whispers and +no facts circulate: and yet the facts are far worse than the whispers. +It was said that Joe Rix, who was a fat little man with a great aversion +to a razor and a pair of shallow, pale blue eyes, was in reality a +merciless fiend. He was; and he was more than that, if there be a +stronger superlative. If Lord Nick had dirty work to be done, there was +the man who did it with a relish. The Pedlar, on the other hand, was an +exact opposite. He was long, lean, raw-boned, and prodigiously strong in +spite of his lack of flesh. He had vast hands, all loose skin and +outstanding tendons; he had a fleshless face over which his smile was +capable of extending limitlessly. He was the sort of a man from whom one +would expect shrewdness, some cunning, stubbornness, a dry humor, and +many principles. All of which, except the last, was true of the Pedlar.</p> + +<p>There was this peculiarity about the Pedlar. In spite of his broad grins +and his wise, bright eyes, none, even of Lord Nick's gang, extended a +friendship or familiarity toward him. When they spoke of the Pedlar they +never used his name. They referred to him as "him" or they indicated him +with gestures. If he had a fondness for any living creature it was for +fat Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>Yet on seeing this ominous pair, Nelly Lebrun cried out softly in +delight. She ran to them, and dropped a hand on the bony shoulder of the +Pedlar and one on the plump shoulder of Joe Rix, whose loose flesh +rolled under her finger tips.</p> + +<p>"It's Jack Landis!" she cried. "He's gone to Milligan's to fight the +new man. Stop him!"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan?" said Joe, and did not rise.</p> + +<p>"Him?" said the Pedlar, and moistened his broad lips like one on the +verge of starvation.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to sit here?" she cried. "What will Lord Nick say if he +finds out you've let Jack get into a fight?"</p> + +<p>"We ain't nursin' mothers," declared the Pedlar. "But I'd kind of like +to look on!"</p> + +<p>And he rose. Unkinking joint after joint, straightening his legs, his +back, his shoulders, his neck, he soared up and up until he stood a +prodigious height. The girl controlled a shudder of disgust.</p> + +<p>"Joe!" she appealed.</p> + +<p>"You want us to clean up Donnegan?" he asked, rising, but without +interest in his voice.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, she slipped back to the door and blocked it with her +outcast arms.</p> + +<p>"Not a hair of his head!" she said fiercely. "Swear that you won't harm +him, boys!"</p> + +<p>"What the devil!" ejaculated Joe, who was a blunt man in spite of his +fat. "You want us to keep Jack from fightin', but you don't want us to +hurt the other gent. What you want? Hogtie 'em both?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; keep Jack out of Milligan's; but for heaven's sake don't try +to put a hand on Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"For your sakes; he'd kill you, Joe!"</p> + +<p>At this they both gaped in unison, and as one man they drawled in vast +admiration: "Good heavens!"</p> + +<p>"But go, go, go!" cried the girl.</p> + +<p>And she shoved them through the door and into the night.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="22"></a><h2>22</h2> +<br> + +<p>To the people in Milligan's it had been most incredible that Jack Landis +should withdraw from a competition of any sort. And though the girls +were able to understand his motives in taking Nelly Lebrun away they +were not able to explain this fully to their men companions. For one and +all they admitted that Jack was imperiling his hold on the girl in +question if he allowed her to stay near this red-headed fiend. But one +and all they swore that Jack Landis had ruined himself with her by +taking her away. And this was a paradox which made masculine heads in +The Corner spin. The main point was that Jack Landis had backed down +before a rival; and this fact was stunning enough. Donnegan, however, +was not confused. He sent big George to ask Milligan to come to him for +a moment.</p> + +<p>Milligan, at this, cursed George, but he was drawn by curiosity to +consent. A moment later he was seated at Donnegan's table, drinking his +own liquor as it was served to him from the hands of big George. If the +first emotions of the dance-hall proprietor were anger and intense +curiosity, his second emotion was that never-failing surprise which all +who came close to the wanderer felt. For he had that rare faculty of +seeming larger when in action, even when actually near much bigger men. +Only when one came close to Donnegan one stepped, as it were, through a +veil, and saw the almost fragile reality. When Milligan had caught his +breath and adjusted himself, he began as follows:</p> + +<p>"Now, Bud," he said, "you've made a pretty play. Not bad at all. But no +more bluffs in Milligan's."</p> + +<p>"Bluff!" Donnegan repeated gently.</p> + +<p>"About your servant. I let it pass for one night, but not for another."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mr. Milligan! However"—changing the subject easily—"what I +wish to speak to you about is a bit of trouble which I foresee. I think, +sir, that Jack Landis is coming back."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"It's a feeling I have. I have queer premonitions, Mr. Milligan, I'm +sure he's coming and I'm sure he's going to attempt a murder."</p> + +<p>Milligan's thick lips framed his question but he did not speak: fear +made his face ludicrous.</p> + +<p>"Right here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"A shootin' scrape here! You?"</p> + +<p>"He has me in mind. That's why I'm speaking to you."</p> + +<p>"Don't wait to speak to me about it. Get up and get out!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Milligan, you're wrong. I'm going to stay here and you're going to +protect me."</p> + +<p>"Well, confound your soul! They ain't much nerve about you, is there?"</p> + +<p>"You run a public place. You have to protect your patrons from insult."</p> + +<p>"And who began it, then? Who started walkin' on Jack's toes? Now you +come whinin' to me! By heck, I hope Jack gets you!"</p> + +<p>"You're a genial soul," said Donnegan. "Here's to you!"</p> + +<p>But something in his smile as he sipped his liquor made Milligan sit +straighter in his chair.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he was thinking hard and fast. If there were a shooting +affair and he won, he would nevertheless run a close chance of being +hung by a mob. He must dispose that mob to look upon him as the +defendant and Landis as the aggressor. He had not foreseen the crisis +until it was fairly upon him. He had thought of Nelly playing Landis +along more gradually and carefully, so that, while he was slowly +learning that she was growing cold to him, he would have a chance to +grow fond of Lou Macon once more. But even across the width of the room +he had seen the girl fire up, and from that moment he knew the result. +Landis already suspected him; Landis, with the feeling that he had been +robbed, would do his best to kill the thief. He might take a chance with +Landis, if it came to a fight, just as he had taken a chance with Lewis. +But how different this case would be! Landis was no dull-nerved ruffian +and drunkard. He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a +gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all. Of all this +Donnegan was fully aware. Either he must place his own life in terrible +hazard or else he must shoot to kill; and if he killed, what of Lou +Macon?</p> + +<p>While he smiled into the face of Milligan, perspiration was bursting out +under his armpits.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Milligan, I implore you to give me your aid."</p> + +<p>"What's the difference?" Milligan asked in a changed tone. "If he don't +fight you here he'll fight you later."</p> + +<p>"You're wrong, Mr. Milligan. He isn't the sort to hold malice. He'll +come here tonight and try to get at me like a bulldog straining on a +leash. If he is kept away he'll get over his bad temper."</p> + +<p>Milligan pushed back his chair.</p> + +<p>"You've tried to force yourself down the throat of The Corner," he said, +"and now you yell for help when you see the teeth."</p> + +<p>He had raised his voice. Now he got up and strode noisily away. Donnegan +waited until he was halfway across the dance floor and then rose in +turn.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said.</p> + +<p>The quiet voice cut into every conversation; the musicians lowered the +instruments.</p> + +<p>"I have just told Mr. Milligan that I am sure Jack Landis is coming back +here to try to kill me. I have asked for his protection. He has refused +it. I intend to stay here and wait for him, Jack Landis. In the meantime +I ask any able-bodied man who will do so, to try to stop Landis when he +enters."</p> + +<p>He sat down, raised his glass, and sipped the drink. Two hundred pairs +of eyes were fastened with hawklike intensity upon him, and they could +perceive no quiver of his hand.</p> + +<p>The sipping of his liquor was not an affectation. For he was drinking, +at incredible cost, liquors from Milligan's store of rareties.</p> + +<p>The effect of Donnegan's announcement was first a silence, then a hum, +then loud voices of protest, curiosity—and finally a scurrying toward +the doors.</p> + +<p>Yet really very few left. The rest valued a chance to see the fight +beyond the fear of random slugs of lead which might fly their way. +Besides, where such men as Donnegan and big Jack Landis were concerned, +there was not apt to be much wild shooting. The dancing stopped, of +course. The music was ordered by Milligan to play, in a frantic endeavor +to rouse custom again; but the music of its own accord fell away in the +middle of the piece. For the musicians could not watch the notes and the +door at the same time.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he found that it was one thing to wait and another to +be waited for. He, too, wished to turn and watch that door until it +should be filled by the bulk of Jack Landis. Yet he fought the desire.</p> + +<p>And in the midst of this torturing suspense an idea came to him, and at +the same instant Jack Landis entered the doorway. He stood there looking +vast against the night. One glance around was sufficient to teach him +the meaning of the silence. The stage was set, and the way opened to +Donnegan. Without a word, big George stole to one side.</p> + +<p>Straight to the middle of the dance floor went Jack Landis, red-faced, +with long, heavy steps. He faced Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You skunk!" shouted Landis. "I've come for you!"</p> + +<p>And he went for his gun. Donnegan, too, stirred. But when the revolver +leaped into the hand of Landis, it was seen that the hands of Donnegan +rose past the line of his waist, past his shoulders, and presently +locked easily behind his head. A terrible chance, for Landis had come +within a breath of shooting. So great was the impulse that, as he +checked the pressure of his forefinger, he stumbled a whole pace +forward. He walked on.</p> + +<p>"You need cause to fight?" he cried, striking Donnegan across the face +with the back of his left hand, jerking up the muzzle of the gun in his +right.</p> + +<p>Now a dark trickle was seen to come from the broken lips of Donnegan, +yet he was smiling faintly.</p> + +<p>Jack Landis muttered a curse and said sneeringly: "Are you afraid?"</p> + +<p>There were sick faces in that room; men turned their heads, for nothing +is so ghastly as the sight of a man who is taking water.</p> + +<p>"Hush," said Donnegan. "I'm going to kill you, Jack. But I want to kill +you fairly and squarely. There's no pleasure, you see, in beating a +youngster like you to the draw. I want to give you a fighting chance. +Besides"—he removed one hand from behind his head and waved it +carelessly to where the men of The Corner crouched in the shadow—"you +people have seen me drill one chap already, and I'd like to shoot you in +a new way. Is that agreeable?"</p> + +<p>Two terrible, known figures detached themselves from the gloom near the +door.</p> + +<p>"Hark to this gent sing," said one, and his name was the Pedlar. "Hark +to him sing, Jack, and we'll see that you get fair play."</p> + +<p>"Good," said his friend, Joe Rix. "Let him take his try, Jack."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, had Donnegan reached for a gun, he would have been +shot before even Landis could bring out a weapon, for the steady eye of +Joe Rix, hidden behind the Pedlar, had been looking down a revolver +barrel at the forehead of Donnegan, waiting for that first move. But +something about the coolness of Donnegan fascinated them.</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot, Joe," the Pedlar had said. "That bird is the chief over +again. Don't plug him!"</p> + +<p>And that was why Donnegan lived.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="23"></a><h2>23</h2> +<br> + +<p>If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, +he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for +his proposal to Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken +out a handkerchief and wiped his chin.</p> + +<p>"I'm a methodical fellow, Landis," he said. "I hate to do an untidy +piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling +out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but +instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I +don't like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise +job. One that I'll be proud of."</p> + +<p>A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, +who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and was crooning softly, with +unspeakable joy: "Hark to him sing! Hark to him sing! A ringer for the +chief!"</p> + +<p>"Why should we be in such a hurry?" continued Donnegan. "You see that +clock in the corner? Tut, tut! Turn your head and look. Do you think +I'll drop you while you look around?"</p> + +<p>Landis flung one glance over his shoulder at the big clock, whose +pendulum worked solemnly back and forth.</p> + +<p>"In five minutes," said Donnegan, "it will be eleven o'clock. And when +it's eleven o'clock the clock will chime. Now, Landis, you and I shall +sit down here like gentlemen and drink our liquor and think our last +thoughts. Heavens, man, is there anything more disagreeable than being +hurried out of life? But when the clock chimes, we draw our guns and +shoot each other through the heart—the brain—wherever we have chosen. +But, Landis, if one of us should inadvertently—or through +nervousness—beat the clock's chime by the split part of a second, the +good people of The Corner will fill that one of us promptly full of +lead."</p> + +<p>He turned to the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, is it a good plan?"</p> + +<p>As well as a Roman crowd if it wanted to see a gladiator die, the frayed +nerves of The Corner responded to the stimulus of this delightful +entertainment. There was a joyous chorus of approval.</p> + +<p>"When the clock strikes, then," said Landis, and flung himself down in a +chair, setting his teeth over his rage.</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled benevolently upon him; then he turned again and beckoned +to George. The big man strode closer and leaned.</p> + +<p>"George," he said. "I'm not going to kill this fellow."</p> + +<p>"No, sir; certainly, sir," whispered the other. "George can kill him for +you, sir."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled wanly.</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to kill him, George, on account of the girl on the hill. +You know? And the reason is that she's fond of the lubber. I'll try to +break his nerve, George, and drill him through the arm, say. No, I can't +take chances like that. But if I have him shaking in time, I'll shoot +him through the right shoulder, George.</p> + +<p>"But if I miss and he gets me instead, mind you, never raise a hand +against him. If you so much as touch his skin, I'll rise out of my grave +and haunt you. You hear? Good-by, George."</p> + +<p>But big George withdrew without a word, and the reason for his +speechlessness was the glistening of his eyes.</p> + +<p>"If I live," said Donnegan, "I'll show that George that I appreciate +him."</p> + +<p>He went on aloud to Landis: "So glum, my boy? Tush! We have still four +minutes left. Are you going to spend your last four minutes hating me?"</p> + +<p>He turned: "Another liqueur, George. Two of them."</p> + +<p>The big man brought the drinks, and having put one on the table of +Donnegan, he was directed to take the other to Landis.</p> + +<p>"It's really good stuff," said Donnegan. "I'm not an expert on these +matters; but I like the taste. Will you try it?"</p> + +<p>It seemed that Landis dared not trust himself to speech. As though a +vast and deadly hatred were gathered in him, and he feared lest it +should escape in words the first time he parted his teeth.</p> + +<p>He took the glass of liqueur and slowly poured it upon the floor. From +the crowd there was a deep murmur of disapproval. And Landis, feeling +that he had advanced the wrong foot in the matter, glowered scornfully +about him and then stared once more at Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Just as you please," said Donnegan, sipping his glass. "But remember +this, my young friend, that a fool is a fool, drunk or sober."</p> + +<p>Landis showed his teeth, but made no other answer. And Donnegan +anxiously flashed a glance at the clock. He still had three minutes. +Three minutes in which he must reduce this stalwart fellow to a +trembling, nervous wreck. Otherwise, he must shoot to kill, or else sit +there and become a certain sacrifice for the sake of Lou Macon. Yet he +controlled the muscles of his face and was still able to smile as he +turned again to Landis.</p> + +<p>"Three minutes left," he said. "Three minutes for you to compose +yourself, Landis. Think of it, man! All the good life behind you. Have +you nothing to remember? Nothing to soften your mind? Why die, Landis, +with a curse in your heart and a scowl on your lips?"</p> + +<p>Once more Landis stirred his lips; but there was only the flash of his +teeth; he maintained his resolute silence.</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured Donnegan, "I am sorry to see this. And before all your +admirers, Landis. Before all your friends. Look at them scattered there +under the lights and in the shadows. No farewell word for them? Nothing +kindly to say? Are you going to leave them without a syllable of +goodfellowship?"</p> + +<p>"Confound you!" muttered Landis.</p> + +<p>There was another hum from the crowd; it was partly wonder, partly +anger. Plainly they were not pleased with Jack Landis on this day.</p> + +<p>Donnegan shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>"I hoped," he said, "that I could teach you how to die. But I fail. And +yet you should be grateful to me for one thing, Jack. I have kept you +from being a murderer in cold blood. I kept you from killing a +defenseless man as you intended to do when you walked up to me a moment +ago."</p> + +<p>He smiled genially in mockery, and there was a scowl on the face of +Landis.</p> + +<p>"Two minutes," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Leaning back in his chair, he yawned. For a whole minute he did not +stir.</p> + +<p>"One minute?" he murmured inquisitively.</p> + +<p>And there was a convulsive shudder through the limbs of Landis. It was +the first sign that he was breaking down under the strain. There +remained only one minute in which to reduce him to a nervous wreck!</p> + +<p>The strain was telling in other places. Donnegan turned and saw in the +shadow and about the edges of the room a host of drawn, tense faces and +burning eyes. Never while they lived would they forget that scene.</p> + +<p>"And now that the time is close," said Donnegan, "I must look to my +gun."</p> + +<p>He made a gesture; how it was, no one was swift enough of eye to tell, +but a gun appeared in his hand. At the flash of it, Landis' weapon +leaped up to the mark and his face convulsed. But Donnegan calmly spun +the cylinder of his revolver and held it toward Landis, dangling from +his forefinger under the guard.</p> + +<p>"You see?" he said to Landis. "Clean as a whistle, and easy as a girl's +smile. I hate a stiff action, Jack."</p> + +<p>And Landis slowly allowed the muzzle of his own gun to sink. For the +first time his eyes left the eyes of Donnegan, and sinking, inch by +inch, stared fascinated at the gun in the hand of the enemy.</p> + +<p>"Thirty seconds," said Donnegan by way of conversation.</p> + +<p>Landis jerked up his head and his eyes once more met the eyes of +Donnegan, but this time they were wide, and the pointed glance of +Donnegan sank into them. The lips of Landis parted. His tongue +tremblingly moistened them.</p> + +<p>"Keep your nerve," said Donnegan in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"You hound!" gasped Landis.</p> + +<p>"I knew it," said Donnegan sadly. "You'll die with a curse on your +lips."</p> + +<p>He added: "Ten seconds, Landis!"</p> + +<p>And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked +his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung +back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep +breath.</p> + +<p>And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and +crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would +send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming +through the big room.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With +the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver +still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd.</p> + +<p>And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking +suspense.</p> + +<p>It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles +of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in +imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering.</p> + +<p>And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long +and reverberant clanging.</p> + +<p>With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the +weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a +distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan, +sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure, +unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through +the right shoulder of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the +victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="24"></a><h2>24</h2> +<br> + +<p>That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a +flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of +this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They +greeted him with expectant glances.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?"</p> + +<p>They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group.</p> + +<p>"I have to thank you," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"For what?"</p> + +<p>"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them.</p> + +<p>And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye, +Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'."</p> + +<p>"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when +you get stirred up about a thing."</p> + +<p>"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely.</p> + +<p>"Ay, he's rare."</p> + +<p>"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil.</p> + +<p>"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of +been in politics."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed. +It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and +sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be +useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound, +and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for +the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short +distance making nothing of its target.</p> + +<p>A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed +upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a +very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He +went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised +one finger as he looked at them.</p> + +<p>"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and +lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for +Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him. +Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near +Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled +against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered +him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible +for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split +before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew, +among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be +shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have +shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went +easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly.</p> + +<p>For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat +down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind +forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens, +the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of +Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly +upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing—that +Donnegan was capable of affection.</p> + +<p>The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for +many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the +outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The +one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst +with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and +he heard voices—the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something +was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly.</p> + +<p>What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon, +ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou +Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the +liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once.</p> + +<p>"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel.</p> + +<p>"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick +color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I +thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking +down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not +see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him.</p> + +<p>"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable +in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter +came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our +friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the +feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to +rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one +thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him +for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to +it."</p> + +<p>She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard +the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with +half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen +stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass +voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"And now for facts," he began.</p> + +<p>"But," said Donnegan, "how—that chair—how in the world have you come +here?"</p> + +<p>The colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing +is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for +my small mystery—a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon +stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for +your work here, lad?"</p> + +<p>"Bad," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?"</p> + +<p>"You have heard?"</p> + +<p>"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the +face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider, +glazed with the other thing."</p> + +<p>"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis."</p> + +<p>He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained +parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the +spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed +them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner +that made the blood of Donnegan run cold.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I +underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were +qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and +from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done +it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the +mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He +misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick +and his compatriots!"</p> + +<p>"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead."</p> + +<p>Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his +face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It +was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a +single conversation.</p> + +<p>"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had +punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against +the point of his chin.</p> + +<p>"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as +good—it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and +having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under +your surveillance—this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook—for me +and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by +having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position +to excite all the sympathies of Lou?"</p> + +<p>Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there +existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He +looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but +with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins +something akin to admiration from more common people.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent +scrutiny—silence was almost the only thing in the world that could +trouble him—"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him +back to health hold a gun—metaphorically speaking—to his head and make +him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?"</p> + +<p>The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair, +brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled +benevolently upon Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are +exquisite!"</p> + +<p>"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can +speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body, +and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw +Donnegan come to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Eh?" he called.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"But where—Landis—Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?"</p> + +<p>"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my +work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon +Jack Landis."</p> + +<p>The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping +silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear +foolish.</p> + +<p>"In heaven's name, Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came +from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright +and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob +of the door.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="25"></a><h2>25</h2> +<br> + +<p>Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held +it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time +limit was taken literally.</p> + +<p>"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of +Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in +any way."</p> + +<p>"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I +have given to you?"</p> + +<p>The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the +eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the +two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan +slipped the watch into his pocket.</p> + +<p>"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of +his strong hands across his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of +your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since +you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the +first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took +it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of +your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools +cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very +well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not +pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder +why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to +him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I +intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through +a legal act signed by the hand of Jack."</p> + +<p>"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly.</p> + +<p>A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan +caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel +possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he, +Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man.</p> + +<p>"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!"</p> + +<p>"Without force?"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and +therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what +may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I +have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger +against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear +may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I +dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite +schools of action."</p> + +<p>The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the +colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of +the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be +very apt to do as the colonel wished.</p> + +<p>"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly. +"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the +self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would. +In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that +would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well—win her away +from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was +flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull. +I had to strike him down in self-defense.</p> + +<p>"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you +omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important—to me. +What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?"</p> + +<p>"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou, +though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well, +Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your +gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a +snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight, +and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into +my—er—paternal care—her sentiments may change. No, they will +change."</p> + +<p>Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more +self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the +presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's +insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan +after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in +his own way. At length, Donnegan paused.</p> + +<p>"What's the next step?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could +tell.</p> + +<p>"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step, +Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house."</p> + +<p>"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from +the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight. +A bad set, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly.</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on. +"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away +to this house."</p> + +<p>"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that +she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and +tend him and grow to hate me?"</p> + +<p>"Grow to fear you," said the colonel.</p> + +<p>"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly.</p> + +<p>"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette.</p> + +<p>He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his +lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan. +Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but +fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned +without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his +hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and +slam the door behind him—to put a bar between him and the eye of the +colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and +closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to +compel himself to move with proper dignity.</p> + +<p>When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing +compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's +advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the +power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had +followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself +had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience?</p> + +<p>He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings, +he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed +the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference +lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one +corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little +table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent +livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her +art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity. +He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the +door.</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Good night."</p> + +<p>"Wait."</p> + +<p>She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had +delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and +without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan. +What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these +dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a +soldier obeys a commander.</p> + +<p>"There has been trouble," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face.</p> + +<p>"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting +affair."</p> + +<p>There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes, +and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before +sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same +contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual +expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl.</p> + +<p>"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity +for them."</p> + +<p>For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her +confidence in his prowess as a fighting man?</p> + +<p>"It was only one man," he said huskily.</p> + +<p>Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she +shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both +his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him; +she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself, +and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He +found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager +lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble.</p> + +<p>"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?"</p> + +<p>And he said to himself: "She loves him with all her heart and soul!"</p> + +<p>"It is he," said Donnegan in an agony. Pain may be like a fire that +tempers some strong men; and now Donnegan, because he was in torment, +smiled, and his eye was as cold as steel.</p> + +<p>The girl flung away his hands.</p> + +<p>"You bought murderer!" she cried at him.</p> + +<p>"He is not dead."</p> + +<p>"But you shot him down!"</p> + +<p>"He attacked me; it was self-defense."</p> + +<p>She broke into a low-pitched, mirthless laughter. Where was the +filmy-eyed girl he had known? The laughter broke off short—like a sob.</p> + +<p>"Don't you suppose I've known?" she said. "That I've read my father? +That I knew he was sending a bloodhound when he sent you? But, oh, I +thought you had a touch of the other thing!"</p> + +<p>He cringed under her tone.</p> + +<p>"I'll bring him to you," said Donnegan desperately. "I'll bring him here +so that you can take care of him."</p> + +<p>"You'll take him away from Lord Nick—and Lebrun—and the rest?" And it +was the cold smile of her father with which she mocked him.</p> + +<p>"I'll do it."</p> + +<p>"You play a deep game," said the girl bitterly. "Why would you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Because," said Donnegan faintly. "I love you."</p> + +<p>Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and +was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled +eyes.</p> + +<p>"As if I were a leper," muttered Donnegan. "By heaven, she looked at me +as if I were unclean!"</p> + +<p>But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her +face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, +and her face tipped up.</p> + +<p>Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen +the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="26"></a><h2>26</h2> +<br> + +<p>Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and +he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single +step, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrown +himself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly out +before him, his teeth set, his eyes closed.</p> + +<p>For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force when +he could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of all +was gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms to +take that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which could +encompass her.</p> + +<p>Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender form +of the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power of +one hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closed +his fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and sat +with his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he had +seen a ghost.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, until +big George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure that +he slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for it +was the chill, gray time of the night.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, he +found the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightly +across his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy.</p> + +<p>He spent the day in that chair.</p> + +<p>It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared face +and a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to see +him. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence as +acquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to see +you, sir."</p> + +<p>Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow with +sandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw.</p> + +<p>"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester.</p> + +<p>Donnegan did not reply.</p> + +<p>"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued the +sandy-haired man.</p> + +<p>There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work, +Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been in +The Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon. +Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because he +played crooked with me. You hear me talk?"</p> + +<p>Still Donnegan considered him without a word.</p> + +<p>"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we can +get you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with the +colonel."</p> + +<p>He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnerved +him. He even took a step back toward the door.</p> + +<p>"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behind +me. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't alone +yourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan, +you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but I +ask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?"</p> + +<p>He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you're +done!"</p> + +<p>For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George a +significant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However, +Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormous +oath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door and +slammed it after him.</p> + +<p>"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir."</p> + +<p>And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and the +evening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hills +around The Corner.</p> + +<p>Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to his +revolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, and +walked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping, +hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quiet +departure did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across the +threshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars.</p> + +<p>"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. He +ain't happy."</p> + +<p>And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle with +knife and gun.</p> + +<p>He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heart +of the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hour +vigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyes +with shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife, +competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had two +places in mind—Lebrun's and Milligan's.</p> + +<p>It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly, +he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; it +was like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realized +that in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl and +bring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear of +Donnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donnegan +wanted to tear Landis to shreds.</p> + +<p>It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to a +gambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan was +not a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wanted +something that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made him +a good deal of a boy.</p> + +<p>So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. A +murmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened for +him. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watched +it double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in the +winnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rose +disconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs it +never fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones she +punishes.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan is out hunting trouble."</p> + +<p>About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evil +she has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongues +wagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get the +meaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness of +his mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him more +sedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that The +Corner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, but +cornered, he will fight like a wildcat.</p> + +<p>So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed.</p> + +<p>He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him, +and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumor +was there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbed +cow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan had +occupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint and +sought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra, +and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of the +gunman.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him. +Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes of +women brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him, +and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Not +that he had forethought in going toward it, but he was moving +absent-mindedly.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner, +and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, he +let his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than one +brave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiled +back at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face of +Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted except +for the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly. +Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; but +that would have been too pointed.</p> + +<p>A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor to +Nelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hat +under his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he made +an old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightened +again.</p> + +<p>"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquired.</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She felt +that she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest which +surrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other hand +that her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with the +man. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, being +forbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lips +and eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things.</p> + +<p>"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute."</p> + +<p>"If I should—what would people say?";</p> + +<p>"Let's find out."</p> + +<p>"It would be—daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night."</p> + +<p>"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us."</p> + +<p>She went a pace closer to it with him.</p> + +<p>"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sit +down with you, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>And she immediately slipped into the chair.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="27"></a><h2>27</h2> +<br> + +<p>She qualified her surrender, of course, by sitting on the very edge of +the chair. She had on a wine-colored dress, and, with the excitement +whipping color into her cheeks and her eyes dancing, Nelly Lebrun was a +lovely picture.</p> + +<p>"I must go at once," said Nelly.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I can't expect you to stay."</p> + +<p>She dropped one hand on the edge of the table. One would have thought +that she was in the very act of rising.</p> + +<p>"Do you know that you frighten me?"</p> + +<p>"I?" said Donnegan, with appropriate inflection.</p> + +<p>"As if I were a man and you were angry."</p> + +<p>"But you see?" And he made a gesture with both of his palms turned up. +"People have slandered me. I am harmless."</p> + +<p>"The minute is up, Mr. Donnegan. What is it you wish?"</p> + +<p>"Another minute."</p> + +<p>"Now you laugh at me."</p> + +<p>"No, no!"</p> + +<p>"And in the next minute?"</p> + +<p>"I hope to persuade you to stay till the third minute."</p> + +<p>"Of course, I can't."</p> + +<p>"I know; it's impossible."</p> + +<p>"Quite." She settled into the chair. "See how people stare at me! They +remember poor Jack Landis and they think—the whole crowd—"</p> + +<p>"A crowd is always foolish. In the meantime, I'm happy."</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"To be here; to sit close to you; to watch you."</p> + +<p>Her glance was like the tip of a rapier, searching him through for some +iota of seriousness under this banter.</p> + +<p>"Ah?" and Nelly Lebrun laughed.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that I mean it?"</p> + +<p>"You can watch me from a distance, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"May I say a bold thing?"</p> + +<p>"You have said several."</p> + +<p>"No one can really watch you from a distance."</p> + +<p>She canted her head a little to one side; such an encounter of personal +quips was a seventh heaven to her.</p> + +<p>"That's a riddle, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"A simple one. The answer is, because there's too much to watch."</p> + +<p>He joined her when she laughed, but the laughter of Donnegan made not a +sound, and he broke in on her mirth suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, don't you see I'm serious?"</p> + +<p>Her glance flicked on either side, as though she feared someone might +have read his lips.</p> + +<p>"Not a soul can hear me," murmured Donnegan, "and I'm going to be bolder +still, and tell you the truth."</p> + +<p>"It's the last thing I dare stay to hear."</p> + +<p>"You are too lovely to watch from a distance, Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>He was so direct that even Nelly Lebrun, expert in flirtations, was +given pause, and became sober. She shook her head and raised a +cautioning finger. But Donnegan was not shaken.</p> + +<p>"Because there is a glamour about a beautiful girl," he said gravely. +"One has to step into the halo to see her, to know her. Are you +contented to look at a flower from a distance? That's an old comparison, +isn't it? But there is something like a fragrance about you, Nelly +Lebrun. Don't be afraid. No one can hear; no one shall ever dream I've +said such bold things to you. In the meantime, we have a truth party. +There is a fragrance, I say. It must be breathed. There is a glow which +must touch one. As it touches me now, you see?"</p> + +<p>Indeed, there was a faint color in his cheeks. And the girl flushed more +deeply; her eyes were still bright, but they no longer sharpened to such +a penetrating point. She was believing at least a little part of what he +said, and her disbelief only heightened her joy in what was real in this +strangest of lovemakings.</p> + +<p>"I shall stay here to learn one thing," she said. "What deviltry is +behind all this talk, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Is that fair to me? Besides, I only follow a beaten trail in The +Corner."</p> + +<p>"And that?"</p> + +<p>"Toward Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>"A beaten trail? You?" she cried, with just a touch of anger. "I'm not a +child, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"You are not; and that's why I am frank."</p> + +<p>"You have done all these things—following this trail you speak of?"</p> + +<p>"Remember," said Donnegan soberly. "What have I done?"</p> + +<p>"Shot down two men; played like an actor on a stage a couple of times at +least, if I must be blunt; hunted danger like—like a reckless madman; +dared all The Corner to cross you; flaunted the red rag in the face of +the bull. Those are a few things you have done, sir! And all on one +trail? That trail you spoke of?"</p> + +<p>"Nelly Lebrun—"</p> + +<p>"I'm listening; and do you know I'm persuading myself to believe you?"</p> + +<p>"It's because you feel the truth before I speak it. Truth speaks for +itself, you know."</p> + +<p>"I have closed my eyes—you see? I have stepped into a masquerade. Now +you can talk."</p> + +<p>"Masquerades are exciting," murmured Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"And they are sometimes beautiful."</p> + +<p>"But this sober truth of mine—"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I came here unknown—and I saw you, Nelly Lebrun."</p> + +<p>He paused; she was looking a little past him.</p> + +<p>"I came in rags; no friends; no following. And I saw that I should have +to make you notice me."</p> + +<p>"And why? No, I shouldn't have asked that."</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't ask that," agreed Donnegan. "But I saw you the queen of +The Corner, worshiped by all men. What could I do? I am not rich. I am +not big. You see?"</p> + +<p>He drew her attention to his smallness with a flush which never failed +to touch the face of Donnegan when he thought of his size; and he seemed +to swell and grow greater in the very instant she glanced at him.</p> + +<p>"What could I do? One thing; fight. I have fought. I fought to get the +eye of The Corner, but most of all to attract your attention. I came +closer to you. I saw that one man blocked the way—mostly. I decided to +brush him aside. How?"</p> + +<p>"By fighting?" She had not been carried away by his argument. She was +watching him like a lynx every moment.</p> + +<p>"Not by that. By bluffing. You see, I was not fool enough to think that +you would—particularly notice a fighting bully."</p> + +<p>He laid his open hand on the table. It was like exposing both strength +and weakness; and into such a trap it would have been a singularly +hard-minded woman who might not have stepped. Nelly Lebrun leaned a +little closer. She forgot to criticize.</p> + +<p>"It was bluff. I saw that Landis was big and good-looking. And what was +I beside him? Nothing. I could only hope that he was hollow; yellow—you +see? So I tried the bluff. You know about it. The clock, and all that +claptrap. But Landis wasn't yellow. He didn't crumble. He lasted long +enough to call my bluff, and I had to shoot in self-defense. And then, +when he lay on the floor, I saw that I had failed."</p> + +<p>"Failed?"</p> + +<p>He lowered his eyes for fear that she would catch the glitter of them.</p> + +<p>"I knew that you would hate me for what I had done because I had only +proved that Landis was a brave youngster with enough nerve for nine out +of ten. And I came tonight—to ask you to forgive me. No, not that—only +to ask you to understand. Do you?"</p> + +<p>He raised his glance suddenly at that, and their eyes met with one of +these electric shocks which will go tingling through two people. And +when the lips of Nelly Lebrun parted a little, he knew that she was in +the trap. He closed his hand that lay on the table—curling the fingers +slowly. In that way he expressed all his exultation.</p> + +<p>"There is something wrong," said the girl, in a tone of one who argues +with herself. "It's all too logical to be real."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Was that your only reason for fighting Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"Do I have to confess even that?"</p> + +<p>She smiled in the triumph of her penetration, but it was a brief, +unhappy smile. One might have thought that she would have been glad to +be deceived.</p> + +<p>"I came to serve a girl who was unhappy," said Donnegan. "Her fiancé had +left her; her fiancé was Jack Landis. And she's now in a hut up the hill +waiting for him. And I thought that if I ruined him in your eyes he'd go +back to a girl who wouldn't care so much about bravery. Who'd forgive +him for having left her. But you see what a fool I was and how clumsily +I worked? My bluff failed, and I only wounded him, put him in your +house, under your care, where he'll be happiest, and where there'll +never be a chance for this girl to get him back."</p> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun, with her folded hands under her chin, studied him.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," she said, "I wish I knew whether you are the most +chivalrous, self-sacrificing of men, or simply the most gorgeous liar in +the desert."</p> + +<p>"And it's hardly fair," said Donnegan, "to expect me to tell you that."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="28"></a><h2>28</h2> +<br> + +<p>It gave them both a welcome opportunity to laugh, welcome to the girl +because it broke into an excitement which was rapidly telling upon her, +and welcome to Donnegan because the strain of so many distortions of the +truth was telling upon him as well. They laughed together. One hasty +glance told Donnegan that half the couples in the room were whispering +about Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun; but when he looked across the table he +saw that Nelly Lebrun had not a thought for what might be going on in +the minds of others. She was quite content.</p> + +<p>"And the girl?" she said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan rested his forehead upon his hand in thought. He dared not let +Nelly see his face at this moment, for the mention of Lou Macon had +poured the old flood of sorrow back upon him And therefore, when he +looked up, he was sneering.</p> + +<p>"You know these blond, pretty girls?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are adorable!"</p> + +<p>"With dull eyes," said Donnegan coldly, and a twinkle came into the +responsive eye of Nelly Lebrun. "The sort of a girl who sees a hero in +such a fellow as Jack Landis."</p> + +<p>"And Jack is brave."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't have said that."</p> + +<p>"Never mind. Brave, but such a boy."</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?"</p> + +<p>She looked questioningly at Donnegan and they smiled together, slowly.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm glad it's that way," and Donnegan sighed.</p> + +<p>"And did you really think it could be any other way?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know. I'm afraid I was blind."</p> + +<p>"But the poor girl on the hill; I wish I could see her."</p> + +<p>She was watching Donnegan very sharply again.</p> + +<p>"A good idea. Why don't you?"</p> + +<p>"You seem to like her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Donnegan judiciously. "She has an appealing way; I'm very +sorry for her. But I've done my best; I can't help her."</p> + +<p>"Isn't there some way?"</p> + +<p>"Of what?"</p> + +<p>"Of helping her."</p> + +<p>Donnegan laughed. "Go to your father and persuade him to send Landis +back to her."</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you +know."</p> + +<p>"Business? Well, I guessed at that."</p> + +<p>"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly.</p> + +<p>Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets.</p> + +<p>"They made me—flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!"</p> + +<p>How much the past tense may mean!</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with +gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? +Why couldn't you get him away from the house?"</p> + +<p>"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?"</p> + +<p>"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night."</p> + +<p>"But Jack would wake up and make a noise."</p> + +<p>"There are things that would make him sleep through anything."</p> + +<p>"But how could he be moved?"</p> + +<p>"On a horse litter kept ready outside."</p> + +<p>"And how carried to the litter?"</p> + +<p>"I would carry him." The girl looked at him with a question and then +with a faint smile beginning. "Easily," said Donnegan, stiffening in his +chair. "Very easily."</p> + +<p>It pleased her to find this weakness in the pride of the invincible +Donnegan. It gave her a secure feeling of mastery. So she controlled her +smile and looked with a sort of superior kindliness upon the red-headed +little man.</p> + +<p>"It's no good," Nelly Lebrun said with a sigh. "Even if he were taken +away—and then it would get you into a bad mess."</p> + +<p>"Would it? Worse than I'm in?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Lord Nick is coming to The Corner; and no matter what you've done +so far—I think I could quiet him. But if you were to take Landis +away—then nothing could stop him."</p> + +<p>Donnegan sneered.</p> + +<p>"I begin to think Lord Nick is a bogie," he said. "Everyone whispers +when they speak of him." He leaned forward. "I should like to meet him, +Nelly Lebrun!"</p> + +<p>It staggered Nelly. "Do you mean that?" she cried softly.</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>She caught her breath and then a spark of deviltry gleamed. "I wonder!" +said Nelly Lebrun, and her glance weighed Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"All I ask is a fair chance," he said.</p> + +<p>"He is a big man," said the girl maliciously.</p> + +<p>The never-failing blush burned in the face of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"A large target is more easily hit," he said through his teeth.</p> + +<p>Her thoughts played back and forth in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," she said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan played a random card.</p> + +<p>"I was mistaken," he said darkly. "Jack was not the man I should have +faced. Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no, Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"You can't persuade me. Well, I was a fool not to guess it!"</p> + +<p>"I really think," said the girl gloomily, "that as soon as Lord Nick +comes, you'll hunt him out!"</p> + +<p>He bowed to her with cold politeness. "In spite of his size," said +Donnegan through his teeth once more.</p> + +<p>And at this the girl's face softened and grew merry.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to help you to take Jack away," she said, "on one +condition."</p> + +<p>"And that?"</p> + +<p>"That you won't make a step toward Lord Nick when he comes."</p> + +<p>"I shall not avoid him," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You're unreasonable! Well, not avoid him, but simply not provoke him. +I'll arrange it so that Lord Nick won't come hunting trouble."</p> + +<p>"And he'll let Jack stay with the girl and her father?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he'll persuade them to let him go of their own free will."</p> + +<p>Donnegan thought of the colonel and smiled.</p> + +<p>"In that case, of course, I shouldn't care at all." He added: "But do +you mean all this?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see."</p> + +<p>They talked only a moment longer and then Donnegan left the hall with +the girl on his arm. Certainly the thoughts of all in Milligan's +followed that pair; and it was seen that Donnegan took her to the door +of her house and then went away through the town and up the hill. And +big George followed him like a shadow cast from a lantern behind a man +walking in a fog.</p> + +<p>In the hut on the hill, Donnegan put George quickly to work, and with a +door and some bedding, a litter was hastily constructed and swung +between the two horses. In the meantime, Donnegan climbed higher up the +hill and watched steadily over the town until, in a house beneath him, +two lights were shown. He came back at that and hurried down the hill +with George behind and around the houses until they came to the +pretentious cabin of the gambler, Lebrun.</p> + +<p>Once there, Donnegan went straight to an unlighted window, tapped; and +it was opened from within, softly. Nelly Lebrun stood within.</p> + +<p>"It's done," she said. "Joe and the Pedlar are sound asleep. They drank +too much."</p> + +<p>"Your father."</p> + +<p>"Hasn't come home."</p> + +<p>"And Jack Landis?"</p> + +<p>"No matter what you do, he won't wake up; but be careful of his +shoulder. It's badly torn. How can you carry him?"</p> + +<p>She could not see Donnegan's flush, but she heard his teeth grit. And +he slipped through the window, gesturing to George to come close. It was +still darker inside the room—far darker than the starlit night outside. +And the one path of lighter gray was the bed of Jack Landis. His heavy +breathing was the only sound. Donnegan kneeled beside him and worked his +arms under the limp figure.</p> + +<p>And while he kneeled there a door in the house was opened and closed +softly. Donnegan stood up.</p> + +<p>"Is the door locked?"</p> + +<p>"No," whispered the girl.</p> + +<p>"Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Too late. It's father, and he'd hear the turning of the key."</p> + +<p>They waited, while the light, quick step came down the hall of the +cabin. It came to the door, it went past; and then the steps retraced +and the door was opened gently.</p> + +<p>There was a light in the hall; the form of Lebrun was outlined black and +distinct..</p> + +<p>"Jack!" he whispered.</p> + +<p>No sound; he made as if to enter, and then he heard the heavy breathing +of the sleeper, apparently.</p> + +<p>"Asleep, poor fool," murmured the gambler, and closed the door.</p> + +<p>The door was no sooner closed than Donnegan had raised the body of the +sleeper. Once, as he rose, straining, it nearly slipped from his arms; +and when he stood erect he staggered. But once he had gained his +equilibrium, he carried the wounded man easily enough to the window +through which George reached his long arms and lifted out the burden.</p> + +<p>"You see?" said Donnegan, panting, to the girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it was really wonderful!"</p> + +<p>"You are laughing, now."</p> + +<p>"I? But hurry. My father has a fox's ear for noises."</p> + +<p>"He will not hear this, I think." There was a swift scuffle, very soft +of movement.</p> + +<p>"Nelly!" called a far-off voice.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, hurry! Don't you hear?"</p> + +<p>"You forgive me?"</p> + +<p>"No—yes—but hurry!"</p> + +<p>"You will remember me?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Adieu!"</p> + +<p>She caught a picture of him sitting in the window for the split part of +a second, with his hat off, bowing to her. Then he was gone. And she +went into the hall, panting with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" Nelly Lebrun murmured. "I feel as if I had been hunted, and I +must look it. What if he—" Whatever the thought was she did not +complete it. "It may have been for the best," added Nelly Lebrun.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="29"></a><h2>29</h2> +<br> + +<p>It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but an +active mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun roused +herself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand was +still rapping.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she called drowsily.</p> + +<p>"This is Nick. May I come in?"</p> + +<p>"This is who?"</p> + +<p>The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she was +out of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped a +dressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was a +luxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of the +lynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, and +the soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threw +back the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place, +transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror.</p> + +<p>And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes, +Nick. May I come in?"</p> + +<p>She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on her +lips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; had +dipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awake +and brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock, +Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall.</p> + +<p>The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with the +pressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; and +while he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one hand +pressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expression +halfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did not +even smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentle +expressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominance +over all around him, his habitual expression was a proud +self-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in Lord +Nick it was rather leonine.</p> + +<p>He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily, +and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside another +man he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed by +the depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appear +quite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown and +set off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had the +combination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable in +Donnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the two +men; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, and +above all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from them +both. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of all +spirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terribly +mated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that the +mountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of the +careless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires an +exceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takes +a genius to make law-breaking glorious.</p> + +<p>No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek, +looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about his +immediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch, +and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had to +do with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, and +waited expectantly.</p> + +<p>"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frank +admirer.</p> + +<p>The girl merely looked at him.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he insisted.</p> + +<p>"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly.</p> + +<p>"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to the +contrary but that he was restraining himself—it was not worthwhile to +bother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tangle +since I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a father +has let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all this +was going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?"</p> + +<p>He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully.</p> + +<p>"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth I +suppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest. +Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you'll get him back?"</p> + +<p>"First, I want to find out how he got away."</p> + +<p>"I know how."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he did +not raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softly +so that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger. +"Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as one +of them! You, too!"</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terrible +voice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis; +Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him. +Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!"</p> + +<p>She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice.</p> + +<p>"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she asked +coldly.</p> + +<p>"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications; +have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheads +are beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas."</p> + +<p>"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come to +it; and you'll never come to it."</p> + +<p>"Never. Because I don't want him killed."</p> + +<p>"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?"</p> + +<p>"Because he's in love—with me."</p> + +<p>"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rare +fellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house without +help. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had to +find out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; not +the Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone who +doesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're the +one!"</p> + +<p>She hesitated a breathless instant.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said. "I am."</p> + +<p>She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl in +the case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with her +once. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint; +haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kept +on with it."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. I +haven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I got +rid of him."</p> + +<p>"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?"</p> + +<p>She flushed and then set her teeth.</p> + +<p>"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring +him back."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"You don't understand, Nick. He's different."</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"He's like you."</p> + +<p>"What are you driving at?"</p> + +<p>"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible +fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair +and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such a +man—except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fight +Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little +forward.</p> + +<p>"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal, +Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you—"</p> + +<p>The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank.</p> + +<p>"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too. +And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"For your own sake."</p> + +<p>He stood up.</p> + +<p>"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him; +but I'm going to have Landis back!"</p> + +<p>She, also, rose.</p> + +<p>"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll get Donnegan to +leave the house."</p> + +<p>"I don't care what you do about that."</p> + +<p>"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunt +him out afterward?"</p> + +<p>"I never make promises, Nell."</p> + +<p>"But I'll trust you, Nick."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="30"></a><h2>30</h2> +<br> + +<p>The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the +north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly +Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She +sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, +which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to +the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave +him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took +the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The +Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance.</p> + +<p>She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her +appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was +in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her +that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is +touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of +it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have +really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he +had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan's. And that, +as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom.</p> + +<p>Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the +hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour +had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street +below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy +swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding +crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it +Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked +more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle.</p> + +<p>He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and +his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen +stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance.</p> + +<p>"There's no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought +you might agree with me."</p> + +<p>He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his +attitude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that +house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some +few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road—the chestnut at a +long-strided canter and Nelly's black at a soft and choppy pace—the +wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things +one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the +first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from +The Corner—and Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had +Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a +violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the +lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared +with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her +make the comparison at all.</p> + +<p>"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a +hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could +be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, +and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away.</p> + +<p>"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and +see this."</p> + +<p>She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy.</p> + +<p>"You see, I'm a lazy man."</p> + +<p>"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?"</p> + +<p>"Two days, I think."</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought +his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even +in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under +his look.</p> + +<p>"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question."</p> + +<p>And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her +breath. The imp of perversity made her go on.</p> + +<p>"And why dangerous?"</p> + +<p>It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, +but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her.</p> + +<p>"You are not frank," he remarked.</p> + +<p>She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in +her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm's length. After +last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for—days and +days."</p> + +<p>"That's why I'm curious," said Donnegan, "and not flattered. I'm trying +to find what purpose you have in taking me riding."</p> + +<p>"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if you will."</p> + +<p>And since such fencing with the wits delighted her, she let all her +delight come with a sparkle in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I have one clue."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"And that is that you may have the old-woman curiosity to find out how +many ways a man can tell her that he's fond of her."</p> + +<p>Though she flushed a little she kept her poise admirably.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that is part of my interest," she admitted.</p> + +<p>"I can think of a great many ways of saying it," said Donnegan. "I am +the dry desert, you are the rain, and yet I remain dry and produce no +grass." "A very pretty comparison," said the girl with a smile.</p> + +<p>"A very green one," and Donnegan smiled. "I am the wind and you are the +wild geese, and yet I keep on blowing after you are gone and do not +carry away a feather of you."</p> + +<p>"Pretty again."</p> + +<p>"And silly. But, really, you are very kind to me, and I shall try not to +take too much advantage of it."</p> + +<p>"Will you answer a question?"</p> + +<p>"I had rather ask one: but go on."</p> + +<p>"What made you so dry a desert, Mr. Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"There is a very leading question again."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the +first time I saw you—when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly +disguise."</p> + +<p>"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of +me; I am a beggarly person."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an +education."</p> + +<p>"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and +long ago learned not to take myself too seriously."</p> + +<p>"Which leads to—"</p> + +<p>"The reason why I have wandered so much."</p> + +<p>"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?"</p> + +<p>"A chance to sit in a saddle—or a chair—and talk as we are talking."</p> + +<p>"Which seems to be idly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire."</p> + +<p>"Or ice."</p> + +<p>At the random hit he glanced sharply at her, but she was looking a +little past him, thinking.</p> + +<p>"I have tried to get at the reason behind all your reasons," she said. +"You came on me in a haphazard fashion, and yet you are not a haphazard +sort."</p> + +<p>"Do you see nothing serious about me?"</p> + +<p>"I see that you are unhappy," said the girl gently. "And I am sorry."</p> + +<p>Once again Donnegan was jarred, and he came within an ace of opening +his mind to her, of pouring out the truth about Lou Macon. Love is a +talking madness in all men and he came within an ace of confessing his +troubles.</p> + +<p>"Let's go on," she said, loosening her rein.</p> + +<p>"Why not cut back in a semicircle toward The Corner?"</p> + +<p>"Toward The Corner? No, no!"</p> + +<p>There was a brightening of his eye as he noted her shudder of distaste +or fear, and she strove to cover her traces.</p> + +<p>"I'm sick of the place," she said eagerly. "Let's get as far from it as +we may."</p> + +<p>"But yonder is a very good trail leading past it."</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll ride that way if you wish, but I'd rather go straight +ahead."</p> + +<p>If she had insisted stubbornly he would have thought nothing, but the +moment she became politic he was on his guard.</p> + +<p>"You dislike something in The Corner," he said, thinking carelessly and +aloud. "You are afraid of something back there. But what could you be +afraid of? Then you may be afraid of something for me. Ah, I have it! +They have decided to 'get' me for taking Jack Landis away; Joe Rix and +the Pedlar are waiting for me to come back!"</p> + +<p>He looked steadily and she attempted to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix and the Pedlar? I would not stack ten like them against you!"</p> + +<p>"Then it is someone else."</p> + +<p>"I haven't said so. Of course there's no one."</p> + +<p>She shook her rein again, but Donnegan sat still in his saddle and +looked fixedly at her.</p> + +<p>"That's why you brought me out here," he announced. "Oh, Nelly Lebrun, +what's behind your mind? Who is it? By heaven, it's this Lord Nick!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan, you're letting your imagination run wild."</p> + +<p>"It's gone straight to the point. But I'm not angry. I think I may get +back in time."</p> + +<p>He turned his horse, and the girl swung hers beside him and caught his +arm.</p> + +<p>"Don't go!" she pleaded. "You're right; it's Nick, and it's suicide to +face him!"</p> + +<p>The face of Donnegan set cruelly.</p> + +<p>"The main obstacle," he said. "Come and watch me handle it!"</p> + +<p>But she dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, and, sitting +there for a long time, she heard his careless whistling blow back to her +as he galloped toward The Corner.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="31"></a><h2>31</h2> +<br> + +<p>If Nelly Lebrun had consigned him mentally to the worms, that thought +made not the slightest impression upon Donnegan. A chance for action was +opening before him, and above all a chance of action in the eye of Lou +Macon; and he welcomed with open arms the thought that he would have an +opportunity to strike for her, and keep Landis with her. He went arrowy +straight and arrowy fast to the cabin on the hill, and he found ample +evidence that it had become a center of attention in The Corner. There +was a scattering of people in the distance, apparently loitering with no +particular purpose, but undoubtedly because they awaited an explosion of +some sort. He went by a group at which the chestnut shied, and as +Donnegan straightened out the horse again he caught a look of both +interest and pity on the faces of the men.</p> + +<p>Did they give him up so soon as it was known that Lord Nick had entered +the lists against him? Had all his display in The Corner gone for +nothing as against the repute of this terrible mystery man? His vanity +made him set his teeth again.</p> + +<p>Dismounting before the cabin of the colonel, he found that worthy in +his invalid chair, enjoying a sun bath in front of his house. But there +was no sign of Lord Nick—no sign of Lou. A grim fear came to Donnegan +that he might have to attack Nick in his own stronghold, for Jack Landis +might already have been taken away to the Lebrun house.</p> + +<p>So he went straight to the colonel, and when he came close he saw that +the fat man was apparently in the grip of a chill. He had gathered a +vast blanket about his shoulders and kept drawing it tighter; beneath +his eyes, which looked down to the ground, there were violet shadows.</p> + +<p>"I've lost," said Donnegan through his teeth. "Lord Nick has been here?"</p> + +<p>The invalid lifted his eyes, and Donnegan saw a terrible thing—that the +nerve of the fat man had been crushed. The folds of his face quivered as +he answered huskily: "He has been here!"</p> + +<p>"And Landis is gone?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Not gone? Then—"</p> + +<p>"Nick has gone to get a horse litter. He came up just to clear the way."</p> + +<p>"When he comes back he'll find me!"</p> + +<p>The glance of the colonel cleared long enough to survey Donnegan slowly +from head to foot, and his amusement sent the familiar hot flush over +the face of the little man. He straightened to his full height, which, +in his high heels, was not insignificant. But the colonel was apparently +so desperate that he was willing to throw caution away.</p> + +<p>"Compared with Lord Nick, Donnegan," he said, "you don't look half a +man—even with those heels."</p> + +<p>And he smiled calmly at Donnegan in the manner of one who, having +escaped the lightning bolt itself, does not fear mere thunder.</p> + +<p>"There is no fool like a fat fool," said Donnegan with childish +viciousness. "What did Lord Nick, as you call him, do to you? He's +brought out the yellow, my friend."</p> + +<p>The colonel accepted the insult without the quiver of an eyelid. +Throughout he seemed to be looking expectantly beyond Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"My young friend," he said, "you have been very useful to me. But I +must confess that you are no longer a tool equal to the task. I dismiss +you. I thank you cordially for your efforts. They are worthless. You see +that crowd gathering yonder? They have come to see Lord Nick prepare you +for a hole in the ground. And make no mistake: if you are here when he +returns that hole will have to be dug—unless they throw you out for the +claws of the buzzards. In the meantime, our efforts have been wasted +completely. I hadn't enough time. I had thrown the fear of sudden death +into Landis, and in another hour he would have signed away his soul to +me for fear of poison."</p> + +<p>The colonel paused to chuckle at some enjoyable memory.</p> + +<p>"Then Nick came. You see, I know all about Nick."</p> + +<p>"And Nick knows all about you?"</p> + +<p>For a moment the agate, catlike eyes of the colonel clouded and cleared +again in their unfathomable manner.</p> + +<p>"At moments, Donnegan," he said, "you have rare perceptions. That is +exactly it—Nick knows just about everything concerning me. And so—roll +your pack and climb on your horse and get away. I think you may have +another five minutes before he comes."</p> + +<p>Donnegan turned on his heel. He went to the door of the hut and threw it +open. Lou sat beside Landis holding his hand, and the murmur of her +voice was still pleasant as an echo through the room when she looked and +saw Donnegan. At that she rose and her face hardened as she looked at +him. Landis, also, lifted his head, and his face was convulsed with +hatred. So Donnegan closed the door and went softly away to his own +shack.</p> + +<p>She hated him even as Landis hated him, it seemed. He should have known +that he would not be thanked for bringing back her lover to her with a +bullet through his shoulder. Sitting in his cabin, he took his head +between his hands and thought of life and death, and made up his mind. +He was afraid. If Lord Nick had been the devil himself Donnegan could +not have been more afraid. But if the big stranger had been ten devils +instead of one Donnegan would not have found it in his soul to run away.</p> + +<p>Nothing remained for him in The Corner, it seemed, except his position +as a man of power—a dangerous fighter. It was a less than worthless +position, and yet, once having taken it up, he could not abandon it. +More than one gunfighter has been in the same place, forced to act as a +public menace long after he has ceased to feel any desire to fight. Of +selfish motives there remained not a scruple to him, but there was still +the happiness of Lou Macon. If the boy were taken back to Lebrun's, it +would be fatal to her. For even if Nelly wished, she could not teach her +eyes new habits, and she would ceaselessly play on the heart of the +wounded man.</p> + +<p>It was the cessation of all talk from the gathering crowd outside that +made Donnegan lift his head at length, and know that Lord Nick had come. +But before he had time to prepare himself, the door was cast open and +into it, filling it from side to side, stepped Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>There was no need of an introduction. Donnegan knew him by the aptness +with which the name fitted that glorious figure of a man and by the +calm, confident eye which now was looking him slowly over, from head to +foot. Lord Nick closed the door carefully behind him.</p> + +<p>"The colonel told me," he said in his deep, smooth voice, "that you were +waiting for me here."</p> + +<p>And Donnegan recognized the snakelike malice of the fat man in drawing +him into the fight. But he dismissed that quickly from his mind. He was +staring, fascinated, into the face of the other. He was a reader of men, +was Donnegan; he was a reader of mind, too. In his life of battle he had +learned to judge the prowess of others at a glance, just as a musician +can tell the quality of a violin by the first note he hears played upon +it. So Donnegan judged the quality of fighting men, and, looking into +the face of Lord Nick, he knew that he had met his equal at last.</p> + +<p>It was a great and a bitter moment to him. The sense of physical +smallness he had banished a thousand times by the recollection of his +speed of hand and his surety with weapons. He had looked at men +muscularly great and despised them in the knowledge that a gun or a +knife would make him their master. But in Lord Nick he recognized his +own nerveless speed of hand, his own hair-trigger balance, his own +deadly seriousness and contempt of life. The experience in battle was +there, too. And he began to feel that the size of the other crushed him +to the floor and made him hopeless. It was unnatural, it was wrong, that +this giant in the body should be a giant in adroitness also.</p> + +<p>Already Donnegan had died one death before he rose from his chair and +stood to the full of his height ready to die again and summoning his +nervous force to meet the enemy. He had seen that the big man had +followed his own example and had measured him at a glance.</p> + +<p>Indeed the history of some lives of action held less than the +concentrated silence of these two men during that second's space.</p> + +<p>And now Donnegan felt the cold eye of the other eating into his own, +striving to beat him down, break his nerve. For an instant panic got +hold on Donnegan. He, himself, had broken the nerve of other men by the +weight of his unaided eye. Had he not reduced poor Jack Landis to a +trembling wreck by five minutes of silence? And had he not seen other +brave men become trembling cowards unable to face the light, and all +because of that terrible power which lies in the eye of some? He fought +away the panic, though perspiration was pouring out upon his forehead +and beneath his armpits.</p> + +<p>"The colonel is very kind," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>And that moment he sent up a prayer of thankfulness that his voice was +smooth as silk, and that he was able to smile into the face of Lord +Nick. The brow of the other clouded and then smoothed itself deftly. +Perhaps he, too, recognized the clang of steel upon steel and knew the +metal of his enemy.</p> + +<p>"And therefore," said Lord Nick, "since most of The Corner expects +business from us, it seems much as if one of us must kill the other +before we part."</p> + +<p>"As a matter of fact," said Donnegan, "I have been keeping that in +mind." He added, with that deadly smile of his that never reached his +eyes: "I never disappoint the public when it's possible to satisfy +them."</p> + +<p>"No," and Lord Nick nodded, "you seem to have most of the habits of an +actor—including an inclination to make up for your part."</p> + +<p>Donnegan bit his lip until it bled, and then smiled.</p> + +<p>"I have been playing to fools," he said. "Now I shall enjoy a +discriminating critic."</p> + +<p>"Yes," remarked Lord Nick, "actors generally desire an intelligent +audience for the death scene."</p> + +<p>"I applaud your penetration and I shall speak well of you when this +disagreeable duty is finished."</p> + +<p>"Come," and Lord Nick smiled genially, "you are a game little cock!"</p> + +<p>The telltale flush crimsoned Donnegan's face. And if the fight had begun +at that moment no power under heaven could have saved Lord Nick from the +frenzy of the little man.</p> + +<p>"My size keeps me from stooping," said Donnegan, "I shall look up to +you, sir, until the moment you fall."</p> + +<p>"Well hit again! You are also a wit, I see! Donnegan, I am almost sorry +for the necessity of this meeting. And if it weren't for the audience—"</p> + +<p>"Say no more," said Donnegan, bowing. "I read your heart and appreciate +all you intend."</p> + +<p>He had touched his stock as he bowed, and now he turned to the mirror +and carefully adjusted it, for it was a little awry from the ride; but +in reality he used that moment to examine his own face, and the set of +his jaw and the clearness of his eye reassured him. Turning again, he +surprised a glint of admiration in the glance of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"We are at one, sir, it appears," he said. "And there is no other way +out of this disagreeable necessity?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately not. I have a certain position in these parts. People are +apt to expect a good deal of me. And for my part I see no way out except +a gunplay—no way out between the devil and the moon!"</p> + +<p>Astonishment swept suddenly across the face of the big man, for +Donnegan, turning white as death, shrank toward the wall as though he +had that moment received cold steel in his body.</p> + +<p>"Say that again!" said Donnegan hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"I said there was no way out," repeated Lord Nick, and though he kept +his right hand in readiness, he passed his left through his red hair and +stared at Donnegan with a tinge of contempt; he had seen men buckle like +this at the last moment when their backs were to the wall.</p> + +<p>"Between—" repeated Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The devil and the moon. Do you see a way yourself?"</p> + +<p>He was astonished again to see Donnegan wince as if from a blow. His +lips were trembling and they writhed stiffly over his words.</p> + +<p>"Who taught you that expression?" said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"A gentleman," said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"My father, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, heaven," moaned Donnegan, catching his hands to his breast. "Oh, +heaven, forgive us!"</p> + +<p>"What the devil is in you?" asked Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>The little man stood erect again and his eyes were now on fire.</p> + +<p>"You are Henry Nicholas Reardon," he said.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick set his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "it is certain that you must die!"</p> + +<p>But Donnegan cast out his arms and broke into a wild laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you fool, you fool!" he cried. "Don't you know me? I am the +cripple!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="32"></a><h2>32</h2> +<br> + +<p>The big man crossed the floor with one vast stride, and, seizing +Donnegan by both shoulders, dragged him under the full light of the +window; and still the crazy laughter shook Donnegan and made him +helpless.</p> + +<p>"They tied me to a board—like a papoose," said Donnegan, "and they +straightened my back—but they left me this way—wizened up." He was +stammering; hysterical, and the words tumbled from his lips in a jumble. +"That was a month after you ran away from home. I was going to find you. +Got bigger. Took the road. Kept hunting. Then I met a yegg who told +about Rusty Dick—described him like you—I thought—I thought you were +dead!"</p> + +<p>And the tears rolled down his face; he sobbed like a woman.</p> + +<p>A strange thing happened then. Lord Nick lifted the little man in his +arms as if he were a child and literally carried him in that fashion to +the bunk. He put him down tenderly, still with one mighty arm around his +back.</p> + +<p>"You are Garry? You!"</p> + +<p>"Garrison Donnegan Reardon. Aye, that's what I am. Henry, don't say +that you don't know me!"</p> + +<p>"But—your back—I thought—"</p> + +<p>"I know—hopeless they said I was. But they brought in a young doctor. +Now look at me. Little. I never grew big—but hard, Henry, as leather!"</p> + +<p>And he sprang to his feet. And knowing that Donnegan had begun life as a +cripple it was easy to appreciate certain things about his expression—a +cold wistfulness, and his manner of reading the minds of men. Lord Nick +was like a man in a dream. He dragged Donnegan back to the bunk and +forced him to sit down with the weight of his arms. And he could not +keep his hands from his younger brother. As though he were blind and had +to use the sense of touch to reassure him.</p> + +<p>"I heard lies. They said everybody was dead. I thought—"</p> + +<p>"The fever killed them all, except me. Uncle Toby took me in. He was a +devil. Helped me along, but I left him when I could. And—"</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me any more. All that matters is that I have you at last, +Garry. Heaven knows it's a horrible thing to be kithless and kinless, +but I have you now! Ah, lad, but the old pain has left its mark on you. +Poor Garry!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan shuddered.</p> + +<p>"I've forgotten it. Don't bring it back."</p> + +<p>"I keep feeling that you should be in that chair."</p> + +<p>"I know. But I'm not. I'm hard as nails, I tell you."</p> + +<p>He leaped to his feet again.</p> + +<p>"And not so small as you might think, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, big enough, Garry. Big enough to paralyze The Corner, from what +I've heard."</p> + +<p>"I've been playing a game with 'em, Henry. And now—if one of us could +clear the road, what will we do together? Eh?"</p> + +<p>The smile of Lord Nick showed his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Haven't I been hungry all my life for a man like you, lad? Somebody to +stand and guard my back while I faced the rest of the world?"</p> + +<p>"And I'll do my share of the facing, too."</p> + +<p>"You will, Garry. But I'm your elder."</p> + +<p>"Man, man! Nobody's my elder except one that's spent half his life—as I +have done!"</p> + +<p>"We'll teach you to forget the pain I'll make life roses for you, +Garry."</p> + +<p>"And the fools outside thought—"</p> + +<p>Donnegan broke into a soundless laughter, and, running to the door, +opened it a fraction of an inch and peeped out.</p> + +<p>"They're standing about in a circle. I can see 'em gaping. Even from +here. What will they think, Henry?"</p> + +<p>Lord Nick ground his teeth.</p> + +<p>"They'll think I've backed down from you," he said gloomily. "They'll +think I've taken water for the first time."</p> + +<p>"Why, confound 'em, the first man that opens his head—"</p> + +<p>"I know, I know. You'd fill his mouth with lead, and so would I. But if +it ever gets about—as it's sure to—that Lord, Nick, as they call me, +has been bluffed down without a fight, I'll have every Chinaman that +cooks on the range talking back to me. I'll have to start all over +again."</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Henry. Don't you see that I'll go out and explain that +I'm your brother?"</p> + +<p>"What good will that do? No, do we look alike?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan stopped short.</p> + +<p>"I'm not very big," he said rather coldly, "but then I'm not so very +small, either. I've found myself big enough, speaking in general. +Besides, we have the same hair and eyes."</p> + +<p>"Why, man, people will laugh when they hear that we call ourselves +brothers."</p> + +<p>Donnegan ground his teeth and the old flush burned upon his face.</p> + +<p>"I'll cut some throats if they do," he said, trembling with his passion.</p> + +<p>"I can hear them say it. 'Lord Nick walked in on Donnegan prepared to +eat him up. He measured him up and down, saw that he was a fighting +wildcat in spite of his size, and decided to back out. And Donnegan was +willing. They couldn't come out without a story of some kind—with the +whole world expecting a death in that cabin—so they framed a crazy +cock-and-bull story about being brothers.' I can hear them say that, +Donnegan, and it makes me wild!"</p> + +<p>"Do you call me Donnegan?" said Donnegan sadly.</p> + +<p>"No, no. Garry, don't be so touchy. You've never got over that, I see. +Still all pride and fire."</p> + +<p>"You're not very humble yourself, Henry."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not, maybe not. But I've been in a certain position around these +parts, Don—Garry. And it's hard to see it go!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan closed his eyes in deep reverie. And then he forced out the +words one by one.</p> + +<p>"Henry, I'll let everybody know that it was I who backed down. That we +were about to fight." He was unable to speak; he tore the stock loose at +his throat and went on: "We were about to fight; I lost my nerve; you +couldn't shoot a helpless man. We began to talk. We found out we are +brothers—"</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" broke out Lord Nick, and he struck himself violently across +the forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm a skunk, Garry, lad. Why, +for a minute I was about to let you do it. No. no, no! A thousand times +no!"</p> + +<p>It was plain to be seen that he was arguing himself away from the +temptation.</p> + +<p>"What do I care what they say? We'll cram the words back down their +throats and be hanged to 'em. Here I am worrying about myself like a +selfish dog without letting myself be happy over finding you. But I am +happy, Garry. Heaven knows it. And you don't doubt it, do you, old +fellow?"</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Donnegan, and he smiled to cover a touch of sadness. "I hope +not. No, I don't doubt you, of course. I've spent my life wishing for +you since you left us, you see. And then I followed you for three years +on the road, hunting everywhere."</p> + +<p>"You did that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Three years. I liked the careless life. For to tell you the truth, +I'm not worth much, Henry. I'm a loafer by instinct, and—"</p> + +<p>"Not another word." There were tears in the eyes of Lord Nick, and he +frowned them away. "Confound it, Garry, you unman me. I'll be weeping +like a woman in a minute. But now, sit down. We still have some things +to talk over. And we'll get to a quick conclusion."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes," said Donnegan, and at the emotion which had come in the face +of Lord Nick, his own expression softened wonderfully. A light seemed to +stand in his face. "We'll brush over the incidentals. And everything is +incidental aside from the fact that we're together again. They can +chisel iron chain apart, but we'll never be separated again, God +willing!" He looked up as he spoke, and his face was for the moment as +pure as the face of a child—Donnegan, the thief, the beggar, the liar +by gift, and the man-killer by trade and artistry.</p> + +<p>But Lord Nick in the meantime was looking down to the floor and +mustering his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"The main thing is entirely simple," he said. "You'll make one +concession to my pride, Garry, boy?"</p> + +<p>"Can you ask me?" said Donnegan softly, and he cast out his hands in a +gesture that offered his heart and his soul. "Can you ask me? Anything I +have is yours!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say that," answered Lord Nick tenderly. "But this small thing—my +pride, you know—I despise myself for caring what people think, but I'm +weak. I admit it, but I can't help it."</p> + +<p>"Talk out, man. You'll see if there's a bottom to things that I can +give!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's this. Everyone knows that I came up here to get young Jack +Landis and bring him back to Lebrun's—from which you stole him, you +clever young devil! Well, I'll simply take him back there, Garry; and +then I'll never have to ask another favor of you."</p> + +<p>He was astonished by a sudden silence, and looking up again, he saw that +Donnegan sat with his hand at his breast. It was a singularly feminine +gesture to which he resorted. It was a habit which had come to him in +his youth in the invalid chair, when the ceaseless torment of his +crippled back became too great for him to bear.</p> + +<p>And clearly, indeed, those days were brought home to Lord Nick as he +glanced up, for Donnegan was staring at him in the same old, familiar +agony, mute and helpless.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="33"></a><h2>33</h2> +<br> + +<p>At this Lord Nick very frankly frowned in turn. And when he frowned his +face grew marvelously dark, like some wrathful god, for there was a +noble, a Grecian purity to the profile of Henry Nicholas Reardon, and +when he frowned he seemed to be scorning, from a distance, ignoble, +earthly things which troubled him.</p> + +<p>"I know it isn't exactly easy for you, Garry," he admitted. "You have +your own pride; you have your own position here in The Corner. But I +want you to notice that mine is different. You've spent a day for what +you have in The Corner, here. I've spent ten years. You've played a +prank, acted a part, and cast a jest for what you have. But for the +place which I hold, brother mine, I've schemed with my wits, played fast +and loose, and killed men. Do you hear? I've bought it with blood, and +things you buy at such a price ought to stick, eh?"</p> + +<p>He banished his frown; the smile played suddenly across his features.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm arguing with myself. But that look you gave me a minute ago +had me worried for a little while."</p> + +<p>At this Donnegan, who had allowed his head to fall, so that he seemed +to be nodding in acquiescence, now raised his face and Lord Nick +perceived the same white pain upon it. The same look which had been on +the face of the cripple so often in the other days.</p> + +<p>"Henry," said the younger brother, "I give you my oath that my pride has +nothing to do with this. I'd let you drive me barefoot before you +through the street yonder. I'd let every soul in The Corner know that I +have no pride where you're concerned. I'll do whatever you wish—with +one exception—and that one is the unlucky thing you ask. Pardner, you +mustn't ask for Jack Landis! Anything else I'll work like a slave to get +for you: I'll fight your battles, I'll serve you in any way you name: +but don't take Landis back!"</p> + +<p>He had talked eagerly, the words coming with a rush, and he found at the +end that Lord Nick was looking at him in bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"When a man is condemned to death," said Lord Nick slowly, "suppose +somebody offers him anything in the world that he wants—palaces, +riches, power—everything except his life. What would the condemned man +say to a friend who made such an offer? He'd laugh at him and then call +him a traitor. Eh? But I don't laugh at you, Garry. I simply explain to +you why I have to have Landis back. Listen!"</p> + +<p>He counted off his points upon the tips of his fingers, in the confident +manner of a teacher who deals with a stupid child, waiting patiently for +the young mind to comprehend.</p> + +<p>"We've been bleeding Jack Landis. Do you know why? Because it was Lester +who made the strike up here. He started out to file his claim. He +stopped at the house of Colonel Macon. That old devil learned the +location, learned everything; detained Lester with a trick, and rushed +young Landis away to file the claims for himself. Then when Lester came +up here he found that his claims had been jumped, and when he went to +the law there was no law that could help him. He had nothing but his +naked word for what he had discovered. And naturally the word of a +ruffian like Lester had no weight against the word of Landis. And, you +see, Landis thought that he was entirely in the right. Lester tried the +other way; tried to jump the claims; and was shot down by Landis. So +Lester sent for me. What was I to do? Kill Landis? The mine would go to +his heirs. I tried a different way—bleeding him of his profits, after +I'd explained to him that he was in the wrong. He half admitted that, +but he naturally wouldn't give up the mines even after we'd almost +proved to him that Lester had the first right. So Landis has been mining +the gold and we've been drawing it away from him. It looks tricky, but +really it's only just. And Lester and Lebrun split with me.</p> + +<p>"But I tell you, Garry, that I'd give up everything without an +afterthought. I'll give up the money and I'll make Lebrun and Lester +shut up without a word. I'll make them play square and not try to knife +Landis in the back. I'll do all that willingly—for you! But, Garry, I +can't give up taking Landis back to Lebrun's and keeping him there until +he's well. Why, man, I saw him in the hut just now. He wants to go. He's +afraid of the old colonel as if he were poison—and I think he's wise in +being afraid."</p> + +<p>"The colonel won't touch him," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"No. I've told him what would happen if he does."</p> + +<p>"Tush. Garry, Colonel Macon is the coldest-blooded murderer I've ever +known. But come out in the open, lad. You see that I'm ready to listen +to reason—except on one point. Tell me why you're so set on this +keeping of Landis here against my will and even against the lad's own +will? I'm reasonable, Garry. Do you doubt that?"</p> + +<p>Explaining his own mildness, the voice of Lord Nick swelled again and +filled the room, and he frowned on his brother. But Donnegan looked on +him sadly.</p> + +<p>"There is a girl—" he began.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't I guess it?" exclaimed Lord Nick. "If ever you find a man +unreasonable, stubborn and foolish, you'll always find a woman behind +it! All this trouble because of a piece of calico?"</p> + +<p>He leaned back, laughing thunderously in his relief.</p> + +<p>"Come, come! I was prepared for a tragedy. Now tell me about this girl. +Who and what is she?"</p> + +<p>"The daughter of the colonel."</p> + +<p>"You're in love with her? I'm glad to hear it, Garry. As a matter of +fact I've been afraid that you were hunting in my own preserve, but if +it's the colonel's daughter, you're welcome to her. So you love the +girl? She's pretty, lad!"</p> + +<p>"I love her?" said Donnegan in an indescribably tender voice. "I love +her? Who am I to love her? A thief, a man-killer, a miserable play +actor, a gambler, a drunkard. I love her? Bah!"</p> + +<p>If there was one quality of the mind with which Lord Nick was less +familiar than with all others, it was humbleness of spirit. He now +abased his magnificent head, and resting his chin in the mighty palm of +his hand, he stared with astonishment and commiseration into the face of +Donnegan. He seemed to be learning new things every moment about his +brother.</p> + +<p>"Leave me out of the question," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Can't be done. If I leave you out, dear boy, there's not one of them +that I care a hang about; I'd ride roughshod over the whole lot. I've +done it before to better men than these!"</p> + +<p>"Then you'll change, I know. This is the fact of the matter. She loves +Landis. And if you take Landis away where will you put him?"</p> + +<p>"Where he was stolen away. In Lebrun's."</p> + +<p>"And what will be in Lebrun's?"</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix to guard him and the old negress to nurse him."'</p> + +<p>"No, no! Nelly Lebrun will be there!"</p> + +<p>"Eh? Are you glancing at her, now?"</p> + +<p>"Henry, you yourself know that Landis is mad about that girl."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's flirted a bit with him. Turned the fool's head. He'll come +out of it safe. She won't break his heart. I've seen her work on +others!"</p> + +<p>He chuckled at the memory.</p> + +<p>"What do I care about Landis?" said Donnegan with unutterable scorn. +"It's the girl. You'll break her heart, Henry; and if you do I'll never +forgive you."</p> + +<p>"Steady, lad. This is a good deal like a threat."</p> + +<p>"No, no, no! Not a threat, heaven knows!"</p> + +<p>"By heaven!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "I begin to be irritated to see you +stick on a silly point like this. Listen to me, lad. Do you mean to say +that you are making all! this trouble about a slip of a girl?"</p> + +<p>"The heart of a girl," said Donnegan calmly.</p> + +<p>"Let Landis go; then take her in your arms and kiss her worries away. I +warrant you can do it! I gather from Nell that you're not tongue-tied +around women!"</p> + +<p>"I?" echoed Donnegan, turning pale. "Don't jest at this, Henry. I'm as +serious as death. She's the type of woman made to love one man, and one +man only. Landis may be common as dirt; but she doesn't see it. She's +fastened her heart on him. I looked in on her a little while ago. She +turned white when she saw me. I brought Landis to her, but she hates me +because I had to shoot him down."</p> + +<p>"Garry," said the big man with a twinkle in his eye, "you're in love!"</p> + +<p>It shook Donnegan to the core, but he replied instantly; "If I were in +love, don't you suppose that I would have shot to kill when I met +Landis?"</p> + +<p>At this his brother blinked, frowned, and shook his head. The point was +apparently plain to him and wiped out his previous convictions. Also, it +eased his mind.</p> + +<p>"Then you don't love the girl?"</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Either way, my hands are cleared of the worry. If you want her, let me +take Landis. If you don't want her, what difference does it make to you +except silly sentiment?"</p> + +<p>Donnegan made no answer.</p> + +<p>"If she comes to Lebrun's house, I'll see that Nell doesn't bother him +too much."</p> + +<p>"Can you control her? If she wants to see this fool can you keep her +away, and if she goes to him can you control her smiling?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Lord Nick, but he flushed heavily.</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled.</p> + +<p>"She's a devil of a girl," admitted Henry Reardon. "But this is beside +the point: which is, that you're sticking on a matter that means +everything to me, and which is only a secondhand interest to you—a +point of sentiment. You pity the girl. What's pity? Bah! I pity a dog in +the street, but would I cross you, Garry, lad, to save the dog? +Sentiment, I say, silly sentiment."</p> + +<p>Donnegan rose.</p> + +<p>"It was a silly sentiment," he said hoarsely, "that put me on the road +following you, Henry. It was a silly sentiment that turned me into a +wastrel, a wanderer, a man without a home and without friends."</p> + +<p>"It's wrong to throw that in my face," muttered Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"It is. And I'm sorry for it. But I want you to see that matters of +sentiment may be matters of life and death with me."</p> + +<p>"Aye, if it were for you it would be different. I might see my way +clear—but for a girl you have only a distant interest in—"</p> + +<p>"It is a matter of whether or not her heart shall be broken."</p> + +<p>"Come, come. Let's talk man talk. Besides, girls' hearts don't break in +this country. You're old-fashioned."</p> + +<p>"I tell you the question of her happiness is worth more than a dozen +lives like yours and mine."</p> + +<p>There had been a gathering impatience in Lord Nick. Now he, also, leaped +to his feet; a giant.</p> + +<p>"Tell me in one word: You stick on this point?"</p> + +<p>"In one word—yes!"</p> + +<p>"Then you deny me, Garry. You set me aside for a silly purpose of your +own—a matter that really doesn't mean much to you. It shows me where I +stand in your eyes—and nothing between the devil and the moon shall +make me sidestep!"</p> + +<p>They remained silent, staring at each other. Lord Nick stood with a +flush of anger growing; Donnegan became whiter than ever, and he +stiffened himself to his full height, which, in all who knew him well, +was the danger signal.</p> + +<p>"You take Landis?" he said softly.</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Not," said Donnegan, "while I live!"</p> + +<p>"You mean—" cried Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I mean it!"</p> + +<p>They had been swept back to the point at which that strangest of scenes +began, but this time there was an added element—horror.</p> + +<p>"You'd fight?"</p> + +<p>"To the death, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Garry, if one of us should kill the other, he'd be cursed forever!"</p> + +<p>"I know it."</p> + +<p>"And she's worth even this?"</p> + +<p>"A thousand times more! What are we? Dust in the wind; dust in the wind. +But a woman like that is divine, Henry!"</p> + +<p>Lord Nick swayed a little, setting himself in balance like an animal +preparing for the leap.</p> + +<p>"If it comes to the pinch, it is you who will die," he said.</p> + +<p>"You've no chance against me, Garry. And I swear to you that I won't +weaken. You prove that you don't care for me. You put another above me. +It's my pride, my life, that you'd sacrifice to the whim of a girl!" His +passion choked him.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready?" said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Yes!"</p> + +<p>"Move first!"</p> + +<p>"I have never formed the habit."</p> + +<p>"Nor I! You fool, take what little advantage you can, because it won't +help you in the end."</p> + +<p>"You shall see. I have a second sight, Henry, and it shows me you dead +on the floor there, looking bigger than ever, and I see the gun smoking +in my hand and my heart as dead as ashes! Oh, Henry, if there were only +some other way!"</p> + +<p>They were both pale now.</p> + +<p>"Aye," murmured Lord Nick, "if we could find a judge. My hand turns to +lead when I think of fighting you, Garry."</p> + +<p>Perspiration stood on the face of Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Name a judge; I'll abide by the decision."</p> + +<p>"Some man—"</p> + +<p>"No, no. What man could understand me? A woman, Henry!"</p> + +<p>"Nell Lebrun."</p> + +<p>"The girl who loves you? You want me to plead before her?"</p> + +<p>"Put her on her honor and she'll be as straight as a string with both of +us."</p> + +<p>For a moment Donnegan considered, and at length: "She loves you, Henry. +You have that advantage. You have only to let her know that this is a +vital matter to you and she'll speak as you wish her to speak."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. You don't know her. You've seen yourself that no man can +control her absolutely."</p> + +<p>"Make a concession."</p> + +<p>"A thousand, Garry, dear boy, if they'll get us clear from this horrible +mess."</p> + +<p>"Only this. Leave The Corner for a few hours. Give me until—tonight. +Let me see Nelly during that time. You've had years to work on her. I +want only this time to put my own case before her."</p> + +<p>"Thank heaven that we're coming to see light and a way out!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, Henry."</p> + +<p>The big man wiped his forehead and sighed in his relief.</p> + +<p>"A minute ago I was ready—but we'll forget all this. What will you do? +How will you persuade Nelly? I almost think that you intend to make love +to her, Garry!"</p> + +<p>The little man turned paler still.</p> + +<p>"It is exactly what I intend," he said quietly.</p> + +<p>The brow of Lord Nick darkened solemnly, and then he forced a laugh.</p> + +<p>"She'll be afraid to turn me down, Garry. But try your own way." He bit +his lips. "Why, if you influence her that way—do it. What's a fickle +jade to me? Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"However I do it, you'll stick by her judgment, Henry?"</p> + +<p>The perspiration had started on Lord Nick's forehead again. Doubt swayed +him, but pride forced him on.</p> + +<p>"I'll come again tonight," he said gloomily. "I'll meet you +in—Milligan's?"</p> + +<p>"In Milligan's, then."</p> + +<p>Lord Nick, without a word of farewell, stamped across the hut and out.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he stepped backward, his legs buckled beneath him, and +when big George entered, with a scared face, he found the little man +half sitting on the bunk, half lying against the wall with the face and +the staring eyes of a dead man.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="34"></a><h2>34</h2> +<br> + +<p>It was a long time before Donnegan left the hut, and when he came out +the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight, or at least to mark the +reports of the guns when those two terrible warriors met, was scattered. +There remained before Donnegan only the colonel in his invalid's chair. +Even from the distance one could see that his expression was changed, +and when the little red-headed man came near the colonel looked up to +him with something akin to humility.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," he said, stopping the other as Donnegan headed for the door +of the hut, "Donnegan, don't go in there just now."</p> + +<p>Donnegan turned and came slowly toward him.</p> + +<p>"The reason," said the colonel, "is that you probably won't receive a +very cheery reception. Unfortunate—very unfortunate. Lou has turned +wrong-headed for the first time in her life and she won't listen to +reason."</p> + +<p>He chuckled softly.</p> + +<p>"I never dreamed there was so much of my metal in her. Blood will tell, +my boy; blood will tell. And when you finally get her you'll find that +she's worth waiting for."</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you a secret," said Donnegan dryly. "I am no longer waiting +for her!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?" smiled the colonel. "Of course not. This bringing of Landis to +her—it was all pure self-sacrifice. It was not an attempt to soften her +heart. It was not a cunning maneuver. Tush! Of course not!"</p> + +<p>"I am about to make a profound remark," said Donnegan carelessly.</p> + +<p>"By all means."</p> + +<p>"You read the minds of other people through a colored glass, colonel. +You see yourself everywhere."</p> + +<p>"In other words I put my own motives into the actions and behind the +actions of people? Perhaps. I am full of weaknesses. Very full. In the +meantime let me tell you one important thing—if you have not made the +heart of Lou tender toward you, you have at least frightened her."</p> + +<p>The jaw on Donnegan set.</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" he said huskily.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps better than you think; and to keep you abreast with the times, +you must know another thing. Lou has a silly idea that you are a lost +soul, Donnegan, but she attributes your fall entirely to my weakness. +Nothing can convince her that you did not intend to kill Landis; nothing +can convince her that you did not act on my inspiration. I have tried +arguing. Bah! she overwhelmed me with her scorn. You are a villain, says +Lou, and I have made you one. And for the first time in my memory of +her, her eyes fill with tears."</p> + +<p>"Tears?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my honor, and when a girl begins to weep about a man I don't need +to say he is close to her heart."</p> + +<p>"You are full of maxims, Colonel Macon."</p> + +<p>"As a nut is full of meat. Old experience, you know. In the meantime Lou +is perfectly certain that I intend to make away with Landis. Ha, ha, +ha!" The laughter of the colonel was a cheery thunder, and soft as with +distance. "Landis is equally convinced. He begs Lou not to fall asleep +lest I should steal in on him. She hardly dares leave him to cook his +food. I actually think she would have been glad to see that fiend, Lord +Nick, take Landis away!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled wanly. But could he tell her, poor girl, the story of +Nelly Lebrun? Landis, in fear of his life, was no doubt at this moment +pouring out protestations of deathless affection.</p> + +<p>"And they both consider you an archdemon for keeping Lord Nick away!"</p> + +<p>Again Donnegan winced, and coughed behind his hand to cover it.</p> + +<p>"However," went on the colonel, "when it comes to matters with the +hearts of women, I trust to time. Time alone will show her that Landis +is a puppy."</p> + +<p>"In the meantime, colonel, she keeps you from coming near Landis?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all! You fail to understand me and my methods, dear boy. I have +only to roll my chair into the room and sit and smile at Jack in order +to send him into an hysteria of terror. It is amusing to watch. And I +can be there while Lou is in the room and through a few careful +innuendoes convey to Landis my undying determination to either remove +him from my path and automatically become his heir, or else secure from +him a legal transfer of his rights to the mines."</p> + +<p>"I have learned," said Donnegan, "that Landis has not the slightest +claim to them himself. And that you set him on the trail of the claims +by trickery."</p> + +<p>The colonel did not wince.</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said the fat trickster. "Not the slightest right. My +claim is a claim of superior wits, you see. And in the end all your +labor shall be rewarded, for my share will go to Lou and through her it +shall come to you. No?"</p> + +<p>"Quite logical."</p> + +<p>The colonel disregarded the other's smile.</p> + +<p>"But I have a painful confession to make."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I misjudged you, Donnegan. A moment since, when I was nearly distraught +with disappointment, I said some most unpleasant things to you."</p> + +<p>"I have forgotten them."</p> + +<p>But the colonel raised his strong forefinger and shook his head, +smiling.</p> + +<p>"No, no, Donnegan. If you deny it, I shall know that you are harboring +the most undying grudge against me. As a matter of fact, I have just +had an interview with Lord Nick, and the cursed fellow put my nerves on +edge."</p> + +<p>The colonel made a wry face.</p> + +<p>"And when you came, I saw no manner in which you could possibly thwart +him."</p> + +<p>His eyes grew wistful.</p> + +<p>"Between friends—as a son to his future father," he said softly, "can't +you tell me what the charm was that you used on. Nick to send him away? +I watched him come out of the shack. He was in a fury. I could see that +by the way his head thrust out between his big shoulders. And when he +went down the hill he was striding like a giant, but every now and then +he would stop short, and his head would go up as if he were tempted to +turn around and go back, but didn't quite have the nerve. Donnegan, tell +me the trick of it?"</p> + +<p>"Willingly. I appealed to his gambling instinct."</p> + +<p>"Which leaves me as much in the dark as ever."</p> + +<p>But Donnegan smiled in his own peculiar and mirthless manner and he went +on to the hut. Not that he expected a cheery greeting from Lou Macon, +but he was drawn by the same perverse instinct which tempts a man to +throw himself from a great height. At the door he paused a moment. He +could distinguish no words, but he caught the murmur of Lou's voice as +she talked to Jack Landis, and it had that infinitely gentle quality +which only a woman's voice can have, and only when she nurses the sick. +It was a pleasant torture to Donnegan to hear it. At length he summoned +his resolution and tapped at the door.</p> + +<p>The voice of Lou Macon stopped. He heard a hurried and whispered +consultation. What did they expect? Then swift foot-falls on the floor, +and she opened the door. There was a smile of expectancy on her lips; +her eyes were bright; but when she saw Donnegan her lips pinched in. She +stared at him as if he were a ghost.</p> + +<p>"I knew; I knew!" she said piteously, falling back a step but still +keeping her hand upon the knob of the door as if to block the way to +Donnegan. "Oh, Jack, he has killed Lord Nick and now he is here—"</p> + +<p>To do what? To kill Landis in turn? Her horrified eyes implied as much. +He saw Landis in the distance raise himself upon one elbow and his face +was gray, not with pain but with dread.</p> + +<p>"It can't be!" groaned Landis.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick is alive," said Donnegan. "And I have not come here to +torment you; I have only come to ask that you let me speak with you +alone for a moment, Lou!"</p> + +<p>He watched her face intently. All the cabin was in deep shadow, but the +golden hair of the girl glowed as if with an inherent light of its own, +and the same light touched her face. Jack Landis was stricken with +panic: he stammered in a dreadful eagerness of fear.</p> + +<p>"Don't leave me, Lou. You know what it means. He wants to get you out of +the way so that the colonel can be alone with me. Don't go, Lou! Don't +go!"</p> + +<p>As though she saw how hopeless it was to try to bar Donnegan by closing +the door against him, she fell back to the bed. She kept her eye on the +little man, as if to watch against a surprise attack, and, fumbling +behind her, her hand found the hand of Landis and closed over it with +the reassurance of a mother.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Jack. I won't leave you. Not unless they carry me away +by force."</p> + +<p>"I give you my solemn word." said Donnegan in torment, "that the colonel +shall not come near Landis while you're away with me."</p> + +<p>"Your word!" murmured the girl with a sort of horrified wonder. "Your +word!"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan bowed his head.</p> + +<p>But all at once she cast out her free hand toward him, while the other +still cherished the weakness of Jack Landis.</p> + +<p>"Oh, give them up!" she cried. "Give up my father and all his wicked +plans. There is something good in you. Give him up; come with us; +stand for us: and we shall be grateful all our lives!"</p> + +<p>The little man had removed his hat, so that the sunshine burned brightly +on his red hair. Indeed, there was always a flamelike quality about him. +In inaction he seemed femininely frail and pale; but when his spirit was +roused his eyes blazed as his hair burned in the sunlight.</p> + +<p>"You shall learn in the end," he said to the girl, "that everything I +do, I do for you."</p> + +<p>She cried out as if he had struck her.</p> + +<p>"It's not worthy of you," she said bitterly. "You are keeping Jack +here—in peril—for my sake?"</p> + +<p>"For your sake," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a queer pain in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"To keep you from needless lying," she said, "let me tell you that Jack +has told me everything. I am not angry because you come and pretend that +you do all these horrible things for my sake. I know my father has +tempted you with a promise of a great deal of money. But in the end you +will get nothing. No, he will twist everything away from you and leave +you nothing! But as for me—I know everything; Jack told me."</p> + +<p>"He has told you what? What?"</p> + +<p>"About the woman you love."</p> + +<p>"The woman I love?" echoed Donnegan, stupefied.</p> + +<p>It seemed that Lou Macon could only name her with an effort that left +her trembling.</p> + +<p>"The Lebrun woman," she said. "Jack has told me."</p> + +<p>"Did you tell her that?" he asked Landis.</p> + +<p>"The whole town knows it," stammered the wounded man.</p> + +<p>The cunning hypocrisy spurred Donnegan. He put his foot on the threshold +of the shack, and at this the girl cried out and shrank from him; but +Landis was too paralyzed to stir or speak. For a moment Donnegan was +wildly tempted to pour his torrent of contempt and accusation upon +Landis. To what end? To prove to the girl that the big fellow had coolly +tricked her? That it was to be near Nelly Lebrun as much as to be away +from the colonel that he wished so ardently to leave the shack? After +all, Lou Macon was made happy by an illusion; let her keep it.</p> + +<p>He looked at her sadly again. She stood defiant over Landis; ready to +protect the helpless bulk of the man.</p> + +<p>So Donnegan closed the door softly and turned away with ashes in his +heart.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="35"></a><h2>35</h2> +<br> + +<p>When Nelly Lebrun raised her head from her hands, Donnegan was a far +figure; yet even in the distance she could catch the lilt and easy sway +of his body; he rode as he walked, lightly, his feet in the stirrups +half taking his weight in a semi-English fashion. For a moment she was +on the verge of spurring after him, but she kept the rein taut and +merely stared until he dipped away among the hills. For one thing she +was quite assured that she could not overtake that hard rider; and, +again, she felt that it was useless to interfere. To step between Lord +Nick and one of his purposes would have been like stepping before an +avalanche and commanding it to halt with a raised hand.</p> + +<p>She watched miserably until even the dust cloud dissolved and the bare, +brown hills alone remained before her. Then she turned away, and hour +after hour let her black jog on.</p> + +<p>To Nelly Lebrun this day was one of those still times which come over +the life of a person, and in which they see themselves in relation to +the rest of the world clearly. It would not be true to say that Nelly +loved Donnegan. Certainly not as yet, for the familiar figure of Lord +Nick filled her imagination. But the little man was different. Lord +Nick commanded respect, admiration, obedience; but there was about +Donnegan something which touched her in an intimate and disturbing +manner. She had felt the will-o'-the-wisp flame which burned in him in +his great moments. It was possible for her to smile at Donnegan; it was +possible even to pity him for his fragility, his touchy pride about his +size; to criticize his fondness for taking the center of the stage even +in a cheap little mining camp like this and strutting about, the center +of all attention. Yet there were qualities in him which escaped her, a +possibility of metallic hardness, a pitiless fire of purpose.</p> + +<p>To Lord Nick, he was as the bull terrier to the mastiff.</p> + +<p>But above all she could not dislodge the memory of his strange talk with +her at Lebrun's. Not that she did not season the odd avowals of Donnegan +with a grain of salt, but even when she had discounted all that he said, +she retained a quivering interest. Somewhere beneath his words she +sensed reality. Somewhere beneath his actions she felt a selfless +willingness to throw himself away.</p> + +<p>As she rode she was comparing him steadily with Lord Nick. And as she +made the comparisons she felt more and more assured that she could pick +and choose between the two. They loved her, both of them. With Nick it +was an old story; with Donnegan it might be equally true in spite of its +newness. And Nelly Lebrun felt rich. Not that she would have been +willing to give up Lord Nick. By no means. But neither was she willing +to throw away Donnegan. Diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. +Which handful must she discard?</p> + +<p>She remained riding an unconscionable length of time, and when she drew +rein again before her father's house, the black was flecked with foam +from his clamped bit, and there was a thick lather under the stirrup +leathers. She threw the reins to the servant who answered her call and +went slowly into the house.</p> + +<p>Donnegan, by this time, was dead. She began to feel that it would be +hard to look Lord Nick in the face again. His other killings had often +seemed to her glorious. She had rejoiced in the invincibility of her +lover.</p> + +<p>Now he suddenly took on the aspect of a murderer.</p> + +<p>She found the house hushed. Perhaps everyone was at the gaming house; +for now it was midafternoon. But when she opened the door to the +apartment which they used as a living room she found Joe Rix and the +Pedlar and Lester sitting side by side, silent. There was no whisky in +sight; there were no cards to be seen. Marvel of marvels, these three +men were spending their time in solemn thought. A sudden thought rushed +over her, and her cry told where her heart really lay, at least at this +time.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick—has he been—"</p> + +<p>The Pedlar lifted his gaunt head and stared at her without expression. +It was Joe Rix who answered.</p> + +<p>"Nick's upstairs."</p> + +<p>"Safe?"</p> + +<p>"Not a scratch."</p> + +<p>She sank into a chair with a sigh, but was instantly on edge again with +the second thought.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Safe and sound," said Lester coldly.</p> + +<p>She could not gather the truth of the statement.</p> + +<p>"Then Nick got Landis back before Donnegan returned?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Like any other girl, Nelly Lebrun hated a puzzle above all things in the +world, at least a puzzle which affected her new friends.</p> + +<p>"Lester, what's happened?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>At this Lester, who had been brooding upon the floor, raised his eyes +and then switched one leg over the other. He was a typical cowman, was +Lester, from his crimson handkerchief knotted around his throat to his +shop-made boots which fitted slenderly about his instep with the care of +a gloved hand.</p> + +<p>"I dunno what happened," said Lester. "Which looks like what counts is +the things that didn't happen. Landis is still with that devil, Macon. +Donnegan is loose without a scratch, and Lord Nick is in his room with a +face as black as a cloudy night."</p> + +<p>And briefly he described how Lord Nick had gone up the hill, seen the +colonel, come back, taken a horse litter, and gone up the hill again, +while the populace of The Corner waited for a crash. For Donnegan had +arrived in the meantime. And how Nick had gone into the cabin, remained +a singularly long time, and then come out, with a face half white and +half red and an eye that dared anyone to ask questions. He had strode +straight home to Lebrun's and gone to his room; and there he remained, +never making a sound.</p> + +<p>"But I'll give you my way of readin' the sign on that trail," said +Lester. "Nick goes up the hill to clean up on Donnegan. He sees him; +they size each other up in a flash; they figure that if they's a gun it +means a double killin'—and they simply haul off and say a perlite +fare-thee-well."</p> + +<p>The girl paid no attention to these remarks. She was sunk in a brown +study.</p> + +<p>"There's something behind it all," she said, more to herself than to the +men. "Nick is proud as the devil himself. And I can't imagine why he'd +let Donnegan go. Oh, it might have been done if they'd met alone in the +desert. But with the whole town looking on and waiting for Nick to clean +up on Donnegan—no, it isn't possible. There must have been a showdown +of some kind."</p> + +<p>There was a grim little silence after this.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there was," said the Pedlar dryly. "Maybe there was a +showdown—and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a +six-year-old broke down in front."</p> + +<p>She stared at him, first astonished, and then almost frightened.</p> + +<p>"You mean that Nick may have taken water?"</p> + +<p>The three, as one man, shrugged their shoulders, and met her glance with +cold eyes.</p> + +<p>"You fools!" cried the girl, springing to her feet. "He'd rather die!"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix leaned forward, and to emphasize his point he stabbed one dirty +forefinger into the fat palm of his other hand.</p> + +<p>"You just start thinkin' back," he said solemnly, "and you'll remember +that Donnegan has done some pretty slick things."</p> + +<p>Lester added with a touch of contempt: "Like shootin' down Landis one +day and then sittin' down and havin' a nice long chat with you the next. +I dunno how he does it."</p> + +<p>"That hunch of yours," said the girl fiercely, "ought to be roped and +branded—lie! Lester, don't look at me like that. And if you think Nick +has lost his grip on things you're dead wrong. Step light, Lester—and +the rest of you. Or Nick may hear you walk—and think."</p> + +<p>She flung out of the room and raced up the stairs to Lord Nick's room. +There was an interval without response after her first knock. But when +she rapped again he called out to know who was there. At her answer she +heard his heavy stride cross the room, and the door opened slowly. His +face, as she looked up to it, was so changed that she hardly knew him. +His hair was unkempt, on end, where he had sat with his fingers thrust +into it, buried in thought. And the marks of his palms were red upon his +forehead.</p> + +<p>"Nick," she whispered, frightened, "what is it?"</p> + +<p>He looked down half fiercely, half sadly at her. And though his lips +parted they closed again before he spoke. Fear jumped coldly in Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"Did Donnegan—" she pleaded, white-faced. "Did he—"</p> + +<p>"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn't. That's what +everybody'll say. I know it, don't I? And that's why I'm staying here by +myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his +face, why—I'll break him in two."</p> + +<p>She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick +should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much +for credence.</p> + +<p>"You know I don't believe it, Nick? You know that I'm not doubting you?"</p> + +<p>But he brushed her hands roughly away.</p> + +<p>"You want to know what it's all about? Then go over to—well, to +Milligan's. Donnegan will be there. He'll explain things to you, I +guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I'll come over later and join +you."</p> + +<p>Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, +she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless.</p> + +<p>"Nick, dear—" she pleaded.</p> + +<p>He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back +across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire +had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had +robbed him of it.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="36"></a><h2>36</h2> +<br> + + +<p>It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because +the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last +moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed +across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great +and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no +more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the +sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from +the first thrill of finding him not devil but man.</p> + +<p>Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick +or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; +for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she +wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the +invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His +love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a +superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly +visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came +to her eyes at the thought.</p> + +<p>Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her +room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no +one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn +to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt +her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most +lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by +this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring +Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale +under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the +love which he offered her?</p> + +<p>She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But +nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that +night.</p> + +<p>As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with +Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness +of the men, were what she pictured.</p> + +<p>In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, +Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and +file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could +readily control and subdue.</p> + +<p>To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At +the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual +murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any +chance.</p> + +<p>"Nelly, there's going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know +why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is +losing his head; he's losing it over you. So play your cards."</p> + +<p>"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly.</p> + +<p>"I've said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again. +But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick's star to be past +its full glory.</p> + +<p>Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan's and left +her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor.</p> + +<p>"I'm waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her +table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner—full of the +subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What +had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they +would all know in time: one thing was certain—Lord Nick had not taken +water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of +some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into +the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun. +Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and +regretted that he had interrupted.</p> + +<p>"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to +the girl.</p> + +<p>She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, +but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her +game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in +his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she +thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, +but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she +felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have +learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan's shack when Lord Nick +was there.</p> + +<p>"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said. +"This time it's five minutes."</p> + +<p>No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly.</p> + +<p>"When I talk about myself, I'm always long-winded."</p> + +<p>"Tonight it's someone else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as +bright as ever.</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm listening."</p> + +<p>"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?"</p> + +<p>"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's a lovely child."</p> + +<p>And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had +hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but +he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly.</p> + +<p>He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said the girl a little coldly.</p> + +<p>Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played +it to the full.</p> + +<p>"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick +went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting +for him to bring the youngster down?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"There was only one obstacle—which you had so kindly removed—myself."</p> + +<p>"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"Ah, don't you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came +to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so."</p> + +<p>Such frankness shocked her into a new attention.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her +heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times +rather die than give way to any living man.</p> + +<p>"But I threw my case bodily before him—the girl—her love for +Landis—and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you +know, if he were sent back to your father's house. I placed it all +before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed +to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter +be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man +would see in my attitude nothing but foolishness. No man could have +appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named +another referee—yourself."</p> + +<p>She gasped.</p> + +<p>"And so I have come to place the question before you, because I know +that you will decide honestly."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall be honest," said the girl.</p> + +<p>She was thinking: Why not have Landis back? It would keep the three men +revolving around her. Landis on his feet and well would have been +nothing; either of these men would have killed him. But Landis sick she +might balance in turn against them both. Nelly had the instincts of a +fencer; she loved balance.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan was heaping up his effects. For by the shadow in her eyes +he well knew what was passing through her mind, and he dared not let her +speak too quickly.</p> + +<p>"There is more hanging upon it. In the first place, if Landis is left +with the girl it gives the colonel a chance to work on him, and like as +not the colonel will get the young fool to sign away the mines to +him—frighten him, you see, though I've made sure that the colonel will +not actually harm him."</p> + +<p>"How have you made sure? They say the colonel is a devil."</p> + +<p>"I have spoken with him. The colonel is not altogether without +sensibility to fear."</p> + +<p>She caught the glint in the little man's eye and she believed.</p> + +<p>"So much for that. Landis is safe, but his money may not be. Another +thing still hangs upon your decision. Lord Nick wanted to know why I +trusted to you? Because I felt you were honest. Why did I feel that? +There was nothing to do. Besides, how could I conceal myself from such a +man? I spoke frankly and told him that I trusted you because I love +you."</p> + +<p>She closed her hand hard on the edge of the table to steady herself.</p> + +<p>"And he made no move at you?"</p> + +<p>"He restrained himself."</p> + +<p>"Lord Nick?" gasped the incredulous girl.</p> + +<p>"He is a gentleman," said Donnegan with a singular pride which she could +not understand.</p> + +<p>He went on: "And unfortunately I fear that if you decide in favor of my +side of the argument, I fear that Lord Nick will feel that you—that +you—"</p> + +<p>He was apparently unable to complete his sentence.</p> + +<p>"He will feel that you no longer care for him," said Donnegan at length.</p> + +<p>The girl pondered him with cloudy eyes.</p> + +<p>"What is behind all this frankness?" she asked coldly.</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you. Hopelessness is behind it. Last night I poured my +heart at your feet. And I had hope. Today I have seen Lord Nick and I no +longer hope."</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"He is worthy of a lovely woman's affection; and I—" He called her +attention to himself with a deprecatory gesture.</p> + +<p>"Do you ask me to hurt him like this?" said the girl. "His pride is the +pride of the fiend. Love me? He would hate me!"</p> + +<p>"It might be true. Still I know you would risk it, because—" he paused.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked the girl, whispering in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Because you are a lady."</p> + +<p>He bowed to her.</p> + +<p>"Because you are fair; because you are honest, Nelly Lebrun. Personally +I think that you can win Lord Nick back with one minute of smiling. But +you might not. You might alienate him forever. It will be clumsy to +explain to him that you were influenced not by me, but by justice. He +will make it a personal matter, whereas you and I know that it is only +the right that you are seeing."</p> + +<p>She propped her chin on the tips of her fingers, and her arm was a thing +of grace. For the last moments that clouded expression had not cleared.</p> + +<p>"If I only could read your mind," she murmured now. "There is something +behind it all."</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you what it is. It is the restraint that has fallen upon +me. It is because I wish to lean closer to you across the table and +speak to you of things which are at the other end of the world from +Landis and the other girl. It is because I have to keep my hands gripped +hard to control myself. Because, though I have given up hope, I would +follow a forlorn chance, a lost cause, and tell you again and again that +I love you, Nelly Lebrun!"</p> + +<p>He had half lowered his eyes as he spoke; he had called up a vision, and +the face of Lou Macon hovered dimly between him and Nelly Lebrun. If all +that he spoke was a lie, let him be forgiven for it; it was the +golden-haired girl whom he addressed, and it was she who gave the tremor +and the fiber to his voice. And after all was he not pleading for her +happiness as he believed?</p> + +<p>He covered his eyes with his hand; but when he looked up again she could +see the shadow of the pain which was slowly passing. She had never seen +such emotion in any man's face, and if it was for another, how could she +guess it? Her blood was singing in her veins, and the old, old question +was flying back and forth through her brain like a shuttle through a +loom: Which shall it be?</p> + +<p>She called up the picture of Lord Nick, half-broken, but still terrible, +she well knew. She pitied him, but when did pity wholly rule the heart +of a woman? And as for Nelly Lebrun, she had the ambition of a young +Caesar; she could not fill a second place. He who loved her must stand +first, and she saw Donnegan as the invincible man. She had not believed +half of his explanation. No, he was shielding Lord Nick; behind that +shield the truth was that the big man had quailed before the small.</p> + +<p>Of course she saw that Donnegan, pretending to be constrained by his +agreement with Lord Nick, was in reality cunningly pleading his own +cause. But his passion excused him. When has a woman condemned a man for +loving her beyond the rules of fair play?</p> + +<p>"Whatever you may decide," Donnegan was saying. "I shall be prepared to +stand by it without a murmur. Send Landis back to your father's house +and I submit: I leave The Corner and say farewell. But now, think +quickly. For Lord Nick is coming to receive your answer."</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="37"></a><h2>37</h2> +<br> + +<p>If the meeting between Lord Nick and Donnegan earlier that day had +wrought up the nerves of The Corner to the point of hysteria; if the +singular end of that meeting had piled mystery upon excitement; if the +appearance of Donnegan, sitting calmly at the table of the girl who was +known to be engaged to Nick, had further stimulated public curiosity, +the appearance of Lord Nick was now a crowning burden under which The +Corner staggered.</p> + +<p>Yet not a man or a woman stirred from his chair, for everyone knew that +if the long-delayed battle between these two gunfighters was at length +to take place, neither bullet was apt to fly astray.</p> + +<p>But what happened completed the wreck of The Corner's nerves, for Lord +Nick walked quietly across the floor and sat down with Nelly Lebrun and +his somber rival.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, he looked at Donnegan, not at the girl, and this token of +the beaten man decided her.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I have decided," said the girl. "Landis should stay where he is."</p> + +<p>Neither of the two men stirred hand or eye. But Lord Nick turned gray. +At length he rose and asked Donnegan, quietly, to step aside with him. +Seeing them together, the difference between their sizes was more +apparent: Donnegan seemed hardly larger than a child beside the splendid +bulk of Lord Nick. But she could not overhear their talk.</p> + +<p>"You've won," said Lord Nick, "both Landis and Nelly. And—"</p> + +<p>"Wait," broke in Donnegan eagerly. "Henry, I've persuaded Nelly to see +my side of the case, but that doesn't mean that she has turned from you +to—"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" put in Lord Nick, between his teeth. "I've not come to argue +with you or ask advice or opinions. I've come to state facts. You've +crawled in between me and Nelly like a snake in the grass. Very well. +You're my brother. That keeps me from handling you. You've broken my +reputation just as I said you would do. The bouncer at the door looked +me in the eye and smiled when I came in."</p> + +<p>He had to pause a little, breathing heavily, and avoiding Donnegan's +eyes. Finally he was able to continue.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to roll my blankets and leave The Corner and everything I +have in it. You'll get my share of most things, it seems." He smiled +after a ghastly, mirthless fashion. "I give you a free road. I surrender +everything to you, Donnegan. But there are two things I want to warn you +about. It may be that my men will not agree with me. It may be that +they'll want to put up a fight for the mine. They can't get at it +without getting at Macon. They can't get at him without removing you. +And they'll probably try it. I warn you now.</p> + +<p>"Another thing: from this moment there's no blood tie between us. I've +found a brother and lost him in the same day. And if I ever cross you +again, Donnegan, I'll shoot you on sight. Remember, I'm not threatening. +I simply warn you in advance. If I were you, I'd get out of the country. +Avoid me, Donnegan, as you'd avoid the devil."</p> + +<p>And he turned on his heel. He felt the eyes of the people in the room +follow him by jerks, dwelling on every one of his steps. Near the door, +stepping aside to avoid a group of people coming in, he half turned and +he could not avoid the sight of Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun at the other +end of the room. He was leaning across the table, talking with a smile +on his lips—at that distance he could not mark the pallor of the little +man's face—and Nelly Lebrun was laughing. Laughing already, and +oblivious of the rest of the world.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick turned, a blur coming before his eyes, and made blindly for +the door. A body collided with him; without a word he drew back his +massive right fist and knocked the man down. The stunned body struck +against the wall and collapsed along the floor. Lord Nick felt a great +madness swell in his heart. Yet he set his teeth, controlled himself, +and went on toward the house of Lebrun. He had come within an eyelash of +running amuck, and the quivering hunger for action was still swelling +and ebbing in him when he reached the gambler's house.</p> + +<p>Lebrun was not in the gaming house, no doubt, at this time of night—but +the rest of Nick's chosen men were there. They stood up as he entered +the room—Harry Masters, newly arrived—the Pedlar—Joe Rix—three names +famous in the mountain desert for deeds which were not altogether a +pleasant aroma in the nostrils of the law-abiding, but whose sins had +been deftly covered from legal proof by the cunning of Nick, and whose +bravery itself had half redeemed them. They rose now as three wolves +rise at the coming of the leader. But this time there was a question +behind their eyes, and he read it in gloomy silence.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Harry Masters.</p> + +<p>In the old days not one of them would have dared to voice the question, +but now things were changing, and well Lord Nick could read the change +and its causes.</p> + +<p>"Are you talking to me?" asked Nick, and he looked straight between the +eyes of Masters.</p> + +<p>The glance of the other did not falter, and it maddened Nick.</p> + +<p>"I'm talking to you," said Masters coolly enough. "What happened between +you and Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"What should happen?" asked Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"Maybe all this is a joke," said Masters bitterly. He was a square-built +man, with a square face and a wrinkled, fleshy forehead. In +intelligence, Nick ranked him first among the men. And if a new leader +were to be chosen there was no doubt as to where the choice of the men +would fall. No doubt that was why Masters put himself forward now, ready +to brave the wrath of the chief. "Maybe we're fooled," went on Masters. +"Maybe they ain't any call for you to fall out with Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe there's a call to find out this," answered Lord Nick. "Why did +you leave the mines? What are you doing up here?"</p> + +<p>The other swallowed so hard that he blinked.</p> + +<p>"I left the mines," he declared through his set teeth, "because I was +run off 'em."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Lord Nick, for the devil was rising in him, "I always had an +idea that you might be yellow, Masters."</p> + +<p>The right hand of Masters swayed toward his gun, hesitated, and then +poised idly.</p> + +<p>"You heard me talk?" persisted Lord Nick brutally. "I call you yellow. +Why don't you draw on me? I called you yellow, you swine, and I call the +rest of you yellow. You think you have me down? Why, curse you, if there +were thirty of your cut, I'd say the same to you!"</p> + +<p>There was a quick shift, the three men faced Lord Nick, but each from a +different angle. And opposing them, he stood superbly indifferent, his +arms folded, his feet braced. His arms were folded, but each hand, for +all they knew, might be grasping the butt of a gun hidden away in his +clothes. Once they flashed a glance from face to face; but there was no +action. They were remembering only too well some of the wild deeds of +this giant.</p> + +<p>"You think I'm through," went on Lord Nick. "Maybe I am—through with +you. You hear me talk?"</p> + +<p>One by one, his eyes dared them, and one by one they took up the +challenge, struggled, and lowered their glances. He was still their +master and in that mute moment the three admitted it, the Pedlar last of +all.</p> + +<p>Masters saw fit to fall back on the last remark.</p> + +<p>"I've swallowed a lot from you, Nick," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there'll be an end to what we take one of these days. But now +I'll tell you how yellow I was. A couple of gents come to me and tell me +I'm through at the mine. I told them they were crazy. They said old +Colonel Macon had sent them down to take charge. I laughed at 'em. They +went away and came back. Who with? With the sheriff. And he flashed a +paper on me. It was all drawn up clean as a whistle. Trimmed up with a +lot of 'whereases' and 'as hereinbefore mentioned' and such like things. +But the sheriff just gimme a look and then he tells me what it's about. +Jack Landis has signed over all the mines to the colonel and the +colonel has taken possession."</p> + +<p>As he stopped, a growl came from the others.</p> + +<p>"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick. "Where do +the rest of you figure in it? Lester had the mines; he lost 'em because +he couldn't drop Landis with his gun. He'd never have had a smell of the +gold if I hadn't come in. Who made Landis see light? I did! Who worked +it so that every nickel that came out of the mines went through the +fingers of Landis and came back to us? I did! But I'm through with you. +You can hunt for yourselves now. I've kept you together to guard one +another's backs. I've kept the law off your trail. You, Masters, you'd +have swung for killing the McKay brothers. Who saved you? Who was it +bribed the jury that tried you for the shooting up of Derbyville, +Pedlar? Who took the marshal off your trail after you'd knifed Lefty +Waller, Joe Rix? I've saved you all a dozen times. Now you whine at me. +I'm through with you forever!"</p> + +<p>Stopping, he glared about him. His knuckles stung from the impact of the +blow he had delivered in Milligan's place. He hungered to have one of +these three stir a hand and get into action.</p> + +<p>And they knew it. All at once they crumbled and became clay in his +hands.</p> + +<p>"Chief," said Joe Rix, the smoothest spoken of the lot, and one who was +supposed to stand specially well with Lord Nick on account of his +ability to bake beans, Spanish. "Chief, you've said a whole pile. You're +worth more'n the rest of us all rolled together. Sure. We know that. +There ain't any argument. But here's just one little point that I want +to make.</p> + +<p>"We was doing fine. The gold was running fine and free. Along comes this +Donnegan. He busts up our good time. He forks in on your girl—"</p> + +<p>A convulsion of the chief's face made Rix waver in his speech and then +he went on: "He shoots Landis, and when he misses killing him—by some +accident, he comes down here and grabs him out of Lebrun's own house. +Smooth, eh? Then he makes Landis sign that deed to the mines. Oh, very +nice work, I say. Too nice.</p> + +<p>"'Now, speakin' man to man, they ain't any doubt that you'd like to get +rid of Donnegan. Why don't you? Because everybody has a jinx, and he's +yours. I ain't easy scared, maybe, but I knew an albino with white eyes +once, and just to look at him made me some sick. Well, chief, they ain't +nobody can say that you ever took water or ever will. But maybe the fact +that this Donnegan has hair just as plumb red as yours may sort of get +you off your feed. I'm just suggesting. Now, what I say is, let the rest +of us take a crack at Donnegan, and you sit back and come in on the +results when we've cleaned up. D'you give us a free road?"</p> + +<p>How much went through the brain of Lord Nick? But in the end he gave his +brother up to death. For he remembered how Nelly Lebrun had sat in +Milligan's laughing.</p> + +<p>"Do what you want," he said suddenly. "But I want to know none of your +plans—and the man that tells me Donnegan is dead gets paid—in lead!"</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="38"></a><h2>38</h2> +<br> + +<p>The smile of Joe Rix was the smile of a diplomat. It could be maintained +upon his face as unwaveringly as if it were wrought out of marble while +Joe heard insult and lie. As a matter of fact Joe had smiled in the face +of death more than once, and this is a school through which even +diplomats rarely pass. Yet it was with an effort that he maintained the +characteristic good-natured expression when the door to Donnegan's shack +opened and he saw big George and, beyond him, Donnegan himself.</p> + +<p>"Booze," said Joe Rix to himself instantly.</p> + +<p>For Donnegan was a wreck. The unshaven beard—it was the middle of +morning—was a reddish mist over his face. His eyes were sunken in +shadow. His hair was uncombed. He sat with his shoulders hunched up like +one who suffers from cold. Altogether his appearance was that of one +whose energy has been utterly sapped.</p> + +<p>"The top of the morning, Mr. Donnegan," said Joe Rix, and put his foot +on the threshold.</p> + +<p>But since big George did not move it was impossible to enter.</p> + +<p>"Who's there?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was a strange question to ask, for by raising his eyes he could have +seen. But Donnegan was staring down at the floor. Even his voice was a +weak murmur.</p> + +<p>"What a party! What a party he's had!" thought Joe Rix, and after all, +there was cause for a celebration. Had not the little man in almost one +stroke won the heart of the prettiest girl in The Corner, and also did +he not probably have a working share in the richest of the diggings?</p> + +<p>"I'm Joe Rix," he said.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix?" murmured Donnegan softly. "Then you're one of Lord Nick's +men?"</p> + +<p>"I was," said Joe Rix, "sort of attached to him, maybe."</p> + +<p>Perhaps this pointed remark won the interest of Donnegan. He raised his +eyes, and Joe Rix beheld the most unhappy face he had ever seen. "A bad +hangover," he decided, "and that makes it bad for me!"</p> + +<p>"Come in," said Donnegan in the same monotonous, lifeless voice.</p> + +<p>Big George reluctantly, it seemed, withdrew to one side, and Rix was +instantly in the room and drawing out a chair so that he could face +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I was," he proceeded "sort of tied up with Lord Nick. But"—and here he +winked broadly—"it ain't much of a secret that Nick ain't altogether a +lord any more. Nope. Seems he turned out sort of common, they say."</p> + +<p>"What fool," murmured Donnegan, "has told you that? What ass had told +you that Lord Nick is a common sort?"</p> + +<p>It shocked Joe Rix, but being a diplomat he avoided friction by changing +his tactics.</p> + +<p>"Between you and me," he said calmly enough, "I took what I heard with a +grain of salt. There's something about Nick that ain't common, no matter +what they say. Besides, they's some men that nobody but a fool would +stand up to. It ain't hardly a shame for a man to back down from 'em."</p> + +<p>He pointed this remark with a nod to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a bit of free information," said the little man, with his +weary eyes lighted a little. "There's no man on the face of the earth +who could make Lord Nick back down."</p> + +<p>Once more Joe Rix was shocked to the verge of gaping, but again he +exercised a power of marvelous self control "About that," he remarked +as pointedly as before, "I got my doubts. Because there's some things +that any gent with sense will always clear away from. Maybe not one +man—but say a bunch of all standin' together."</p> + +<p>Donnegan leaned back in his chair and waited. Both of his hands remained +drooping from the edge of the table, and the tired eyes drifted slowly +across the face of Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>It was obviously not the aftereffects of liquor. The astonishing +possibility occurred to Joe Rix that this seemed to be a man with a +broken spirit and a great sorrow. He blinked that absurdity away.</p> + +<p>"Coming to cases," he went on, "there's yourself, Mr. Donnegan. Now, +you're the sort of a man that don't sidestep nobody. Too proud to do it. +But even you, I guess, would step careful if there was a whole bunch +agin' you."</p> + +<p>"No doubt," remarked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean any ordinary bunch," explained Joe Rix, "but a lot of hard +fellows. Gents that handle their guns like they was born with a holster +on the hip."</p> + +<p>"Fellows like Nick's crowd," suggested Donnegan quietly.</p> + +<p>At this thrust the eyes of Joe narrowed a little.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he admitted, "I see you get my drift."</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"Two hard fighters would give the best man that ever pulled a gun a lot +of trouble. Eh?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt."</p> + +<p>"And three men—they ain't any question, Mr. Donnegan—would get him +ready for a hole in the ground."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"And four men would make it no fight—jest a plain butchery."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Now, I don't mean that Nick's crowd has any hard feeling about you, Mr. +Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to hear that."</p> + +<p>"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things +over. Suppose you look at it this way—"</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut +this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley.</p> + +<p>"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester +and the rest of us want—the mines!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get +'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel +while you're around."</p> + +<p>"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's +kind of you to warn me."</p> + +<p>"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in +a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our +side."</p> + +<p>"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Donnegan," said the other, spreading out his hands solemnly on the +table, "you ain't doin' us justice. We don't hanker none for trouble +with you. Any way it comes, a fight with you means somebody dead besides +you. We'd get you. Four to one is too much for any man. But one or two +of us might go down. Who would it be? Maybe the Pedlar, maybe Harry +Masters, maybe Lester, maybe me! Oh, we know all that. No gunplay if we +can keep away from it."</p> + +<p>"You've left out the name of Lord Nick," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Joe Rix winked.</p> + +<p>"Seems like you tended to him once and for all when you got him alone in +this cabin. Must have thrown a mighty big scare into him. He won't lift +a hand agin' you now."</p> + +<p>"No?" murmured Donnegan hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Not him! But that leaves four of us, and four is plenty, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps."</p> + +<p>"But I'm not here to insist on that point. No, we put a value on keepin' +up good feeling between us and you, Mr. Donnegan. We ain't fools. We +know a man when we see him—and the fastest gunman that ever slid a gun +out of leather ain't the sort of a man that me and the rest of the boys +pass over lightly. Not us! We know you, Mr. Donnegan; we respect you; we +want you with us; we're going to have you with us."</p> + +<p>"You flatter me and I thank you. But I'm glad to see that you are at +last coming to the point."</p> + +<p>"I am, and the point is five thousand dollars that's tied behind the +hoss that stands outside your door."</p> + +<p>He pushed his fat hand a little way across the table, as though the gold +even then were resting in it, a yellow tide of fortune.</p> + +<p>"For which," said Donnegan, "I'm to step aside and let you at the +colonel?"</p> + +<p>"Right."</p> + +<p>Donnegan smiled.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Joe Rix. "I was makin' a first offer to see how you stood, +but you're right. Five thousand ain't enough and we ain't cheapskates. +Not us. Mr. Donnegan, they's ten thousand cold iron men behind that +saddle out there and every cent of it belongs to you when you come over +on our side."</p> + +<p>But Donnegan merely dropped his chin upon his hand and smiled +mirthlessly at Joe Rix. A wild thought came to the other man. Both of +Donnegan's hands were far from his weapons. Why not a quick draw, a snap +shot, and then the glory of having killed this manslayer in single +battle for Joe Rix?</p> + +<p>The thought rushed red across his brain and then faded slowly. Something +kept him back. Perhaps it was the singular calm of Donnegan; no matter +how quiet he sat he suggested the sleeping cat which can leap out of +dead sleep into fighting action at a touch. By the time a second thought +had come to Joe Rix the idea of an attack was like an idea of suicide.</p> + +<p>"Is that final?" he asked, though Donnegan had not said a word.</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>Joe Rix stood up.</p> + +<p>"You put it to us kind of hard. But we want you, Mr. Donnegan. And +here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Come over to us. We'll stand +behind you. Lord Nick is slipping. We'll put you in his place. You won't +even have to face him; we'll get rid of him."</p> + +<p>"You'll kill him and give his place to me?" asked Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"We will. And when you're with us, you cut in on the whole amount of +coin that the mines turn out—and it'll be something tidy. And right +now, to show where we stand and how high we put you, I'll let you in on +the rock-bottom truth. Mr. Donnegan. out there tied behind my saddle +there's thirty thousand dollars in pure gold. You can take it in here +and weigh it out!"</p> + +<p>He stepped back to watch this blow take effect. To his unutterable +astonishment the little man had not moved. His chin still rested upon +the back of his hand, and the smile which was on the lips and not in the +eyes of Donnegan remained there, fixed.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan," muttered Joe Rix, "if we can't get you, we'll get rid of +you. You understand?"</p> + +<p>But the other continued to smile.</p> + +<p>It gave Joe Rix a shuddering feeling that someone was stealing behind +him to block his way to the door. He cast one swift glance over his +shoulder and then, seeing that the way was clear, he slunk back, always +keeping his face to the red-headed man. But when he came to the doorway +his nerve collapsed. He whirled, covered the rest of the distance with a +leap, and emerged from the cabin in a fashion ludicrously like one who +has been kicked through a door.</p> + +<p>His nerve returned as soon as the sunlight fell warmly upon him again; +and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had observed his flight.</p> + +<p>There was no one on the whole hillside except Colonel Macon in the +invalid chair, and the colonel was smiling broadly, beneficently. He had +his perfect hands folded across his breast and seemed to cast a prayer +of peace and goodwill upon Joe Rix.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="39"></a><h2>39</h2> +<br> + +<p>Nelly Lebrun smelled danger. She sensed it as plainly as the deer when +the puma comes between her and the wind. The many tokens that something +was wrong came to her by small hints which had to be put together before +they assumed any importance.</p> + +<p>First of all, her father, who should have burst out at her in a tirade +for having left Lord Nick for Donnegan said nothing at all, but kept a +dark smile on his face when she was near him. He even insinuated that +Nick's time was done and that another was due to supersede him.</p> + +<p>In the second place, she had passed into a room where Masters, Joe Rix, +and the Pedlar sat cheek by jowl in close conference with a hum of deep +voice. But at her appearance all talk was broken off.</p> + +<p>It was not strange that they should not invite her into their confidence +if they had some dark work ahead of them; but it was exceedingly +suspicious that Joe Rix attempted to pass off their whispers by +immediately breaking off the soft talk and springing into the midst of a +full-fledged jest; also, it was strangest of all that when the jest +ended even the Pedlar, who rarely smiled, now laughed uproariously and +smote Joe soundingly upon the back.</p> + +<p>Even a child could have strung these incidents into a chain of evidence +which pointed toward danger. Obviously the danger was not directly hers, +but then it must be directed at some one near to her. Her father? No, he +was more apt to be the mainspring of their action. Lord Nick? There was +nothing to gain by attacking him. Who was left? Donnegan!</p> + +<p>As the realization came upon her it took her breath away for a moment. +Donnegan was the man. At breakfast everyone had been talking about him. +Lebrun had remarked that he had a face for the cards—emotionless. Joe +Rix had commented upon his speed of hand, and the Pedlar had +complimented the little man on his dress.</p> + +<p>But at lunch not a word was spoken about Donnegan even after she had +dexterously introduced the subject twice. Why the sudden silence? +Between morning and noon Donnegan must have grievously offended them.</p> + +<p>Fear for his sake stimulated her; but above and beyond this, indeed, +there was a mighty feminine curiosity. She smelled the secret; it reeked +through the house, and she was devoured by eagerness to know. She +handpicked Lord Nick's gang in the hope of finding a weakness among +them; some weakness upon which she could play in one of them and draw +out what they were all concealing. The Pedlar was as unapproachable as a +crag on a mountaintop. Masters was wise as an outlaw broncho. Lester was +probably not even in the confidence of the others because since the +affair with Landis his nerve had been shattered to bits and the others +secretly despised him for being beaten by the youngster at the draw. +There remained, therefore, only Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>But Joe Rix was a fox of the first quality. He lied with the smoothness +of silk. He could show a dozen colors in as many moments. Come to the +windward of Joe Rix? It was a delicate business! But since there was +nothing else to do, she fixed her mind upon it, working out this puzzle. +Joe Rix wished to destroy Donnegan for reasons that were evidently +connected with the mines. And she must step into his confidence to +discover his plans. How should it be done? And there was a vital need +for speed, for they might be within a step of executing whatever +mischief it was that they were planning.</p> + +<p>She went down from her room; they were there still, only Joe Rix was +not with them. She went to the apartment where he and the other three of +Nick's gang slept and rapped at the door. He maintained his smile when +he saw her, but there was an uncertain quiver of his eyebrows that told +her much. Plainly he was ill at ease. Suspicious? Ay, there were always +clouds of suspicion drifting over the red, round face of Joe Rix. She +put a tremor of excitement and trouble in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Come into my room, Joe, where we won't be interrupted."</p> + +<p>He followed her without a word, and since she led the way she was able +to relax her expression for a necessary moment. When she closed the door +behind him and faced Joe again she was once more ready to step into her +part. She did not ask him to sit down. She remained for a moment with +her hand on the knob and searched the face of Joe Rix eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he can hear?" she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Who but Lord Nick!" she exclaimed softly.</p> + +<p>The bewilderment of Joe clouded his face a second and then he was able +to smooth it away. What on earth was the reason of her concern about +Lord Nick he was obviously wondering.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why," she said, answering the unspoken question at once. +"He's as jealous as the devil, Joe!"</p> + +<p>The fat little man sighed as he looked at her.</p> + +<p>"He can't hear. Not through that log wall. But we'll talk soft, if you +want."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down. He's already jealous of you, Joe."</p> + +<p>"Of me?"</p> + +<p>"He knows I like you, that I trust you; and just now he's on edge about +everyone I look at."</p> + +<p>The surprising news which the first part of this sentence contained +caused Joe to gape, and the girl looked away in concern, enabling him to +control his expression. For she knew well enough that men hate to appear +foolishly surprised. And particularly a fox like Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"But what's the trouble, Nelly?" He added with a touch of venom: "I +thought everything was going smoothly with you. And I thought you +weren't worrying much about what Lord Nick had in his mind."</p> + +<p>She stared at him as though astonished.</p> + +<p>"Do you think just the same as the rest of them?" she asked sadly. "Do +you mean to say that you're fooled just the same as Harry Masters and +the Pedlar and the rest of those fools—including Nick himself?"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix was by no means willing to declare himself a fool beforehand. He +now mustered a look of much reserved wisdom.</p> + +<p>"I have my own doubts, Nell, but I'm not talking about them."</p> + +<p>He was so utterly at sea that she had to bite her lip hard to keep from +breaking into ringing laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew that you'd seen through it, Joe," she cried softly. "You see +what an awful mess I've gotten into?"</p> + +<p>He passed a hurried hand across his forehead and then looked at her +searchingly. But he could not penetrate her pretense of concern.</p> + +<p>"No matter what I think," said Joe Rix, "you come out with it frankly. +I'll listen."</p> + +<p>"As a friend, Joe?"</p> + +<p>She managed to throw a plea into her voice that made Joe sigh.</p> + +<p>"Sure. You've already said that I'm your friend, and you're right."</p> + +<p>"I'm in terrible, terrible trouble! You know how it happened. I was a +fool. I tried to play with Lord Nick. And now he thinks I was in +earnest."</p> + +<p>As though the strength of his legs had given way, Joe Rix slipped down +into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Go on," he said huskily. "You were playing with Lord Nick?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you put yourself in my place, Joe? It's always been taken for +granted that I'm to marry Nick. And the moment he comes around everybody +else avoids me as if I were poison. I was sick of it. And when he showed +up this time it was the same old story. A man would as soon sign his own +death warrant as ask me for a dance. You know how it is?"</p> + +<p>He nodded, still at sea, but with a light beginning to dawn in his +little eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'm only a girl, Joe. I have all the weakness of other girls. I don't +want to be locked up in a cage just because I—love one man!"</p> + +<p>The avowal made Joe blink. It was the second time that day that he had +been placed in an astonishing scene. But some of his old cunning +remained to him.</p> + +<p>"Nell," he said suddenly, rising from his chair and going to her. "What +are you trying to do to me? Pull the wool over my eyes?"</p> + +<p>It was too much for Nelly Lebrun. She knew that she could not face him +without betraying her guilt and therefore she did not attempt it. She +whirled and flung herself on her bed, face down, and began to sob +violently, suppressing the sounds. And so she waited.</p> + +<p>Presently a hand touched her shoulder lightly.</p> + +<p>"Go away," cried Nelly in a choked voice. "I hate you, Joe Rix. You're +like all the rest!"</p> + +<p>His knee struck the floor with a soft thud.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Nell. Don't be hard on me. I thought you were stringing me a +little. But if you're playing straight, tell me what you want?"</p> + +<p>At that she bounced upright on the bed, and before he could rise she +caught him by both shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I want Donnegan," she said fiercely.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I want him dead!"</p> + +<p>Joe Rix gasped.</p> + +<p>"Here's the cause of all my trouble. Just because I flirted with him +once or twice, Nick thought I was in earnest and now he's sulking. And +Donnegan puts on airs and acts as if I belonged to him. I hate him, Joe. +And if he's gone Nick will come back to me. He'll come back to me, Joe; +and I want him so!"</p> + +<p>She found that Joe Rix was staring straight into her eyes, striving to +probe her soul to its depths, and by a great effort she was enabled to +meet that gaze. Finally the fat little man rose slowly to his feet. Her +hands trailed from his shoulders as he stood up and fell helplessly upon +her lap.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be hanged, Nell!" exclaimed Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"You're not acting a part? No, I can see you mean it. But what a +cold-blooded little—" He checked himself. His face was suddenly +jubilant. "Then we've got him, Nell. We've got him if you're with us. We +had him anyway, but we'll make sure of him if you're with us. Look at +this! You saw me put a paper in my pocket when I opened the door of my +room? Here it is!"</p> + +<p>He displayed before the astonished eyes of Nelly Lebrun a paper covered +with an exact duplicate of her own swift, dainty script. And she read:</p> + +<center> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">Nick is terribly angry and is making trouble. I have to get away.</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">It isn't safe for me to stay here. Will you help me?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">Will you meet me at the shack by Donnell's ford</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">tomorrow morning at ten o'clock?</span><br> +</center> + +<p>"But I didn't write it," cried Nelly Lebrun, bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Nelly," Joe Rix chuckled, flushing with pleasure, "you didn't. It was +me. I kind of had an idea that you wanted to get rid of this Donnegan, +and I was going to do it for you and then surprise you with the good +news."</p> + +<p>"Joe, you forged it?"</p> + +<p>"Don't bother sayin' pretty things about me and my pen," said Rix +modestly. "This is nothin'! But if you want to help me, Nelly—"</p> + +<p>His voice faded partly out of her consciousness as she fought against a +tigerish desire to spring at the throat of the little fat man. But +gradually it dawned on her that he was asking her to write out that note +herself. Why? Because it was possible that Donnegan might have seen her +handwriting and in that case, though the imitation had been good enough +to deceive Nelly herself, it probably would not for a moment fool the +keen eyes of Donnegan. But if she herself wrote out the note, Donnegan +was already as good as dead.</p> + +<p>"That is," concluded Joe Rix, "if he really loves you, Nell."</p> + +<p>"The fool!" cried Nelly. "He worships the ground I walk on, Joe. And I +hate him for it."</p> + +<p>Even Joe Rix shivered, for he saw the hate in her eyes and could not +dream that he himself was the cause and the object of it. There was a +red haze of horror and confusion in front of her eyes, and yet she was +able to smile while she copied the note for Joe Rix.</p> + +<p>"But how are you going to work it?" she asked. "How are you going to +kill him, Joe?"</p> + +<p>"Don't bother your pretty head," said the fat man, smiling. "Just wait +till we bring you the good news."</p> + +<p>"But are you sure?" she asked eagerly. "See what he's done already. He's +taken Landis away from us; he's baffled Nick himself, in some manner; +and he's gathered the mines away from all of us. He's a devil, Joe, and +if you want to get him you'd better take ten men for the job."</p> + +<p>"You hate him, Nell, don't you?" queried Joe Rix, and his voice was both +hard and curious. "But how has he harmed you?"</p> + +<p>"Hasn't he taken Nick away from me? Isn't that enough?"</p> + +<p>The fat man shivered again.</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll tell you how it works. Now, listen!"</p> + +<p>And he began to check off the details of his plan.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="40"></a><h2>40</h2> +<br> + +<p>The day passed and the night, but how very slowly for Nelly Lebrun; she +went up to her room early for she could no longer bear the meaning +glances which Joe Rix cast at her from time to time. But once in her +room it was still harder to bear the suspense as she waited for the +noise to die away in the house. Midnight, and half an hour more went by, +and then, at last, the murmurs and the laughter stopped; she alone was +wakeful in Lebrun's. And when that time came she caught a scarf around +her hair and her shoulders, made of a filmy material which would veil +her face but through which she could see, and ventured out of her room +and down the hall.</p> + +<p>There was no particular need for such caution, however, it seemed. +Nothing stirred. And presently she was outside the house and hurrying +behind the houses and up the hill. Still she met nothing. If The Corner +lived tonight, its life was confined to Milligan's and the gambling +house.</p> + +<p>She found Donnegan's shack and the one next to it, which the terrible +colonel occupied, entirely dark, but only a moment after she tapped at +the door it was opened. Donnegan, fully dressed, stood in the entrance, +outlined blackly by the light which came faintly from the hooded lantern +hanging on the wall. Was he sitting up all the night, unable to sleep +because he waited breathlessly for that false tryst on the morrow? A +great tenderness came over the heart of Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"It is I," she whispered.</p> + +<p>There was a soft exclamation, then she was drawn into the room.</p> + +<p>"Is there anyone here?"</p> + +<p>"Only big George. But he's in the kitchen and he won't hear. He never +hears anything except what's meant for his ear. Take this chair!"</p> + +<p>He was putting a blanket over the rough wood to make it more +comfortable, and she submitted dumbly to his ministrations. It seemed +terrible and strange to her that one so gentle should be the object of +so much hate—such deadly hate as the members of Nick's gang felt for +him. And now that he was sitting before her she could see that he had +indeed been wakeful for a long time. His face was grimly wasted; the +lips were compressed as one who has endured long pain; and his eyes +gleamed at her out of a profound shadow. He remained in the gloom; the +light from the lantern fell brightly upon his hands alone—meager, +fleshless hands which seemed to represent hardly more strength than that +of a child. Truly this man was all a creature of spirit and nerve. +Therein lay his strength, as also his weakness, and again the cherishing +instinct grew strong and swept over her.</p> + +<p>"There is no one near," he said, "except the colonel and his daughter. +They are up the hillside, somewhere. Did you see them?"</p> + +<p>"No. What in the world are they out for at this time of night?"</p> + +<p>"Because the colonel only wakes up when the sun goes down. And now he's +out there humming to himself and never speaking a word to the girl. But +they won't be far away. They'll stay close to see that no one comes near +the cabin to get at Landis."</p> + +<p>He added: "They must have seen you come into my cabin!"</p> + +<p>And his lips set even harder than before. Was it fear because of her?</p> + +<p>"They may have seen me enter, but they won't know who it was. You have +the note from me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It's a lie! It's a ruse. I was forced to write it to save you! For +they're planning to murder you. Oh, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Hush! Murder?"</p> + +<p>"I've been nearly hysterical all day and all the night. But. thank +heaven, I'm here to warn you in time! You mustn't go. You mustn't go!"</p> + +<p>"Who is it?"</p> + +<p>He had drawn his chair closer: he had taken her hands, and she noted +that his own were icy cold, but steady as a rock. Their pressure soothed +her infinitely.</p> + +<p>"Joe Rix, the Pedlar, Harry Masters. They'll be at the shack at ten +o'clock, but not I!"</p> + +<p>"Murder, but a very clumsy scheme. Three men leave town and commit a +murder and then expect to go undetected? Not even in the mountain +desert!"</p> + +<p>"But you don't understand, you don't understand! They're wise as foxes. +They'll take no risk. They don't even leave town together or travel by +the same routes. Harry Masters starts first. He rides out at eight +o'clock in the morning and takes the north trail. He rides down the +gulch and winds out of it and strikes for the shack at the ford. At half +past eight the Pedlar starts. He goes past Sandy's place and then over +the trail through the marsh. You know it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Last of all, Joe Rix starts at nine o'clock. Half an hour between +them."</p> + +<p>"How does he go to the shack?"</p> + +<p>"By the south trail. He takes the ridge of the hills. But they'll all be +at the shack long before you and they'll shoot you down from a distance +as you come up to it. Plain murder, but even for cowardly murder they +daren't face you except three to one."</p> + +<p>He was thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"Suppose they were to be met on the way?"</p> + +<p>"You're mad to think of it!"</p> + +<p>"But if they fail this time they'll try again. They must be taught a +lesson."</p> + +<p>"Three men? Oh, my dear, my dear! Promise!"</p> + +<p>"Very well. I shall do nothing rash. And I shall never forget that +you've come to tell me this and been in peril, Nell, for if they found +you had come to me—"</p> + +<p>"The Pedlar would cut my throat. I know him!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! But now you must go. I'll take you down the hill, dear."</p> + +<p>"No, no! It's much easier to get back alone. My face will be covered. +But there's no way you could be disguised. You have a way of +walking—good night—and God bless you!"</p> + +<p>She was in his arms, straining him to her; and then she slipped out the +door.</p> + +<p>And sure enough, there was the colonel in his chair not fifty feet away +with a girl pushing him. The moonlight was too dim for Nelly Lebrun to +make out the face of Lou Macon, but even the light which escaped through +the filter of clouds was enough to set her golden hair glowing. The +color was not apparent, but its luster was soft silver in the night. +There was a murmur of the colonel's voice as Nelly came out of the +cabin.</p> + +<p>And then, from the girl, a low cry.</p> + +<p>It brought the blood to the cheeks of Nelly as she hurried down the +hill, for she recognized the pain that was in it; and it occurred to her +that if the girl was in love with Jack Landis she was strangely +interested in Donnegan also.</p> + +<p>The thought came so sharply home to her that she paused abruptly on the +way down the hill. After all, this Macon girl would be a very strange +sort if she were not impressed by the little red-headed man, with his +gentle voice and his fiery ways, and his easy way of making himself a +brilliant spectacle whenever he appeared in public. And Nelly +remembered, also, with the keen suspicion of a woman in love how weakly +Donnegan had responded to her embrace this night. How absent-mindedly +his arms had held her, and how numbly they had fallen away when she +turned at the door.</p> + +<p>But she shook her head and made the suspicion shudder its way out of +her. Lou Macon, she decided, was just the sort of girl who would think +Jack Landis an ideal. Besides, she had never had an opportunity to see +Donnegan in his full glory at Milligan's. And as for Donnegan? He was +wearied out; his nerves relaxed; and for the deeds with which he had +startled The Corner and won her own heart he was now paying the penalty +in the shape of ruined nerves. Pity again swelled in her heart, and a +consuming hatred for the three murderers who lived in her father's +house.</p> + +<p>And when she reached her room again her heart was filled with a singing +happiness and a glorious knowledge that she had saved the man she loved.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan himself?</p> + +<p>He had seen Lou and her father: he had heard that low cry of pain; and +now he sat bowed again over his table, his face in his hands and a +raging devil in his heart.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="41"></a><h2>41</h2> +<br> + +<p>There was one complication which Nelly Lebrun might have foreseen after +her pretended change of heart and her simulated confession to Joe Rix +that she still loved the lionlike Lord Nick. But strangely enough she +did not think of this phase: and even when her father the next morning +approached her in the hall and tapping her arm whispered: "Good girl! +Nick has just heard and he's hunting for you now!" Even then the full +meaning did not come home to her. It was not until she saw the great +form of Lord Nick stalking swiftly down the hall that she knew. He came +with a glory in his face which the last day had graven with unfamiliar +lines; and when he saw her he threw up his hand so that it almost +brushed the ceiling, and cried out.</p> + +<p>What could she do? Try to push him away; to explain?</p> + +<p>There was nothing to be done. She had to submit when he swept her into +his arms.</p> + +<p>"Rix has told me. Rix has told me. Ah, Nell, you little fox!"</p> + +<p>"Told you what, Nick?"</p> + +<p>Was he, too, a party to the murderous plan?</p> + +<p>But he allowed himself to be pushed away.</p> + +<p>"I've gone through something in the last few days. Why did you do it, +girl?"</p> + +<p>She saw suddenly that she must continue to play her part.</p> + +<p>"Some day I'll tell you why it was that I gave you up so easily, Nell. +You thought I was afraid of Donnegan?" He ground his teeth and turned +pale at the thought. "But that wasn't it. Some day I can tell you. But +after this, the first man who comes between us—Donnegan or any +other—I'll turn him into powder—under my heel!"</p> + +<p>He ground it into the floor as he spoke. She decided that she would see +how much he knew.</p> + +<p>"It will never be Donnegan, at least," she said. "He's done for today. +And I'm almost sorry for him in spite of all that he's done."</p> + +<p>He became suddenly grave.</p> + +<p>"What are you saying, Nell?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Joe told you, didn't he? They've drawn Donnegan out of town, and +now they're lying in wait for him. Yes, they must have him, by this +time. It's ten o'clock!"</p> + +<p>A strangely tense exclamation broke from Lord Nick. "They've gone for +Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Are you angry?"</p> + +<p>The big man staggered; one would have said that he had been stunned with +a blow.</p> + +<p>"Garry!" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"What are you saying?"</p> + +<p>"Nell," he muttered hoarsely, "did you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"But I did it for you, Nick. I knew you hated—"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Don't say it!" He added bitterly, after a moment. "This is for +my sins."</p> + +<p>And then, to her: "But you knew about it and didn't warn him? You hated +him all the time you were laughing with him and smiling at him? Oh, +Nell! What a merciless witch of a woman you are! For the rest of +them—I'll wait till they come back!"</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, Nick?"</p> + +<p>"I told them I'd pay the man who killed Donnegan—with lead. Did the +fools think I didn't mean it?"</p> + +<p>Truly, no matter what shadow had passed over the big man, he was the +lion again, and Nell shrank from him.</p> + +<p>"We'll wait for them," he said. "We'll wait for them here."</p> + +<p>And they sat down together in the room. She attempted to speak once in a +shaken voice, but he silenced her with a gesture, and after that she sat +and watched in quiet the singular play of varying expressions across his +face. Grief, rage, tenderness, murderous hate—they followed like a +puppet play.</p> + +<p>What was Donnegan to him? And then there was a tremor of fear. Would the +three suspect when they reached the shack by the ford and no Donnegan +came to them? The moments stole on. Then the soft beat of a galloping +horse in the sand. The horse stopped. Presently they saw Joe Rix and +Harry Masters pass in front of the window. And they looked as though a +cyclone had caught them up, juggled them a dizzy distance in the air, +and then flung them down carelessly upon bruising rocks. Their hats were +gone; and the clothes of burly Harry Masters were literally torn from +his back. Joe Rix was evidently far more terribly hurt, for he leaned on +the arm of Masters and they came on together, staggering.</p> + +<p>"They've done the business!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "And now, curse them, +I'll do theirs!"</p> + +<p>But the girl could not speak. A black haze crossed before her eyes. Had +Donnegan gone out madly to fight the three men in spite of her warning?</p> + +<p>The door opened. They stood in the doorway, and if they had seemed a +horrible sight passing the window, they were a deadly picture at close +range. And opposite them stood Lord Nick; in spite of their wounds there +was murder in his face and his revolver was out.</p> + +<p>"You've met him? You've met Donnegan?" he asked angrily.</p> + +<p>Masters literally carried Joe Rix to a chair and placed him in it. He +had been shot through both shoulders, and though tight bandages had +stanched the wound he was still in agony. Then Masters raised his head.</p> + +<p>"We've met him," he said.</p> + +<p>"What happened?"</p> + +<p>But Masters, in spite of the naked gun in the hand of Lord Nick, was +looking straight at Nelly Lebrun.</p> + +<p>"We fought him."</p> + +<p>"Then say your prayers, Masters."</p> + +<p>"Say prayers for the Pedlar, you fool," said Masters bitterly. "He's +dead, and Donnegan's still living!"</p> + +<p>There was a faint cry from Nelly Lebrun. She sank into her chair again.</p> + +<p>"We've been double-crossed," said Masters, still looking at the girl. "I +was going down the gulch the way we planned. I come to the narrow place +where the cliffs almost touch, and right off the wall above me drops a +wildcat. I thought it was a cat at first. And then I found it was +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The way he hit me from above knocked me off the horse. Then we hit the +ground. I started for my gun; he got it out of my hand; I pulled my +knife. He got that away, too. His fingers work with steel springs and +act like a cat's claws. Then we fought barehanded. He didn't say a word. +But kept snarling in his throat. Always like a cat. And his face was +devilish. Made me sick inside. Pretty soon he dived under my arms. Got +me up in the air. I came down on my head.</p> + +<p>"Of course I went out cold. When I came to there was still a mist in +front of my eyes and this lump on the back of my head. He'd figured that +my head was cracked and that I was dead. That's the only reason he left +me. Later I climbed on my hoss and fed him the spur.</p> + +<p>"But I was too late. I took the straight cut for the ford, and when I +got there I found that Donnegan had been there before me. Joe Rix was +lyin' on the floor. When he got to the shack Donnegan was waitin' for +him. They went for their guns and Donnegan beat him to it. The hound +didn't shoot to kill. He plugged him through both shoulders, and left +him lyin' helpless. But I got a couple of bandages on him and saved him.</p> + +<p>"Then we cut back for home and crossed the marsh. And there we found the +Pedlar.</p> + +<p>"Too late to help him. Maybe Donnegan knew that the Pedlar was something +of a flash with a gun himself, and he didn't take any chances. He'd met +him face to face the same way he met Joe Rix and killed him. Shot him +clean between the eyes. Think of shooting for the head with a snap shot! +That's what he done and Joe didn't have time to think twice after that +slug hit him. His gun wasn't even fired, he was beat so bad on the draw.</p> + +<p>"So Joe and me come back home. And we come full of questions!"</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you something," muttered Lord Nick, putting up the weapon +which he had kept exposed during all of the recital. "You've got what +was coming to you. If Donnegan hadn't cleaned up on you, you'd have had +to talk turkey with me. Understand?"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," protested Harry Masters.</p> + +<p>And Joe Rix, almost too far gone for speech, set his teeth over a groan +and cast a look of hatred at the girl.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, chief. There's one thing we all got to get straight. +Somebody had tipped off Donnegan about our whole plan. Was it the Pedlar +or Rix or me? I guess good sense'll tell a man that it wasn't none of +us, eh? Then who was it? The only other person that knew about the +plan—Nell—Nell, the crooked witch—and it's her that murdered the +Pedlar—curse her!"</p> + +<p>He thrust out his bulky arm as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Her that lied her way into our confidence with a lot of talk about you, +Nick. Then what did she do? She goes runnin' to the gent that she said +she hated. Don't you see her play? She makes fools of us—she makes a +fool out of you!"</p> + +<p>She dared not meet the glance of Lord Nick. Even now she might have +acted out her part and filled in with lies, but she was totally +unnerved.</p> + +<p>"Get Rix to bed," was all he said, and he did not even glance at Nelly +Lebrun.</p> + +<p>Masters glowered at him, and then silently obeyed, lifting Joe as a +helpless bulk, for the fat man was nearly fainting with pain. Not until +they had gone and he had closed the door after them and upon the murmurs +of the servants in the hall did Lord Nick turn to Nelly.</p> + +<p>"Is it true?" he asked shortly.</p> + +<p>Between relief and terror her mind was whirling.</p> + +<p>"Is what true?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't even sense enough to lie, Nell, eh? It's all true, then? +And last night, after you'd wormed it out of Joe, you went to Donnegan?"</p> + +<p>She could only stare miserably at him.</p> + +<p>"And that was why you pushed me away when I kissed you a little while +ago?"</p> + +<p>Once more she was dumb. But she was beginning to be afraid. Not for +herself, but for Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I told you I'd never let another man come between us again. I +meant it. I know you're treacherous now; but that doesn't keep me from +wanting you. It's Donnegan again—Donnegan still? Nell, you've killed +him. As sure as if your own finger pulled the trigger when I shoot him. +He's a dead one, and you've done it!"</p> + +<p>If words would only come! But her throat was stiff and cold and aching. +She could not speak.</p> + +<p>"You've done more than kill him," said Lord Nick. "You've put a curse on +me as well. And afterward I'm going to even up with you. You hear me? +Nell, when I shoot Donnegan I'm doing a thing worse than if he was a +girl—or a baby. You can't understand that; I don't want you to know. +But some time when you're happy again and you're through grieving for +Donnegan, I'll tell you the truth and make your heart black for the rest +of your life."</p> + +<p>Still words would not come. She strove to cling to him and stop him, but +he cast her away with a single gesture and strode out the door.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="42"></a><h2>42</h2> +<br> + +<p>There was no crowd to block the hill at this second meeting of Donnegan +and Lord Nick. There was a blank stretch of brown hillside with the wind +whispering stealthily through the dead grass when Lord Nick thrust open +the door of Donnegan's shack and entered.</p> + +<p>The little man had just finished shaving and was getting back into his +coat while George carried out the basin of water. And Donnegan, as he +buttoned the coat, was nodding slightly to the rhythm of a song which +came from the cabin of the colonel near by. It was a clear, high music, +and though the voice was light it carried the sound far. Donnegan looked +up to Lord Nick; but still he kept the beat of the music.</p> + +<p>He seemed even more fragile this morning than ever before. Yet Lord Nick +was fresh from the sight of the torn bodies of the two fighting men whom +this fellow had struck and left for dead, or dying, as he thought.</p> + +<p>"Dismiss your servant," said Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"George, you may go out."</p> + +<p>"And keep him out."</p> + +<p>"Don't come back until I call for you."</p> + +<p>Big George disappeared into the kitchen and the outside door was closed. +Yet even with all the doors closed the singing of Lou Macon kept running +through the cabin in a sweet and continuous thread.</p> + +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">What made the ball so fine?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1.5em;">Robin Adair!</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 0.5em;">What made the assembly shine?</span><br> +<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1.5em;">Robin Adair!</span><br> + +<p>And no matter what Lord Nick could say, it seemed that with half his +mind Donnegan was listening to the song of the girl.</p> + +<p>"First," said the big man, "I've broken my word."</p> + +<p>Donnegan waved his hand and dismissed the charge. He pointed to a chair, +but Lord Nick paid no heed.</p> + +<p>"I've broken my word," he went on. "I promised that I'd give you a clear +road to win over Nelly Lebrun. I gave you the road and you've won her, +but now I'm taking her back!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Henry," said Donnegan, and a flash of eagerness came in his eyes. +"You're a thousand times welcome to her."</p> + +<p>Lord Nick quivered.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it?"</p> + +<p>"Henry, don't you see that I was only playing for a purpose all the +time? And if you've opened the eyes of Nelly to the fact that you truly +love her and I've been only acting out of a heartless sham—why, I'm +glad of it—I rejoice, Henry, I swear I do!"</p> + +<p>He came forward, smiling, and held out his hand; Lord Nick struck it +down, and Donnegan shrank back, holding his wrist tight in the fingers +of his other hand.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible?" murmured Henry Reardon. "Is it possible that she loves +a man who despises her?"</p> + +<p>"Not that! If any other man said this to me, I'd call for an explanation +of his meaning, Henry. No, no! I honor and respect her, I tell you. By +heaven, Nick, she has a thread of pure, generous gold in her nature!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?"</p> + +<p>"She has saved my life no longer ago than this morning."</p> + +<p>"It's perfect," said Lord Nick. And he writhed under a torment. "I am +discarded for the sake of a man who despises her!"</p> + +<p>Donnegan, frowning with thought, watched his older brother. And still +the thin singing entered the room, that matchless old melody of "Robin +Adair;" the day shall never come when that song does not go straight +from heart to heart. But because Donnegan still listened to it, Lord +Nick felt that he was contemptuously received, and a fresh spur was +driven into his tender pride.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!" he said sharply.</p> + +<p>Donnegan raised his hand slowly.</p> + +<p>"Do you call me by that name?"</p> + +<p>"Aye. You've ceased to be a brother. There's no blood tie between us +now, as I warned you before."</p> + +<p>Donnegan, very white, moved back toward the wall and rested his +shoulders lightly against it, as though he needed the support. He made +no answer.</p> + +<p>"I warned you not to cross me again." exclaimed Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"I have not."</p> + +<p>"Donnegan, you've murdered my men!"</p> + +<p>"Murder? I've met them fairly. Not murder, Henry."</p> + +<p>"Leave out that name, I say!"</p> + +<p>"If you wish," said Donnegan very faintly.</p> + +<p>The sight of his resistlessness seemed to madden Lord Nick. He made one +of his huge strides and came to the center of the room and dominated all +that was in it, including his brother.</p> + +<p>"You murdered my men," repeated Lord Nick. "You turned my girl against +me with your lying love-making and turned her into a spy. You made her +set the trap and then you saw that it was worked. You showed her how she +could wind me around her finger again."</p> + +<p>"Will you let me speak?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, but be short."</p> + +<p>"I swear to you, Henry, that I've never influenced her to act against +you; except to win her away for just one little time, and she will +return to you again. It is only a fancy that makes her interested in me. +Look at us! How could any woman in her senses prefer me?"</p> + +<p>"Are you done?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! I have more to say: I have a thousand things!"</p> + +<p>"I shall not hear them"</p> + +<p>"Henry, there is a black devil in your face. Beware of it."</p> + +<p>"Who put it there?"</p> + +<p>"It was not I."</p> + +<p>"What power then?"</p> + +<p>"Something over which I have no control."</p> + +<p>"Are you trying to mystify me?"</p> + +<p>"Listen!" And as Donnegan raised his hand, the singing poured clear and +small into the room.</p> + +<p>"That is the power," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"You're talking gibberish'" exclaimed the other pettishly.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand."</p> + +<p>"On the other hand, what I have to say is short and to the point. A +child could comprehend it. You've stolen the girl. I tried to let her +go. I can't. I have to have her. Willing or unwilling she has to belong +to me, Donnegan."</p> + +<p>"If you wish, I shall promise that I shall never see her again or speak +to her."</p> + +<p>"You fool' Won't she find you out? Do you think I could trust you? Only +in one place—underground."</p> + +<p>Donnegan had clasped his hands upon his breast and his eyes were wide.</p> + +<p>"What is it you mean, Henry?"</p> + +<p>"I'll trust you—dead!"</p> + +<p>"Henry!"</p> + +<p>"That name means nothing to me I've forgotten it. The worlds has +forgotten it."</p> + +<p>"Henry, I implore you to keep cool—to give me five minutes for talk—"</p> + +<p>"No, not one. I know your cunning tongue!"</p> + +<p>"For the sake of the days when you loved me, my brother. For the sake of +the days when you used to wheel my chair and be kind to me."</p> + +<p>"You're wasting your time. You're torturing us both for nothing. +Donnegan, my will is a rock. It won't change."</p> + +<p>And drawing closer his right hand gripped his gun and the trembling +passion of the gunfighter set him shuddering.</p> + +<p>"You're armed, Garry. Go for your gun!"</p> + +<p>"No, no!"</p> + +<p>"Then I'll give you cause to fight."</p> + +<p>And as he spoke, he drew back his massive arm and with his open hand +smote Donnegan heavily across the face. The weight of that blow crushed +the little man against the wall.</p> + +<p>"Your gun!" cried Lord Nick, swaying from side to side as the passion +choked him.</p> + +<p>Donnegan fell upon his knees and raised his arms.</p> + +<p>"God have mercy on me, and on yourself!"</p> + +<p>At that the blackness cleared slowly on the face of the big man; he +thrust his revolver into the holster.</p> + +<p>"This time," he said, "there's no death. But sooner or later we meet, +Donnegan, and then, I swear by all that lives, I'll shoot you +down—without mercy—like a mad dog. You've robbed me; you've hounded +me: you've killed my men: you've taken the heart of the woman I love. +And now nothing can save you from the end."</p> + +<p>He turned on his heel and left the room.</p> + +<p>And Donnegan remained kneeling, holding a stained handkerchief to his +face.</p> + +<p>All at once his strength seemed to desert him like a tree chopped at the +root, and he wilted down against the wall with closed eyes.</p> + +<p>But the music still came out of the throat and the heart of Lou, and it +entered the room and came into the ears of Donnegan. He became aware +that there was a strength beyond himself which had sustained him, and +then he knew it had been the singing of Lou from first to last which had +kept the murder out of his own heart and restrained the hand of Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>Perhaps of all Donnegan's life, this was the first moment of true +humility.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="43"></a><h2>43</h2> +<br> + +<p>One thing was now clear. He must not remain in The Corner unless he was +prepared for Lord Nick again: and in a third meeting guns must be drawn. +From that greater sin he shrank, and prepared to leave. His order to +George made the big man's eyes widen, but George had long since passed +the point where he cared to question the decision of his master. He +began to build the packs.</p> + +<p>As for Donnegan, he could see that there was little to be won by +remaining. That would save Landis to Lou Macon, to be sure, but after +all, he was beginning to wonder if it were not better to let the big +fellow go back to his own kind—Lebrun and the rest. For if it needed +compulsion to keep him with Lou now, might it not be the same story +hereafter?</p> + +<p>Indeed, Donnegan began to feel that all his labor in The Corner had been +running on a treadmill. It had all been grouped about the main purpose, +which was to keep Landis with the girl. To do that now he must be +prepared to face Nick again; and to face Nick meant the bringing of the +guilt of fratricide upon the head of one of them. There only remained +flight. He saw at last that he had been fighting blindly from the +first. He had won a girl whom he did not love—though doubtless her +liking was only the most fickle fancy. And she for whom he would have +died he had taught to hate him. It was a grim summing up. Donnegan +walked the room whistling softly to himself as he checked up his +accounts.</p> + +<p>One thing at least he had done; he had taken the joy out of his life +forever.</p> + +<p>And here, answering a rap at the door, he opened it upon Lou Macon. She +wore a dress of some very soft material. It was a pale blue—faded, no +doubt—but the color blended exquisitely with her hair and with the +flush of her face. It came to Donnegan that it was an unnecessary +cruelty of chance that made him see the girl lovelier than he had ever +seen her before at the very moment when he was surrendering the last +shadow of a claim upon her.</p> + +<p>And it hurt him, also, to see the freshness of her face, the clear eyes; +and to hear her smooth, untroubled voice. She had lived untouched by +anything save the sunshine in The Corner.</p> + +<p>Her glance flicked across his face and then fluttered down, and her +color increased guiltily.</p> + +<p>"I have come to ask you a favor," she said.</p> + +<p>"Step in," said Donnegan, recovering his poise at length.</p> + +<p>At this, she looked past him, and her eyes widened a little. There was +an imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, as though the very thought of +entering this cabin horrified her. And Donnegan had to bear that look as +well.</p> + +<p>"I'll stay here; I haven't much to say. It's a small thing."</p> + +<p>"Large or small," said Donnegan eagerly. "Tell me!"</p> + +<p>"My father has asked me to take a letter for him down to the town and +mail it. I—I understand that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. +Will you walk with me?"</p> + +<p>And Donnegan turned cold. Go down into The Corner? Where by five chances +out of ten he must meet his brother in the street?</p> + +<p>"I can do better still," he said, smiling. "I'll have George take the +letter down for you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. But you see, father would not trust it to anyone save me. I +asked him; he was very firm about it."</p> + +<p>"Tush! I would trust George with my life."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes It is not what I wish—but my father rarely changes his +mind."</p> + +<p>Perspiration beaded the forehead of Donnegan. Was there no way to evade +this easy request?</p> + +<p>"You see," he faltered, "I should be glad to go—"</p> + +<p>She raised her eyes slowly.</p> + +<p>"But I am terribly busy this morning."</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but half of her color left her face.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word of honor there is no danger to a woman in the town."</p> + +<p>"But some of the ruffians of Lord Nick—"</p> + +<p>"If they dared to even raise their voices at you, they would hear from +him in a manner that they would never forget."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't wish to go?"</p> + +<p>She was very pale now; and to Donnegan it was more terrible than the gun +in the hand of Lord Nick. Even if she thought he was slighting her why +should she take it so mortally to heart? For Donnegan, who saw all +things, was blind to read the face of this girl.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't really matter," she murmured and turned away.</p> + +<p>A gentle motion, but it wrenched the heart of Donnegan. He was instantly +before her.</p> + +<p>"Wait here a moment. I'll be ready to go down immediately."</p> + +<p>"No. I can't take you from your—work."</p> + +<p>What work did she assign to him in her imagination? Endless planning of +deviltry no doubt.</p> + +<p>"I shall go with you," said Donnegan. "At first—I didn't dream it could +be so important. Let me get my hat."</p> + +<p>He left her and leaped back into the cabin.</p> + +<p>"I am going down into The Corner for a moment," he said over his +shoulder to George, as he took his belt down from the wall.</p> + +<p>The big man strode to the wall and took his hat from a nail.</p> + +<p>"I shall not need you, George."</p> + +<p>But George merely grinned, and his big teeth flashed at the master. And +in the second place he took up a gun from the drawer and offered it to +Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"The gun in that holster ain't loaded," he said.</p> + +<p>Donnegan considered him soberly.</p> + +<p>"I know it. There'll be no need for a loaded gun."</p> + +<p>But once more George grinned. All at once Donnegan turned pale.</p> + +<p>"You dog," he whispered. "Did you listen at the door when Nick was +here?"</p> + +<p>"Me?" murmured George. "No, I just been thinking."</p> + +<p>And so it was that while Donnegan went down the hill with Lou Macon, +carrying an empty-chambered revolver, George followed at a distance of a +few paces, and he carried a loaded weapon unknown to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>It was the dull time of the day in The Corner. There were very few +people in the single street, and though most of them turned to look at +the little man and the girl who walked beside him, not one of them +either smiled or whispered.</p> + +<p>"You see?" said Donnegan. "You would have been perfectly safe—even from +Lord Nick's ruffians. That was one of his men we passed back there."</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm safe with you," said the girl.</p> + +<p>And when she looked up to him, the blood of Donnegan turned to fire.</p> + +<p>Out of a shop door before them came a girl with a parcel under her arm. +She wore a gay, semi-masculine outfit, bright-colored, jaunty, and she +walked with a lilt toward them. It was Nelly Lebrun. And as she passed +them. Donnegan lifted his hat ceremoniously high. She nodded to him with +a smile, but the smile aimed wan and small in an instant. There was a +quick widening and then a narrowing of her eyes, and Donnegan knew that +she had judged Lou Macon as only one girl can judge another who is +lovelier.</p> + +<p>He glanced at Lou to see if she had noticed, and he saw her raise her +head and go on with her glance proudly straight before her; but her face +was very pale, and Donnegan knew that she had guessed everything that +was true and far more than the truth. Her tone at the door of the post +office was ice.</p> + +<p>"I think you are right, Mr. Donnegan. There's no danger. And if you have +anything else to do, I can get back home easily enough."</p> + +<p>"I'll wait for you," murmured Donnegan sadly, and he stood as the door +of the little building with bowed head.</p> + +<p>And then a murmur came down the street. How small it was, and how +sinister! It consisted of exclamations begun, and then broken sharply +off. A swirl of people divided as a cloud of dust divides before a blast +of wind, and through them came the gigantic figure of Lord Nick!</p> + +<p>On he came, a gorgeous figure, a veritable king of men. He carried his +hat in his hand and his red hair flamed, and he walked with great +strides. Donnegan glanced behind him. The way was clear. If he turned, +Lord Nick would not pursue him, he knew.</p> + +<p>But to flee even from his brother was more than he could do; for the +woman he loved would know of it and could never understand.</p> + +<p>He touched the holster that held his empty gun—and waited!</p> + +<p>An eternity between every step of Lord Nick. Others seemed to have +sensed the meaning of this silent scene. People seemed to stand frozen +in the midst of gestures. Or was that because Donnegan's own thoughts +were traveling at such lightning speed that the rest of the world seemed +standing still? What kept Lou Macon? If she were with him, not even Lord +Nick in his madness would force on a gunplay in the presence of a woman, +no doubt.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick was suddenly close; he had paused; his voice rang over the +street and struck upon Donnegan's ear as sounds come under water.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan!"</p> + +<p>"Aye!" called Donnegan softly.</p> + +<p>"It's the time!"</p> + +<p>"Aye," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>Then a huge body leaped before him; it was big George. And as he sprang +his gun went up with his hand in a line of light. The two reports came +close together as finger taps on a table, and big George, completing his +spring, lurched face downward into the sand.</p> + +<p>Dead? Not yet. All his faith and selflessness were nerving the big man. +And Donnegan stood behind him, unarmed!</p> + +<p>He reared himself upon his knees—an imposing bulk, even then, and fired +again. But his hand was trembling, and the bullet shattered a sign above +the head of Lord Nick. He, in his turn, it seemed to Donnegan that the +motion was slow, twitched up the muzzle of his weapon and fired once +more from his hip. And big George lurched back on the sand, with his +face upturned to Donnegan. He would have spoken, but a burst of blood +choked him; yet his eyes fixed and glazed, he mustered his last +strength and offered his revolver to Donnegan.</p> + +<p>But Donnegan let the hand fall limp to the ground. There were voices +about him; steps running; but all that he clearly saw was Lord Nick with +his feet braced, and his head high.</p> + +<p>"Donnegan! Your gun!"</p> + +<p>"Aye," said Donnegan.</p> + +<p>"Take it then!"</p> + +<p>But in the crisis, automatically Donnegan flipped his useless revolver +out of its holster and into his hand. At the same instant the gun from +Nick's hand seemed to blaze in his eyes. He was struck a crushing blow +in his chest. He sank upon his knees: another blow struck his head, and +Donnegan collapsed on the body of big George.</p> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> +<a name="44"></a><h2>44</h2> +<br> + +<p>An ancient drunkard in the second story of one of the stores across the +street had roused himself at the sound of the shots and now he dragged +himself to the window and began to scream: "Murder! Murder!" over and +over, and even The Corner shuddered at the sound of his voice.</p> + +<p>Lord Nick, his revolver still in his hand, stalked through the film of +people who now swirled about him, eager to see the dead. There was no +call for the law to make its appearance, and the representatives of the +law were wisely dilatory in The Corner.</p> + +<p>He stood over the two motionless figures with a stony face.</p> + +<p>"You saw it, boys," he said. "You know what I've borne from this fellow. +The big man pulled his gun first on me. I shot in self-defense. As +for—the other—it was a square fight."</p> + +<p>"Square fight," someone answered. "You both went for your irons at the +same time. Pretty work, Nick."</p> + +<p>It was a solid phalanx of men which had collected around the moveless +bodies as swiftly as mercury sinks through water. Yet none of them +touched either Donnegan or George. And then the solid group dissolved at +one side. It was the moan of a woman which had scattered it, and a +yellow-haired girl slipped through them. She glanced once, in horror, at +the mute faces of the men, and then there was a wail as she threw +herself on the body of Donnegan. Somewhere she found the strength of a +man to lift him and place him face upward on the sand, the gun trailing +limply in his hand. And then she lay, half crouched over him, her face +pressed to his heart—listening—listening for the stir of life.</p> + +<p>Shootings were common in The Corner; the daily mortality ran high; but +there had never been aftermaths like this one. Men looked at one +another, and then at Lord Nick. A bright spot of color had come in his +cheeks, but his face was as hard as ever.</p> + +<p>"Get her away from him," someone murmured.</p> + +<p>And then another man cried out, stooped, wrenched the gun from the limp +hand of Donnegan and opened the cylinder. He spun it: daylight was +glittering through the empty cylinder.</p> + +<p>At this the man stiffened, and with a low bow which would have done +credit to a drawing-room, he presented the weapon butt first to Lord +Nick.</p> + +<p>"Here's something the sheriff will want to see," he said, "but maybe +you'll be interested, too."</p> + +<p>But Lord Nick, with the gun in his hand, stared at it dumbly, turned the +empty cylinder. And the full horror crept slowly on his mind. He had not +killed his brother, he had murdered him. As his eyes cleared, he caught +the glitter of the eyes which surrounded him.</p> + +<p>And then Lou Macon was on her knees with her hands clasped at her breast +and her face glorious.</p> + +<p>"Help!" she was crying. "Help me. He's not dead, but he's dying unless +you help me!"</p> + +<p>Then Lord Nick cast away his own revolver and the empty gun of Donnegan. +They heard him shout: "Garry!" and saw him stride forward.</p> + +<p>Instantly men pressed between, hard-jawed men who meant business. It was +a cordon he would have to fight his way through: but he dissolved it +with a word.</p> + +<p>"You fools! He's my brother!"</p> + +<p>And then he was on his knees opposite Lou Macon.</p> + +<p>"You?" she had stammered in horror.</p> + +<p>"His brother, girl."</p> + +<p>And ten minutes later, when the bandages had been wound, there was a +strange sight of Lord Nick striding up the street with his victim in his +arms. How lightly he walked; and he was talking to the calm, pale face +which rested in the hollow of his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"He will live? He will live?" Lou Macon was pleading as she hurried at +the side of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>"God willing, he shall live!"</p> +<br> + +<p>It was three hours before Donnegan opened his eyes. It was three days +before he recovered his senses, and looking aside toward the door he saw +a brilliant shaft of sunlight falling into the room. In the midst of it +sat Lou Macon. She had fallen asleep in her great weariness now that the +crisis was over. Behind her, standing, his great arms folded, stood the +indomitable figure of Lord Nick.</p> + +<p>Donnegan saw and wondered greatly. Then he closed his eyes dreamily. +"Hush," said Donnegan to himself, as if afraid that what he saw was all +a dream. "I'm in heaven, or if I'm not, it's still mighty good to be +alive."</p> + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + +***** This file should be named 10066-h.htm or 10066-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/6/10066/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gunman's Reckoning + +Author: Max Brand + +Release Date: November 22, 2003 [EBook #10066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + +By + +Max Brand + + + +1921 + + + +GUNMAN'S RECKONING + + + +1 + + +The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road +bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring +and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the +locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a +freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a +stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary +tone--it is an overtone of conversation, one might say--and it is +distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of +course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on +the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and +staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places +as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had +touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since +the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money +the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance +with their talk. + +"It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to +play this line when you jumped from coast to coast." + +"Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side +of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched +eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's +been many a time." + +"Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising +in the world." + +He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe +was sufficiently concealed by the dark. + +"Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the +brakie. + +"Yeh?" + +"Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that." + +"Yeh?" + +"But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway." + +"Yep," agreed Lefty. + +The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced +him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. +He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty. + +"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; +you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they +said you was, and all that--well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em +that." + +"You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all +straight." + +The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period +to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst. + +"Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently. + +Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was +in the mood for talk. + +"Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all +with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!" + +What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus +of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. +The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names. + +"Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?" + +"Even Suds!" + +The brakie stirred a little, wabbling from side to side as he found a +more comfortable position; instead of looking straight before him, he +kept a side-glance steadily upon his companion, and one could see that +he intended to remember what was said on this night. + +"Even Suds," echoed the brakie. "Good heavens, and ain't he a man for +you?" + +"He was a man," replied Lefty Joe with an indescribable emphasis. + +"Huh?" + +"He ain't a man any more." + +"Get bumped off?" + +"No. Busted." + +The brakie considered this bit of news and rolled it back and forth and +tried its flavor against his gossiping palate. + +"Did you fix him after he left you?" + +"No." + +"I see. You busted him while he was still with you. Then Kennebec Lou +and the Clipper get sore at the way you treat Suds. So here you are back +on the road with your gang all gone bust. Hard luck, Lefty." + +But Lefty whined with rage at this careless diagnosis of his downfall. + +"You're all wrong," he said. "You're all wrong. You don't know nothin'." + +The brakie waited, grinning securely into the night, and preparing his +mind for the story. But the story consisted of one word, flung bitterly +into the rushing air. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Him?" cried the brakie, starting in his place. + +"Donnegan!" cried Lefty, and his voice made the word into a curse. + +The brakie nodded. + +"Them that get tangled with Donnegan don't last long. You ought to know +that." + +At this the grief, hate, and rage in Lefty Joe were blended and caused +an explosion. + +"Confound Donnegan. Who's Donnegan? I ask you, who's Donnegan?" + +"A guy that makes trouble," replied the brakie, evidently hard put to it +to find a definition. + +"Oh, don't he make it, though? Confound him!" + +"You ought to of stayed shut of him, Lefty." + +"Did I hunt him up, I ask you? Am I a nut? No, I ain't. Do I go along +stepping on the tail of a rattlesnake? No more do I look up Donnegan." + +He groaned as he remembered. + +"I was going fine. Nothing could of been better. I had the boys +together. We was doing so well that I was riding the cushions and I went +around planning the jobs. Nice, clean work. No cans tied to it. But one +day I had to meet Suds down in the Meriton Jungle. You know?" + +"I've heard--plenty," said the brakie. + +"Oh, it ain't so bad--the Meriton. I've seen a lot worse. Found Suds +there, and Suds was playing Black Jack with an ol gink. He was trimmin' +him close. Get Suds going good and he could read 'em three down and bury +'em as fast as they came under the bottom card. Takes a hand to do that +sort of work. And that's the sort of work Suds was doing for the old +man. Pretty soon the game was over and the old man was busted. He took +up his pack and beat it, saying nothing and looking sick. I started +talking to Suds. + +"And while he was talking, along comes a bo and gives us a once-over. He +knew me. 'Is this here a friend of yours, Lefty? he says. + +"'Sure,' says I. + +"'Then, he's in Dutch. He trimmed that old dad, and the dad is one of +Donnegan's pals. Wait till Donnegan hears how your friend made the cards +talk while he was skinning the old boy! + +"He passes me the wink and goes on. Made me sick. I turned to Suds, and +the fool hadn't batted an eye. Never even heard of Donnegan. You know +how it is? Half the road never heard of it; part of the roads don't know +nothin' else. He's like a jumpin tornado; hits every ten miles and don't +bend a blade of grass in between. + +"Took me about five minutes to tell Suds about Donnegan. Then Suds let +out a grunt and started down the trail for the old dad. Missed him. Dad +had got out of the Jungle and copped a rattler. Suds come back half +green and half yeller. + +"'I've done it; I've spilled the beans,' he says. + +"'That ain't half sayin' it,' says I. + +"Well, we lit out after that and beat it down the line as fast as we +could. We got the rest of the boys together; I had a swell job planned +up. Everything staked. Then, the first news come that Donnegan was after +Suds. + +"News just dropped on us out of the sky. Suds, you know how he is. +Strong bluff. Didn't bat an eye. Laughed at this Donnegan. Got a hold of +an old pal of his, named Levine, and he is a mighty hot scrapper. From a +knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a +fight. Suds sent him out to cross Donnegan's trail. + +"He crossed it, well enough. Suds got a telegram a couple days later +saying that Levine had run into a wild cat and was considerable chawed +and would Suds send him a stake to pay the doctor? + +"Well, after that Suds got sort of nervous. Didn't take no interest in +his work no more. Kept a weather eye out watching for the coming of +Donnegan. And pretty soon he up and cleaned out of camp. + +"Next day, sure enough, along comes Donnegan and asks for Suds. We kept +still--all but Kennebec Lou. Kennebec is some fighter himself. Two +hundred pounds of mule muscle with the brain of a devil to tell what to +do--yes, you can lay it ten to one that Kennebec is some fighter. That +day he had a good edge from a bottle of rye he was trying for a friend. + +"He didn't need to go far to find trouble in Donnegan. A wink and a grin +was all they needed for a password, and then they went at each other's +throats. Kennebec made the first pass and hit thin air; and before he +got back on his heels, Donnegan had hit him four times. Then Kennebec +jumped back and took a fresh start with a knife." + +Here Lefty Joe paused and sighed. + +He continued, after a long interval: "Five minutes later we was all busy +tyin' up what was left of Kennebec; Donnegan was down the road whistlin' +like a bird. And that was the end of my gang. What with Kennebec Lou and +Suds both gone, what chance did I have to hold the boys together?" + + + + +2 + + +The brakie heard this recital with the keenest interest, nodding from +time to time. + +"What beats me, Lefty," he said at the end of the story, "is why you +didn't knife into the fight yourself and take a hand with Donnegan" + +At this Lefty was silent. It was rather the silence of one which cannot +tell whether or not it is worth while to speak than it was the silence +of one who needs time for thought. + +"I'll tell you why, bo. It's because when I take a trail like that it +only has one end I'm going to bump off the other bird or he's going to +bump off me" + +The brakie cleared his throat + +"Look here," he said, "looks to me like a queer thing that you're on +this train" + +"Does it" queried Lefty softly "Why?" + +"Because Donnegan is two cars back, asleep." + +"The devil you say!" + +The brakie broke into laughter + +"Don't kid yourself along," he warned. "Don't do it. It ain't +wise--with me." + +"What you mean?" + +"Come on, Lefty. Come clean. You better do a fade off this train." + +"Why, you fool--" + +"It don't work, Joe. Why, the minute I seen you I knew why you was here. +I knew you meant to croak Donnegan." + +"Me croak him? Why should I croak him?" + +"Because you been trailing him two thousand miles. Because you ain't got +the nerve to meet him face to face and you got to sneak in and take a +crack at him while he's lying asleep. That's you, Lefty Joe!" + +He saw Lefty sway toward him; but, all stories aside, it is a very bold +tramp that cares for argument of a serious nature with a brakie. And +even Lefty Joe was deterred from violent action. In the darkness his +upper lip twitched, but he carefully smoothed his voice. + +"You don't know nothing, pal," he declared. + +"Don't I?" + +"Nothing," repeated Lefty. + +He reached into his clothes and produced something which rustled in the +rush of wind. He fumbled, and finally passed a scrap of the paper into +the hand of the brakie. + +"My heavens," drawled the latter. "D'you think you can fix me with a +buck for a job like this? You can't bribe me to stand around while you +bump off Donnegan. Can't be done, Lefty!" + +"One buck, did you say?" + +Lefty Joe expertly lighted a match in spite of the roaring wind, and by +this wild light the brakie read the denomination of the bill with a +gasp. He rolled up his face and was in time to catch the sneer on the +face of Lefty before a gust snatched away the light of the match. + +They had topped the highest point in Jericho Pass and now the long train +dropped into the down grade with terrific speed. The wind became a +hurricane. But to the brakie all this was no more than a calm night. His +thoughts were raging in him, and if he looked back far enough he +remembered the dollar which Donnegan had given him; and how he had +promised Donnegan to give the warning before anything went wrong. He +thought of this, but rustling against the palm of his right hand was +the bill whose denomination he had read, and that figure ate into his +memory, ate into his brain. + +After all what was Donnegan to him? What was Donnegan but a worthless +tramp? Without any answer to that last monosyllabic query, the brakie +hunched forward, and began to work his way up the train. + +The tramp watched him go with laughter. It was silent laughter. In the +most quiet room it would not have sounded louder than a continual, light +hissing noise. Then he, in turn, moved from his place, and worked his +way along the train in the opposite direction to that in which the +brakie had disappeared. + +He went expertly, swinging from car to car with apelike clumsiness--and +surety. Two cars back. It was not so easy to reach the sliding side door +of that empty car. Considering the fact that it was night, that the +train was bucking furiously over the old roadbed, Lefty had a not +altogether simple task before him. But he managed it with the same +apelike adroitness. He could climb with his feet as well as his hands. +He would trust a ledge as well as he would trust the rung of a ladder. + +Under his discreet manipulations from above the door loosened and it +became possible to work it back. But even this the tramp did with +considerable care. He took advantage of the lurching of the train, and +every time the car jerked he forced the door to roll a little, so that +it might seem for all the world as though the motion of the train alone +were operating it. + +For suppose that Donnegan wakened out of his sound sleep and observed +the motion of the door; he would be suspicious if the door opened in a +single continued motion; but if it worked in these degrees he would be +hypersuspicious if he dreamed of danger. So the tramp gave five whole +minutes to that work. + +When it was done he waited for a time, another five minutes, perhaps, to +see if the door would be moved back. And when it was not disturbed, but +allowed to stand open, he knew that Donnegan still slept. + +It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into +the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this +moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man +might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping +foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome +by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought +that he was about to rid himself of this pest. + +True, the gang was broken up. But it might rise again. Donnegan had +fallen upon it like a blight. But with Donnegan out of the way would not +Suds come back to him instantly? And would not Kennebec Lou himself +return in admiration of a man who had done what he, Kennebec, could not +do? With those two as a nucleus, how greatly might he not build! + +Justice must be done to Lefty Joe. He approached this murder as a +statesman approaches the removal of a foe from the path of public +prosperity. There was no more rancor in his attitude. It was rather the +blissful largeness of the heart that comes to the politician when he +unearths the scandal which will blight the race of his rival. + +With the peaceful smile of a child, therefore, Lefty Joe lay stretched +at full length along the top of the car and made his choice of weapons. +On the whole, his usual preference, day or night, was for a revolver. +Give him a gat and Lefty was at home in any company. But he had reasons +for transferring his alliance on this occasion. In the first place, a +box car which is reeling and pitching to and fro, from side to side, is +not a very good shooting platform--even for a snapshot like Lefty Joe. +Also, the pitch darkness in the car would be a further annoyance to good +aim. And in the third and most decisive place, if he were to miss his +first shot he would not be extremely apt to place his second bullet. For +Donnegan had a reputation with his own revolver. Indeed, it was said +that he rarely carried the weapon, because when he did he was always +tempted too strongly to use it. So that the chances were large that +Donnegan would not have the gun now. Yet if he did have it--if he, +Lefty, did miss his first shot--then the story would be brief and bitter +indeed. + +On the other hand, a knife offered advantages almost too numerous to be +listed. It gave one the deadly assurance which only comes with the +knowledge of an edge of steel in one's hand. And when the knife reaches +its mark it ends a battle at a stroke. + +Of course these doubts and considerations pro and con went through the +mind of the tramp in about the same space of time that it requires for a +dog to waken, snap at a fly, and drowse again. Eventually, he took out +his knife. It was a sheath knife which he wore from a noose of silk +around his throat, and it always lay closest to his heart. The blade of +the knife was of the finest Spanish steel, in the days when Spanish +smiths knew how to draw out steel to a streak of light; the handle of +the knife was from Milan. On the whole, it was a delicate and beautiful +weapon--and it had the durable suppleness of--say--hatred itself. + +Lefty Joe, like a pirate in a tale, took this weapon between his teeth; +allowed his squat, heavy bulk to swing down and dangle at arm's length +for an instant, and then he swung himself a little and landed softly on +the floor of the car. + +Who has not heard snow drop from the branch upon other snow beneath? +That was the way Lefty Joe dropped to the floor of the car. He remained +as he had fallen; crouched, alert, with one hand spread out on the +boards to balance him and give him a leverage and a start in case he +should wish to spring in any direction. + +Then he began to probe the darkness in every direction; with every +glance he allowed his head to dart out a little. The movement was like a +chicken pecking at imaginary grains of corn. But eventually he satisfied +himself that his quarry lay in the forward end of the car; that he was +prone; that he, Lefty, had accomplished nine-tenths of his purpose by +entering the place of his enemy unobserved. + + + + +3 + + +But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe +was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise. The +roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those +of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though +he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house. He could see a vague +shadow--Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of +direction which some people possess in a dim light. The blind, of +course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even +those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted +sense of direction. + +With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first +and most dangerous stage of his journey. That is, he got away from the +square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve +to silhouette his body. After this, it was easier work. + +Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been +transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress +forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not +yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon. Just as a prize fighter +keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears +to lose his intimate touch with them. + +This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds. Now Lefty Joe rose +slowly. He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll +of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left +hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for +the leap. He had already taken the last preliminary movement--he had +swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, +had thrown all his weight upon the right--in fact, his body was +literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the +shadow which was Donnegan came to life. + +The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a +stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some +eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe. + +It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under +those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have +frustrated Lefty's spring so completely. Instead of launching out in a +compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty +crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife +hand to save his balance. + +It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men. Animals +fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet. +They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even +while they are dropping through the air. But man needs poise and balance +before he can act. What is speed in a fighter? It is not so much an +affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself +instantly to each new move and put the body in a state of balance. In +the prize ring speed does not mean the ability to strike one lightning +blow, but rather that, having finished one drive, the fighter is in +position to hit again, and then again, so that no matter where the +impetus of his last lunge has placed him he is ready and poised to shoot +all his weight behind his fist again and drive it accurately at a +vulnerable spot. Individually the actions may be slow; but the series of +efforts seem rapid. That is why a superior boxer seems to hypnotize his +antagonist with movements which to the spectator seem perfectly easy, +slow, and sure. + +But if Lefty lacked much in agility, he had an animallike sense of +balance. Sprawling, helpless, he saw the convulsed shadow that was +Donnegan take form as a straight shooting body that plunged through the +air above him. Lefty Joe dug his left elbow into the floor of the car +and whirled back upon his shoulders, bunching his knees high over his +stomach. Nine chances out of ten, if Donnegan had fallen flatwise upon +this alert enemy, he would have received those knees in the pit of his +own stomach and instantly been paralyzed. But in the jumping, rattling +car even Donnegan was capable of making mistakes. His mistake in this +instance saved his life, for springing too far, he came down not in +reaching distance of Lefty's throat, but with his chest on the knees of +the older tramp. + +As a result, Donnegan was promptly kicked head over heels and tumbled +the length of the car. Lefty was on his feet and plunging after the +tumbling form in the twinkling of an eye, literally speaking, and he was +only kept from burying his knife in the flesh of his foe by a sway of +the car that staggered him in the act of striking. Donnegan, the next +instant, was beyond reach. He had struck the end of the car and +rebounded like a ball of rubber at a tangent. He slid into the shadows, +and Lefty, putting his own shoulders to the wall, felt for his revolver +and knew that he was lost. He had failed in his first surprise attack, +and without surprise to help him now he was gone. He weighed his +revolver, decided that it would be madness to use it, for if he missed, +Donnegan would instantly be guided by the flash to shoot him full of +holes. + +Something slipped by the open door--something that glimmered faintly; +and Lefty Joe knew that it was the red head of Donnegan. Donnegan, +soft-footed as a shadow among shadows. Donnegan on a blood trail. It +lowered the heartbeat of Lefty Joe to a tremendous, slow pulse. In that +moment he gave up hope and, resigning himself to die, determined to +fight to the last gasp, as became one of his reputation and national +celebrity on "the road." + +Yet Lefty Joe was no common man and no common fighter. No, let the shade +of Rusty Dick, whom Lefty met and beat in his glorious prime--let this +shade arise and speak for the prowess of Lefty Joe. In fact it was +because he was such a good fighter himself that he recognized his +helplessness in the hands of Donnegan. + +The faint glimmer of color had passed the door. It was dissolved in +deeper shadows at once, and soundlessly; Lefty knew that Donnegan was +closer and closer. + +Of one thing he felt more and more confident, that Donnegan did not have +his revolver with him. Otherwise, he would have used it before. For what +was darkness to this devil, Donnegan. He walked like a cat, and most +likely he could see like a cat in the dark. Instinctively the older +tramp braced himself with his right hand held at a guard before his +breast and the knife poised in his left, just as a man would prepare to +meet the attack of a panther. He even took to probing the darkness in a +strange hope to catch the glimmer of the eyes of Donnegan as he moved to +the attack. If there were a hair's breadth of light, then Donnegan +himself must go down. A single blow would do it. + +But the devil had instructed his favorite Donnegan how to fight. He did +not come lunging through the shadows to meet the point of that knife. +Instead, he had worked a snaky way along the floor and now he leaped in +and up at Lefty, taking him under the arms. + +A dozen hands, it seemed, laid hold on Lefty. He fought like a demon and +tore himself away, but the multitude of hands pursued him. They were +small hands. Where they closed they tore the clothes and bit into his +very flesh. Once a hand had him by the throat, and when Lefty jerked +himself away it was with a feeling that his flesh had been seared by +five points of red-hot iron. All this time his knife was darting; once +it ripped through cloth, but never once did it find the target. And half +a second later Donnegan got his hold. The flash of the knife as Lefty +raised it must have guided the other. He shot his right hand up behind +the left shoulder of the other and imprisoned the wrist. Not only did it +make the knife hand helpless, but by bearing down with his own weight +Donnegan could put his enemy in most exquisite torture. + +For an instant they whirled; then they went down, and Lefty was on top. +Only for a moment. The impetus which had sent him to the floor was used +by Donnegan to turn them over, and once fairly on top his left hand was +instantly at the throat of Lefty. + +Twice Lefty made enormous efforts, but then he was done. About his body +the limbs of Donnegan were twisted, tightening with incredible force; +just as hot iron bands sink resistlessly into place. The strangle-hold +cut away life at its source. Once he strove to bury his teeth in the arm +of Donnegan. Once, as the horror caught at him, he strove to shriek for +help. All he succeeded in doing was in raising an awful, sobbing +whisper. Then, looking death in the face, Lefty plunged into the great +darkness. + + + + +4 + + +When he wakened, he jumped at a stride into the full possession of his +faculties. He had been placed near the open door, and the rush of night +air had done its work in reviving him. But Lefty, drawn back to life, +felt only a vague wonder that his life had not been taken. Perhaps he +was being reserved by the victor for an Indian death of torment. He felt +cautiously and found that not only were his hands free, but his revolver +had not been taken from him. A familiar weight was on his chest--the +very knife had been returned to its sheath. + +Had Donnegan returned these things to show how perfectly he despised his +enemy? + +"He's gone!" groaned the tramp, sitting up quickly. + +"He's here," said a voice that cut easily through the roar of the train. +"Waiting for you, Lefty." + +The tramp was staggered again. But then, who had ever been able to +fathom the ways of Donnegan? + +"Donnegan!" he cried with a sudden recklessness. + +"Yes?" + +"You're a fool!" + +"Yes?" + +"For not finishing the job." + +Donnegan began to laugh. In the uproar of the train it was impossible +really to hear the sound, but Lefty caught the pulse of it. He fingered +his bruised throat; swallowing was a painful effort. And an +indescribable feeling came over him as he realized that he sat armed to +the teeth within a yard of the man he wanted to kill, and yet he was as +effectively rendered helpless as though iron shackles had been locked on +his wrists and legs. The night light came through the doorway, and he +could make out the slender outline of Donnegan and again he caught the +faint luster of that red hair; and out of the shadowy form a singular +power emanated and sapped his strength at the root. + +Yet he went on viciously: "Sooner or later, Donnegan, I'll get you!" + +The red head of Donnegan moved, and Lefty Joe knew that the younger man +was laughing again. + +"Why are you after me?" he asked at length. + +It was another blow in the face of Lefty. He sat for a time blinking +with owlish stupidity. + +"Why?" he echoed. And he spoke his astonishment from the heart. + +"Why am I after you?" he said again. "Why, confound you, ain't you +Donnegan?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't the whole road know that I'm after you and you after me?" + +"The whole road is crazy. I'm not after you." + +Lefty choked. + +"Maybe I been dreaming. Maybe you didn't bust up the gang? Maybe you +didn't clean up on Suds and Kennebec?" + +"Suds? Kennebec? I sort of remember meeting them." + +"You sort of--the devil!" Lefty Joe sputtered the words. "And after you +cleaned up my crowd, ain't it natural and good sense for you to go on +and try to clean up on me?" + +"Sounds like it." + +"But I figured to beat you to it. I cut in on your trail, Donnegan, and +before I leave it you'll know a lot more about me." + +"You're warning me ahead of time?" + +"You've played this game square with me; I'll play square with you. +Next time there'll be no slips, Donnegan. I dunno why you should of +picked on me, though. Just the natural devil in you." + +"I haven't picked on you," said Donnegan. + +"What?" + +"I'll give you my word." + +A tingle ran through the blood of Lefty Joe. Somewhere he had heard, in +rumor, that the word of Donnegan was as good as gold. He recalled that +rumor now and something of dignity in the manner with which Donnegan +made his announcement carried a heavy weight. As a rule, the tramps +vowed with many oaths; here was one of the nights of the road who made +his bare word sufficient. And Lefty Joe heard with great wonder. + +"All I ask," he said, "is why you hounded my gang, if you wasn't after +me?" + +"I didn't hound them. I ran into Suds by accident. We had trouble. Then +Levine. Then Kennebec Lou tried to take a fall out of me." + +A note of whimsical protest crept into the voice of Donnegan. + +"Somehow there's always a fight wherever I go," he said. "Fights just +sort of grow up around me." + +Lefty Joe snarled. + +"You didn't mean nothing by just 'happening' to run into three of my +boys one after another?" + +"Not a thing." + +Lefty rocked himself back and forth in an ecstasy of impatience. + +"Why don't you stay put?" he complained. "Why don't you stake out your +own ground and stay put in it? You cut in on every guy's territory. +There ain't any privacy any more since you hit the road. What you got? A +roving commission?" + +Donnegan waited for a moment before he answered. And when he spoke his +voice had altered. Indeed, he had remarkable ability to pitch his voice +into the roar of the freight train, and above or beneath it, and give it +a quality such as he pleased. + +"I'm following a trail, but not yours," he admitted at length. "I'm +following a trail. I've been at it these two years and nothing has +come of it." + +"Who you after?" + +"A man with red hair." + +"That tells me a lot." + +Donnegan refused to explain. + +"What you got against him--the color of his hair?" + +And Lefty roared contentedly at his own stale jest. + +"It's no good," replied Donnegan. "I'll never get on the trail." + +Lefty broke in: "You mean to say you've been working two solid years and +all on a trail that you ain't even found?" + +The silence answered him in the affirmative. + +"Ain't nobody been able to tip you off to him?" went on Lefty, intensely +interested. + +"Nobody. You see, he's a hard sort to describe. Red hair, that's all +there was about him for a clue. But if any one ever saw him stripped +they'd remember him by a big blotchy birthmark on his left shoulder." + +"Eh?" grunted Lefty Joe. + +He added: "What was his name?" + +"Don't know. He changed monikers when he took to the road." + +"What was he to you?" + +"A man I'm going to find." + +"No matter where the trail takes you?" + +"No matter where." + +At this Lefty was seized with unaccountable laughter. He literally +strained his lungs with that Homeric outburst. When he wiped the tears +from his eyes, at length, the shadow on the opposite side of the doorway +had disappeared. He found his companion leaning over him, and this time +he could catch the dull glint of starlight on both hair and eyes. + +"What d'you know?" asked Donnegan. + +"How do you stand toward this bird with the birthmark and the red hair?" +queried Lefty with caution. + +"What d'you know?" insisted Donnegan. + +All at once passion shook him; he fastened his grip in the shoulder of +the larger man, and his fingertips worked toward the bone. + +"What do you know?" he repeated for the third time, and now there was no +hint of laughter in the hard voice of Lefty. + +"You fool, if you follow that trail you'll go to the devil. It was +Rusty Dick; and he's dead!" + +His triumphant laughter came again, but Donnegan cut into it. + +"Rusty Dick was the one you--killed!" + +"Sure. What of it? We fought fair and square." + +"Then Rusty wasn't the man I want. The man I want would of eaten two +like you, Lefty." + +"What about the birthmark? It sure was on his shoulder; Donnegan." + +"Heavens!" whispered Donnegan. + +"What's the matter?" + +"Rusty Dick," gasped Donnegan. "Yes, it must have been he." + +"Sure it was. What did you have against him?" + +"It was a matter of blood--between us," stammered Donnegan. + +His voice rose in a peculiar manner, so that Lefty shrank involuntarily. + +"You killed Rusty?" + +"Ask any of the boys. But between you and me, it was the booze that +licked Rusty Dick. I just finished up the job and surprised everybody." + +The train was out of the mountains and in a country of scattering hills, +but here it struck a steep grade and settled down to a grind of slow +labor; the rails hummed, and suspense filled the freight car. + +"Hey," cried Lefty suddenly. "You fool, you'll do a flop out the door in +about a minute!" + +He even reached out to steady the toppling figure, but Donnegan pitched +straight out into the night. Lefty craned his neck from the door, +studying the roadbed, but at that moment the locomotive topped the +little rise and the whole train lurched forward. + +"After all," murmured Lefty Joe, "it sounds like Donnegan. Hated a guy +so bad that he hadn't any use for livin' when he heard the other guy was +dead. But I'm never goin' to cross his path again, I hope." + + + + +5 + + +But Donnegan had leaped clear of the roadbed, and he struck almost to +the knees in a drift of sand. Otherwise, he might well have broken his +legs with that foolhardy chance. As it was, the fall whirled him over +and over, and by the time he had picked himself up the lighted caboose +of the train was rocking past him. Donnegan watched it grow small in the +distance, and then, when it was only a red, uncertain star far down the +track, he turned to the vast country around him. + +The mountains were to his right, not far away, but caught up behind the +shadows so that it seemed a great distance. Like all huge, half-seen +things they seemed in motion toward him. For the rest, he was in bare, +rolling country. The sky line everywhere was clean; there was hardly a +sign of a tree. He knew, by a little reflection, that this must be +cattle country, for the brakie had intimated as much in their talk just +before dusk. Now it was early night, and a wind began to rise, blowing +down the valley with a keen motion and a rapidly lessening temperature, +so that Donnegan saw he must get to a shelter. He could, if necessary, +endure any privation, but his tastes were for luxurious comfort. +Accordingly he considered the landscape with gloomy disapproval. He was +almost inclined to regret his plunge from the lumbering freight train. +Two things had governed him in making that move. First, when he +discovered that the long trail he followed was definitely fruitless, he +was filled with a great desire to cut himself away from his past and +make a new start. Secondly, when he learned that Rusty Dick had been +killed by Joe, he wanted desperately to get the throttle of the latter +under his thumb. If ever a man risked his life to avoid a sin, it was +Donnegan jumping from the train to keep from murder. + +He stooped to sight along the ground, for this is the best way at night +and often horizon lights are revealed in this manner. But now Donnegan +saw nothing to serve as a guide. He therefore drew in his belt until it +fitted snug about his gaunt waist, settled his cap firmly, and headed +straight into the wind. + +Nothing could have shown his character more distinctly. + +When in doubt, head into the wind. + +With a jaunty, swinging step he sauntered along, and this time, at +least, his tactics found an early reward. Topping the first large rise +of ground, he saw in the hollow beneath him the outline of a large +building. And as he approached it, the wind clearing a high blowing mist +from the stars, he saw a jumble of outlying houses. Sheds, barns, +corrals--it was the nucleus of a big ranch. It is a maxim that, if you +wish to know a man look at his library and if you wish to know a +rancher, look at his barn. Donnegan made a small detour to the left and +headed for the largest of the barns. + +He entered it by the big, sliding door, which stood open; he looked up, +and saw the stars shining through a gap in the roof. And then he stood +quietly for a time, listening to the voices of the wind in the ruin. +Oddly enough, it was pleasant to Donnegan. His own troubles and sorrow +had poured upon him so thickly in the past hour or so that it was +soothing to find evidence of the distress of others. But perhaps this +meant that the entire establishment was deserted. + +He left the barn and went toward the house. Not until he was close under +its wall did he come to appreciate its size. It was one of those great, +rambling, two-storied structures which the cattle kings of the past +generation were fond of building. Standing close to it, he heard none of +the intimate sounds of the storm blowing through cracks and broken +walls; no matter into what disrepair the barns had fallen, the house was +still solid; only about the edges of the building the storm kept +murmuring. + +Yet there was not a light, neither above nor below. He came to the front +of the house. Still no sign of life. He stood at the door and knocked +loudly upon it, and though, when he tried the knob, he found that the +door was latched, yet no one came in response. He knocked again, and +putting his ear close he heard the echoes walk through the interior of +the building. + +After this, the wind rose in sudden strength and deafened him with +rattlings; above him, a shutter was swung open and then crashed to, so +that the opening of the door was a shock of surprise to Donnegan. A dim +light from a source which he could not direct suffused the interior of +the hall; the door itself was worked open a matter of inches and +Donnegan was aware of two keen old eyes glittering out at him. Beyond +this he could distinguish nothing. + +"Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "And what do you want?" + +"I'm a stranger, and I want something to eat and a place to sleep. This +house looks as if it might have spare rooms." + +"Where d'you come from?" + +"Yonder," said Donnegan, with a sufficiently noncommittal gesture. + +"What's your name?" + +"Donnegan." + +"I don't know you. Be off with you, Mr. Donnegan!" + +He inserted his foot in the closing crack of the door. + +"Tell me where I'm to go?" he persisted. + +At this her voice rose in pitch, with squeaky rage. + +"I'll raise the house on you!" + +"Raise 'em. Call down the man of the house. I can talk to him better +than I can to you; but I won't walk off like this. If you can feed me, +I'll pay you for what I eat." + +A shrill cackling--he could not make out the words. And since patience +was not the first of Donnegan's virtues, he seized on the knob of the +door and deliberately pressed it wide. Standing in the hall, now, and +closing the door slowly behind him, he saw a woman with old, keen eyes +shrinking away toward the staircase. She was evidently in great fear, +but there was something infinitely malicious in the manner in which she +kept working her lips soundlessly. She was shrinking, and half turned +away, yet there was a suggestion that in an instant she might whirl and +fly at his face. The door now clicked, and with the windstorm shut away +Donnegan had a queer feeling of being trapped. + +"Now call the man of the house," he repeated. "See if I can't come to +terms with him." + +"He'd make short work of you if he came," she replied. She broke into a +shrill laughter, and Donnegan thought he had never seen a face so ugly. +"If he came," she said, "you'd rue the day." + +"Well, I'll talk to you, then. I'm not asking charity. I want to pay for +what I get." + +"This ain't a hotel. You go on down the road. Inside eight miles you'll +come to the town." + +"Eight miles!" + +"That's nothing for a man to ride." + +"Not at all, if I had something to ride." + +"You ain't got a horse?" + +"No." + +"Then how do you come here?" + +"I walked." + +If this sharpened her suspicions, it sharpened her fear also. She put +one foot on the lowest step of the stairs. + +"Be off with you, Mr. Donnegally, or whatever your outlandish name is. +You'll get nothing here. What brings you--" + +A door closed and a footstep sounded lightly on the floor above. And +Donnegan, already alert in the strange atmosphere of this house, gave +back a pace so as to get an honest wall behind him. He noted that the +step was quick and small, and preparing himself to meet a wisp of +manhood--which, for that matter, was the type he was most inclined to +fear--Donnegan kept a corner glance upon the old woman at the foot of +the stairs and steadily surveyed the shadows at the head of the rise. + +Out of that darkness a foot slipped; not even a boy's foot--a very +child's. The shock of it made Donnegan relax his caution for an instant, +and in that instant she came into the reach of the light. It was a +wretched light at best, for it came from a lamp with smoky chimney +which the old hag carried, and at the raising and lowering of her hand +the flame jumped and died in the throat of the chimney and set the hall +awash with shadows. Falling away to a point of yellow, the lamp allowed +the hall to assume a certain indefinite dignity of height and breadth +and calm proportions; but when the flame rose Donnegan could see the +broken balusters of the balustrade, the carpet, faded past any design +and worn to rattiness, wall paper which had rotted or dried away and +hung in crisp tatters here and there, and on the ceiling an irregular +patch from which the plaster had fallen and exposed the lathwork. But at +the coming of the girl the old woman had turned, and as she did the +flame tossed up in the lamp and Donnegan could see the newcomer +distinctly. + +Once before his heart had risen as it rose now. It had been the fag end +of a long party, and Donnegan, rousing from a drunken sleep, staggered +to the window. Leaning there to get the freshness of the night air +against his hot face, he had looked up, and saw the white face of the +moon going up the sky; and a sudden sense of the blackness and loathing +against the city had come upon Donnegan, and the murky color of his own +life; and when he turned away from the window he was sober. And so it +was that he now stared up at the girl. At her breast she held a cloak +together with one hand and the other hand touched the railing of the +stairs. He saw one foot suspended for the next step, as though the sight +of him kept her back in fear. To the miserable soul of Donnegan she +seemed all that was lovely, young, and pure; and her hair, old gold in +the shadow and pale gold where the lamp struck it, was to Donnegan like +a miraculous light about her face. + +Indeed, that little pause was a great and awful moment. For considering +that Donnegan, who had gone through his whole life with his eyes ready +either to mock or hate, and who had rarely used his hand except to make +a fist of it; Donnegan who had never, so far as is known, had a +companion; who had asked the world for action, not kindness; this +Donnegan now stood straight with his back against the wall, and poured +out the story of his wayward life to a mere slip of a girl. + + + + +6 + + +Even the old woman, whose eyes were sharpened by her habit of looking +constantly for the weaknesses and vices of men, could not guess what was +going on behind the thin, rather ugly face of Donnegan; the girl, +perhaps, may have seen more. For she caught the glitter of his active +eyes even at that distance. The hag began to explain with vicious +gestures that set the light flaring up and down. + +"He ain't come from nowhere, Lou," she said. "He ain't going nowhere; he +wants to stay here for the night." + +The foot which had been suspended to take the next step was now +withdrawn. Donnegan, remembered at last, whipped off his cap, and at +once the light flared and burned upon his hair. It was a wonderful red; +it shone, and it had a terrible blood tinge so that his face seemed pale +beneath it. There were three things that made up the peculiar dominance +of Donnegan's countenance. The three things were the hair, the uneasy, +bright eyes, and the rather thin, compressed lips. When Donnegan slept +he seemed about to waken from a vigorous dream; when he sat down he +seemed about to leap to his feet; and when he was standing he gave that +impression of a poise which is ready for anything. It was no wonder that +the girl, seeing that face and that alert, aggressive body, shrank a +little on the stairs. Donnegan, that instant, knew that these two women +were really alone in the house as far as fighting men were concerned. + +And the fact disturbed him more than a leveled gun would have done. He +went to the foot of the stairs, even past the old woman, and, raising +his head, he spoke to the girl. + +"My name's Donnegan. I came over from the railroad--walked. I don't want +to walk that other eight miles unless there's a real need for it. I--" +Why did he pause? "I'll pay for anything I get here." + +His voice was not too certain; behind his teeth there was knocking a +desire to cry out to her the truth. "I am Donnegan. Donnegan the tramp. +Donnegan the shiftless. Donnegan the fighter. Donnegan the killer. +Donnegan the penniless, worthless. But for heaven's sake let me stay +until morning and let me look at you--from a distance!" + +But, after all, perhaps he did not need to say all these things. His +clothes were rags, upon his face there was a stubble of unshaven red, +which made the pallor about his eyes more pronounced. If the girl had +been half blind she must have felt that here was a man of fire. He saw +her gather the wrap a little closer about her shoulders, and that sign +of fear made him sick at heart. + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the girl. "I am sorry. We cannot take you into the +house. Eight miles--" + +Did she expect to turn a sinner from the gates of heaven with a mere +phrase? He cast out his hand, and she winced as though he had shaken his +fist at her. + +"Are you afraid?" cried Donnegan. + +"I don't control the house." + +He paused, not that her reply had baffled him, but the mere pleasure of +hearing her speak accounted for it. It was one of those low, light +voices which are apt to have very little range or volume, and which +break and tremble absurdly under any stress of emotion; and often they +become shrill in a higher register; but inside conversational limits, if +such a term may be used, there is no fiber so delightful, so purely +musical. Suppose the word "velvet" applied to a sound. That voice came +soothingly and delightfully upon the ear of Donnegan, from which the +roar and rattle of the empty freight train had not quite departed. He +smiled at her. + +"But," he protested, "this is west of the Rockies--and I don't see any +other way out." + +The girl, all this time, was studying him intently, a little sadly, he +thought. Now she shook her head, but there was more warmth in her voice. + +"I'm sorry. I can't ask you to stay without first consulting my father." + +"Go ahead. Ask him." + +She raised her hand a little; the thought seemed to bring her to the +verge of trembling, as though he were asking a sacrilege. + +"Why not?" he urged. + +She did not answer, but, instead, her eyes sought the old, woman, as if +to gain her interposition; she burst instantly into speech. + +"Which there's no good talking any more," declared the ancient vixen. +"Are you wanting to make trouble for her with the colonel? Be off, young +man. It ain't the first time I've told you you'd get nowhere in this +house!" + +There was no possible answer left to Donnegan, and he did as usual the +surprising thing. He broke into laughter of such clear and ringing +tone--such infectious laughter--that the old woman blinked in the midst +of her wrath as though she were seeing a new man, and he saw the lips of +the girl parted in wonder. + +"My father is an invalid," said the girl. "And he lives by strict rules. +I could not break in on him at this time of the evening." + +"If that's all"--Donnegan actually began to mount the steps--"I'll go in +and talk to your father myself." + +She had retired one pace as he began advancing, but as the import of +what he said became clear to her she was rooted to one position by +astonishment. + +"Colonel Macon--my father--" she began. Then: "Do you really wish to see +him?" + +The hushed voice made Donnegan smile--it was such a voice as one boy +uses when he asks the other if he really dares enter the pasture of the +red bull. He chuckled again, and this time she smiled, and her eyes were +widened, partly by fear of his purpose and partly from his nearness. +They seemed to be suddenly closer together. As though they were on one +side against a common enemy, and that enemy was her father. The old +woman was cackling sharply from the bottom of the stairs, and then +bobbing in pursuit and calling on Donnegan to come back. At length the +girl raised her hand and silenced her with a gesture. + +Donnegan was now hardly a pace away; and he saw that she lived up to all +the promise of that first glance. Yet still she seemed unreal. There is +a quality of the unearthly about a girl's beauty; it is, after all, only +a gay moment between the formlessness of childhood and the hardness of +middle age. This girl was pale, Donnegan saw, and yet she had color. She +had the luster, say, of a white rose, and the same bloom. Lou, the old +woman had called her, and Macon was her father's name. Lou Macon--the +name fitted her, Donnegan thought. For that matter, if her name had been +Sally Smith, Donnegan would probably have thought it beautiful. The +keener a man's mind is and the more he knows about men and women and the +ways of the world, the more apt he is to be intoxicated by a touch of +grace and thoughtfulness; and all these age-long seconds the perfume of +girlhood had been striking up to Donnegan's brain. + +She brushed her timidity away and with the same gesture accepted +Donnegan as something more than a dangerous vagrant. She took the lamp +from the hands of the crone and sent her about her business, +disregarding the mutterings and the warnings which trailed behind the +departing form. Now she faced Donnegan, screening the light from her +eyes with a cupped hand and by the same device focusing it upon the face +of Donnegan. He mutely noted the small maneuver and gave her credit; but +for the pleasure of seeing the white of her fingers and the way they +tapered to a pink transparency at the tips, he forgot the poor figure he +must make with his soiled, ragged shirt, his unshaven face, his gaunt +cheeks. + +Indeed, he looked so straight at her that in spite of her advantage with +the light she had to avoid his glance. + +"I am sorry," said Lou Macon, "and ashamed because we can't take you in. +The only house on the range where you wouldn't be welcome, I know. But +my father leads a very close life; he has set ways. The ways of an +invalid, Mr. Donnegan." + +"And you're bothered about speaking to him of me?" + +"I'm almost afraid of letting you go in yourself." + +"Let me take the risk." + +She considered him again for a moment, and then turned with a nod and he +followed her up the stairs into the upper hall. The moment they stepped +into it he heard her clothes flutter and a small gale poured on them. It +was criminal to allow such a building to fall into this ruinous +condition. And a gloomy picture rose in Donnegan's mind of the invalid, +thin-faced, sallow-eyed, white-haired, lying in his bed listening to the +storm and silently gathering bitterness out of the pain of living. Lou +Macon paused again in the hall, close to a door on the right. + +"I'm going to send you in to speak to my father," she said gravely. +"First I have to tell you that he's different." + +Donnegan replied by looking straight at her, and this time she did not +wince from the glance. Indeed, she seemed to be probing him, searching +with a peculiar hope. What could she expect to find in him? What that +was useful to her? Not once in all his life had such a sense of +impotence descended upon Donnegan. Her father? Bah! Invalid or no +invalid he would handle that fellow, and if the old man had an acrid +temper, Donnegan at will could file his own speech to a point. But the +girl! In the meager hand which held the lamp there was a power which all +the muscles of Donnegan could not compass; and in his weakness he looked +wistfully at her. + +"I hope your talk will be pleasant. I hope so." She laid her hand on the +knob of the door and withdrew it hastily; then, summoning great +resolution, she opened the door and showed Donnegan in. + +"Father," she said, "this is Mr. Donnegan. He wishes to speak to you." + +The door closed behind Donnegan, and hearing that whishing sound which +the door of a heavy safe will make, he looked down at this, and saw that +it was actually inches thick! Once more the sense of being in a trap +descended upon him. + + + + +7 + + +He found himself in a large room which, before he could examine a single +feature of it, was effectively curtained from his sight. Straight into +his face shot a current of violent white light that made him blink. +There was the natural recoil, but in Donnegan recoils were generally +protected by several strata of willpower and seldom showed in any +physical action. On the present occasion his first dismay was swiftly +overwhelmed by a cold anger at the insulting trick. This was not the +trick of a helpless invalid; Donnegan could not see a single thing +before him, but he obeyed a very deep instinct and advanced straight +into the current of light. + +He was glad to see the light switched away. The comparative darkness +washed across his eyes in a pleasant wave and he was now able to +distinguish a few things in the room. It was, as he had first surmised, +quite large. The ceiling was high; the proportions comfortably spacious; +but what astounded Donnegan was the real elegance of the furnishings. +There was no mistaking the deep, silken texture of the rug upon which he +stepped; the glow of light barely reached the wall, and there showed +faintly in streaks along yellowish hangings. Beside a table which +supported a big reading lamp--gasoline, no doubt, from the intensity of +its light--sat Colonel Macon with a large volume spread across his +knees. Donnegan saw two highlights--fine silver hair that covered the +head of the invalid and a pair of white hands fallen idly upon the +surface of the big book, for if the silver hair suggested age the +smoothly finished hands suggested perennial youth. They were strong, +carefully tended, complacent hands. They suggested to Donnegan a man +sufficient unto himself. + +"Mr. Donnegan, I am sorry that I cannot rise to receive you. Now, what +pleasant accident has brought me the favor of this call?" + +Donnegan was taken aback again, and this time more strongly than by the +flare of light against his eyes. For in the voice he recognized the +quality of the girl--the same softness, the same velvety richness, +though the pitch was a bass. In the voice of this man there was the same +suggestion that the tone would crack if it were forced either up or +down. With this great difference, one could hardly conceive of a +situation which would push that man's voice beyond its monotone. It +flowed with deadly, all-embracing softness. It clung about one; it +fascinated and baffled the mind of the listener. + +But Donnegan was not in the habit of being baffled by voices. Neither +was he a lover of formality. He looked about for a place to sit down, +and immediately discovered that while the invalid sat in an enormous +easy-chair bordered by shelves and supplied with wheels for raising and +lowering the back and for propelling the chair about the room on its +rubber tires, it was the only chair in the room which could make any +pretensions toward comfort. As a matter of fact, aside from this one +immense chair, devoted to the pleasure of the invalid, there was nothing +in the room for his visitors to sit upon except two or three miserable +backless stools. + +But Donnegan was not long taken aback. He tucked his cap under his arm, +bowed profoundly in honor of the colonel's compliments, and brought one +of the stools to a place where it was no nearer the rather ominous +circle of the lamplight than was the invalid himself. With his eyes +accustomed to the new light, Donnegan could now take better stock of his +host. He saw a rather handsome face, with eyes exceedingly blue, young, +and active; but the features of Macon as well as his body were blurred +and obscured by a great fatness. He was truly a prodigious man, and one +could understand the stoutness with which the invalid chair was made. +His great wrist dimpled like the wrist of a healthy baby, and his face +was so enlarged with superfluous flesh that the lower part of it quite +dwarfed the upper. He seemed, at first glance, a man with a low forehead +and bright, careless eyes and a body made immobile by flesh and +sickness. A man whose spirits despised and defied pain. Yet a second +glance showed that the forehead was, after all, a nobly proportioned +one, and for all the bulk of that figure, for all the cripple-chair, +Donnegan would not have been surprised to see the bulk spring lightly +out of the chair to meet him. + +For his own part, sitting back on the stool with his cap tucked under +his arm and his hands folded about one knee, he met the faint, cold +smile of the colonel with a broad grin of his own. + +"I can put it in a nutshell," said Donnegan. "I was tired; dead beat; +needed a handout, and rapped at your door. Along comes a mystery in the +shape of an ugly-looking woman and opens the door to me. Tries to shut +me out; I decided to come in. She insists on keeping me outside; all at +once I see that I have to get into the house. I am brought in; your +daughter tries to steer me off, sees that the job is more than she can +get away with, and shelves me off upon you. And that, Colonel Macon, is +the pleasant accident which brings you the favor of this call." + +It would have been a speech both stupid and pert in the mouth of +another; but Donnegan knew how to flavor words with a touch of mockery +of himself as well as another. There were two manners in which this +speech could have been received--with a wink or with a smile. But it +would have been impossible to hear it and grow frigid. As for the +colonel, he smiled. + +It was a tricky smile, however, as Donnegan felt. It spread easily upon +that vast face and again went out and left all to the dominion of the +cold, bright eyes. + +"A case of curiosity," commented the colonel. + +"A case of hunger," said Donnegan. + +"My dear Mr. Donnegan, put it that way if you wish!" + +"And a case of blankets needed for one night." + +"Really? Have you ventured into such a country as this without any +equipment?" + +"Outside of my purse, my equipment is of the invisible kind." + +"Wits," suggested the colonel. + +"Thank you." + +"Not at all. You hinted at it yourself." + +"However, a hint is harder to take than to make." + +The colonel raised his faultless right hand--and oddly enough his great +corpulence did not extend in the slightest degree to his hand, but +stopped short at the wrists--and stroked his immense chin. His skin was +like Lou Macon's, except that in place of the white-flower bloom his was +a parchment, dead pallor. He lowered his hand with the same slow +precision and folded it with the other, all the time probing Donnegan +with his difficult eyes. + +"Unfortunately--most unfortunately, it is impossible for me to +accommodate you, Mr. Donnegan." + +The reply was not flippant, but quick. "Not at all. I am the easiest +person in the world to accommodate." + +The big man smiled sadly. + +"My fortune has fallen upon evil days, sir. It is no longer what it was. +There are in this house three habitable rooms; this one; my daughter's +apartment; the kitchen where old Haggie sleeps. Otherwise you are in a +rat trap of a place." + +He shook his head, a slow, decisive motion. + +"A spare blanket," said Donnegan, "will be enough." + +There was another sigh and another shake of the head. + +"Even a corner of a rug to roll up in will do perfectly." + +"You see, it is impossible for me to entertain you." + +"Bare boards will do well enough for me, Colonel Macon. And if I have a +piece of bread, a plate of cold beans--anything--I can entertain +myself." + +"I am sorry to see you so compliant, Mr. Donnegan, because that makes my +refusal seem the more unkind. But I cannot have you sleeping on the bare +floor. Not on such a night. Pneumonia comes on one like a cat in the +dark in such weather. It is really impossible to keep you here, sir." + +"H'm-m," said Donnegan. He began to feel that he was stumped, and it was +a most unusual feeling for him. + +"Besides, for a young fellow like you, with your agility, what is eight +miles? Walk down the road and you will come to a place where you will be +made at home and fed like a king." + +"Eight miles, that's not much! But on such a night as this?" + +There was a faint glint in the eyes of the colonel; was he not +sharpening his wits for his contest of words, and enjoying it? + +"The wind will be at your back and buoy your steps. It will shorten the +eight miles to four." + +Very definitely Donnegan felt that the other was reading him. What was +it that he saw as he turned the pages? + +"There is one thing you fail to take into your accounting." + +"Ah?" + +"I have an irresistible aversion to walking." + +"Ah?" repeated Macon. + +"Or exercise in any form." + +"Then you are unfortunate to be in this country without a horse." + +"Unfortunate, perhaps, but the fact is that I'm here. Very sorry to +trouble you, though, colonel." + +"I am rarely troubled," said the colonel coldly. "And since I have no +means of accommodation, the laws of hospitality rest light on my +shoulders." + +"Yet I have an odd thought," replied Donnegan. + +"Well? You have expressed a number already, it seems to me." + +"It's this: that you've already made up your mind to keep me here." + + + + +8 + + +The colonel stiffened in his chair, and under his bulk even those +ponderous timbers quaked a little. Once more Donnegan gained an +impression of chained activity ready to rise to any emergency. The +colonel's jaw set and the last vestige of the smile left his eyes. Yet +it was not anger that showed in its place. Instead, it was rather a +hungry searching. He looked keenly into the face and the soul of +Donnegan as a searchlight sweeps over waters by night. + +"You are a mind reader, Mr. Donnegan." + +"No more of a mind reader than a Chinaman is." + +"Ah, they are great readers of mind, my friend." + +Donnegan grinned, and at this the colonel frowned. + +"A great and mysterious people, sir. I keep evidences of them always +about me. Look!" + +He swept the shaft of the reading light up and it fell upon a red vase +against the yellow hangings. Even Donnegan's inexperienced eye read a +price into that shimmering vase. + +"Queer color," he said. + +"Dusty claret. Ah, they have the only names for their colors. Think! +Peach bloom--liquid dawn--ripe cherry--oil green--green of powdered +tea--blue of the sky after rain--what names for color! What other land +possesses such a tongue that goes straight to the heart!" + +The colonel waved his faultless hands and then dropped them back upon +the book with the tenderness of a benediction. + +"And their terms for texture--pear's rind--lime peel--millet seed! Do +not scoff at China, Mr. Donnegan. She is the fairy godmother, and we are +the poor children." + +He changed the direction of the light; Donnegan watched him, fascinated. + +"But what convinced you that I wished to keep you here?" + +"To amuse you, Colonel Macon." + +The colonel exposed gleaming white teeth and laughed in that soft, +smooth-flowing voice. + +"Amuse me? For fifteen years I have sat in this room and amused myself +by taking in what I would and shutting out the rest of the world. I have +made the walls thick and padded them to keep out all sound. You observe +that there is no evidence here of the storm that is going on tonight. +Amuse me? Indeed!" + +And Donnegan thought of Lou Macon in her old, drab dress, huddling the +poor cloak around her shoulders to keep out the cold, while her father +lounged here in luxury. He could gladly have buried his lean fingers in +that fat throat. From the first he had had an aversion to this man. + +"Very well, I shall go. It has been a pleasant chat, colonel." + +"Very pleasant. And thank you. But before you go, taste this whisky. It +will help you when you enter the wind." + +He opened a cabinet in the side of the chair and brought out a black +bottle and a pair of glasses and put them on the broad arm of the chair. +Donnegan sauntered back. + +"You see," he murmured, "you will not let me go." + +At this the colonel raised his head suddenly and glared into the eyes of +his guest, and yet so perfect was his muscular and nerve control that he +did not interrupt the thin stream of amber which trickled into one of +the glasses. Looking down again, he finished pouring the drinks. They +pledged each other with a motion, and drank. It was very old, very oily. +And Donnegan smiled as he put down the empty glass. + +"Sit down," said the colonel in a new voice. + +Donnegan obeyed. + +"Fate," went on the colonel, "rules our lives. We give our honest +endeavors, but the deciding touch is the hand of Fate." + +He garnished this absurd truism with a wave of his hand so solemn that +Donnegan was chilled; as though the fat man were actually conversant +with the Three Sisters. + +"Fate has brought you to me; therefore, I intend to keep you." + +"Here?" + +"In my service. I am about to place a great mission and a great trust in +your hands." + +"In the hands of a man you know nothing about?" + +"I know you as if I had raised you." + +Donnegan smiled, and shaking his head, the red hair flashed and +shimmered. + +"As long as there is no work attached to the mission, it may be +agreeable to me." + +"But there is work." + +"Then the contract is broken before it is made." + +"You are rash. But I had rather begin with a dissent and then work +upward." + +Donnegan waited. + +"To balance against work--" + +"Excuse me. Nothing balances against work for me." + +"To balance against work," continued the colonel, raising a white hand +and by that gesture crushing the protest of Donnegan, "there is a great +reward." + +"Colonel Macon, I have never worked for money before and I shall not +work for it now." + +"You trouble me with interruptions. Who mentioned money? You shall not +have a penny!" + +"No?" + +"The reward shall grow out of the work." + +"And the work?" + +"Is fighting." + +At this Donnegan narrowed his eyes and searched the fat man thoroughly. +It sounded like the talk of a charlatan, and yet there was a crispness +to these sentences that made him suspect something underneath. For that +matter, in certain districts his name and his career were known. He had +never dreamed that that reputation could have come within a thousand +miles of this part of the mountain desert. + +"You should have told me in the first place," he said with some anger, +"that you knew me." + +"Mr. Donnegan, upon my honor, I never heard your name before my daughter +uttered it." + +Donnegan waited soberly. + +"I despise charlatanry as much as the next man. You shall see the steps +by which I judged you. When you entered the room I threw a strong light +upon you. You did not blanch; you immediately walked straight into the +shaft of light although you could not see a foot before you." + +"And that proved?" + +"A combative instinct, and coolness; not the sort of brute +vindictiveness that fights for a rage, for a cool-minded love of +conflict. Is that clear?" + +Donnegan shrugged his shoulders. + +"And above all, I need a fighter. Then I watched your eyes and your +hands. The first were direct and yet they were alert. And your hands +were perfectly steady." + +"Qualifications for a fighter, eh?" + +"Do you wish further proof?" + +"Well?" + +"What of the fight to the death which you went through this same night?" + +Donnegan started. It was a small movement, that flinching, and he +covered it by continuing the upward gesture of his hand to his coat; he +drew out tobacco and cigarette papers and commenced to roll his smoke. +Looking up, he saw that the eyes of Colonel Macon were smiling, although +his face was grave. + +A glint of understanding passed between the two men, but not a spoken +word. + +"I assure you, there was no death tonight," said Donnegan at length. + +"Tush! Of course not! But the tear on the shoulder of your coat--ah, +that is too smooth edged for a tear, too long for the bite of a +scissors. Am I right? Tush! Not a word!" + +The colonel beamed with an almost tender pride, and Donnegan, knowing +that the fat man looked upon him as a murderer, newly come from a +death, considered the beaming face and thought many things in silence. + +"So it was easy to see that in coolness, courage, fighting instinct, +skill, you were probably what I want. Yet something more than all these +qualifications is necessary for the task which lies ahead of you." + +"You pile up the bad features, eh?" + +"To entice you, Donnegan. For one man, paint a rosy beginning, and once +under way he will manage the hard parts. For you, show you the hard +shell and you will trust it contains the choice flesh. I was saying, +that I waited to see other qualities in you; qualities of the judgment. +And suddenly you flashed upon me a single glance; I felt it clash +against my willpower. I felt your look go past my guard like a rapier +slipping around my blade. I, Colonel Macon, was for the first time +outfaced, out-maneuvered. I admit it, for I rejoice in meeting such a +man. And the next instant you told me that I should keep you here out of +my own wish! Admirable!" + +The admiration of the colonel, indeed, almost overwhelmed Donnegan, but +he saw that in spite of the genial smile, the face suffused with warmth, +the colonel was watching him every instant, flinty-eyed. Donnegan did as +he had done on the stairs; he burst into laughter. + +When he had done, the colonel was leaning forward in his chair with his +fingers interlacing, examining his guest from beneath somber brows. As +he sat lurched forward he gave a terrible impression of that reserved +energy which Donnegan had sensed before. + +"Donnegan," said the colonel, "I shall talk no more nonsense to you. You +are a terrible fellow!" + +And Donnegan knew that, for the first time in the colonel's life, he was +meeting another man upon equal ground. + + + + +9 + + +In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him: +that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absolute +evil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face of +Macon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would have +left the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou. + +"I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at once +Donnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense. + +"Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. A +waste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the first +man who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snapped +them on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last. + +"So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you. +Donnegan, we have met each other just in time." + +"True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot of +fighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night." + +"Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action in +which you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and in +the battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sad +past which lies behind you." + +Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; and +he stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and, +his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a panther +enduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape. + +"You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon his +stool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast, +and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyes +dull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from the +perspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossible +ten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallen +upon him. + +All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction. +Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well. + +"I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as the +voice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than I +wished to say." + +Donnegan brushed the apology aside. + +His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I am +eager to learn from you, colonel." + +"Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interests +in this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised you +before, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into small +details. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all men +of mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heart +of it is perfectly clear to them." + +He settled into his narrative. + +"You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a few +weeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddy +and Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand, +and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from the +headwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meets +the other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sands +are rich--very rich!" + +He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to cover +his emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor beside +him and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word. + +"Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was brought +to my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them. +But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom should +I select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozen +years ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortune +was then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I could +have shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and--" + +Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing that +this hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest, +he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the need +for a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able to +take care of himself." + +At this Donnegan pricked his ears. + +"He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filed +them as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It panned +out in nuggets." + +He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingers +Donnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring. + +"But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone. +This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as a +scoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimed +that he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claim +that I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump the +claims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lester +down. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded. + +"In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was a +village; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner had +become the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint. +He sent me back a mere souvenir." + +The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow and +with a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly, +so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. But +his hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. He +found in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces, +and he flicked it back to the colonel. + +"He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I have +waited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that Jack +Landis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirable +woman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which I +had sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind is +hardened against adversity. + +"Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engaged +to marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in his +disaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. The +scoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!" + +Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?" + +The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more +safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the +distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the +colonel read something that set him beaming. + +"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with +his selfishness." + +"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan. + +The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he +believed that things were getting on very well. + +"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the +wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He +belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows +very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and +handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions. +They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the +cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool +fighters--the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters--all celebrated names in +the cattle country. + +"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and +partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and +even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within +the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first +establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else; +if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is the +aggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devil +knows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists the +hearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is the +leader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members. +He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had his +followers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, and +made Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the mines +to the gang--of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At the +same time, Lord Nick attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adopted +father, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolen +the claims from this wretched Lester!" + +He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hateful +softness. + +"The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines. +Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives him +absolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably will +continue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it on +this woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comes +through to me!" + +Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon a +great distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins of +Donnegan. + +"Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove with +Lord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so that +nine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back through +the hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. He +struts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and with +the power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gambling +houses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come to +consider himself a great man. Is it clear?" + +Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance. + +"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must +be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be +brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress +and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long +Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully +their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him +from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp--send +Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby +prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!" + +At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see. + +"Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling +spirit; you are willing to take great chances!" + +"So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should +never send her except with an adequate protector." + +"An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the +camp as you have already admitted?" + +"An adequate protector--you are the man!" + +Donnegan shivered. + +"I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun +to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?" + +"It is." + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, +white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety. + +"She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing. + +"A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they +were children." + +"Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are +not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs." + +The colonel writhed in his chair. + +"But Lou--you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked +closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not +suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't +written for weeks." + +He saw Donnegan wince under the whip. + +"It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven +knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with +the sight of Lou?" + +The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would +undertake the journey. + +"In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you +astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away +from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In +that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you +also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis--namely, myself. And +in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure--oh, be sure that I should not +forget who brought the mines into my hands!" + + + + +10 + + +Fifty miles over any sort of going is a stiff march. Fifty miles uphill +and down and mostly over districts where there was only a rough cow path +in lieu of a road made a prodigious day's work; and certainly it was an +almost incredible feat for one who professed to hate work with a +consuming passion and who had looked upon an eight-mile jaunt the night +before as an insuperable burden. Yet such was the distance which +Donnegan had covered, and now he drove the pack mule out on the shoulder +of the hill in full view of The Corner with the triangle of the Young +Muddy and Christobel Rivers embracing the little town. Even the gaunt, +leggy mule was tired to the dropping point, and the tough buckskin which +trailed up behind went with downward head. When Louise Macon turned to +him, he had reached the point where he swung his head around first and +then grudgingly followed the movement with his body. The girl was tired, +also, in spite of the fact that she had covered every inch of the +distance in the saddle. There was that violet shade of weariness under +her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward. Only Donnegan, the hater of +labor, was fresh. + +They had started in the first dusk of the coming day; it was now the +yellow time of the slant afternoon sunlight; between these two points +there had been a body of steady plodding. The girl had looked askance at +that gaunt form of Donnegan's when they began; but before three hours, +seeing that the spring never left his step nor the swinging rhythm his +stride, she began to wonder. This afternoon, nothing he did could have +surprised her. From the moment he entered the house the night before he +had been a mystery. Till her death day she would not forget the fire +with which he had stared up at her from the foot of the stairs. But when +he came out of her father's room--not cowed and whipped as most men left +it--he had looked at her with a veiled glance, and since that moment +there had always been a mist of indifference over his eyes when he +looked at her. + +In the beginning of that day's march all she knew was that her father +trusted her to this stranger, Donnegan, to take her to The Corner, where +he was to find Jack Landis and bring Jack back to his old allegiance and +find what he was doing with his time and his money. It was a quite +natural proceeding, for Jack was a wild sort, and he was probably +gambling away all the gold that was dug in his mines. It was perfectly +natural throughout, except that she should have been trusted so entirely +to a stranger. That was a remarkable thing, but, then, her father was a +remarkable man, and it was not the first time that his actions had been +inscrutable, whether concerning her or the affairs of other people. She +had heard men come into their house cursing Colonel Macon with death in +their faces; she had seen them sneak out after a soft-voiced interview +and never appear again. In her eyes, her father was invincible, +all-powerful. When she thought of superlatives, she thought of him. Her +conception of mystery was the smile of the colonel, and her conception +of tenderness was bounded by the gentle voice of the same man. +Therefore, it was entirely sufficient to her that the colonel had said: +"Go, and trust everything to Donnegan. He has the power to command you +and you must obey--until Jack comes back to you." + +That was odd, for, as far as she knew, Jack had never left her. But she +had early discarded any will to question her father. Curiosity was a +thing which the fat man hated above all else. + +Therefore, it was really not strange to her that throughout the journey +her guide did not speak half a dozen words to her. Once or twice when +she attempted to open the conversation he had replied with crushing +monosyllables, and there was an end. For the rest, he was always +swinging down the trail ahead of her at a steady, unchanging, rapid +stride. Uphill and down it never varied. And so they came out upon the +shoulder of the hill and saw the storm center of The Corner. They were +in the hills behind the town; two miles would bring them into it. And +now Donnegan came back to her from the mule. He took off his hat and +shook the dust away; he brushed a hand across his face. He was still +unshaven. The red stubble made him hideous, and the dust and +perspiration covered his face as with a mask. Only his eyes were rimmed +with white skin. + +"You'd better get off the horse, here," said Donnegan. + +He held her stirrup, and she obeyed without a word. + +"Sit down." + +She sat down on the flat-topped boulder which he designated, and, +looking up, observed the first sign of emotion in his face. He was +frowning, and his face was drawn a little. + +"You are tired," he stated. + +"A little." + +"You are tired," said the wanderer in a tone that implied dislike of any +denial. Therefore she made no answer. "I'm going down into the town to +look things over. I don't want to parade you through the streets until I +know where Landis is to be found and how he'll receive you. The Corner +is a wild town; you understand?" + +"Yes," she said blankly, and noted nervously that the reply did not +please him. He actually scowled at her. + +"You'll be all right here. I'll leave the pack mule with you; if +anything should happen--but nothing is going to happen, I'll be back in +an hour or so. There's a pool of water. You can get a cold drink there +and wash up if you want to while I'm gone. But don't go to sleep!" + +"Why not?" + +"A place like this is sure to have a lot of stragglers hunting around +it. Bad characters. You understand?" + +She could not understand why he should make a mystery of it; but then, +he was almost as strange as her father. His careful English and his +ragged clothes were typical of him inside and out. + +"You have a gun there in your holster. Can you use it?" + +"Yes." + +"Try it." + +It was a thirty-two, a woman's light weapon. She took it out and +balanced it in her hand. + +"The blue rock down the hillside. Let me see you chip it." + +Her hand went up, and without pausing to sight along the barrel, she +fired; fire flew from the rock, and there appeared a white, small scar. +Donnegan sighed with relief. + +"If you squeezed the butt rather than pulled the trigger," he commented, +"you would have made a bull's-eye that time. Now, I don't mean that in +any likelihood you'll have to defend yourself. I simply want you to be +aware that there's plenty of trouble around The Corner." + +"Yes," said the girl. + +"You're not afraid?" + +"Oh, no." + +Donnegan settled his hat a little more firmly upon his head. He had been +on the verge of attributing her gentleness to a blank, stupid mind; he +began to realize that there was metal under the surface. He felt that +some of the qualities of the father were echoed faintly, and at a +distance, in the child. In a way, she made him think of an unawakened +creature. When she was roused, if the time ever came, it might be that +her eye could become a thing alternately of fire and ice, and her voice +might carry with a ring. + +"This business has to be gotten through quickly," he went on. "One +meeting with Jack Landis will be enough." + +She wondered why he set his jaw when he said this, but he was wondering +how deeply the colonel's ward had fallen into the clutches of Nelly +Lebrun. If that first meeting did not bring Landis to his senses, what +followed? One of two things. Either the girl must stay on in The Corner +and try her hand with her fiance again, or else the final brutal +suggestion of the colonel must be followed; he must kill Landis. It was +a cold-blooded suggestion, but Donnegan was a cold-blooded man. As he +looked at the girl, where she sat on the boulder, he knew definitely, +first and last, that he loved her, and that he would never again love +any other woman. Every instinct drew him toward the necessity of +destroying Landis. There was his stumbling block. But what if she truly +loved Landis? + +He would have to wait in order to find that out. And as he stood there +with the sun shining on the red stubble on his face he made a resolution +the more profound because it was formed in silence: if she truly loved +Landis he would serve her hand and foot until she had her will. + +But all he said was simply: "I shall be back before it's dark." + +"I shall be comfortable here," replied the girl, and smiled farewell at +him. + +And while Donnegan went down the slope full of darkness he thought of +that smile. + +The Corner spread more clearly before him with every step he made. It +was a type of the gold-rush town. Of course most of the dwellings were +tents--dog tents many of them; but there was a surprising sprinkling of +wooden shacks, some of them of considerable size. Beginning at the very +edge of the town and spread over the sand flats were the mines and the +black sprinkling of laborers. And the town itself was roughly jumbled +around one street. Over to the left the main road into The Corner +crossed the wide, shallow ford of the Young Muddy River and up this road +he saw half a dozen wagons coming, wagons of all sizes; but nothing went +out of The Corner. People who came stayed there, it seemed. + +He dropped over the lower hills, and the voice of the gold town rose to +him. It was a murmur like that of an army preparing for battle. Now and +then a blast exploded, for what purpose he could not imagine in this +school of mining. But as a rule the sounds were subdued by the distance. +He caught the muttering of many voices, in which laughter and shouts +were brought to the level of a whisper at close hand; and through all +this there was a persistent clangor of metallic sounds. No doubt from +the blacksmith shops where picks and other implements were made or +sharpened and all sorts of repairing carried on. But the predominant +tone of the voice of The Corner was this persistent ringing of metal. It +suggested to Donnegan that here was a town filled with men of iron and +all the gentler parts of their natures forgotten. An odd place to bring +such a woman as Lou Macon, surely! + +He reached the level, and entered the town. + + + + +11 + + +Hunting for news, he went naturally to the news emporium which took the +place of the daily paper--namely, he went to the saloons. But on the way +he ran through a liberal cross-section of The Corner's populace. First +of all, the tents and the ruder shacks. He saw little sheet-iron stoves +with the tin dishes piled, unwashed, upon the tops of them when the +miners rushed back to their work; broken handles of picks and shovels; +worn-out shirts and overalls lay where they had been tossed; here was a +flat strip of canvas supported by four four-foot poles and without +shelter at the sides, and the belongings of one careless miner tumbled +beneath this miserable shelter; another man had striven for some +semblance of a home and he had framed a five-foot walk leading up to the +closed flap of his tent with stones of a regular size. But nowhere was +there a sign of life, and would not be until semidarkness brought the +unwilling workers back to the tents. + +Out of this district he passed quickly onto the main street, and here +there was a different atmosphere. The first thing he saw was a man +dressed as a cowpuncher from belt to spurs--spurs on a miner--but above +the waist he blossomed in a frock coat and a silk hat. Around the coat +he had fastened his belt, and the shirt beneath the coat was common +flannel, open at the throat. He walked, or rather staggered, on the arm +of an equally strange companion who was arrayed in a white silk shirt, +white flannel trousers, white dancing pumps, and a vast sombrero! But as +if this was not sufficient protection for his head, he carried a parasol +of the most brilliant green silk and twirled it above his head. The two +held a wavering course and went blindly past Donnegan. + +It was sufficiently clear that the storekeeper had followed the gold. + +He noted a cowboy sitting in his saddle while he rolled a cigarette. +Obviously he had come in to look things over rather than to share in the +mining, and he made the one sane, critical note in the carnival of noise +and color. Donnegan began to pass stores. There was the jeweler's; the +gent's furnishing; a real estate office--what could real estate be doing +on the Young Muddy's desert? Here was the pawnshop, the windows of which +were already packed. The blacksmith had a great establishment, and the +roar of the anvils never died away; feed and grain and a dozen +lunch-counter restaurants. All this had come to The Corner within six +weeks. + +Liquor seemed to be plentiful, too. In the entire length of the street +he hardly saw a sober man, except the cowboy. Half a dozen in one group +pitched silver dollars at a mark. But he was in the saloon district now, +and dominant among the rest was the big, unpainted front of a building +before which hung an enormous sign: + +LEBRUN'S JOY EMPORIUM + +Donnegan turned in under the sign. + +It was one big room. The bar stretched completely around two sides of +it. The floor was dirt, but packed to the hardness of wood. The low roof +was supported by a scattering of wooden pillars, and across the floor +the gaming tables were spread. At that vast bar not ten men were +drinking now; at the crowding tables there were not half a dozen +players; yet behind the bar stood a dozen tenders ready to meet the +evening rush from the mines. And at the tables waited an equal number of +the professional gamblers of the house. + +From the door Donnegan observed these things with one sweeping glance, +and then proceeded to transform himself. One jerk at the visor of his +cap brought it down over his eyes and covered his face with shadow; a +single shrug bunched the ragged coat high around his shoulders, and the +shoulders themselves he allowed to drop forward. With his hands in his +pockets he glided slowly across the room toward the bar, for all the +world a picture of the guttersnipe who had been kicked from pillar to +post until self-respect is dead in him. And pausing in his advance, he +leaned against one of the pillars and looked hungrily toward the bar. + +He was immediately hailed from behind the bar with: "Hey, you. No tramps +in here. Pay and stay in Lebrun's!" + +The command brought an immediate protest. A big fellow stepped from the +bar, his sombrero pushed to the back of his head, his shirt sleeves +rolled to the elbow away from vast hairy forearms. One of his long arms +swept out and brought Donnegan to the bar. + +"I ain't no prophet," declared the giant, "but I can spot a man that's +dry. What'll you have, bud?" And to the bartender he added: "Leave him +be, pardner, unless you're all set for considerable noise in here." + +"Long as his drinks are paid for," muttered the bartender, "here he +stays. But these floaters do make me tired!" + +He jabbed the bottle across the bar at Donnegan and spun a glass noisily +at him, and the "floater" observed the angry bartender with a frightened +side glance, and then poured his drink gingerly. When the glass was half +full he hesitated and sought the face of the bartender again, for +permission to go on. + +"Fill her up!" commanded the giant. "Fill her up, lad, and drink +hearty." + +"I never yet," observed the bartender darkly, "seen a beggar that wasn't +a hog." + +At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a +little more forward on his thigh. + +"Son," he said, "how long you been in these parts?" + +"Long enough," declared the other, and lowered his black brows. "Long +enough to be sick of it." + +"Maybe, maybe," returned the cowpuncher-miner, "meantime you tie to +this. We got queer ways out here. When a gent drinks with us he's our +friend. This lad here is my pardner, just now. If I was him I would of +knocked your head off before now for what you've said--" + +"I don't want no trouble," Donnegan said whiningly. + +At this the bartender chuckled, and the miner showed his teeth in his +disgust. + +"Every gent has got his own way," he said sourly. "But while you drink +with Hal Stern you drink with your chin up, bud. And don't forget it. +And them that tries to run over you got to run over me." + +Saying this, he laid his large left hand on the bar and leaned a little +toward the bartender, but his right hand remained hanging loosely at his +side. It was near the holster, as Donnegan noticed. And the bartender, +having met the boring glance of the big man for a moment, turned surlily +away. The giant looked to Donnegan and observed: "Know a good definition +of the word, skunk?" + +"Nope," said Donnegan, brightening now that the stern eye, of the +bartender was turned away. + +"Here's one that might do. A skunk is a critter that bites when your +back is turned and runs when you look it in the eye. Here's how!" + +He drained his own glass, and Donnegan dexterously followed the example. + +"And what might you be doing around these parts?" asked the big man, +veiling his contempt under a mild geniality. + +"Me? Oh, nothing." + +"Looking for a job, eh?" + +Donnegan shrugged. + +"Work ain't my line," he confided. + +"H'm-m-m," said Hal Stern. "Well, you don't make no bones about it." + +"But just now," continued Donnegan, "I thought maybe I'd pick up some +sort of a job for a while." He looked ruefully at the palms of his hands +which were as tender as the hands of a woman. "Heard a fellow say that +Jack Landis was a good sort to work for--didn't rush his men none. They +said I might find him here." + +The big man grunted. + +"Too early for him. He don't circulate around much till the sun goes +down. Kind of hard on his skin, the sun, maybe. So you're going to work +for him?" + +"I was figuring on it." + +"Well, tie to this, bud. If you work for him you won't have him over +you." + +"No?" + +"No, you'll have"--he glanced a little uneasily around him--"Lord Nick." + +"Who's he?" + +"Who's he?" The big man started in astonishment. "Sufferin' catamounts! +Who is he?" He laughed in a disagreeable manner. "Well, son, you'll +find out, right enough!" + +"The way you talk, he don't sound none too good." + +Hal Stern grew anxious. "The way I talk? Have I said anything agin' him? +Not a word! He's--he's--well, there ain't ever been trouble between us +and there never ain't going to be." He flushed and looked steadily at +Donnegan. "Maybe he sent you to talk to me?" he asked coldly. + +But Donnegan's eyes took on a childish wideness. + +"Why, I never seen him," he declared. Hall Stern allowed the muscles of +his face to relax. "All right," he said, "they's no harm done. But Lord +Nick is a name that ain't handled none too free in these here parts. +Remember that!" + +"But how," pondered Donnegan, "can I be working for Lord Nick when I +sign up to work under Jack Landis?" + +"I'll tell you how. Nick and Lebrun work together. Split profits. And +Nelly Lebrun works Landis for his dust. So the stuff goes in a +circle--Landis to Nelly to Lebrun to Nick. That clear?" + +"I don't quite see it," murmured Donnegan. + +"I didn't think you would," declared the other, and snorted his disgust. +"But that's all I'm going to say. Here come the boys--and dead dry!" + +For the afternoon was verging upon evening, and the first drift of +laborers from the mines was pouring into The Corner. One thing at least +was clear to Donnegan: that everyone knew how infatuated Landis had +become with Nelly Lebrun and that Landis had not built up an +extraordinarily good name for himself. + + + + +12 + + +By the time absolute darkness had set in, Donnegan, in the new role of +lady's chaperon, sat before a dying fire with Louise Macon beside him. +He had easily seen from his talk with Stern that Landis was a public +figure, whether from the richness of his claims or his relations with +Lord Nick and Lebrun, or because of all these things; but as a public +figure it would be impossible to see him alone in his own tent, and +unless Louise could meet him alone half her power over him--supposing +that she still retained any--would be lost. Better by far that Landis +should come to her than that she should come to him, so Donnegan had +rented two tents by the day at an outrageous figure from the +enterprising real estate company of The Corner and to this new home he +brought the girl. + +She accepted the arrangement with surprising equanimity. It seemed that +her father's training had eliminated from her mind any questioning of +the motives of others. She became even cheerful as she set about +arranging the pack which Donnegan put in her tent. Afterward she cooked +their supper over the fire which he built for her. Never was there such +a quick house-settling. And by the time it was absolutely dark they had +washed the dishes and sat before Lou's tent looking over the night +lights of The Corner and hearing the voice of its Great White Way +opening. + +She had not even asked why he did not bring her straight to Jack Landis. +She had looked into Donnegan's tent, furnished with a single blanket and +his canvas kit, and had offered to share her pack with him. And now they +sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about +what was to come. + +Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard +rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose +in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew +that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to +the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose--the death of Jack +Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his +mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership +which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do +all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was +only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home. + +A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him +and the girl lay a dead body. + +He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going +down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to +watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!" + +It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she +was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining +camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet +never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he +went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for +their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town. +Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her +voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred +could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question +to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis? + +The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same +rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of +lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of +those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing +sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to +mock at The Corner and all it contained. + +He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance +hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of +dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was +quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the merriment +was under way in the dance hall. If Lebrun's was the sun of the +amusement world in The Corner, Milligan's was the moon. Everybody who +had money to lose went to Lebrun's. Every one who was out for gayety +went to Milligan's. Milligan was a plunger. He had brought up an +orchestra which demanded fifteen dollars a day and he paid them that and +more. He not only was able to do this, but he established a bar at the +entrance from which all who entered were served with a free drink. The +entrance, also, was not subject to charge. The initial drink at the door +was spiced to encourage thirst, so Milligan made money as fast, and far +more easily, than if he had been digging it out of the ground. + +To the door of this pleasure emporium came Donnegan. He had transformed +himself into the ragged hobo by the jerking down of his cap again, and +the hunching of his shoulders. And shrinking past the bar with a hungry +sidewise glance, as one who did not dare present himself for free +liquor, he entered Milligan's. + +That is, he had put his foot across the threshold when he was caught +roughly by the shoulder and dragged to one side. He found himself +looking up into the face of a strapping fellow who served Milligan as +bouncer. Milligan had an eye for color. Andy Lewis was tolerably well +known as a fighting man of parts, who not only wore two guns but could +use them both at once, which is much more difficult than is generally +understood. But far more than for his fighting parts Milligan hired his +bouncer for the sake of his face. It was a countenance made to +discourage trouble makers. A mule had kicked Lewis in the chin, and a +great white welt deformed his lower lip. Scars of smallpox added to his +decorative effect, and he had those extremely bushy brows which for some +reason are generally considered to denote ferocity. Now, Donnegan was +not above middle height at best, and in his present shrinking attitude +he found himself looking up a full head into the formidable face of the +bouncer. + +"And what are you doing in here?" asked the genial Andy. "Don't you know +this joint is for white folks?" + +"I ain't colored," murmured Donnegan. + +"You took considerable yaller to me," declared Lewis. He straightway +chuckled, and his own keen appreciation of his wit softened his +expression. "What you want?" + +Donnegan shivered under his rags. + +"I want to see Jack Landis," he said. + +It had a wonderful effect upon the doorkeeper. Donnegan found that the +very name of Landis was a charm of power in The Corner. + +"You want to see him?" he queried in amazement. "You?" + +He looked Donnegan over again, and then grinned broadly, as if in +anticipation. "Well, go ahead. There he sits--no, he's dancing." + +The music was in full swing; it was chiefly brass; but now and then, in +softer moments, one could hear a violin squeaking uncertainly. At least +it went along with a marked, regular rhythm, and the dancers swirled +industriously around the floor. A very gay crowd; color was apparently +appreciated in The Corner. And Donnegan, standing modestly out of sight +behind a pillar until the dance ended, noted twenty phases of life in +twenty faces. And Donnegan saw the flushes of liquor, and heard the loud +voices of happy fellows who had made their "strikes"; but in all that +brilliant crew he had no trouble in picking out Jack Landis and Nelly +Lebrun. + +They danced together, and where they passed, the others steered a little +off so as to give them room on the dance floor, as if the men feared +that they might cross the formidable Landis, and as if the women feared +to be brought into too close comparison with Nelly Lebrun. She was, +indeed, a brilliant figure. She had eyes of the Creole duskiness, a +delicate olive skin, with a pastel coloring. The hand on the shoulder of +Landis was a thing of fairy beauty. And her eyes had that peculiar +quality of seeming to see everything, and rest on every face +particularly. So that, as she whirled toward Donnegan, he winced, +feeling that she had found him out among the shadows. + +She had a glorious partner to set her off. And Donnegan saw bitterly +why Lou Macon could love him. Height without clumsiness, bulk and a +light foot at once, a fine head, well poised, blond hair and a Grecian +profile--such was Jack Landis. He wore a vest of fawn skin; his boots +were black in the foot and finished with the softest red leather for the +leg. And he had yellow buckskin trousers, laced in a Mexican fashion +with silver at the sides; a narrow belt, a long, red silk handkerchief +flying from behind his neck in cowboy fashion. So much flashing +splendor, even in that gay assembly, would have been childishly +conspicuous on another man. But in big Jack Landis there was patently a +great deal of the unaffected child. He was having a glorious time on +this evening, and his eye roved the room challenging admiration in a +manner that was amusing rather than offensive. He was so overflowingly +proud of having the prettiest girl in The Corner upon his arm and so +conscious of being himself probably the finest-looking man that he +escaped conceit, it might almost be said, by his very excess of it. + +Upon this splendid individual, then, the obscure Donnegan bent his gaze. +He saw the dancers pause and scatter as the music ended, saw them drift +to the tables along the edges of the room, saw the scurry of waiters +hurrying drinks up in the interval, saw Nelly Lebrun sip a lemonade, saw +Jack Landis toss off something stronger. And then Donnegan skirted +around the room and came to the table of Jack Landis at the very moment +when the latter was tossing a gold piece to the waiter and giving a new +order. + +Prodigal sons in the distance of thought are apt to be both silly: and +disgusting, but at close hand they usually dazzle the eye. Even the cold +brain of Donnegan was daunted a little as he drew near. + +He came behind the chair of the tall master of The Corner, and while +Nelly Lebrun stopped her glass halfway to her lips and stared at the +ragged stranger, Donnegan was whispering in the ear of Jack Landis: +"I've got to see you alone." + +Landis turned his head slowly and his eye darkened a little as he met +the reddish, unshaven face of the stranger. Then, with a careless shrug +of distaste, he drew out a few coins and poured them into Donnegan's +palm; the latter pocketed them. + +"Lou Macon," said Donnegan. + +Jack Landis rose from his chair, and it was not until he stood so close +to Donnegan that the latter realized the truly Herculean proportions of +the young fellow. He bowed his excuses to Nelly Lebrun, not without +grace of manner, and then huddled Donnegan into a corner with a wave of +his vast arm. + +"Now what do you want? Who are you? Who put that name in your mouth?" + +"She's in The Corner," said Donnegan, and he dwelt upon the face of Jack +Landis with feverish suspense. A moment later a great weight had slipped +from his heart. If Lou Macon loved Landis it was beyond peradventure +that Landis was not breaking his heart because of the girl. For at her +name he flushed darkly, and then, that rush of color fading, he was left +with a white spot in the center of each cheek. + + + + +13 + + +First his glance plunged into vacancy; then it flicked over his shoulder +at Nelly Lebrun and he bit his lip. Plainly, it was not the most welcome +news that Jack Landis had ever heard. + +"Where is she?" he asked nervously of Donnegan, and he looked over the +ragged fellow again. + +"I'll take you to her." + +The big man swayed back and forth from foot to foot, balancing in his +hesitation. "Wait a moment." + +He strode to Nelly Lebrun and bent over her; Donnegan saw her eyes flash +up--oh, heart of the south, what eyes of shadow and fire! Jack Landis +trembled under the glance; yes, he was deeply in love with the girl. And +Donnegan watched her face shade with suspicion, stiffen with cold anger, +warm and soften again under the explanations of Jack Landis. + +Donnegan, looking from the distance, could read everything; it is +nearness that bewitches a man when he talks to a woman. When Odysseus +talked to Circe, no doubt he stood on the farther side of the room! + +When Landis came again, he was perspiring from the trial of fire +through which he had just passed. + +"Come," he ordered, and set out at a sweeping stride. + +Plainly he was anxious to get this matter done with as soon as possible. +As for Donnegan, he saw a man whom Landis had summoned to take his place +sit down at the table with Nelly Lebrun. She was laughing with the +newcomer as though nothing troubled her at all, but over his shoulder +her glance probed the distance and followed Jack Landis. She wanted to +see the messenger again, the man who had called her companion away; but +in this it was fox challenging fox. Donnegan took note and was careful +to place between him and the girl every pillar and every group of +people. As far as he was concerned, her first glance must do to read and +judge and remember him by. + +Outside Landis shot several questions at him in swift succession; he +wanted to know how the girl had happened to make the trip. Above all, +what the colonel was thinking and doing and if the colonel himself had +come. But Donnegan replied with monosyllables, and Landis, apparently +reconciling himself to the fact that the messenger was a fool, ceased +his questions. They kept close to a run all the way out of the camp and +up the hillside to the two detached tents where Donnegan and the girl +slept that night. A lantern burned in both the tents. + +"She has made things ready for me," thought Donnegan, his heart opening. +"She has kept house for me!" + +He pointed out Lou's tent to his companion and the big man, with a +single low word of warning, threw open the flap of the tent and strode +in. + +There was only the split part of a second between the rising and the +fall of the canvas, but in that swift interval, Donnegan saw the girl +starting up to receive Landis. Her calm was broken at last. Her cheeks +were flushed; her eyes were starry with what? Expectancy? Love? + +It stopped Donnegan like a blow in the face and turned his heart to +lead; and then, shamelessly, he glided around the tent and dropped down +beside it to eavesdrop. After all, there was some excuse. If she loved +the man he, Donnegan, would let him live; if she did not love him, he, +Donnegan, would kill him like a worthless rat under heel. That is, if he +could. No wonder that the wanderer listened with heart and soul! + +He missed the first greeting. It was only a jumble of exclamations, but +now he heard: "But, Lou, what a wild idea. Across the mountains--with +whom?" + +"The man who brought you here." + +"Who's he?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't know? He looks like a shifty little rat to me." + +"He's big enough, Jack." + +Such small praise was enough to set Donnegan's heart thumping. + +"Besides, father told me to go with him, to trust him." + +"Ah!" There was an abrupt chilling and lowering of Landis' voice. "The +colonel knows him? He's one of the colonel's men?" + +Plainly the colonel was to him as the rod to the child. + +"Why didn't you come directly to me?" + +"We thought it would be better not to." + +"H'm-m. Your guide--well, what was the colonel's idea in sending you +here? Heavens above, doesn't he know that a mining camp is no place for +a young girl? And you haven't a sign of a chaperon, Lou! What the devil +can I do? What was in his mind?" + +"You haven't written for a long time." + +"Good Lord! Written! Letters! Does he think I have time for letters?" +The lie came smoothly enough. "Working day and night?" + +Donnegan smoothed his whiskers and grinned into the night. Landis might +prove better game than he had anticipated. + +"He worried," said the girl, and her voice was as even as ever. "He +worried, and sent me to find out if anything is wrong." + +Then: "Nonsense! What is there to worry about? Lou, I'm half inclined to +think that the colonel doesn't trust me!" + +She did not answer. Was she reading beneath the boisterous assurance of +Landis? + +"One thing is clear to me--and to you, too, I hope. The first thing is +to send you back in a hurry." + +Still no answer. + +"Lou, do you distrust me?" + +At length she managed to speak, but it was with some difficulty: "There +is another reason for sending me." + +"Tell me." + +"Can't you guess, Jack?" + +"I'm not a mind reader." + +"The cad," said Donnegan through his teeth. + +"It's the old reason." + +"Money?" + +"Yes." + +A shadow swept across the side of the tent; it was Landis waving his arm +carelessly. + +"If that's all, I can fix you up and send you back with enough to carry +the colonel along. Look here--why, I have five hundred with me. Take it, +Lou. There's more behind it, but the colonel mustn't think that there's +as much money in the mines as people say. No idea how much living costs +up here. Heavens, no! And the prices for labor! And then they shirk the +job from dawn to dark. I have to watch 'em every minute, I tell you!" + +He sighed noisily. + +"But the end of it is, dear"--how that small word tore into the heart of +Donnegan, who crouched outside--"that you must go back tomorrow morning. +I'd send you tonight, if I could. As a matter of fact, I don't trust the +red-haired rat who--" + +The girl interrupted while Donnegan still had control of his +hair-trigger temper. + +"You forget, Jack. Father sent me here, but he did not tell me to come +back." + +At this Jack Landis burst into an enormous laughter. + +"You don't mean, Lou, that you actually intend to stay on?" + +"What else can I mean?" + +"Of course it makes it awkward if the colonel didn't expressly tell you +just what to do. I suppose he left it to my discretion, and I decide +definitely that you must go back at once." + +"I can't do it." + +"Lou, don't you hear me saying that I'll take the responsibility? If +your father blames you let him tell me--" + +He broke down in the middle of his sentence and another of those +uncomfortable little pauses ensued. Donnegan knew that their eyes were +miserably upon each other; the man tongue-tied by his guilt; the girl +wretchedly guessing at the things which lay behind her fiance's words. + +"I'm sorry you don't want me here." + +"It isn't that, but--" + +He apparently expected to be interrupted, but she waited coolly for him +to finish the sentence, and, of course, he could not. After all, for a +helpless girl she had a devilish effective way of muzzling Landis. +Donnegan chuckled softly in admiration. + +All at once she broke through the scene; her voice did not rise or +harden, but it was filled with finality, as though she were weary of the +interview. + +"I'm tired out; it's been a hard ride, Jack. You go home now and look me +up again any time tomorrow." + +"I--Lou--I feel mighty bad about having you up here in this infernal +tent, when the camp is full, and--": + +"You can't lie across the entrance to my tent and guard me, Jack. +Besides, I don't need you for that. The man who's with me will protect +me." + +"He doesn't look capable of protecting a cat!" + +"My father said that in any circumstances he would be able to take care +of me." + +This reply seemed to overwhelm Landis. + +"The colonel trusts him as far as all that?" he muttered. "Then I +suppose you're safe enough. But what about comfort, Lou?" + +"I've done without comfort all my life. Run along, Jack. And take this +money with you. I can't have it." + +"But, didn't the colonel send--" + +"You can express it through to him. To me it's--not pleasant to take +it." + +"Why, Lou, you don't mean--" + +"Good night, Jack. I don't mean anything, except that I'm tired." + +The shadow swept along the wall of the tent again. Donnegan, with a +shaking pulse, saw the profile of the girl and the man approach as he +strove to take her in his arms and kiss her good night. And then one +slender bar of shadow checked Landis. + +"Not tonight." + +"Lou, you aren't angry with me?" + +"No. But you know I have queer ways. Just put this down as one of them. +I can't explain." + +There was a muffled exclamation and Landis went from the tent and strode +down the hill; he was instantly lost in the night. But Donnegan, turning +to the entrance flap, called softly. He was bidden to come in, and when +he raised the flap he saw her sitting with her hands clasped loosely and +resting upon her knees. Her lips were a little parted, and colorless; +her eyes were dull with a mist; and though she rallied herself a little, +the wanderer could see that she was only half-aware of him. + +The face which he saw was a milestone in his life. For he had loved her +jealously, fiercely before; but seeing her now, dazed, hurt, and +uncomplaining, tenderness came into Donnegan. It spread to his heart +with a strange pain and made his hands tremble. + +All that he said was: "Is there anything you need?" + +"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away. + +But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay, +selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this--if she loved him so +truly--then Jack Landis she should have. + +There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most +nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and +looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys. +What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in +such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as +a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out +his heart's blood on the snow. + +Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night. +Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out +of his place and give him to the girl. + + + + +14 + + +The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that, +Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a +plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly +under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's +place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas. + +Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth +of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The +pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he +took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room. +For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate +more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the +cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic +loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair, +with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely +into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have +observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan. + +Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play +of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one +table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the +gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it +with precision upon the wheel. + +He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his +clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not +play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came +back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so +easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan +greatly. + +It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat +was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards! + +Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to +the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his +chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be +about the height and build of Donnegan. + +Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man, +harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would +probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that +he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract +astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace +of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he +had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily +toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and +understood. + +Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the +kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood +brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance, +just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was +weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players +themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference +between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey +poker, but the man in the linen coat did more--he stacked the cards! + +For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a +slight faltering in the deal--an infinitely small hesitation which only +a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed--that he was +sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that. +He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand +but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards. + +And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the +smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a +straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his +consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been +exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table--a small fortune! + +The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks. +They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the +call. + +Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It +was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all +prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected +according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But +the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the +winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough +to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis. +They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led +the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest +conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was. +They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting +their mental notes on the game together. + +But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his +victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on +the way--it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he +broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would +be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers. + +The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads +close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the +genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd +and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless +saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making +himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace. + +At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his +arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which +stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of +the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the +line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This +Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the +horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on +horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a +neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were +both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro +throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught +the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped +into his saddle. + +It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst +of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the +building, shooting out the lights, if possible--trusting to the +confusion to help him--and there he would find his horse held ready for +him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no +doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others. + +At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor +grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into +the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal +broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden +at once. + +For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had +been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had +slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for +a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been +noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one +accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan +racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the +saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid +him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air, +and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the +linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle +jabbed into the back of the gambler. + +The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the +pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their +gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street. + +"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back; +the gun already gleamed in his hand. + +A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the +fellow continued to fall back. + +"Tell him to ride ahead." + +"Keep in front, George." + +"And not too far." + +"Very well. And now?" + +"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond +the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!" + +"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of +the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest +attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they +rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the +card, eh?" + +"You saw, eh?" muttered the other. + +"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward." + +"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one +of us, pal?" + +But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler +to gambler should fail. + +"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on." + + + + +15 + + +Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the +starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees. + +"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground." + +There was a flash and faint thud. + +"Now the other gun." + +"They ain't any more, sir." + +"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan. + +A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at +length, and a second weapon fell. + +"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on +Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss +you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take +chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then +dismount." + +He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was +now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his +right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground. + +Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that +I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous +to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be +careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife +throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than +a bullet. We understand each other?" + +"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And +suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was +impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to +this forced--touch. Now, if half--" + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question +is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is +now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin +was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles +me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I +fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail; +there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I +think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body +is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master +for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think +that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the +starlight shine through you!" + +The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the +meantime, had not spoken. + +"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause. + +"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared." + +There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was +able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble +by fear. + +"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here--he's a devil. If you +let him live he'll kill you--as sure as you're standing here. You don't +know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as +bad as the devil's name. He--he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man, +you and I could team it together. But George--not--" + +Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt. + +"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan. +"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close +together. A coward's eyes--a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George--have +you heard what he said?" + +No answer from George but a snarl. + +"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?" + +Dead silence. + +"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of +your clothes." + +The other fell on his knees. + +"For heaven's sake," he pleaded. + +"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never +intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting +the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes." + +He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he +succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly +steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who +accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly +into the clothes of his victim. + +"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased, +here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the +weight." + +Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse. + +"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of +those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers." + +"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?" + +"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes +in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to +dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!" + +The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along +with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move +to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong; +and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man. + +"Come here," said Donnegan. + +George Washington Green rode slowly closer. + +"If I let you go what would you do?" + +There was a glint of teeth. + +"I'd find him." + +"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where +you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something +about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if +you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very +well together. You hear?" + +The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing. + +"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go." + +He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two +tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll +of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and +Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to +a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not +be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in +possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew. + +A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek +down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while +the big Negro silently tended to the horses--removing the packs and +preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small +lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time--the skin +ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face +almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a +cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair +of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles, +and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of +fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength. + +At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more +commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single +room this had two compartments--one for the kitchen and another for the +living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of +the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the +corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer +appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's +winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on +the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the +papers. + +He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched +with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him. +He saw--rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in +waves--that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused, +and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again. + +Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his +head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious +humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled +him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very +act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body. +There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated, +balanced--and then slowly drew himself erect. + +He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would +have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan +and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and +yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was +the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple +explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole +incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and +Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small +link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was +necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew +the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade +had sunk into the wood--a mute tribute to the force and speed of +George's hand--and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the +point and gave it back to the other. + +"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you +have a better chance of sending the point home." + +He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken +box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a +sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve +and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have +wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last +lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again +cross his new master. + +At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine +farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first." + +"Yes--sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him. + +And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things. + +Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish" +of the blankets being unrolled--and then a slight pause. It seemed to +him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly +back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed +thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll. + +And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of +the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George +the canvas sack and its small treasure. + +"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and +go over every part." + +He could actually feel the start of George. + +Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper. + +If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident +had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his +head. + +And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the +hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away. + + + + +16 + + +His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of +nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring +Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty +eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one +way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough +and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun, +he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to +Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how +remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis +for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly +off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and +if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride +would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou +Macon. + +All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of +Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him +shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made +him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in +Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few +notorious escapades behind him--yes, Donnegan with such a flying start +might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have +the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle +The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, +feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish +all these things beginning at a literal zero. + +It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the +paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting +at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with +him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the +next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee +which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the +details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were +now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin +contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment, +for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and +his feet were encased in slippers. + +But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner, +and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, +overshadowing Jack Landis--that was the thing! But to startle The +Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just +now--where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now +averaged nearly three a day--to startle The Corner was like trying to +startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this +parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor +and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a +headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in +thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the +moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows. + +"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?" + +"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally +subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was +conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not +untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had +wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack +of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no +doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk, +the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally +George returned to his own place--softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the +master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that +he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the +first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected +provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed. + +"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways." + +The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the +sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently +altered his opinion of the gambler. + +"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should +never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that +happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface +cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the +grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You +understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And concerning the frying of bacon--" + +At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open +door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer, +who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The +Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was +patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the +unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents. + +"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in +the background. + +Donnegan looked at him and through him. + +"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why +you're in it." + +"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are +scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I +intend to stay in it on purpose." + +George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a +vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face +crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The +Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a +giant. + +"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented +this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and +they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I +want. Thirty minutes will--" + +"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft +voice. + +The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a +cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like +him." + +George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three. + +"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough +to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose--" + +He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a +kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown +himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he +approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached +easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play, +mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?" + +"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his +voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man +in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee. + +"It's Donnegan," whispered George. + +"Don--who's he?" + +"You don't know Donnegan?" + +The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing +of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three. + +"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law--and law's a +lame lady in these parts--or throw him out. Say which?" + +The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan, +absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood +exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too +much for them. + +There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and +that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the +rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy +passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners +receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of +womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning +coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked +at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but +to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of +them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left +Gloster both relieved and gloomy. + +"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the +shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price." + +The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George. +Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the +town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top +still untied--as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any +of the gold. + +"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep +money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll +get more." + +If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins +had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free +spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one +who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same +roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be +allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was +singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the +hill to the tent of Lou Macon. + +She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had +cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before; +and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold, +semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect +of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content +of which people were aware. + +"You missed me?" + +"Yes." + +"You were worried?" + +"No." + +He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to +her new home--the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast. +When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side. + +"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is +worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye. +And if a hair of her head is ever harmed--you see that fire burning +yonder--the bed of coals?" + +"Sir?" + +"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it--by +inches!" + +And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon. +George Washington Green saw, and never forgot. + +Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the +horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both +leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of +sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often +necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him +from getting into his problem. + +How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had +fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners? + +He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon, +informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun +and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the +colonel had suggestions to offer. + +The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before +midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do. + + + + +17 + + +The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar +in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed +to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at +two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion. +There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So +Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the +claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold +mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact +that furnished Donnegan with his idea. + +He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes--a riding suit in +which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions. +Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt, +the big man came before Donnegan for instructions. + +"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored +people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar. +They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come +from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep. +Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out." + +George showed his teeth. + +"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't +get in, come back here. Now, ride." + +So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and +dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into +the street to see the brilliant horseman pass. + +Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to +Andy, except an easier target. + +"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in +Milligan's? Get out!" + +Big George did not move. + +"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to +make a julep." + +"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his +cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?" + +And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons. + +"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George. + +"Who's he?" + +"Donnegan." + +"And who's Donnegan?" + +It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an +explanation. "Donnegan is--Donnegan," he explained. + +"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing +group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill." + +"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites +at Milligan's." + +"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this +heah place, but--don't make me go back and bring Donnegan." + +Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance. + +"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go." + +Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse. + +"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say +that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent +for Donnegan; it's him!" + +He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in +anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which +comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word +went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered. +The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch +the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered +and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through +the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town +appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On +the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made +up in intense interest. + +For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun, +most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the +offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a +conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising. +The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill +his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before +such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed +now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner. + +A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away +to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming. + +He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving +course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and +the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding +suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as +unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park +where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a +careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either +side. + +"That's Donnegan. There he comes!" + +"Who's Donnegan?" + +"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others." + +"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with +a chunk of lead." + +"D'you mean that?" + +"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?" + +"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money." + +"Looks like a confounded dude." + +"We'll see his hand in a minute." + +Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand +touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight +at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the +other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the +door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein +behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin. + +As who should say: "I promised you lightning; now watch it strike!" + +If the crowd had been expectant before, it was now reduced to wire-drawn +tenseness. + +"Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" asked Donnegan. + +His quiet voice fell coldly upon the soul of Andy. He strove to warm +himself by an outbreak of temper. + +"They ain't any poor fool dude can call me a fellow!" he shouted. + +The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not +occurred. The hand of Andy was relaxing from the butt of his gun and an +expression of astonishment and contempt was growing upon his face. + +"I haven't come to curse you," said the rider, still occupying his hands +with crop and reins. "I've come to ask you a question and get an answer. +Are you the fellow who turned back my man?" + +"I guess you ain't the kind I was expectin' to call on me," drawled +Andy, his fear gone, and he winked at the crowd. But the others were not +yet ready to laugh. Something about the calm face of Donnegan had +impressed them. "Sure, I'm the one that kicked him out. He ain't allowed +in there." + +"It's the last of my thoughts to break in upon a convention in your +city," replied the grave rider, "but my man was sent on an errand and +therefore he had a right to expect courtesy. George, get off your horse +and go into Milligan's place. I want that mint!" + +For a moment Andy was too stunned to answer. Then his voice came harshly +and he swayed from side to side, gathering and summoning his wrath. + +"Keep out boy! Keep out, or you're buzzard meat. I'm warnin'--" + +For the first time his glance left the rider to find George, and that +instant was fatal. The hand of Donnegan licked out as the snake's tongue +darts--the loaded quirt slipped over in his hand, and holding it by the +lash he brought the butt of it thudding on the head of Andy. + +Even then the instinct to fight remained in the stunned man; while he +fell, he was drawing the revolver; he lay in a crumpling heap at the +feet of Donnegan's horse with the revolver shoved muzzle first into the +sand. + +Donnegan's voice did not rise. + +"Go in and get that mint, George," he ordered. "And hurry. This rascal +has kept me waiting until I'm thirsty." + +Big George hesitated only one instant--it was to sweep the crowd for the +second time with his confident grin--and he strode through the door of +the dance hall. As for Donnegan, his only movement was to swing his +horse around and shift riding crop and reins into the grip of his left +hand. His other hand was dropped carelessly upon his hip. Now, both +these things were very simple maneuvers, but The Corner noted that his +change of face had enabled Donnegan to bring the crowd under his eye, +and that his right hand was now ready for a more serious bit of work if +need be. Moreover, he was probing faces with his glance. And every armed +man in that group felt that the eye of the rider was directed +particularly toward him. + +There had been one brief murmur; then the silence lay heavily again, for +it was seen that Andy had been only slightly stunned--knocked out, as a +boxer might be. Now his sturdy brains were clearing. His body stiffened +into a human semblance once more; he fumbled, found the butt of his gun +with his first move. He pushed his hat straight: and so doing he raked +the welt which the blow had left on his head. The pain finished clearing +the mist from his mind; in an instant he was on his feet, maddened with +shame. He saw the semicircle of white faces, and the whole episode +flashed back on him. He had been knocked down like a dog. + +For a moment he looked into the blank faces of the crowd; someone noted +that there was no gun strapped at the side of Donnegan. A voice shouted +a warning. + +"Stop, Lewis. The dude ain't got a gun. It's murder!" + +It was now that Lewis saw Donnegan sitting the saddle directly behind +him, and he whirled with a moan of fury. It was a twist of his body--in +his eagerness--rather than a turning upon his feet. And he was half +around before the rider moved. Then he conjured a gun from somewhere in +his clothes. There was the flash of the steel, an explosion, and +Scar-faced Lewis was on his knees with a scream of pain holding his +right forearm with his left hand. + +The crowd hesitated still for a second, as though it feared to +interfere; but Donnegan had already put up his weapon. A wave of the +curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the +injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of +the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to +the bone all the way to the elbow. It was a grisly wound. + +Big George Washington Green came running to the door of the dance hall +with a sprig of something green in his hand; one glance assured him that +all was well; and once more that wide, confident grin spread upon his +face. He came to the master and offered the mint; and Donnegan, raising +it to his face, inhaled the scent deeply. + +"Good," he said. "And now for a julep, George! Let's go home!" + +Across the street a dark-eyed girl had clasped the arm of her companion +in hysterical excitement. + +"Did you see?" she asked of her tall companion. + +"I saw a murderer shoot down a man; he ought to be hung for it!" + +"But the mint! Did you see him smile over it? Oh, what a devil he is; +and what a man!" + +Jack Landis flashed a glance of suspicion down at her, but her dancing +eyes had quite forgotten him. They were following the progress of +Donnegan down the street. He rode slowly, and George kept that formal +distance, just a length behind. + + + + +18 + + +Before Milligan's the crowd began to buzz like murmuring hornets around +a nest that has been tapped, when they pour out and cannot find the +disturber. It was a rather helpless milling around the wounded man, and +Nelly Lebrun was the one who worked her way through the crowd and came +to Andy Lewis. She did not like Andy. She had been known to refer to him +as a cowardly hawk of a man; but now she bullied the crowd in a shrill +voice and made them bring water and cloth. Then she cleansed and +bandaged the wound in Andy Lewis' arm and had some of them take him +away. + +By this time the outskirts of the crowd had melted away; but those who +had really seen all parts of the little drama remained to talk. The +subject was a real one. Had Donnegan aimed at the hand of Andy and +risked his own life on his ability to disable the other without killing +him? Or had he fired at Lewis' body and struck the hand and arm only by +a random lucky chance? + +If the second were the case, he was only a fair shot with plenty of +nerve and a great deal of luck. If the first were true, then this was a +nerve of ice-tempered steel, an eye vulture-sharp, and a hand, +miraculous, fast, and certain. To strike that swinging hand with a snap +shot, when a miss meant a bullet fired at his own body at deadly short +range--truly it would take a credulous man to believe that Donnegan had +coldly planned to disable his man without killing him. + +"A murderer by intention," exclaimed Milligan. He had hunted long and +hard before he found a man with a face like that of Lewis, capable of +maintaining order by a glance; now he wanted revenge. "A murder by +intention!" he cried to the crowd, standing beside the place where the +imprint of Andy's knees was still in the sand. "And like a murderer he +ought to be treated. He aimed to kill Andy; he had luck and only broke +his hand. Now, boys, I say it ain't so much what he's done as the way +he's done it. He's given us the laugh. He's come in here in his dude +clothes and tried to walk over us. But it don't work. Not in The Corner. +If Andy was dead, I'd say lynch the dude. But he ain't, and all I say +is: Run him out of town." + +Here there was a brief outburst of applause, but when it ended, it was +observed that there was a low, soft laughter. The crowd gave way between +Milligan and the mocker. It was seen that he who laughed was old Lebrun, +rubbing his olive-skinned hands together and showing his teeth in his +mirth. There was no love lost between Lebrun and Milligan, even if Nelly +was often in the dance hall and the center of its merriment. + +"It takes a thief to catch a thief," said Lebrun enigmatically, when he +saw that he had the ear of the crowd, "and it takes a man to catch a +man." + +"What the devil do you mean by that?" a dozen voices asked. + +"I mean, that if you got men enough to run out this man Donnegan, The +Corner is a better town than I think." + +It brought a growl, but no answer. Lebrun had never been seen to lift +his hand, but he was more dreaded than a rattler. + +"We'll try," said Milligan dryly. "I ain't much of a man myself"--there +were dark rumors about Milligan's past and the crowd chuckled at this +modesty--"but I'll try my hand agin' him with a bit of backing. And +first I want to tell you boys that they ain't any danger of him having +aimed at Andy's hand. I tell you, it ain't possible, hardly, for him to +have planned to hit a swingin' target like that. Maybe some could do it. +I dunno." + +"How about Lord Nick?" + +"Sure, Lord Nick might do anything. But Donnegan ain't Lord Nick." + +"Not by twenty pounds and three inches." + +This brought a laugh. And by comparison with the terrible and familiar +name of Lord Nick, Donnegan became a smaller danger. Besides, as +Milligan said, it was undoubtedly luck. And when he called for +volunteers, three or four stepped up at once. The others made a general +milling, as though each were trying to get forward and each were +prevented by the crowd in front. But in the background big Jack Landis +was seriously trying to get to the firing line. He was encumbered with +the clinging weight of Nelly Lebrun. + +"Don't go, Jack," she pleaded. "Please! Please! Be sensible. For my +sake!" + +She backed this appeal with a lifting of her eyes and a parting of her +lips, and Jack Landis paused. + +"You won't go, dear Jack?" + +Now, Jack knew perfectly well that the girl was only half sincere. It is +the peculiar fate of men that they always know when a woman is playing +with them, but, from Samson down, they always go to the slaughter with +open eyes, hoping each moment that the girl has been seriously impressed +at last. As for Jack Landis, his slow mind did not readily get under the +surface of the arts of Nelly, but he knew that there was at least a +tinge of real concern in the girl's desire to keep him from the posse +which Milligan was raising. + +"But they's something about him that I don't like, Nelly. Something sort +of familiar that I don't like." For naturally enough he did not +recognize the transformed Donnegan, and the name he had never heard +before. "A gunfighter, that's what he is!" + +"Why, Jack, sometimes they call you the same thing; say that you hunt +for trouble now and then!" + +"Do they say that?" asked the young chap quickly, flushing with vanity. +"Oh, I aim to take care of myself. And I'd like to take a hand with this +murdering Donnegan." + +"Jack, listen! Don't go; keep away from him!" + +"Why do you look like that? As if I was a dead one already." + +"I tell you, Jack, he'd kill you!" + +Something in her terrible assurance whitened the cheeks of Landis, but +he was also angered. When a very young man becomes both afraid and angry +he is apt to be dangerous. "What do you know of him?" he asked +suspiciously. + +"You silly! But I saw his face when he lifted that mint. He'd already +forgotten about the man he had just shot down. He was thinking of +nothing but the scent of the mint. And did you notice his giant servant? +He never had a moment's doubt of Donnegan's ability to handle the entire +crowd. I tell you, it gave me a chill of ghosts to see the big black +fellow's eyes. He knew that Donnegan would win. And Donnegan won! Jack, +you're a big man and a strong man and a brave man, and we all know it. +But don't be foolish. Stay away from Donnegan!" + +He wavered just an instant. If she could have sustained her pleading +gaze a moment longer she would have won him, but at the critical instant +her gaze became distant. She was seeing the calm face of Donnegan as he +raised the mint. And as though he understood, Jack Landis hardened. + +"I'm glad you don't want me shot up, Nelly," he said coldly. "Mighty +good of you to watch out for me. But--I'm going to run this Donnegan out +of town!" + +"He's never harmed you; why--" + +"I don't like his looks. For a man like me that's enough!" + +And he strode away toward Milligan. He was greeted by a cheer just as +the girl reached the side of her father. + +"Jack is going," she said. "Make him come back!" + +But the old man was still rubbing his hands; there seemed to be a +perpetual chill in the tips of the fingers. + +"He is a jackass. The moment I first saw his face I knew that he was +meant for gun fodder--buzzard food! Let him go. Bah!" + +The girl shivered. "And then the mines?" she asked, changing her +tactics. + +"Ah, yes. The mines! But leave that to Lord Nick. He'll handle it well +enough!" + +So Jack Landis strode up the hill first and foremost of the six stalwart +men who wished to correct the stranger's apparent misunderstandings of +the status of The Corner. They were each armed to the teeth and each +provided with enough bullets to disturb a small city. All this in honor +of Donnegan. + +They found the shack wrapped in the warm, mellow light of the late +afternoon; and on a flat-topped rock outside it big George sat +whittling a stick into a grotesque imitation of a snake coiled. He did +not rise when the posse approached. He merely rocked back upon the rock, +embraced his knees in both of his enormous arms, and, in a word, +transformed himself into a round ball of mirth. But having hugged away +his laughter he was able to convert his joy into a vast grin. That smile +stopped the posse. When a mob starts for a scene of violence the least +exhibition of fear incenses it, but mockery is apt to pour water on its +flames of anger. + +Decidedly the fury of the posse was chilled by the grin of George. +Milligan, who had lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, stepped up to +impress George properly. + +"Boy," he said, frowning, "go in and tell your man that we've come for +him. Tell him to step right out here and get ready to talk. We don't +mean him no harm less'n he can't explain one or two things. Hop along!" + +The "boy" did not stir. Only he shifted his eyes from face to face and +his grin broadened. Ripples of mirth waved along his chest and convulsed +his face, but still he did not laugh. "Go in and tell them things to +Donnegan," he said. "But don't ask me to wake him up. He's sleepin' +soun' an' fas'. Like a baby; mostly, he sleeps every day to get rested +up for the night. Now, can't you-all wait till Donnegan wakes up +tonight? No? Then step right in, gen'lemen; but if you-all is set on +wakin' him up now, George will jus' step over the hill, because he don't +want to be near the explosion." + +At this, he allowed his mirth free rein. His laughter shook up to his +throat, to his enormous mouth; it rolled and bellowed across the +hillside; and the posse stood, each man in his place, and looked +frigidly upon one another. But having been laughed at, they felt it +necessary to go on, and do or die. So they strode across the hill and +were almost to the door when another phenomenon occurred. A girl in a +cheap calico dress of blue was seen to run out of a neighboring shack +and spring up before the door of Donnegan's hut. When she faced the +crowd it stopped again. + +The soft wind was blowing the blue dress into lovely, long, curving +lines; about her throat a white collar of some sheer stuff was being +lifted into waves, or curling against her cheek; and the golden hair, in +disorder, was tousled low upon her forehead. + +Whirling thus upon the crowd, she shocked them to a pause, with her +parted lips, her flare of delicate color. + +"Have you come here," she cried, "for--for Donnegan?" + +"Lady," began someone, and then looked about for Jack Landis, who was +considered quite a hand with the ladies. But Jack Landis was discovered +fading out of view down the hillside. One glance at that blue dress had +quite routed him, for now he remembered the red-haired man who had +escorted Lou Macon to The Corner--and the colonel's singular trust in +this fellow. It explained much, and he fled before he should be noticed. + +Before the spokesman could continue his speech, the girl had whipped +inside the door. And the posse was dumbfounded. Milligan saw that the +advance was ruined. "Boys," he said, "we came to fight a man; not to +storm a house with a woman in it. Let's go back. We'll tend to Donnegan +later on." + +"We'll drill him clean!" muttered the others furiously, and straightway +the posse departed down the hill. + +But inside the girl had found, to her astonishment, that Donnegan was +stretched upon his bunk wrapped again in the silken dressing gown and +with a smile upon his lips. He looked much younger, as he slept, and +perhaps it was this that made the girl steal forward upon tiptoe and +touch his shoulder so gently. + +He was up on his feet in an instant. Alas, vanity, vanity! Donnegan in +shoes was one thing, for his shoes were of a particular kind; but +Donnegan in his slippers was a full two inches shorter. He was hardly +taller than the girl; he was, if the bitter truth must be known, almost +a small man. And Donnegan was furious at having been found by her in +such careless attire--and without those dignity-building shoes. First +he wanted to cut the throat of big George. + +"What have you done, what have you done?" cried the girl, in one of +those heart-piercing whispers of fear. "They have come for you--a whole +crowd--of armed men--they're outside the door! What have you done? It +was something done for me, I know!" + +Donnegan suddenly transferred his wrath from big George to the mob. + +"Outside my door?" he asked. And as he spoke he slipped on a belt at +which a heavy holster tugged down on one side, and buckled it around +him. + +"Oh, no, no, no!" she pleaded, and caught him in her arms. + +Donnegan allowed her to stop him with that soft power for a moment, +until his face went white--as if with pain. Then he adroitly gathered +both her wrists into one of his bony hands; and having rendered her +powerless, he slipped by her and cast open the door. + +It was an empty scene upon which they looked, with big George rocking +back and forth upon a rock, convulsed with silent laughter. Donnegan +looked sternly at the girl and swallowed. He was fearfully susceptible +to mockery. + +"There seems to have been a jest?" he said. + +But she lifted him a happy, tearful face. + +"Ah, thank heaven!" she cried gently. + +Oddly enough, Donnegan at this set his teeth and turned upon his heel, +and the girl stole out the door again, and closed it softly behind her. +As a matter of fact, not even the terrible colonel inspired in her quite +the fear which Donnegan instilled. + + + + +19 + + +"Big Landis lost his nerve and sidestepped at the last minute, and then +the whole gang faded." + +That was the way the rumors of the affair always ended at each +repetition in Lebrun's and Milligan's that night. The Corner had had +many things to talk about during its brief existence, but nothing to +compare with a man who entered a shooting scrape with such a fellow as +Scar-faced Lewis all for the sake of a spray of mint. And the main topic +of conversation was: Did Donnegan aim at the body or the hand of the +bouncer? + +On the whole, it was an excellent thing for Milligan's. The place was +fairly well crowded, with a few vacant tables. For everyone wanted to +hear Milligan's version of the affair. He had a short and vigorous one, +trimmed with neat oaths. It was all the girl in the blue calico dress, +according to him. The posse couldn't storm a house with a woman in it or +even conduct a proper lynching in her presence. And no one was able to +smile when Milligan said this. Neither was anyone nervy enough to +question the courage of Landis. It looked strange, that sudden flight of +his, but then, he was a proven man. Everyone remembered the affair of +Lester. It had been a clean-cut fight, and Jack Landis had won cleanly +on his merits. + +Nevertheless some of the whispers had not failed to come to the big man, +and his brow was black. + +The most terribly heartless and selfish passion of all is shame in a +young man. To repay the sidelong glances which he met on every side, +Jack Landis would have willingly crowded every living soul in The Corner +into one house and touched a match to it. And chiefly because he felt +the injustice of the suspicion. He had no fear of Donnegan. + +He had a theory that little men had little souls. Not that he ever +formulated the theory in words, but he vaguely felt it and adhered to +it. He had more fear of one man of six two than a dozen under five ten. +He reserved in his heart of hearts a place of awe for one man whom he +had never seen. That was for Lord Nick, for that celebrated character +was said to be as tall and as finely built as Jack Landis himself. But +as for Donnegan--Landis wished there were three Donnegans instead of +one. + +Tonight his cue was surly silence. For Nelly Lebrun had been warned by +her father, and she was making desperate efforts to recover any ground +she might have lost. Besides, to lose Jack Landis would be to lose the +most spectacular fellow in The Corner, to say nothing of the one who +held the largest and the choicest of the mines. The blond, good looks of +Landis made a perfect background for her dark beauty. With all these +stakes to play for, Nelly outdid herself. If she were attractive enough +ordinarily, when she exerted herself to fascinate, Nelly was +intoxicating. What chance had poor Jack Landis against her? He did not +call for her that night but went to play gloomily at Lebrun's until +Nelly walked into Lebrun's and drew him away from a table. Half an hour +later she had him whirling through a dance in Milligan's and had danced +the gloom out of his mind for the moment. Before the evening was well +under way, Landis was making love to her openly, and Nelly was in the +position of one who had roused the bear. + +It was a dangerous flirtation and it was growing clumsy. In any place +other than The Corner it would have been embarrassing long ago; and when +Jack Landis, after a dance, put his one big hand over both of Nelly's +and held her moveless while he poured out a passionate declaration, +Nelly realized that something must be done. Just what she could not +tell. + +And it was at this very moment that a wave of silence, beginning at the +door, rushed across Milligan's dance floor. It stopped the bartenders in +the act of mixing drinks; it put the musicians out of key, and in the +midst of a waltz phrase they broke down and came to a discordant pause. + +What was it? + +The men faced the door, wondering, and then the swift rumor passed from +lip to lip--almost from eye to eye, so rapidly it sped--Donnegan is +coming! Donnegan, and big George with him. + +"Someone tell Milligan!" + +But Milligan had already heard; he was back of the bar giving +directions; guns were actually unlimbering. What would happen? + +"Shall I get you out of this?" Landis asked the girl. + +"Leave now?" She laughed fiercely and silently. "I'm just beginning to +live! Miss Donnegan in action? No, sir!" + +She would have given a good deal to retract that sentence, for it washed +the face of Landis white with jealousy. + +Surely Donnegan had built greater than he knew. + +And suddenly he was there in the midst of the house. No one had stopped +him--at least, no one had interfered with his servant. Big George had on +a white suit and a dappled green necktie; he stood directly behind his +master and made him look like a small boy. For Donnegan was in black, +and he had a white neckcloth wrapped as high and stiffly as an +old-fashioned stock. Altogether he was a queer, drab figure compared +with the brilliant Donnegan of that afternoon. He looked older, more +weary. His lean face was pale; and his hair flamed with redoubled ardor +on that account. Never was hair as red as that, not even the hair of +Lord Nick, said the people in Milligan's this night. + +He was perfectly calm even in the midst of that deadly silence. He stood +looking about him. He saw Gloster, the real estate man, and bowed to him +deliberately. + +For some reason that drew a gasp. + +Then he observed a table which was apparently to his fancy and crossed +the floor with a light, noiseless step, big George padding heavily +behind him. At the little round table he waited until George had drawn +out the chair for him and then he sat down. He folded his arms lightly +upon his breast and once more surveyed the scene, and big George drew +himself up behind Donnegan. Just once his eyes rolled and flashed +savagely in delight at the sensation that they were making, then the +face of George was once again impassive. + +If Donnegan had not carried it off with a certain air, the whole +entrance would have seemed decidedly stagey, but The Corner, as it was, +found much to wonder at and little to criticize. And in the West grown +men are as shrewd judges of affectation as children are in other places. + +"Putting on a lot of style, eh?" said Jack Landis, and with fierce +intensity he watched the face of Nelly Lebrun. + +For once she was unguarded. + +"He's superb!" she exclaimed. "The big fellow is going to bring a drink +for him." + +She looked up, surprised by the silence of Landis, and found that his +face was actually yellow. + +"I'll tell you something. Do you remember the little red-headed tramp +who came in here the other night and spoke to me?" + +"Very well. You seemed to be bothered." + +"Maybe. I dunno. But that's the man--the one who's sitting over there +now all dressed up--the man The Corner is talking about--Donnegan! A +tramp!" + +She caught her breath. + +"Is that the one?" A pause. "Well, I believe it. He's capable of +anything!" + +"I think you like him all the better for knowing that." + +"Jack, you're angry." + +"Why should I be? I hate to see you fooled by the bluff of a tramp, +though." + +"Tush! Do you think I'm fooled by it? But it's an interesting bluff, +Jack, don't you think?" + +"Nelly, he's interesting enough to make you blush; by heaven, the hound +is lookin' right at you now, Nelly!" + +He had pressed her suddenly against the wall and she struck back +desperately in self-defense. + +"By the way, what did he want to see you about?" + +It spiked the guns of Landis for the time being, at least. And the girl +followed by striving to prove that her interest in Donnegan was purely +impersonal. + +"He's clever," she ran on, not daring to look at the set face of her +companion. "See how he fails to notice that he's making a sensation? +You'd think he was in a big restaurant in a city. He takes the drink off +the tray from that fellow as if it were a common thing to be waited on +by a body-servant in The Corner. Jack, I'll wager that there's something +crooked about him. A professional gambler, say!" + +Jack Landis thawed a little under this careless chatter. He still did +not quite trust her. + +"Do you know what they're whispering? That I was afraid to face him!" + +She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, +and she broke into laughter. + +"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to +The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all +the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest +of them. By the way, what was the reason?" + +She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but +the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the +query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and +covered up his confusion for him. + +"See how the girls are making eyes at him." + +"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man +who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that +out!" + +She shrugged that comment away. + +"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. +"He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?" + + + + +20 + + +It should be understood that before this the men in Milligan's had +reached a subtly unspoken agreement that red-haired Donnegan was not one +of them. In a word, they did not like him because he made a mystery of +himself. And, also, because he was different. Yet there was a growing +feeling that the shooting of Lewis through the hand had not been an +accident, for the whole demeanor of Donnegan composed the action of a +man who is a professional trouble maker. There was no reason why he +should go to Milligan's and take his servant with him unless he wished a +fight. And why a man should wish to fight the entire Corner was +something no one could guess. + +That he should have done all this merely to focus all eyes upon him, and +particularly the eyes of a girl, did not occur to anyone. It looked +rather like the bravado of a man who lived for the sake of fighting. +Now, men who hunt trouble in the mountain desert generally find all that +they may desire, but for the time being everyone held back, wolfishly, +waiting for another to take the first step toward Donnegan. Indeed, +there was an unspoken conviction that the man who took the first step +would probably not live to take another. In the meantime both men and +women gave Donnegan the lion's share of their attention. There was only +one who was clever enough to conceal it, and that one was the pair of +eyes to which the red-haired man was playing--Nelly Lebrun. She confined +herself strictly to Jack Landis. + +So it was that when Milligan announced a tag dance and the couples +swirled onto the floor gayly, Donnegan decided to take matters into his +own hands and offer the first overt act. It was clumsy; he did not like +it; but he hated this delay. And he knew that every moment he stayed on +there with big George behind his chair was another red rag flaunted in +the face of The Corner. + +He saw the men who had no girl with them brighten at the announcement of +the tag dance. And when the dance began he saw the prettiest girls +tagged quickly, one after the other. All except Nelly Lebrun. She swung +securely around the circle in the big arms of Jack Landis. She seemed to +be set apart and protected from the common touch by his size, and by his +formidable, challenging eye. Donnegan felt as never before the +unassailable position of this fellow; not only from his own fighting +qualities, but because he had behind him the whole unfathomable power of +Lord Nick and his gang. + +Nelly approached in the arms of Landis in making the first circle of the +dance floor; her eyes, grown dull as she surrendered herself wholly to +the rhythm of the waltz, saw nothing. They were blank as unlighted +charcoal. She came opposite Donnegan, her back was toward him; she swung +in the arms of Landis, and then, past the shoulder of her partner, she +flashed a glance at Donnegan. The spark had fallen on the charcoal, and +her eyes were aflame. Aflame to Donnegan; the next instant the veil had +dropped across her face once more. + +She was carried on, leaving Donnegan tingling. + +A wise man upon whom that look had fallen might have seen, not Nelly +Lebrun in the cheap dance hall, but Helen of Sparta and all Troy's dead. +But Donnegan was clever, not wise. And he saw only Nelly Lebrun and the +broad shoulders of Jack Landis. + +Let the critic deal gently with Donnegan. He loved Lou Macon with all +his heart and his soul, and yet because another beautiful girl had +looked at him, there he sat at his table with his jaw set and the devil +in his eye. And while she and Landis were whirling through the next +circumference of the room, Donnegan was seeing all sides of the problem. +If he tagged Landis it would be casting the glove in the face of the big +man--and in the face of old Lebrun--and in the face of that mysterious +and evil power, Lord Nick himself. And consider, that besides these he +had already insulted all of The Corner. + +Why not let things go on as they were? Suppose he were to allow Landis +to plunge deeper into his infatuation? Suppose he were to bring Lou +Macon to this place and let her see Landis sitting with Nelly, making +love to her with every tone in his voice, every light in his eye? Would +not that cure Lou? And would not that open the door to Donnegan? + +And remember, in considering how Donnegan was tempted, that he was not a +conscientious man. He was in fact what he seemed to be--a wanderer, a +careless vagrant, living by his wits. For all this, he had been touched +by the divine fire--a love that is greater than self. And the more +deeply he hated Landis, the more profoundly he determined that he should +be discarded by Nelly and forced back to Lou Macon. In the meantime, +Nelly and Jack were coming again. They were close; they were passing; +and this time her eye had no spark for Donnegan. + +Yet he rose from his table, reached the floor with a few steps, and +touched Landis lightly on the shoulder. The challenge was passed. Landis +stopped abruptly and turned his head; his face showed merely dull +astonishment. The current of dancers split and washed past on either +side of the motionless trio, and on every face there was a glittering +curiosity. What would Landis do? + +Nothing. He was too stupefied to act. He, Jack Landis, had actually been +tagged while he was dancing with the woman which all The Corner knew to +be his girl! And before his befogged senses cleared the girl was in the +arms of the red-haired man and was lost in the crowd. + +What a buzz went around the room! For a moment Landis could no more move +than he could think; then he sent a sullen glance toward the girl and +retreated to their table. A childish sullenness clouded his face while +he sat there; only one decision came clearly to him: he must kill +Donnegan! + +In the meantime people noted two things. The first was that Donnegan +danced very well with Nelly Lebrun; and his red hair beside the silken +black of the girl's was a startling contrast. It was not a common red. +It flamed, as though with phosphoric properties of its own. But they +danced well; and the eyes of both of them were gleaming. Another thing: +men did not tag Donnegan any more than they had offered to tag Landis. +One or two slipped out from the outskirts of the floor, but something in +the face of Donnegan discouraged them and made them turn elsewhere as +though they had never started for Nelly Lebrun in the first place. +Indeed, to a two-year-old child it would have been apparent that Nelly +and the red-headed chap were interested in each other. + +As a matter of fact they did not speak a single syllable until they had +gone around the floor one complete turn and the dance was coming toward +an end. + +It was he who spoke first, gloomily: "I shouldn't have done it; I +shouldn't have tagged him!" + +At this she drew back a little so that she could meet his eyes. + +"Why not?" + +"The whole crew will be on my trail." + +"What crew?" + +"Beginning with Lord Nick!" + +This shook her completely out of the thrall of the dance. + +"Lord Nick? What makes you think that?" + +"I know he's thick with Landis. It'll mean trouble." + +He was so simple about it that she began to laugh. It was not such a +voice as Lou Macon's. It was high and light, and one could suspect that +it might become shrill under a stress. + +"And yet it looks as though you've been hunting trouble," she said. + +"I couldn't help it," said Donnegan naively. + +It was a very subtle flattery, this frankness from a man who had puzzled +all The Corner. Nelly Lebrun felt that she was about to look behind the +scenes and she tingled with delight. + +"Tell me," she said. "Why not?" + +"Well," said Donnegan. "I had to make a noise because I wanted to be +noticed." + +She glanced about her; every eye was upon them. + +"You've made your point," she murmured. "The whole town is talking of +nothing else." + +"I don't care an ounce of lead about the rest of the town." + +"Then--" + +She stopped abruptly, seeing toward what he was tending. And the heart +of Nelly Lebrun fluttered for the first time in many a month. She +believed him implicitly. It was for her sake that he had made all this +commotion; to draw her attention. For every lovely girl, no matter how +cool-headed, has a foolish belief in the power of her beauty. As a +matter of fact Donnegan had told her the truth. It had all been to win +her attention, from the fight for the mint to the tagging for the dance. +How could she dream that it sprang out of anything other than a wild +devotion to her? And while Donnegan coldly calculated every effect, +Nelly Lebrun began to see in him the man of a dream, a spirit out of a +dead age, a soul of knightly, reckless chivalry. In that small +confession he cast a halo about himself which no other hand could ever +remove entirely so far as Nelly Lebrun was concerned. + +"You understand?" he was saying quietly. + +She countered with a question as direct as his confession. + +"What are you, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"A wanderer," said Donnegan instantly, "and an avoider of work." + +At that they laughed together. The strain was broken and in its place +there was a mutual excitement. She saw Landis in the distance watching +their laughter with a face contorted with anger, but it only increased +her unreasoning happiness. + +"Mr. Donnegan, let me give you friendly advice. I like you: I know you +have courage; and I saw you meet Scar-faced Lewis. But if I were you I'd +leave The Corner tonight and never come back. You've set every man +against you. You've stepped on the toes of Landis and he's a big man +here. And even if you were to prove too much for Jack you'd come against +Lord Nick, as you say yourself. Do you know Nick?" + +"No." + +"Then, Mr. Donnegan, leave The Corner!" + +The music, ending, left them face to face as he dropped his arm from +about her. And she could appreciate now, for the first time, that he was +smaller than he had seemed at a distance, or while he was dancing. He +seemed a frail figure indeed to face the entire banded Corner--and Lord +Nick. + +"Don't you see," said Donnegan, "that I can't stop now?" + +There was a double meaning that sent her color flaring. + +He added in a low, tense voice, "I've gone too far. Besides, I'm +beginning to hope!" + +She paused, then made a little gesture of abandon. + +"Then stay, stay!" she whispered with eyes on fire. "And good luck to +you, Mr. Donnegan!" + + + + +21 + + +As they went back, toward Nelly's table, where Jack Landis was trying to +appear carelessly at ease, the face of Donnegan was pale. One might have +thought that excitement and fear caused his pallor; but as a matter of +fact it was in him an unfailing sign of happiness and success. Landis +had manners enough to rise as they approached. He found himself being +presented to the smaller man. He heard the cool, precise voice of +Donnegan acknowledging the introduction; and then the red-headed man +went back to his table; and Jack Landis was alone with Nelly Lebrun +again. + +He scowled at her, and she tried to look repentant, but since she could +not keep the dancing light out of her eyes, she compromised by looking +steadfastly down at the table. Which convinced Landis that she was +thinking of her late partner. He made a great effort, swallowed, and was +able to speak smoothly enough. + +"Looked as if you were having a pretty good time with that--tramp." + +The color in her cheeks was anger; Landis took it for shame. + +"He dances beautifully," she replied. + +"Yeh; he's pretty smooth. Take a gent like that, it's hard for a girl +to see through him." + +"Let's not talk about him, Jack." + +"All right. Is he going to dance with you again?" + +"I promised him the third dance after this." + +For a time Landis could not trust his voice. Then: "Kind of sorry about +that. Because I'll be going home before then." + +At this she raised her eyes for the first time. He was astonished and a +little horrified to see that she was not in the least flustered, but +very angry. + +"You'll go home before I have a chance for that dance?" she asked. +"You're acting like a two-year-old, Jack. You are!" + +He flushed. Burning would be too easy a death for Donnegan. + +"He's making a laughingstock out of me; look around the room!" + +"Nobody's thinking about you at all, Jack. You're just self-conscious." + +Of course, it was pouring acid upon an open wound. But she was past the +point of caution. + +"Maybe they ain't," said Landis, controlling his rage. "I don't figure +that I amount to much. But I rate myself as high as a skunk like him!" + +It may have been a smile that she gave him. At any rate, he caught the +glint of teeth, and her eyes were as cold as steel points. If she had +actually defended the stranger she would not have infuriated Landis so +much. + +"Well, what does he say about himself?" + +"He says frankly that he's a vagrant." + +"And you don't believe him?" + +She did not speak. + +"Makin' a play for sympathy. Confound a man like that, I say!" + +Still she did not answer; and now Landis became alarmed. + +"D'you really like him, Nelly?" + +"I liked him well enough to introduce him to you, Jack." + +"I'm sorry I talked so plain if you put it that way," he admitted +heavily. "I didn't know you picked up friends so fast as all that!" He +could not avoid adding this last touch of the poison point. + +His back was to Donnegan, and consequently the girl, facing him, could +look straight across the room at the red-headed man. She allowed herself +one brief glance, and she saw that he was sitting with his elbow on the +table, his chin in his hand, looking fixedly at her. It was the gaze of +one who forgets all else and wraps himself in a dream. Other people in +the room were noting that changeless stare and the whisper buzzed more +and more loudly, but Donnegan had forgotten the rest of the world, it +seemed. It was a very cunning piece of acting, not too much overdone, +and once more the heart of Nelly Lebrun fluttered. + +She remembered that in spite of his frankness he had not talked with +insolent presumption to her. He had merely answered her individual +questions with an astonishing, childlike frankness. He had laid his +heart before her, it seemed. And now he sat at a distance looking at her +with the white, intense face of one who sees a dream. + +Nelly Lebrun was recalled by the heavy breathing of Jack Landis and she +discovered that she had allowed her eyes to rest too long on the +red-headed stranger. She had forgotten; her eyes had widened; and even +Jack Landis was able to look into her mind and see things that startled +him. For the first time he sensed that this was more than a careless +flirtation. And he sat stiffly at the table, looking at her and through +her with a fixed smile. Nelly, horrified, strove to cover her tracks. + +"You're right, Jack," she said. "I--I think there was something brazen +in the way he tagged you. And--let's go home together!" + +Too late. The mind of Landis was not oversharp, but now jealousy gave it +a point. He nodded his assent, and they got up, but there was no +increase in his color. She read as plain as day in his face that he +intended murder this night and Nelly was truly frightened. + +So she tried different tactics. All the way to the substantial little +house which Lebrun had built at a little distance from the gambling +hall, she kept up a running fire of steady conversation. But when she +said good night to him, his face was still set. She had not deceived +him. When he turned, she saw him go back into the night with long +strides, and within half an hour she knew, as clearly as if she were +remembering the picture instead of foreseeing it, that Jack and Donnegan +would face each other gun in hand on the floor of Milligan's dance hall. + +Still, she was not foolish enough to run after Jack, take his arm, and +make a direct appeal. It would be too much like begging for Donnegan, +and even if Jack forgave her for this interest in his rival, she had +sense enough to feel that Donnegan himself never would. Something, +however, must be done to prevent the fight, and she took the straightest +course. + +She went as fast as a run would carry her straight behind the +intervening houses and came to the back entrance to the gaming hall. +There she entered and stepped into the little office of her father. +Black Lebrun was not there. She did not want him. In his place there sat +the Pedlar and Joe Rix; they were members of Lord Nick's chosen crew, +and since Nick's temporary alliance with Lebrun for the sake of +plundering Jack Landis, Nick's men were Nelly's men. Indeed, this was a +formidable pair. They were the kind of men about whom many whispers and +no facts circulate: and yet the facts are far worse than the whispers. +It was said that Joe Rix, who was a fat little man with a great aversion +to a razor and a pair of shallow, pale blue eyes, was in reality a +merciless fiend. He was; and he was more than that, if there be a +stronger superlative. If Lord Nick had dirty work to be done, there was +the man who did it with a relish. The Pedlar, on the other hand, was an +exact opposite. He was long, lean, raw-boned, and prodigiously strong in +spite of his lack of flesh. He had vast hands, all loose skin and +outstanding tendons; he had a fleshless face over which his smile was +capable of extending limitlessly. He was the sort of a man from whom one +would expect shrewdness, some cunning, stubbornness, a dry humor, and +many principles. All of which, except the last, was true of the Pedlar. + +There was this peculiarity about the Pedlar. In spite of his broad grins +and his wise, bright eyes, none, even of Lord Nick's gang, extended a +friendship or familiarity toward him. When they spoke of the Pedlar they +never used his name. They referred to him as "him" or they indicated him +with gestures. If he had a fondness for any living creature it was for +fat Joe Rix. + +Yet on seeing this ominous pair, Nelly Lebrun cried out softly in +delight. She ran to them, and dropped a hand on the bony shoulder of the +Pedlar and one on the plump shoulder of Joe Rix, whose loose flesh +rolled under her finger tips. + +"It's Jack Landis!" she cried. "He's gone to Milligan's to fight the +new man. Stop him!" + +"Donnegan?" said Joe, and did not rise. + +"Him?" said the Pedlar, and moistened his broad lips like one on the +verge of starvation. + +"Are you going to sit here?" she cried. "What will Lord Nick say if he +finds out you've let Jack get into a fight?" + +"We ain't nursin' mothers," declared the Pedlar. "But I'd kind of like +to look on!" + +And he rose. Unkinking joint after joint, straightening his legs, his +back, his shoulders, his neck, he soared up and up until he stood a +prodigious height. The girl controlled a shudder of disgust. + +"Joe!" she appealed. + +"You want us to clean up Donnegan?" he asked, rising, but without +interest in his voice. + +To his surprise, she slipped back to the door and blocked it with her +outcast arms. + +"Not a hair of his head!" she said fiercely. "Swear that you won't harm +him, boys!" + +"What the devil!" ejaculated Joe, who was a blunt man in spite of his +fat. "You want us to keep Jack from fightin', but you don't want us to +hurt the other gent. What you want? Hogtie 'em both?" + +"Yes, yes; keep Jack out of Milligan's; but for heaven's sake don't try +to put a hand on Donnegan." + +"Why not?" + +"For your sakes; he'd kill you, Joe!" + +At this they both gaped in unison, and as one man they drawled in vast +admiration: "Good heavens!" + +"But go, go, go!" cried the girl. + +And she shoved them through the door and into the night. + + + + +22 + + +To the people in Milligan's it had been most incredible that Jack Landis +should withdraw from a competition of any sort. And though the girls +were able to understand his motives in taking Nelly Lebrun away they +were not able to explain this fully to their men companions. For one and +all they admitted that Jack was imperiling his hold on the girl in +question if he allowed her to stay near this red-headed fiend. But one +and all they swore that Jack Landis had ruined himself with her by +taking her away. And this was a paradox which made masculine heads in +The Corner spin. The main point was that Jack Landis had backed down +before a rival; and this fact was stunning enough. Donnegan, however, +was not confused. He sent big George to ask Milligan to come to him for +a moment. + +Milligan, at this, cursed George, but he was drawn by curiosity to +consent. A moment later he was seated at Donnegan's table, drinking his +own liquor as it was served to him from the hands of big George. If the +first emotions of the dance-hall proprietor were anger and intense +curiosity, his second emotion was that never-failing surprise which all +who came close to the wanderer felt. For he had that rare faculty of +seeming larger when in action, even when actually near much bigger men. +Only when one came close to Donnegan one stepped, as it were, through a +veil, and saw the almost fragile reality. When Milligan had caught his +breath and adjusted himself, he began as follows: + +"Now, Bud," he said, "you've made a pretty play. Not bad at all. But no +more bluffs in Milligan's." + +"Bluff!" Donnegan repeated gently. + +"About your servant. I let it pass for one night, but not for another." + +"My dear Mr. Milligan! However"--changing the subject easily--"what I +wish to speak to you about is a bit of trouble which I foresee. I think, +sir, that Jack Landis is coming back." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"It's a feeling I have. I have queer premonitions, Mr. Milligan, I'm +sure he's coming and I'm sure he's going to attempt a murder." + +Milligan's thick lips framed his question but he did not speak: fear +made his face ludicrous. + +"Right here?" + +"Yes." + +"A shootin' scrape here! You?" + +"He has me in mind. That's why I'm speaking to you." + +"Don't wait to speak to me about it. Get up and get out!" + +"Mr. Milligan, you're wrong. I'm going to stay here and you're going to +protect me." + +"Well, confound your soul! They ain't much nerve about you, is there?" + +"You run a public place. You have to protect your patrons from insult." + +"And who began it, then? Who started walkin' on Jack's toes? Now you +come whinin' to me! By heck, I hope Jack gets you!" + +"You're a genial soul," said Donnegan. "Here's to you!" + +But something in his smile as he sipped his liquor made Milligan sit +straighter in his chair. + +As for Donnegan, he was thinking hard and fast. If there were a shooting +affair and he won, he would nevertheless run a close chance of being +hung by a mob. He must dispose that mob to look upon him as the +defendant and Landis as the aggressor. He had not foreseen the crisis +until it was fairly upon him. He had thought of Nelly playing Landis +along more gradually and carefully, so that, while he was slowly +learning that she was growing cold to him, he would have a chance to +grow fond of Lou Macon once more. But even across the width of the room +he had seen the girl fire up, and from that moment he knew the result. +Landis already suspected him; Landis, with the feeling that he had been +robbed, would do his best to kill the thief. He might take a chance with +Landis, if it came to a fight, just as he had taken a chance with Lewis. +But how different this case would be! Landis was no dull-nerved ruffian +and drunkard. He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a +gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all. Of all this +Donnegan was fully aware. Either he must place his own life in terrible +hazard or else he must shoot to kill; and if he killed, what of Lou +Macon? + +While he smiled into the face of Milligan, perspiration was bursting out +under his armpits. + +"Mr. Milligan, I implore you to give me your aid." + +"What's the difference?" Milligan asked in a changed tone. "If he don't +fight you here he'll fight you later." + +"You're wrong, Mr. Milligan. He isn't the sort to hold malice. He'll +come here tonight and try to get at me like a bulldog straining on a +leash. If he is kept away he'll get over his bad temper." + +Milligan pushed back his chair. + +"You've tried to force yourself down the throat of The Corner," he said, +"and now you yell for help when you see the teeth." + +He had raised his voice. Now he got up and strode noisily away. Donnegan +waited until he was halfway across the dance floor and then rose in +turn. + +"Gentlemen," he said. + +The quiet voice cut into every conversation; the musicians lowered the +instruments. + +"I have just told Mr. Milligan that I am sure Jack Landis is coming back +here to try to kill me. I have asked for his protection. He has refused +it. I intend to stay here and wait for him, Jack Landis. In the meantime +I ask any able-bodied man who will do so, to try to stop Landis when he +enters." + +He sat down, raised his glass, and sipped the drink. Two hundred pairs +of eyes were fastened with hawklike intensity upon him, and they could +perceive no quiver of his hand. + +The sipping of his liquor was not an affectation. For he was drinking, +at incredible cost, liquors from Milligan's store of rareties. + +The effect of Donnegan's announcement was first a silence, then a hum, +then loud voices of protest, curiosity--and finally a scurrying toward +the doors. + +Yet really very few left. The rest valued a chance to see the fight +beyond the fear of random slugs of lead which might fly their way. +Besides, where such men as Donnegan and big Jack Landis were concerned, +there was not apt to be much wild shooting. The dancing stopped, of +course. The music was ordered by Milligan to play, in a frantic endeavor +to rouse custom again; but the music of its own accord fell away in the +middle of the piece. For the musicians could not watch the notes and the +door at the same time. + +As for Donnegan, he found that it was one thing to wait and another to +be waited for. He, too, wished to turn and watch that door until it +should be filled by the bulk of Jack Landis. Yet he fought the desire. + +And in the midst of this torturing suspense an idea came to him, and at +the same instant Jack Landis entered the doorway. He stood there looking +vast against the night. One glance around was sufficient to teach him +the meaning of the silence. The stage was set, and the way opened to +Donnegan. Without a word, big George stole to one side. + +Straight to the middle of the dance floor went Jack Landis, red-faced, +with long, heavy steps. He faced Donnegan. + +"You skunk!" shouted Landis. "I've come for you!" + +And he went for his gun. Donnegan, too, stirred. But when the revolver +leaped into the hand of Landis, it was seen that the hands of Donnegan +rose past the line of his waist, past his shoulders, and presently +locked easily behind his head. A terrible chance, for Landis had come +within a breath of shooting. So great was the impulse that, as he +checked the pressure of his forefinger, he stumbled a whole pace +forward. He walked on. + +"You need cause to fight?" he cried, striking Donnegan across the face +with the back of his left hand, jerking up the muzzle of the gun in his +right. + +Now a dark trickle was seen to come from the broken lips of Donnegan, +yet he was smiling faintly. + +Jack Landis muttered a curse and said sneeringly: "Are you afraid?" + +There were sick faces in that room; men turned their heads, for nothing +is so ghastly as the sight of a man who is taking water. + +"Hush," said Donnegan. "I'm going to kill you, Jack. But I want to kill +you fairly and squarely. There's no pleasure, you see, in beating a +youngster like you to the draw. I want to give you a fighting chance. +Besides"--he removed one hand from behind his head and waved it +carelessly to where the men of The Corner crouched in the shadow--"you +people have seen me drill one chap already, and I'd like to shoot you in +a new way. Is that agreeable?" + +Two terrible, known figures detached themselves from the gloom near the +door. + +"Hark to this gent sing," said one, and his name was the Pedlar. "Hark +to him sing, Jack, and we'll see that you get fair play." + +"Good," said his friend, Joe Rix. "Let him take his try, Jack." + +As a matter of fact, had Donnegan reached for a gun, he would have been +shot before even Landis could bring out a weapon, for the steady eye of +Joe Rix, hidden behind the Pedlar, had been looking down a revolver +barrel at the forehead of Donnegan, waiting for that first move. But +something about the coolness of Donnegan fascinated them. + +"Don't shoot, Joe," the Pedlar had said. "That bird is the chief over +again. Don't plug him!" + +And that was why Donnegan lived. + + + + +23 + + +If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, +he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for +his proposal to Jack Landis. + +He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken +out a handkerchief and wiped his chin. + +"I'm a methodical fellow, Landis," he said. "I hate to do an untidy +piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling +out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but +instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I +don't like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise +job. One that I'll be proud of." + +A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, +who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and was crooning softly, with +unspeakable joy: "Hark to him sing! Hark to him sing! A ringer for the +chief!" + +"Why should we be in such a hurry?" continued Donnegan. "You see that +clock in the corner? Tut, tut! Turn your head and look. Do you think +I'll drop you while you look around?" + +Landis flung one glance over his shoulder at the big clock, whose +pendulum worked solemnly back and forth. + +"In five minutes," said Donnegan, "it will be eleven o'clock. And when +it's eleven o'clock the clock will chime. Now, Landis, you and I shall +sit down here like gentlemen and drink our liquor and think our last +thoughts. Heavens, man, is there anything more disagreeable than being +hurried out of life? But when the clock chimes, we draw our guns and +shoot each other through the heart--the brain--wherever we have chosen. +But, Landis, if one of us should inadvertently--or through +nervousness--beat the clock's chime by the split part of a second, the +good people of The Corner will fill that one of us promptly full of +lead." + +He turned to the crowd. + +"Gentlemen, is it a good plan?" + +As well as a Roman crowd if it wanted to see a gladiator die, the frayed +nerves of The Corner responded to the stimulus of this delightful +entertainment. There was a joyous chorus of approval. + +"When the clock strikes, then," said Landis, and flung himself down in a +chair, setting his teeth over his rage. + +Donnegan smiled benevolently upon him; then he turned again and beckoned +to George. The big man strode closer and leaned. + +"George," he said. "I'm not going to kill this fellow." + +"No, sir; certainly, sir," whispered the other. "George can kill him for +you, sir." + +Donnegan smiled wanly. + +"I'm not going to kill him, George, on account of the girl on the hill. +You know? And the reason is that she's fond of the lubber. I'll try to +break his nerve, George, and drill him through the arm, say. No, I can't +take chances like that. But if I have him shaking in time, I'll shoot +him through the right shoulder, George. + +"But if I miss and he gets me instead, mind you, never raise a hand +against him. If you so much as touch his skin, I'll rise out of my grave +and haunt you. You hear? Good-by, George." + +But big George withdrew without a word, and the reason for his +speechlessness was the glistening of his eyes. + +"If I live," said Donnegan, "I'll show that George that I appreciate +him." + +He went on aloud to Landis: "So glum, my boy? Tush! We have still four +minutes left. Are you going to spend your last four minutes hating me?" + +He turned: "Another liqueur, George. Two of them." + +The big man brought the drinks, and having put one on the table of +Donnegan, he was directed to take the other to Landis. + +"It's really good stuff," said Donnegan. "I'm not an expert on these +matters; but I like the taste. Will you try it?" + +It seemed that Landis dared not trust himself to speech. As though a +vast and deadly hatred were gathered in him, and he feared lest it +should escape in words the first time he parted his teeth. + +He took the glass of liqueur and slowly poured it upon the floor. From +the crowd there was a deep murmur of disapproval. And Landis, feeling +that he had advanced the wrong foot in the matter, glowered scornfully +about him and then stared once more at Donnegan. + +"Just as you please," said Donnegan, sipping his glass. "But remember +this, my young friend, that a fool is a fool, drunk or sober." + +Landis showed his teeth, but made no other answer. And Donnegan +anxiously flashed a glance at the clock. He still had three minutes. +Three minutes in which he must reduce this stalwart fellow to a +trembling, nervous wreck. Otherwise, he must shoot to kill, or else sit +there and become a certain sacrifice for the sake of Lou Macon. Yet he +controlled the muscles of his face and was still able to smile as he +turned again to Landis. + +"Three minutes left," he said. "Three minutes for you to compose +yourself, Landis. Think of it, man! All the good life behind you. Have +you nothing to remember? Nothing to soften your mind? Why die, Landis, +with a curse in your heart and a scowl on your lips?" + +Once more Landis stirred his lips; but there was only the flash of his +teeth; he maintained his resolute silence. + +"Ah," murmured Donnegan, "I am sorry to see this. And before all your +admirers, Landis. Before all your friends. Look at them scattered there +under the lights and in the shadows. No farewell word for them? Nothing +kindly to say? Are you going to leave them without a syllable of +goodfellowship?" + +"Confound you!" muttered Landis. + +There was another hum from the crowd; it was partly wonder, partly +anger. Plainly they were not pleased with Jack Landis on this day. + +Donnegan shook his head sadly. + +"I hoped," he said, "that I could teach you how to die. But I fail. And +yet you should be grateful to me for one thing, Jack. I have kept you +from being a murderer in cold blood. I kept you from killing a +defenseless man as you intended to do when you walked up to me a moment +ago." + +He smiled genially in mockery, and there was a scowl on the face of +Landis. + +"Two minutes," said Donnegan. + +Leaning back in his chair, he yawned. For a whole minute he did not +stir. + +"One minute?" he murmured inquisitively. + +And there was a convulsive shudder through the limbs of Landis. It was +the first sign that he was breaking down under the strain. There +remained only one minute in which to reduce him to a nervous wreck! + +The strain was telling in other places. Donnegan turned and saw in the +shadow and about the edges of the room a host of drawn, tense faces and +burning eyes. Never while they lived would they forget that scene. + +"And now that the time is close," said Donnegan, "I must look to my +gun." + +He made a gesture; how it was, no one was swift enough of eye to tell, +but a gun appeared in his hand. At the flash of it, Landis' weapon +leaped up to the mark and his face convulsed. But Donnegan calmly spun +the cylinder of his revolver and held it toward Landis, dangling from +his forefinger under the guard. + +"You see?" he said to Landis. "Clean as a whistle, and easy as a girl's +smile. I hate a stiff action, Jack." + +And Landis slowly allowed the muzzle of his own gun to sink. For the +first time his eyes left the eyes of Donnegan, and sinking, inch by +inch, stared fascinated at the gun in the hand of the enemy. + +"Thirty seconds," said Donnegan by way of conversation. + +Landis jerked up his head and his eyes once more met the eyes of +Donnegan, but this time they were wide, and the pointed glance of +Donnegan sank into them. The lips of Landis parted. His tongue +tremblingly moistened them. + +"Keep your nerve," said Donnegan in an undertone. + +"You hound!" gasped Landis. + +"I knew it," said Donnegan sadly. "You'll die with a curse on your +lips." + +He added: "Ten seconds, Landis!" + +And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked +his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung +back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep +breath. + +And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and +crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would +send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming +through the big room. + +But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With +the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver +still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd. + +And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking +suspense. + +It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles +of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in +imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering. + +And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long +and reverberant clanging. + +With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the +weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a +distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan, +sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure, +unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through +the right shoulder of Jack Landis. + +The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the +victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?" + + + + +24 + + +That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a +flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of +this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They +greeted him with expectant glances. + +"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?" + +They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group. + +"I have to thank you," said Donnegan. + +"For what?" + +"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them. + +And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye, +Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'." + +"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when +you get stirred up about a thing." + +"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely. + +"Ay, he's rare." + +"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?" + +The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil. + +"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of +been in politics." + +In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed. +It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and +sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be +useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound, +and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for +the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short +distance making nothing of its target. + +A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed +upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a +very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He +went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised +one finger as he looked at them. + +"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear." + +Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and +lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for +Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis. + +In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him. +Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near +Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled +against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered +him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible +for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple. + +"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan." + +Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split +before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew, +among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be +shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have +shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went +easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly. + +For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat +down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind +forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens, +the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of +Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly +upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing--that +Donnegan was capable of affection. + +The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for +many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the +outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The +one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst +with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and +he heard voices--the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something +was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly. + +What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon, +ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou +Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the +liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once. + +"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel. + +"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick +color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I +thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking +down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not +see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him. + +"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable +in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter +came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our +friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the +feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to +rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one +thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him +for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to +it." + +She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard +the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with +half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen +stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass +voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan. + +"And now for facts," he began. + +"But," said Donnegan, "how--that chair--how in the world have you come +here?" + +The colonel shook his head. + +"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing +is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for +my small mystery--a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon +stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for +your work here, lad?" + +"Bad," said Donnegan. + +"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?" + +"You have heard?" + +"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the +face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider, +glazed with the other thing." + +"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis." + +He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained +parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the +spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed +them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner +that made the blood of Donnegan run cold. + +"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I +underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were +qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and +from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done +it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the +mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He +misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick +and his compatriots!" + +"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead." + +Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his +face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It +was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a +single conversation. + +"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had +punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?" + +Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against +the point of his chin. + +"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as +good--it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and +having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under +your surveillance--this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook--for me +and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by +having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position +to excite all the sympathies of Lou?" + +Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there +existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He +looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but +with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins +something akin to admiration from more common people. + +"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent +scrutiny--silence was almost the only thing in the world that could +trouble him--"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?" + +"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him +back to health hold a gun--metaphorically speaking--to his head and make +him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?" + +The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair, +brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled +benevolently upon Donnegan. + +"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are +exquisite!" + +"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel." + +"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can +speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body, +and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw +Donnegan come to his feet. + +"Eh?" he called. + +"Good-by," said Donnegan. + +"But where--Landis--Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?" + +"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my +work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon +Jack Landis." + +The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping +silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear +foolish. + +"In heaven's name, Donnegan!" + +The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came +from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright +and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob +of the door. + +"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute." + + + + +25 + + +Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held +it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time +limit was taken literally. + +"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of +Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in +any way." + +"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile. + +"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I +have given to you?" + +The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the +eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the +two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan +slipped the watch into his pocket. + +"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of +his strong hands across his forehead. + +"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of +your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since +you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the +first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took +it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of +your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools +cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very +well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not +pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder +why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to +him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I +intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through +a legal act signed by the hand of Jack." + +"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly. + +A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan +caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel +possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he, +Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man. + +"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!" + +"Without force?" + +"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and +therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what +may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I +have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger +against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear +may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I +dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite +schools of action." + +The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the +colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of +the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be +very apt to do as the colonel wished. + +"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly. +"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the +self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would. +In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that +would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well--win her away +from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was +flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull. +I had to strike him down in self-defense. + +"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you +omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important--to me. +What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?" + +"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou, +though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well, +Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your +gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a +snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight, +and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into +my--er--paternal care--her sentiments may change. No, they will +change." + +Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more +self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the +presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's +insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan +after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in +his own way. At length, Donnegan paused. + +"What's the next step?" he asked. + +The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could +tell. + +"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step, +Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house." + +"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from +the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight. +A bad set, Colonel Macon." + +"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly. + +"Ah?" + +"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on. +"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away +to this house." + +"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that +she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and +tend him and grow to hate me?" + +"Grow to fear you," said the colonel. + +"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly. + +"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette. + +He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his +lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan. +Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but +fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned +without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his +hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and +slam the door behind him--to put a bar between him and the eye of the +colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and +closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to +compel himself to move with proper dignity. + +When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing +compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's +advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the +power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had +followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself +had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience? + +He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings, +he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed +the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference +lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one +corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little +table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent +livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her +art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity. +He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman. + +"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the +door. + +"Nothing." + +"Good night." + +"Wait." + +She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had +delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and +without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan. +What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these +dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a +soldier obeys a commander. + +"There has been trouble," said Donnegan. + +"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face. + +"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting +affair." + +There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes, +and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before +sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same +contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual +expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl. + +"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity +for them." + +For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her +confidence in his prowess as a fighting man? + +"It was only one man," he said huskily. + +Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she +shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both +his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him; +she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself, +and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He +found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager +lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble. + +"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?" + +And he said to himself: "She loves him with all her heart and soul!" + +"It is he," said Donnegan in an agony. Pain may be like a fire that +tempers some strong men; and now Donnegan, because he was in torment, +smiled, and his eye was as cold as steel. + +The girl flung away his hands. + +"You bought murderer!" she cried at him. + +"He is not dead." + +"But you shot him down!" + +"He attacked me; it was self-defense." + +She broke into a low-pitched, mirthless laughter. Where was the +filmy-eyed girl he had known? The laughter broke off short--like a sob. + +"Don't you suppose I've known?" she said. "That I've read my father? +That I knew he was sending a bloodhound when he sent you? But, oh, I +thought you had a touch of the other thing!" + +He cringed under her tone. + +"I'll bring him to you," said Donnegan desperately. "I'll bring him here +so that you can take care of him." + +"You'll take him away from Lord Nick--and Lebrun--and the rest?" And it +was the cold smile of her father with which she mocked him. + +"I'll do it." + +"You play a deep game," said the girl bitterly. "Why would you do it?" + +"Because," said Donnegan faintly. "I love you." + +Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and +was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled +eyes. + +"As if I were a leper," muttered Donnegan. "By heaven, she looked at me +as if I were unclean!" + +But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her +face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, +and her face tipped up. + +Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen +the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves. + + + + +26 + + +Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and +he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single +step, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrown +himself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly out +before him, his teeth set, his eyes closed. + +For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force when +he could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of all +was gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms to +take that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which could +encompass her. + +Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender form +of the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power of +one hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closed +his fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and sat +with his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he had +seen a ghost. + +But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, until +big George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure that +he slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for it +was the chill, gray time of the night. + +But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, he +found the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightly +across his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy. + +He spent the day in that chair. + +It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared face +and a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to see +him. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence as +acquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to see +you, sir." + +Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow with +sandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw. + +"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester. + +Donnegan did not reply. + +"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued the +sandy-haired man. + +There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work, +Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been in +The Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon. +Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because he +played crooked with me. You hear me talk?" + +Still Donnegan considered him without a word. + +"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we can +get you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with the +colonel." + +He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnerved +him. He even took a step back toward the door. + +"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behind +me. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't alone +yourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan, +you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but I +ask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?" + +He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you're +done!" + +For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George a +significant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However, +Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormous +oath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door and +slammed it after him. + +"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir." + +And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and the +evening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hills +around The Corner. + +Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to his +revolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, and +walked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping, +hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quiet +departure did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across the +threshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars. + +"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. He +ain't happy." + +And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle with +knife and gun. + +He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heart +of the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hour +vigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyes +with shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife, +competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had two +places in mind--Lebrun's and Milligan's. + +It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly, +he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; it +was like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realized +that in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl and +bring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear of +Donnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donnegan +wanted to tear Landis to shreds. + +It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to a +gambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan was +not a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wanted +something that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made him +a good deal of a boy. + +So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. A +murmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened for +him. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watched +it double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in the +winnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rose +disconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs it +never fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones she +punishes. + +In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner. + +"Donnegan is out hunting trouble." + +About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evil +she has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongues +wagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get the +meaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness of +his mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him more +sedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that The +Corner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, but +cornered, he will fight like a wildcat. + +So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed. + +He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him, +and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumor +was there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbed +cow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan had +occupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint and +sought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra, +and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of the +gunman. + +As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him. +Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes of +women brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him, +and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Not +that he had forethought in going toward it, but he was moving +absent-mindedly. + +Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner, +and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, he +let his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than one +brave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiled +back at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face of +Nelly Lebrun. + +She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted except +for the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly. +Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; but +that would have been too pointed. + +A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor to +Nelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hat +under his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he made +an old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightened +again. + +"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquired. + +Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She felt +that she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest which +surrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other hand +that her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with the +man. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, being +forbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lips +and eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement. + +"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things. + +"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute." + +"If I should--what would people say?"; + +"Let's find out." + +"It would be--daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night." + +"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us." + +She went a pace closer to it with him. + +"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sit +down with you, Mr. Donnegan." + +And she immediately slipped into the chair. + + + + +27 + + +She qualified her surrender, of course, by sitting on the very edge of +the chair. She had on a wine-colored dress, and, with the excitement +whipping color into her cheeks and her eyes dancing, Nelly Lebrun was a +lovely picture. + +"I must go at once," said Nelly. + +"Of course, I can't expect you to stay." + +She dropped one hand on the edge of the table. One would have thought +that she was in the very act of rising. + +"Do you know that you frighten me?" + +"I?" said Donnegan, with appropriate inflection. + +"As if I were a man and you were angry." + +"But you see?" And he made a gesture with both of his palms turned up. +"People have slandered me. I am harmless." + +"The minute is up, Mr. Donnegan. What is it you wish?" + +"Another minute." + +"Now you laugh at me." + +"No, no!" + +"And in the next minute?" + +"I hope to persuade you to stay till the third minute." + +"Of course, I can't." + +"I know; it's impossible." + +"Quite." She settled into the chair. "See how people stare at me! They +remember poor Jack Landis and they think--the whole crowd--" + +"A crowd is always foolish. In the meantime, I'm happy." + +"You?" + +"To be here; to sit close to you; to watch you." + +Her glance was like the tip of a rapier, searching him through for some +iota of seriousness under this banter. + +"Ah?" and Nelly Lebrun laughed. + +"Don't you see that I mean it?" + +"You can watch me from a distance, Mr. Donnegan." + +"May I say a bold thing?" + +"You have said several." + +"No one can really watch you from a distance." + +She canted her head a little to one side; such an encounter of personal +quips was a seventh heaven to her. + +"That's a riddle, Mr. Donnegan." + +"A simple one. The answer is, because there's too much to watch." + +He joined her when she laughed, but the laughter of Donnegan made not a +sound, and he broke in on her mirth suddenly. + +"Ah, don't you see I'm serious?" + +Her glance flicked on either side, as though she feared someone might +have read his lips. + +"Not a soul can hear me," murmured Donnegan, "and I'm going to be bolder +still, and tell you the truth." + +"It's the last thing I dare stay to hear." + +"You are too lovely to watch from a distance, Nelly Lebrun." + +He was so direct that even Nelly Lebrun, expert in flirtations, was +given pause, and became sober. She shook her head and raised a +cautioning finger. But Donnegan was not shaken. + +"Because there is a glamour about a beautiful girl," he said gravely. +"One has to step into the halo to see her, to know her. Are you +contented to look at a flower from a distance? That's an old comparison, +isn't it? But there is something like a fragrance about you, Nelly +Lebrun. Don't be afraid. No one can hear; no one shall ever dream I've +said such bold things to you. In the meantime, we have a truth party. +There is a fragrance, I say. It must be breathed. There is a glow which +must touch one. As it touches me now, you see?" + +Indeed, there was a faint color in his cheeks. And the girl flushed more +deeply; her eyes were still bright, but they no longer sharpened to such +a penetrating point. She was believing at least a little part of what he +said, and her disbelief only heightened her joy in what was real in this +strangest of lovemakings. + +"I shall stay here to learn one thing," she said. "What deviltry is +behind all this talk, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"Is that fair to me? Besides, I only follow a beaten trail in The +Corner." + +"And that?" + +"Toward Nelly Lebrun." + +"A beaten trail? You?" she cried, with just a touch of anger. "I'm not a +child, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You are not; and that's why I am frank." + +"You have done all these things--following this trail you speak of?" + +"Remember," said Donnegan soberly. "What have I done?" + +"Shot down two men; played like an actor on a stage a couple of times at +least, if I must be blunt; hunted danger like--like a reckless madman; +dared all The Corner to cross you; flaunted the red rag in the face of +the bull. Those are a few things you have done, sir! And all on one +trail? That trail you spoke of?" + +"Nelly Lebrun--" + +"I'm listening; and do you know I'm persuading myself to believe you?" + +"It's because you feel the truth before I speak it. Truth speaks for +itself, you know." + +"I have closed my eyes--you see? I have stepped into a masquerade. Now +you can talk." + +"Masquerades are exciting," murmured Donnegan. + +"And they are sometimes beautiful." + +"But this sober truth of mine--" + +"Well?" + +"I came here unknown--and I saw you, Nelly Lebrun." + +He paused; she was looking a little past him. + +"I came in rags; no friends; no following. And I saw that I should have +to make you notice me." + +"And why? No, I shouldn't have asked that." + +"You shouldn't ask that," agreed Donnegan. "But I saw you the queen of +The Corner, worshiped by all men. What could I do? I am not rich. I am +not big. You see?" + +He drew her attention to his smallness with a flush which never failed +to touch the face of Donnegan when he thought of his size; and he seemed +to swell and grow greater in the very instant she glanced at him. + +"What could I do? One thing; fight. I have fought. I fought to get the +eye of The Corner, but most of all to attract your attention. I came +closer to you. I saw that one man blocked the way--mostly. I decided to +brush him aside. How?" + +"By fighting?" She had not been carried away by his argument. She was +watching him like a lynx every moment. + +"Not by that. By bluffing. You see, I was not fool enough to think that +you would--particularly notice a fighting bully." + +He laid his open hand on the table. It was like exposing both strength +and weakness; and into such a trap it would have been a singularly +hard-minded woman who might not have stepped. Nelly Lebrun leaned a +little closer. She forgot to criticize. + +"It was bluff. I saw that Landis was big and good-looking. And what was +I beside him? Nothing. I could only hope that he was hollow; yellow--you +see? So I tried the bluff. You know about it. The clock, and all that +claptrap. But Landis wasn't yellow. He didn't crumble. He lasted long +enough to call my bluff, and I had to shoot in self-defense. And then, +when he lay on the floor, I saw that I had failed." + +"Failed?" + +He lowered his eyes for fear that she would catch the glitter of them. + +"I knew that you would hate me for what I had done because I had only +proved that Landis was a brave youngster with enough nerve for nine out +of ten. And I came tonight--to ask you to forgive me. No, not that--only +to ask you to understand. Do you?" + +He raised his glance suddenly at that, and their eyes met with one of +these electric shocks which will go tingling through two people. And +when the lips of Nelly Lebrun parted a little, he knew that she was in +the trap. He closed his hand that lay on the table--curling the fingers +slowly. In that way he expressed all his exultation. + +"There is something wrong," said the girl, in a tone of one who argues +with herself. "It's all too logical to be real." + +"Ah?" + +"Was that your only reason for fighting Jack Landis?" + +"Do I have to confess even that?" + +She smiled in the triumph of her penetration, but it was a brief, +unhappy smile. One might have thought that she would have been glad to +be deceived. + +"I came to serve a girl who was unhappy," said Donnegan. "Her fiance had +left her; her fiance was Jack Landis. And she's now in a hut up the hill +waiting for him. And I thought that if I ruined him in your eyes he'd go +back to a girl who wouldn't care so much about bravery. Who'd forgive +him for having left her. But you see what a fool I was and how clumsily +I worked? My bluff failed, and I only wounded him, put him in your +house, under your care, where he'll be happiest, and where there'll +never be a chance for this girl to get him back." + +Nelly Lebrun, with her folded hands under her chin, studied him. + +"Mr. Donnegan," she said, "I wish I knew whether you are the most +chivalrous, self-sacrificing of men, or simply the most gorgeous liar in +the desert." + +"And it's hardly fair," said Donnegan, "to expect me to tell you that." + + + + +28 + + +It gave them both a welcome opportunity to laugh, welcome to the girl +because it broke into an excitement which was rapidly telling upon her, +and welcome to Donnegan because the strain of so many distortions of the +truth was telling upon him as well. They laughed together. One hasty +glance told Donnegan that half the couples in the room were whispering +about Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun; but when he looked across the table he +saw that Nelly Lebrun had not a thought for what might be going on in +the minds of others. She was quite content. + +"And the girl?" she said. + +Donnegan rested his forehead upon his hand in thought. He dared not let +Nelly see his face at this moment, for the mention of Lou Macon had +poured the old flood of sorrow back upon him And therefore, when he +looked up, he was sneering. + +"You know these blond, pretty girls?" he said. + +"Oh, they are adorable!" + +"With dull eyes," said Donnegan coldly, and a twinkle came into the +responsive eye of Nelly Lebrun. "The sort of a girl who sees a hero in +such a fellow as Jack Landis." + +"And Jack is brave." + +"I shouldn't have said that." + +"Never mind. Brave, but such a boy." + +"Are you serious?" + +She looked questioningly at Donnegan and they smiled together, slowly. + +"I--I'm glad it's that way," and Donnegan sighed. + +"And did you really think it could be any other way?" + +"I didn't know. I'm afraid I was blind." + +"But the poor girl on the hill; I wish I could see her." + +She was watching Donnegan very sharply again. + +"A good idea. Why don't you?" + +"You seem to like her?" + +"Yes," said Donnegan judiciously. "She has an appealing way; I'm very +sorry for her. But I've done my best; I can't help her." + +"Isn't there some way?" + +"Of what?" + +"Of helping her." + +Donnegan laughed. "Go to your father and persuade him to send Landis +back to her." + +She shook her head. + +"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you +know." + +"Business? Well, I guessed at that." + +"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly. + +Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets. + +"They made me--flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!" + +How much the past tense may mean! + +"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with +gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? +Why couldn't you get him away from the house?" + +"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?" + +"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night." + +"But Jack would wake up and make a noise." + +"There are things that would make him sleep through anything." + +"But how could he be moved?" + +"On a horse litter kept ready outside." + +"And how carried to the litter?" + +"I would carry him." The girl looked at him with a question and then +with a faint smile beginning. "Easily," said Donnegan, stiffening in his +chair. "Very easily." + +It pleased her to find this weakness in the pride of the invincible +Donnegan. It gave her a secure feeling of mastery. So she controlled her +smile and looked with a sort of superior kindliness upon the red-headed +little man. + +"It's no good," Nelly Lebrun said with a sigh. "Even if he were taken +away--and then it would get you into a bad mess." + +"Would it? Worse than I'm in?" + +"Hush! Lord Nick is coming to The Corner; and no matter what you've done +so far--I think I could quiet him. But if you were to take Landis +away--then nothing could stop him." + +Donnegan sneered. + +"I begin to think Lord Nick is a bogie," he said. "Everyone whispers +when they speak of him." He leaned forward. "I should like to meet him, +Nelly Lebrun!" + +It staggered Nelly. "Do you mean that?" she cried softly. + +"I do." + +She caught her breath and then a spark of deviltry gleamed. "I wonder!" +said Nelly Lebrun, and her glance weighed Donnegan. + +"All I ask is a fair chance," he said. + +"He is a big man," said the girl maliciously. + +The never-failing blush burned in the face of Donnegan. + +"A large target is more easily hit," he said through his teeth. + +Her thoughts played back and forth in her eyes. + +"I can't do it," she said. + +Donnegan played a random card. + +"I was mistaken," he said darkly. "Jack was not the man I should have +faced. Lord Nick!" + +"No, no, no, Mr. Donnegan!" + +"You can't persuade me. Well, I was a fool not to guess it!" + +"I really think," said the girl gloomily, "that as soon as Lord Nick +comes, you'll hunt him out!" + +He bowed to her with cold politeness. "In spite of his size," said +Donnegan through his teeth once more. + +And at this the girl's face softened and grew merry. + +"I'm going to help you to take Jack away," she said, "on one +condition." + +"And that?" + +"That you won't make a step toward Lord Nick when he comes." + +"I shall not avoid him," said Donnegan. + +"You're unreasonable! Well, not avoid him, but simply not provoke him. +I'll arrange it so that Lord Nick won't come hunting trouble." + +"And he'll let Jack stay with the girl and her father?" + +"Perhaps he'll persuade them to let him go of their own free will." + +Donnegan thought of the colonel and smiled. + +"In that case, of course, I shouldn't care at all." He added: "But do +you mean all this?" + +"You shall see." + +They talked only a moment longer and then Donnegan left the hall with +the girl on his arm. Certainly the thoughts of all in Milligan's +followed that pair; and it was seen that Donnegan took her to the door +of her house and then went away through the town and up the hill. And +big George followed him like a shadow cast from a lantern behind a man +walking in a fog. + +In the hut on the hill, Donnegan put George quickly to work, and with a +door and some bedding, a litter was hastily constructed and swung +between the two horses. In the meantime, Donnegan climbed higher up the +hill and watched steadily over the town until, in a house beneath him, +two lights were shown. He came back at that and hurried down the hill +with George behind and around the houses until they came to the +pretentious cabin of the gambler, Lebrun. + +Once there, Donnegan went straight to an unlighted window, tapped; and +it was opened from within, softly. Nelly Lebrun stood within. + +"It's done," she said. "Joe and the Pedlar are sound asleep. They drank +too much." + +"Your father." + +"Hasn't come home." + +"And Jack Landis?" + +"No matter what you do, he won't wake up; but be careful of his +shoulder. It's badly torn. How can you carry him?" + +She could not see Donnegan's flush, but she heard his teeth grit. And +he slipped through the window, gesturing to George to come close. It was +still darker inside the room--far darker than the starlit night outside. +And the one path of lighter gray was the bed of Jack Landis. His heavy +breathing was the only sound. Donnegan kneeled beside him and worked his +arms under the limp figure. + +And while he kneeled there a door in the house was opened and closed +softly. Donnegan stood up. + +"Is the door locked?" + +"No," whispered the girl. + +"Quick!" + +"Too late. It's father, and he'd hear the turning of the key." + +They waited, while the light, quick step came down the hall of the +cabin. It came to the door, it went past; and then the steps retraced +and the door was opened gently. + +There was a light in the hall; the form of Lebrun was outlined black and +distinct.. + +"Jack!" he whispered. + +No sound; he made as if to enter, and then he heard the heavy breathing +of the sleeper, apparently. + +"Asleep, poor fool," murmured the gambler, and closed the door. + +The door was no sooner closed than Donnegan had raised the body of the +sleeper. Once, as he rose, straining, it nearly slipped from his arms; +and when he stood erect he staggered. But once he had gained his +equilibrium, he carried the wounded man easily enough to the window +through which George reached his long arms and lifted out the burden. + +"You see?" said Donnegan, panting, to the girl. + +"Yes; it was really wonderful!" + +"You are laughing, now." + +"I? But hurry. My father has a fox's ear for noises." + +"He will not hear this, I think." There was a swift scuffle, very soft +of movement. + +"Nelly!" called a far-off voice. + +"Hurry, hurry! Don't you hear?" + +"You forgive me?" + +"No--yes--but hurry!" + +"You will remember me?" + +"Mr. Donnegan!" + +"Adieu!" + +She caught a picture of him sitting in the window for the split part of +a second, with his hat off, bowing to her. Then he was gone. And she +went into the hall, panting with excitement. + +"Heavens!" Nelly Lebrun murmured. "I feel as if I had been hunted, and I +must look it. What if he--" Whatever the thought was she did not +complete it. "It may have been for the best," added Nelly Lebrun. + + + + +29 + + +It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but an +active mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun roused +herself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand was +still rapping. + +"Yes?" she called drowsily. + +"This is Nick. May I come in?" + +"This is who?" + +The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she was +out of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped a +dressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was a +luxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of the +lynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, and +the soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threw +back the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place, +transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror. + +And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes, +Nick. May I come in?" + +She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on her +lips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; had +dipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awake +and brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into her +cheeks. + +Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock, +Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall. + +The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with the +pressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; and +while he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one hand +pressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expression +halfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did not +even smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentle +expressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominance +over all around him, his habitual expression was a proud +self-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in Lord +Nick it was rather leonine. + +He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily, +and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside another +man he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed by +the depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appear +quite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown and +set off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had the +combination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable in +Donnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the two +men; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, and +above all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from them +both. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of all +spirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terribly +mated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that the +mountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of the +careless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires an +exceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takes +a genius to make law-breaking glorious. + +No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek, +looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about his +immediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch, +and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had to +do with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, and +waited expectantly. + +"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frank +admirer. + +The girl merely looked at him. + +"Well?" he insisted. + +"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly. + +"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to the +contrary but that he was restraining himself--it was not worthwhile to +bother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tangle +since I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a father +has let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all this +was going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?" + +He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully. + +"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog." + +He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth I +suppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest. +Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint." + +"I suppose you'll get him back?" + +"First, I want to find out how he got away." + +"I know how." + +"Ah?" + +"Donnegan." + +"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he did +not raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softly +so that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger. +"Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as one +of them! You, too!" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terrible +voice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis; +Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him. +Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!" + +She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice. + +"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she asked +coldly. + +"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications; +have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheads +are beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas." + +"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come to +it; and you'll never come to it." + +"Never. Because I don't want him killed." + +"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?" + +"Because he's in love--with me." + +"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rare +fellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house without +help. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had to +find out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; not +the Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone who +doesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're the +one!" + +She hesitated a breathless instant. + +"Yes," she said. "I am." + +She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl in +the case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with her +once. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint; +haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kept +on with it." + +"No?" + +"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. I +haven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I got +rid of him." + +"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?" + +She flushed and then set her teeth. + +"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring +him back." + +"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it." + +"I suppose so." + +"You don't understand, Nick. He's different." + +"Eh?" + +"He's like you." + +"What are you driving at?" + +"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible +fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair +and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such a +man--except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fight +Donnegan!" + +For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little +forward. + +"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal, +Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you--" + +The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank. + +"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?" + +"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too. +And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?" + +"For your own sake." + +He stood up. + +"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him; +but I'm going to have Landis back!" + +She, also, rose. + +"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll get Donnegan to +leave the house." + +"I don't care what you do about that." + +"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunt +him out afterward?" + +"I never make promises, Nell." + +"But I'll trust you, Nick." + +"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long." + + + + +30 + + +The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the +north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly +Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She +sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, +which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to +the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave +him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took +the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The +Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance. + +She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her +appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was +in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her +that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is +touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of +it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have +really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he +had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan's. And that, +as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom. + +Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the +hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour +had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street +below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy +swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding +crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it +Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked +more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle. + +He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and +his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen +stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance. + +"There's no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought +you might agree with me." + +He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his +attitude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that +house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some +few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road--the chestnut at a +long-strided canter and Nelly's black at a soft and choppy pace--the +wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things +one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the +first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from +The Corner--and Lord Nick. + +The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had +Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a +violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the +lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared +with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her +make the comparison at all. + +"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a +hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could +be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, +and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away. + +"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and +see this." + +She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy. + +"You see, I'm a lazy man." + +"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?" + +"Two days, I think." + +"What's wrong?" + +He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought +his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even +in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under +his look. + +"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question." + +And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her +breath. The imp of perversity made her go on. + +"And why dangerous?" + +It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, +but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her. + +"You are not frank," he remarked. + +She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in +her excitement. + +"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm's length. After +last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for--days and +days." + +"That's why I'm curious," said Donnegan, "and not flattered. I'm trying +to find what purpose you have in taking me riding." + +"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if you will." + +And since such fencing with the wits delighted her, she let all her +delight come with a sparkle in her eyes. + +"I have one clue." + +"Yes?" + +"And that is that you may have the old-woman curiosity to find out how +many ways a man can tell her that he's fond of her." + +Though she flushed a little she kept her poise admirably. + +"I suppose that is part of my interest," she admitted. + +"I can think of a great many ways of saying it," said Donnegan. "I am +the dry desert, you are the rain, and yet I remain dry and produce no +grass." "A very pretty comparison," said the girl with a smile. + +"A very green one," and Donnegan smiled. "I am the wind and you are the +wild geese, and yet I keep on blowing after you are gone and do not +carry away a feather of you." + +"Pretty again." + +"And silly. But, really, you are very kind to me, and I shall try not to +take too much advantage of it." + +"Will you answer a question?" + +"I had rather ask one: but go on." + +"What made you so dry a desert, Mr. Donnegan?" + +"There is a very leading question again." + +"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the +first time I saw you--when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly +disguise." + +"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of +me; I am a beggarly person." + +"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an +education." + +"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and +long ago learned not to take myself too seriously." + +"Which leads to--" + +"The reason why I have wandered so much." + +"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?" + +"A chance to sit in a saddle--or a chair--and talk as we are talking." + +"Which seems to be idly." + +"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire." + +"Or ice." + +At the random hit he glanced sharply at her, but she was looking a +little past him, thinking. + +"I have tried to get at the reason behind all your reasons," she said. +"You came on me in a haphazard fashion, and yet you are not a haphazard +sort." + +"Do you see nothing serious about me?" + +"I see that you are unhappy," said the girl gently. "And I am sorry." + +Once again Donnegan was jarred, and he came within an ace of opening +his mind to her, of pouring out the truth about Lou Macon. Love is a +talking madness in all men and he came within an ace of confessing his +troubles. + +"Let's go on," she said, loosening her rein. + +"Why not cut back in a semicircle toward The Corner?" + +"Toward The Corner? No, no!" + +There was a brightening of his eye as he noted her shudder of distaste +or fear, and she strove to cover her traces. + +"I'm sick of the place," she said eagerly. "Let's get as far from it as +we may." + +"But yonder is a very good trail leading past it." + +"Of course we'll ride that way if you wish, but I'd rather go straight +ahead." + +If she had insisted stubbornly he would have thought nothing, but the +moment she became politic he was on his guard. + +"You dislike something in The Corner," he said, thinking carelessly and +aloud. "You are afraid of something back there. But what could you be +afraid of? Then you may be afraid of something for me. Ah, I have it! +They have decided to 'get' me for taking Jack Landis away; Joe Rix and +the Pedlar are waiting for me to come back!" + +He looked steadily and she attempted to laugh. + +"Joe Rix and the Pedlar? I would not stack ten like them against you!" + +"Then it is someone else." + +"I haven't said so. Of course there's no one." + +She shook her rein again, but Donnegan sat still in his saddle and +looked fixedly at her. + +"That's why you brought me out here," he announced. "Oh, Nelly Lebrun, +what's behind your mind? Who is it? By heaven, it's this Lord Nick!" + +"Mr. Donnegan, you're letting your imagination run wild." + +"It's gone straight to the point. But I'm not angry. I think I may get +back in time." + +He turned his horse, and the girl swung hers beside him and caught his +arm. + +"Don't go!" she pleaded. "You're right; it's Nick, and it's suicide to +face him!" + +The face of Donnegan set cruelly. + +"The main obstacle," he said. "Come and watch me handle it!" + +But she dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, and, sitting +there for a long time, she heard his careless whistling blow back to her +as he galloped toward The Corner. + + + + +31 + + +If Nelly Lebrun had consigned him mentally to the worms, that thought +made not the slightest impression upon Donnegan. A chance for action was +opening before him, and above all a chance of action in the eye of Lou +Macon; and he welcomed with open arms the thought that he would have an +opportunity to strike for her, and keep Landis with her. He went arrowy +straight and arrowy fast to the cabin on the hill, and he found ample +evidence that it had become a center of attention in The Corner. There +was a scattering of people in the distance, apparently loitering with no +particular purpose, but undoubtedly because they awaited an explosion of +some sort. He went by a group at which the chestnut shied, and as +Donnegan straightened out the horse again he caught a look of both +interest and pity on the faces of the men. + +Did they give him up so soon as it was known that Lord Nick had entered +the lists against him? Had all his display in The Corner gone for +nothing as against the repute of this terrible mystery man? His vanity +made him set his teeth again. + +Dismounting before the cabin of the colonel, he found that worthy in +his invalid chair, enjoying a sun bath in front of his house. But there +was no sign of Lord Nick--no sign of Lou. A grim fear came to Donnegan +that he might have to attack Nick in his own stronghold, for Jack Landis +might already have been taken away to the Lebrun house. + +So he went straight to the colonel, and when he came close he saw that +the fat man was apparently in the grip of a chill. He had gathered a +vast blanket about his shoulders and kept drawing it tighter; beneath +his eyes, which looked down to the ground, there were violet shadows. + +"I've lost," said Donnegan through his teeth. "Lord Nick has been here?" + +The invalid lifted his eyes, and Donnegan saw a terrible thing--that the +nerve of the fat man had been crushed. The folds of his face quivered as +he answered huskily: "He has been here!" + +"And Landis is gone?" + +"No." + +"Not gone? Then--" + +"Nick has gone to get a horse litter. He came up just to clear the way." + +"When he comes back he'll find me!" + +The glance of the colonel cleared long enough to survey Donnegan slowly +from head to foot, and his amusement sent the familiar hot flush over +the face of the little man. He straightened to his full height, which, +in his high heels, was not insignificant. But the colonel was apparently +so desperate that he was willing to throw caution away. + +"Compared with Lord Nick, Donnegan," he said, "you don't look half a +man--even with those heels." + +And he smiled calmly at Donnegan in the manner of one who, having +escaped the lightning bolt itself, does not fear mere thunder. + +"There is no fool like a fat fool," said Donnegan with childish +viciousness. "What did Lord Nick, as you call him, do to you? He's +brought out the yellow, my friend." + +The colonel accepted the insult without the quiver of an eyelid. +Throughout he seemed to be looking expectantly beyond Donnegan. + +"My young friend," he said, "you have been very useful to me. But I +must confess that you are no longer a tool equal to the task. I dismiss +you. I thank you cordially for your efforts. They are worthless. You see +that crowd gathering yonder? They have come to see Lord Nick prepare you +for a hole in the ground. And make no mistake: if you are here when he +returns that hole will have to be dug--unless they throw you out for the +claws of the buzzards. In the meantime, our efforts have been wasted +completely. I hadn't enough time. I had thrown the fear of sudden death +into Landis, and in another hour he would have signed away his soul to +me for fear of poison." + +The colonel paused to chuckle at some enjoyable memory. + +"Then Nick came. You see, I know all about Nick." + +"And Nick knows all about you?" + +For a moment the agate, catlike eyes of the colonel clouded and cleared +again in their unfathomable manner. + +"At moments, Donnegan," he said, "you have rare perceptions. That is +exactly it--Nick knows just about everything concerning me. And so--roll +your pack and climb on your horse and get away. I think you may have +another five minutes before he comes." + +Donnegan turned on his heel. He went to the door of the hut and threw it +open. Lou sat beside Landis holding his hand, and the murmur of her +voice was still pleasant as an echo through the room when she looked and +saw Donnegan. At that she rose and her face hardened as she looked at +him. Landis, also, lifted his head, and his face was convulsed with +hatred. So Donnegan closed the door and went softly away to his own +shack. + +She hated him even as Landis hated him, it seemed. He should have known +that he would not be thanked for bringing back her lover to her with a +bullet through his shoulder. Sitting in his cabin, he took his head +between his hands and thought of life and death, and made up his mind. +He was afraid. If Lord Nick had been the devil himself Donnegan could +not have been more afraid. But if the big stranger had been ten devils +instead of one Donnegan would not have found it in his soul to run away. + +Nothing remained for him in The Corner, it seemed, except his position +as a man of power--a dangerous fighter. It was a less than worthless +position, and yet, once having taken it up, he could not abandon it. +More than one gunfighter has been in the same place, forced to act as a +public menace long after he has ceased to feel any desire to fight. Of +selfish motives there remained not a scruple to him, but there was still +the happiness of Lou Macon. If the boy were taken back to Lebrun's, it +would be fatal to her. For even if Nelly wished, she could not teach her +eyes new habits, and she would ceaselessly play on the heart of the +wounded man. + +It was the cessation of all talk from the gathering crowd outside that +made Donnegan lift his head at length, and know that Lord Nick had come. +But before he had time to prepare himself, the door was cast open and +into it, filling it from side to side, stepped Lord Nick. + +There was no need of an introduction. Donnegan knew him by the aptness +with which the name fitted that glorious figure of a man and by the +calm, confident eye which now was looking him slowly over, from head to +foot. Lord Nick closed the door carefully behind him. + +"The colonel told me," he said in his deep, smooth voice, "that you were +waiting for me here." + +And Donnegan recognized the snakelike malice of the fat man in drawing +him into the fight. But he dismissed that quickly from his mind. He was +staring, fascinated, into the face of the other. He was a reader of men, +was Donnegan; he was a reader of mind, too. In his life of battle he had +learned to judge the prowess of others at a glance, just as a musician +can tell the quality of a violin by the first note he hears played upon +it. So Donnegan judged the quality of fighting men, and, looking into +the face of Lord Nick, he knew that he had met his equal at last. + +It was a great and a bitter moment to him. The sense of physical +smallness he had banished a thousand times by the recollection of his +speed of hand and his surety with weapons. He had looked at men +muscularly great and despised them in the knowledge that a gun or a +knife would make him their master. But in Lord Nick he recognized his +own nerveless speed of hand, his own hair-trigger balance, his own +deadly seriousness and contempt of life. The experience in battle was +there, too. And he began to feel that the size of the other crushed him +to the floor and made him hopeless. It was unnatural, it was wrong, that +this giant in the body should be a giant in adroitness also. + +Already Donnegan had died one death before he rose from his chair and +stood to the full of his height ready to die again and summoning his +nervous force to meet the enemy. He had seen that the big man had +followed his own example and had measured him at a glance. + +Indeed the history of some lives of action held less than the +concentrated silence of these two men during that second's space. + +And now Donnegan felt the cold eye of the other eating into his own, +striving to beat him down, break his nerve. For an instant panic got +hold on Donnegan. He, himself, had broken the nerve of other men by the +weight of his unaided eye. Had he not reduced poor Jack Landis to a +trembling wreck by five minutes of silence? And had he not seen other +brave men become trembling cowards unable to face the light, and all +because of that terrible power which lies in the eye of some? He fought +away the panic, though perspiration was pouring out upon his forehead +and beneath his armpits. + +"The colonel is very kind," said Donnegan. + +And that moment he sent up a prayer of thankfulness that his voice was +smooth as silk, and that he was able to smile into the face of Lord +Nick. The brow of the other clouded and then smoothed itself deftly. +Perhaps he, too, recognized the clang of steel upon steel and knew the +metal of his enemy. + +"And therefore," said Lord Nick, "since most of The Corner expects +business from us, it seems much as if one of us must kill the other +before we part." + +"As a matter of fact," said Donnegan, "I have been keeping that in +mind." He added, with that deadly smile of his that never reached his +eyes: "I never disappoint the public when it's possible to satisfy +them." + +"No," and Lord Nick nodded, "you seem to have most of the habits of an +actor--including an inclination to make up for your part." + +Donnegan bit his lip until it bled, and then smiled. + +"I have been playing to fools," he said. "Now I shall enjoy a +discriminating critic." + +"Yes," remarked Lord Nick, "actors generally desire an intelligent +audience for the death scene." + +"I applaud your penetration and I shall speak well of you when this +disagreeable duty is finished." + +"Come," and Lord Nick smiled genially, "you are a game little cock!" + +The telltale flush crimsoned Donnegan's face. And if the fight had begun +at that moment no power under heaven could have saved Lord Nick from the +frenzy of the little man. + +"My size keeps me from stooping," said Donnegan, "I shall look up to +you, sir, until the moment you fall." + +"Well hit again! You are also a wit, I see! Donnegan, I am almost sorry +for the necessity of this meeting. And if it weren't for the audience--" + +"Say no more," said Donnegan, bowing. "I read your heart and appreciate +all you intend." + +He had touched his stock as he bowed, and now he turned to the mirror +and carefully adjusted it, for it was a little awry from the ride; but +in reality he used that moment to examine his own face, and the set of +his jaw and the clearness of his eye reassured him. Turning again, he +surprised a glint of admiration in the glance of Lord Nick. + +"We are at one, sir, it appears," he said. "And there is no other way +out of this disagreeable necessity?" + +"Unfortunately not. I have a certain position in these parts. People are +apt to expect a good deal of me. And for my part I see no way out except +a gunplay--no way out between the devil and the moon!" + +Astonishment swept suddenly across the face of the big man, for +Donnegan, turning white as death, shrank toward the wall as though he +had that moment received cold steel in his body. + +"Say that again!" said Donnegan hoarsely. + +"I said there was no way out," repeated Lord Nick, and though he kept +his right hand in readiness, he passed his left through his red hair and +stared at Donnegan with a tinge of contempt; he had seen men buckle like +this at the last moment when their backs were to the wall. + +"Between--" repeated Donnegan. + +"The devil and the moon. Do you see a way yourself?" + +He was astonished again to see Donnegan wince as if from a blow. His +lips were trembling and they writhed stiffly over his words. + +"Who taught you that expression?" said Donnegan. + +"A gentleman," said Lord Nick. + +"Ah?" + +"My father, sir!" + +"Oh, heaven," moaned Donnegan, catching his hands to his breast. "Oh, +heaven, forgive us!" + +"What the devil is in you?" asked Lord Nick. + +The little man stood erect again and his eyes were now on fire. + +"You are Henry Nicholas Reardon," he said. + +Lord Nick set his teeth. + +"Now," he said, "it is certain that you must die!" + +But Donnegan cast out his arms and broke into a wild laughter. + +"Oh, you fool, you fool!" he cried. "Don't you know me? I am the +cripple!" + + + + +32 + + +The big man crossed the floor with one vast stride, and, seizing +Donnegan by both shoulders, dragged him under the full light of the +window; and still the crazy laughter shook Donnegan and made him +helpless. + +"They tied me to a board--like a papoose," said Donnegan, "and they +straightened my back--but they left me this way--wizened up." He was +stammering; hysterical, and the words tumbled from his lips in a jumble. +"That was a month after you ran away from home. I was going to find you. +Got bigger. Took the road. Kept hunting. Then I met a yegg who told +about Rusty Dick--described him like you--I thought--I thought you were +dead!" + +And the tears rolled down his face; he sobbed like a woman. + +A strange thing happened then. Lord Nick lifted the little man in his +arms as if he were a child and literally carried him in that fashion to +the bunk. He put him down tenderly, still with one mighty arm around his +back. + +"You are Garry? You!" + +"Garrison Donnegan Reardon. Aye, that's what I am. Henry, don't say +that you don't know me!" + +"But--your back--I thought--" + +"I know--hopeless they said I was. But they brought in a young doctor. +Now look at me. Little. I never grew big--but hard, Henry, as leather!" + +And he sprang to his feet. And knowing that Donnegan had begun life as a +cripple it was easy to appreciate certain things about his expression--a +cold wistfulness, and his manner of reading the minds of men. Lord Nick +was like a man in a dream. He dragged Donnegan back to the bunk and +forced him to sit down with the weight of his arms. And he could not +keep his hands from his younger brother. As though he were blind and had +to use the sense of touch to reassure him. + +"I heard lies. They said everybody was dead. I thought--" + +"The fever killed them all, except me. Uncle Toby took me in. He was a +devil. Helped me along, but I left him when I could. And--" + +"Don't tell me any more. All that matters is that I have you at last, +Garry. Heaven knows it's a horrible thing to be kithless and kinless, +but I have you now! Ah, lad, but the old pain has left its mark on you. +Poor Garry!" + +Donnegan shuddered. + +"I've forgotten it. Don't bring it back." + +"I keep feeling that you should be in that chair." + +"I know. But I'm not. I'm hard as nails, I tell you." + +He leaped to his feet again. + +"And not so small as you might think, Henry!" + +"Oh, big enough, Garry. Big enough to paralyze The Corner, from what +I've heard." + +"I've been playing a game with 'em, Henry. And now--if one of us could +clear the road, what will we do together? Eh?" + +The smile of Lord Nick showed his teeth. + +"Haven't I been hungry all my life for a man like you, lad? Somebody to +stand and guard my back while I faced the rest of the world?" + +"And I'll do my share of the facing, too." + +"You will, Garry. But I'm your elder." + +"Man, man! Nobody's my elder except one that's spent half his life--as I +have done!" + +"We'll teach you to forget the pain I'll make life roses for you, +Garry." + +"And the fools outside thought--" + +Donnegan broke into a soundless laughter, and, running to the door, +opened it a fraction of an inch and peeped out. + +"They're standing about in a circle. I can see 'em gaping. Even from +here. What will they think, Henry?" + +Lord Nick ground his teeth. + +"They'll think I've backed down from you," he said gloomily. "They'll +think I've taken water for the first time." + +"Why, confound 'em, the first man that opens his head--" + +"I know, I know. You'd fill his mouth with lead, and so would I. But if +it ever gets about--as it's sure to--that Lord, Nick, as they call me, +has been bluffed down without a fight, I'll have every Chinaman that +cooks on the range talking back to me. I'll have to start all over +again." + +"Don't say that, Henry. Don't you see that I'll go out and explain that +I'm your brother?" + +"What good will that do? No, do we look alike?" + +Donnegan stopped short. + +"I'm not very big," he said rather coldly, "but then I'm not so very +small, either. I've found myself big enough, speaking in general. +Besides, we have the same hair and eyes." + +"Why, man, people will laugh when they hear that we call ourselves +brothers." + +Donnegan ground his teeth and the old flush burned upon his face. + +"I'll cut some throats if they do," he said, trembling with his passion. + +"I can hear them say it. 'Lord Nick walked in on Donnegan prepared to +eat him up. He measured him up and down, saw that he was a fighting +wildcat in spite of his size, and decided to back out. And Donnegan was +willing. They couldn't come out without a story of some kind--with the +whole world expecting a death in that cabin--so they framed a crazy +cock-and-bull story about being brothers.' I can hear them say that, +Donnegan, and it makes me wild!" + +"Do you call me Donnegan?" said Donnegan sadly. + +"No, no. Garry, don't be so touchy. You've never got over that, I see. +Still all pride and fire." + +"You're not very humble yourself, Henry." + +"Maybe not, maybe not. But I've been in a certain position around these +parts, Don--Garry. And it's hard to see it go!" + +Donnegan closed his eyes in deep reverie. And then he forced out the +words one by one. + +"Henry, I'll let everybody know that it was I who backed down. That we +were about to fight." He was unable to speak; he tore the stock loose at +his throat and went on: "We were about to fight; I lost my nerve; you +couldn't shoot a helpless man. We began to talk. We found out we are +brothers--" + +"Damnation!" broke out Lord Nick, and he struck himself violently across +the forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm a skunk, Garry, lad. Why, +for a minute I was about to let you do it. No. no, no! A thousand times +no!" + +It was plain to be seen that he was arguing himself away from the +temptation. + +"What do I care what they say? We'll cram the words back down their +throats and be hanged to 'em. Here I am worrying about myself like a +selfish dog without letting myself be happy over finding you. But I am +happy, Garry. Heaven knows it. And you don't doubt it, do you, old +fellow?" + +"Ah," said Donnegan, and he smiled to cover a touch of sadness. "I hope +not. No, I don't doubt you, of course. I've spent my life wishing for +you since you left us, you see. And then I followed you for three years +on the road, hunting everywhere." + +"You did that?" + +"Yes. Three years. I liked the careless life. For to tell you the truth, +I'm not worth much, Henry. I'm a loafer by instinct, and--" + +"Not another word." There were tears in the eyes of Lord Nick, and he +frowned them away. "Confound it, Garry, you unman me. I'll be weeping +like a woman in a minute. But now, sit down. We still have some things +to talk over. And we'll get to a quick conclusion." + +"Ah, yes," said Donnegan, and at the emotion which had come in the face +of Lord Nick, his own expression softened wonderfully. A light seemed to +stand in his face. "We'll brush over the incidentals. And everything is +incidental aside from the fact that we're together again. They can +chisel iron chain apart, but we'll never be separated again, God +willing!" He looked up as he spoke, and his face was for the moment as +pure as the face of a child--Donnegan, the thief, the beggar, the liar +by gift, and the man-killer by trade and artistry. + +But Lord Nick in the meantime was looking down to the floor and +mustering his thoughts. + +"The main thing is entirely simple," he said. "You'll make one +concession to my pride, Garry, boy?" + +"Can you ask me?" said Donnegan softly, and he cast out his hands in a +gesture that offered his heart and his soul. "Can you ask me? Anything I +have is yours!" + +"Don't say that," answered Lord Nick tenderly. "But this small thing--my +pride, you know--I despise myself for caring what people think, but I'm +weak. I admit it, but I can't help it." + +"Talk out, man. You'll see if there's a bottom to things that I can +give!" + +"Well, it's this. Everyone knows that I came up here to get young Jack +Landis and bring him back to Lebrun's--from which you stole him, you +clever young devil! Well, I'll simply take him back there, Garry; and +then I'll never have to ask another favor of you." + +He was astonished by a sudden silence, and looking up again, he saw that +Donnegan sat with his hand at his breast. It was a singularly feminine +gesture to which he resorted. It was a habit which had come to him in +his youth in the invalid chair, when the ceaseless torment of his +crippled back became too great for him to bear. + +And clearly, indeed, those days were brought home to Lord Nick as he +glanced up, for Donnegan was staring at him in the same old, familiar +agony, mute and helpless. + + + + +33 + + +At this Lord Nick very frankly frowned in turn. And when he frowned his +face grew marvelously dark, like some wrathful god, for there was a +noble, a Grecian purity to the profile of Henry Nicholas Reardon, and +when he frowned he seemed to be scorning, from a distance, ignoble, +earthly things which troubled him. + +"I know it isn't exactly easy for you, Garry," he admitted. "You have +your own pride; you have your own position here in The Corner. But I +want you to notice that mine is different. You've spent a day for what +you have in The Corner, here. I've spent ten years. You've played a +prank, acted a part, and cast a jest for what you have. But for the +place which I hold, brother mine, I've schemed with my wits, played fast +and loose, and killed men. Do you hear? I've bought it with blood, and +things you buy at such a price ought to stick, eh?" + +He banished his frown; the smile played suddenly across his features. + +"Why, I'm arguing with myself. But that look you gave me a minute ago +had me worried for a little while." + +At this Donnegan, who had allowed his head to fall, so that he seemed +to be nodding in acquiescence, now raised his face and Lord Nick +perceived the same white pain upon it. The same look which had been on +the face of the cripple so often in the other days. + +"Henry," said the younger brother, "I give you my oath that my pride has +nothing to do with this. I'd let you drive me barefoot before you +through the street yonder. I'd let every soul in The Corner know that I +have no pride where you're concerned. I'll do whatever you wish--with +one exception--and that one is the unlucky thing you ask. Pardner, you +mustn't ask for Jack Landis! Anything else I'll work like a slave to get +for you: I'll fight your battles, I'll serve you in any way you name: +but don't take Landis back!" + +He had talked eagerly, the words coming with a rush, and he found at the +end that Lord Nick was looking at him in bewilderment. + +"When a man is condemned to death," said Lord Nick slowly, "suppose +somebody offers him anything in the world that he wants--palaces, +riches, power--everything except his life. What would the condemned man +say to a friend who made such an offer? He'd laugh at him and then call +him a traitor. Eh? But I don't laugh at you, Garry. I simply explain to +you why I have to have Landis back. Listen!" + +He counted off his points upon the tips of his fingers, in the confident +manner of a teacher who deals with a stupid child, waiting patiently for +the young mind to comprehend. + +"We've been bleeding Jack Landis. Do you know why? Because it was Lester +who made the strike up here. He started out to file his claim. He +stopped at the house of Colonel Macon. That old devil learned the +location, learned everything; detained Lester with a trick, and rushed +young Landis away to file the claims for himself. Then when Lester came +up here he found that his claims had been jumped, and when he went to +the law there was no law that could help him. He had nothing but his +naked word for what he had discovered. And naturally the word of a +ruffian like Lester had no weight against the word of Landis. And, you +see, Landis thought that he was entirely in the right. Lester tried the +other way; tried to jump the claims; and was shot down by Landis. So +Lester sent for me. What was I to do? Kill Landis? The mine would go to +his heirs. I tried a different way--bleeding him of his profits, after +I'd explained to him that he was in the wrong. He half admitted that, +but he naturally wouldn't give up the mines even after we'd almost +proved to him that Lester had the first right. So Landis has been mining +the gold and we've been drawing it away from him. It looks tricky, but +really it's only just. And Lester and Lebrun split with me. + +"But I tell you, Garry, that I'd give up everything without an +afterthought. I'll give up the money and I'll make Lebrun and Lester +shut up without a word. I'll make them play square and not try to knife +Landis in the back. I'll do all that willingly--for you! But, Garry, I +can't give up taking Landis back to Lebrun's and keeping him there until +he's well. Why, man, I saw him in the hut just now. He wants to go. He's +afraid of the old colonel as if he were poison--and I think he's wise in +being afraid." + +"The colonel won't touch him," said Donnegan. + +"No?" + +"No. I've told him what would happen if he does." + +"Tush. Garry, Colonel Macon is the coldest-blooded murderer I've ever +known. But come out in the open, lad. You see that I'm ready to listen +to reason--except on one point. Tell me why you're so set on this +keeping of Landis here against my will and even against the lad's own +will? I'm reasonable, Garry. Do you doubt that?" + +Explaining his own mildness, the voice of Lord Nick swelled again and +filled the room, and he frowned on his brother. But Donnegan looked on +him sadly. + +"There is a girl--" he began. + +"Why didn't I guess it?" exclaimed Lord Nick. "If ever you find a man +unreasonable, stubborn and foolish, you'll always find a woman behind +it! All this trouble because of a piece of calico?" + +He leaned back, laughing thunderously in his relief. + +"Come, come! I was prepared for a tragedy. Now tell me about this girl. +Who and what is she?" + +"The daughter of the colonel." + +"You're in love with her? I'm glad to hear it, Garry. As a matter of +fact I've been afraid that you were hunting in my own preserve, but if +it's the colonel's daughter, you're welcome to her. So you love the +girl? She's pretty, lad!" + +"I love her?" said Donnegan in an indescribably tender voice. "I love +her? Who am I to love her? A thief, a man-killer, a miserable play +actor, a gambler, a drunkard. I love her? Bah!" + +If there was one quality of the mind with which Lord Nick was less +familiar than with all others, it was humbleness of spirit. He now +abased his magnificent head, and resting his chin in the mighty palm of +his hand, he stared with astonishment and commiseration into the face of +Donnegan. He seemed to be learning new things every moment about his +brother. + +"Leave me out of the question," said Donnegan. + +"Can't be done. If I leave you out, dear boy, there's not one of them +that I care a hang about; I'd ride roughshod over the whole lot. I've +done it before to better men than these!" + +"Then you'll change, I know. This is the fact of the matter. She loves +Landis. And if you take Landis away where will you put him?" + +"Where he was stolen away. In Lebrun's." + +"And what will be in Lebrun's?" + +"Joe Rix to guard him and the old negress to nurse him."' + +"No, no! Nelly Lebrun will be there!" + +"Eh? Are you glancing at her, now?" + +"Henry, you yourself know that Landis is mad about that girl." + +"Oh, she's flirted a bit with him. Turned the fool's head. He'll come +out of it safe. She won't break his heart. I've seen her work on +others!" + +He chuckled at the memory. + +"What do I care about Landis?" said Donnegan with unutterable scorn. +"It's the girl. You'll break her heart, Henry; and if you do I'll never +forgive you." + +"Steady, lad. This is a good deal like a threat." + +"No, no, no! Not a threat, heaven knows!" + +"By heaven!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "I begin to be irritated to see you +stick on a silly point like this. Listen to me, lad. Do you mean to say +that you are making all! this trouble about a slip of a girl?" + +"The heart of a girl," said Donnegan calmly. + +"Let Landis go; then take her in your arms and kiss her worries away. I +warrant you can do it! I gather from Nell that you're not tongue-tied +around women!" + +"I?" echoed Donnegan, turning pale. "Don't jest at this, Henry. I'm as +serious as death. She's the type of woman made to love one man, and one +man only. Landis may be common as dirt; but she doesn't see it. She's +fastened her heart on him. I looked in on her a little while ago. She +turned white when she saw me. I brought Landis to her, but she hates me +because I had to shoot him down." + +"Garry," said the big man with a twinkle in his eye, "you're in love!" + +It shook Donnegan to the core, but he replied instantly; "If I were in +love, don't you suppose that I would have shot to kill when I met +Landis?" + +At this his brother blinked, frowned, and shook his head. The point was +apparently plain to him and wiped out his previous convictions. Also, it +eased his mind. + +"Then you don't love the girl?" + +"I?" + +"Either way, my hands are cleared of the worry. If you want her, let me +take Landis. If you don't want her, what difference does it make to you +except silly sentiment?" + +Donnegan made no answer. + +"If she comes to Lebrun's house, I'll see that Nell doesn't bother him +too much." + +"Can you control her? If she wants to see this fool can you keep her +away, and if she goes to him can you control her smiling?" + +"Certainly," said Lord Nick, but he flushed heavily. + +Donnegan smiled. + +"She's a devil of a girl," admitted Henry Reardon. "But this is beside +the point: which is, that you're sticking on a matter that means +everything to me, and which is only a secondhand interest to you--a +point of sentiment. You pity the girl. What's pity? Bah! I pity a dog in +the street, but would I cross you, Garry, lad, to save the dog? +Sentiment, I say, silly sentiment." + +Donnegan rose. + +"It was a silly sentiment," he said hoarsely, "that put me on the road +following you, Henry. It was a silly sentiment that turned me into a +wastrel, a wanderer, a man without a home and without friends." + +"It's wrong to throw that in my face," muttered Lord Nick. + +"It is. And I'm sorry for it. But I want you to see that matters of +sentiment may be matters of life and death with me." + +"Aye, if it were for you it would be different. I might see my way +clear--but for a girl you have only a distant interest in--" + +"It is a matter of whether or not her heart shall be broken." + +"Come, come. Let's talk man talk. Besides, girls' hearts don't break in +this country. You're old-fashioned." + +"I tell you the question of her happiness is worth more than a dozen +lives like yours and mine." + +There had been a gathering impatience in Lord Nick. Now he, also, leaped +to his feet; a giant. + +"Tell me in one word: You stick on this point?" + +"In one word--yes!" + +"Then you deny me, Garry. You set me aside for a silly purpose of your +own--a matter that really doesn't mean much to you. It shows me where I +stand in your eyes--and nothing between the devil and the moon shall +make me sidestep!" + +They remained silent, staring at each other. Lord Nick stood with a +flush of anger growing; Donnegan became whiter than ever, and he +stiffened himself to his full height, which, in all who knew him well, +was the danger signal. + +"You take Landis?" he said softly. + +"I do." + +"Not," said Donnegan, "while I live!" + +"You mean--" cried Lord Nick. + +"I mean it!" + +They had been swept back to the point at which that strangest of scenes +began, but this time there was an added element--horror. + +"You'd fight?" + +"To the death, Henry!" + +"Garry, if one of us should kill the other, he'd be cursed forever!" + +"I know it." + +"And she's worth even this?" + +"A thousand times more! What are we? Dust in the wind; dust in the wind. +But a woman like that is divine, Henry!" + +Lord Nick swayed a little, setting himself in balance like an animal +preparing for the leap. + +"If it comes to the pinch, it is you who will die," he said. + +"You've no chance against me, Garry. And I swear to you that I won't +weaken. You prove that you don't care for me. You put another above me. +It's my pride, my life, that you'd sacrifice to the whim of a girl!" His +passion choked him. + +"Are you ready?" said Donnegan. + +"Yes!" + +"Move first!" + +"I have never formed the habit." + +"Nor I! You fool, take what little advantage you can, because it won't +help you in the end." + +"You shall see. I have a second sight, Henry, and it shows me you dead +on the floor there, looking bigger than ever, and I see the gun smoking +in my hand and my heart as dead as ashes! Oh, Henry, if there were only +some other way!" + +They were both pale now. + +"Aye," murmured Lord Nick, "if we could find a judge. My hand turns to +lead when I think of fighting you, Garry." + +Perspiration stood on the face of Donnegan. + +"Name a judge; I'll abide by the decision." + +"Some man--" + +"No, no. What man could understand me? A woman, Henry!" + +"Nell Lebrun." + +"The girl who loves you? You want me to plead before her?" + +"Put her on her honor and she'll be as straight as a string with both of +us." + +For a moment Donnegan considered, and at length: "She loves you, Henry. +You have that advantage. You have only to let her know that this is a +vital matter to you and she'll speak as you wish her to speak." + +"Nonsense. You don't know her. You've seen yourself that no man can +control her absolutely." + +"Make a concession." + +"A thousand, Garry, dear boy, if they'll get us clear from this horrible +mess." + +"Only this. Leave The Corner for a few hours. Give me until--tonight. +Let me see Nelly during that time. You've had years to work on her. I +want only this time to put my own case before her." + +"Thank heaven that we're coming to see light and a way out!" + +"Aye, Henry." + +The big man wiped his forehead and sighed in his relief. + +"A minute ago I was ready--but we'll forget all this. What will you do? +How will you persuade Nelly? I almost think that you intend to make love +to her, Garry!" + +The little man turned paler still. + +"It is exactly what I intend," he said quietly. + +The brow of Lord Nick darkened solemnly, and then he forced a laugh. + +"She'll be afraid to turn me down, Garry. But try your own way." He bit +his lips. "Why, if you influence her that way--do it. What's a fickle +jade to me? Nothing!" + +"However I do it, you'll stick by her judgment, Henry?" + +The perspiration had started on Lord Nick's forehead again. Doubt swayed +him, but pride forced him on. + +"I'll come again tonight," he said gloomily. "I'll meet you +in--Milligan's?" + +"In Milligan's, then." + +Lord Nick, without a word of farewell, stamped across the hut and out. + +As for Donnegan, he stepped backward, his legs buckled beneath him, and +when big George entered, with a scared face, he found the little man +half sitting on the bunk, half lying against the wall with the face and +the staring eyes of a dead man. + + + + +34 + + +It was a long time before Donnegan left the hut, and when he came out +the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight, or at least to mark the +reports of the guns when those two terrible warriors met, was scattered. +There remained before Donnegan only the colonel in his invalid's chair. +Even from the distance one could see that his expression was changed, +and when the little red-headed man came near the colonel looked up to +him with something akin to humility. + +"Donnegan," he said, stopping the other as Donnegan headed for the door +of the hut, "Donnegan, don't go in there just now." + +Donnegan turned and came slowly toward him. + +"The reason," said the colonel, "is that you probably won't receive a +very cheery reception. Unfortunate--very unfortunate. Lou has turned +wrong-headed for the first time in her life and she won't listen to +reason." + +He chuckled softly. + +"I never dreamed there was so much of my metal in her. Blood will tell, +my boy; blood will tell. And when you finally get her you'll find that +she's worth waiting for." + +"Let me tell you a secret," said Donnegan dryly. "I am no longer waiting +for her!" + +"Ah?" smiled the colonel. "Of course not. This bringing of Landis to +her--it was all pure self-sacrifice. It was not an attempt to soften her +heart. It was not a cunning maneuver. Tush! Of course not!" + +"I am about to make a profound remark," said Donnegan carelessly. + +"By all means." + +"You read the minds of other people through a colored glass, colonel. +You see yourself everywhere." + +"In other words I put my own motives into the actions and behind the +actions of people? Perhaps. I am full of weaknesses. Very full. In the +meantime let me tell you one important thing--if you have not made the +heart of Lou tender toward you, you have at least frightened her." + +The jaw on Donnegan set. + +"Excellent!" he said huskily. + +"Perhaps better than you think; and to keep you abreast with the times, +you must know another thing. Lou has a silly idea that you are a lost +soul, Donnegan, but she attributes your fall entirely to my weakness. +Nothing can convince her that you did not intend to kill Landis; nothing +can convince her that you did not act on my inspiration. I have tried +arguing. Bah! she overwhelmed me with her scorn. You are a villain, says +Lou, and I have made you one. And for the first time in my memory of +her, her eyes fill with tears." + +"Tears?" + +"Upon my honor, and when a girl begins to weep about a man I don't need +to say he is close to her heart." + +"You are full of maxims, Colonel Macon." + +"As a nut is full of meat. Old experience, you know. In the meantime Lou +is perfectly certain that I intend to make away with Landis. Ha, ha, +ha!" The laughter of the colonel was a cheery thunder, and soft as with +distance. "Landis is equally convinced. He begs Lou not to fall asleep +lest I should steal in on him. She hardly dares leave him to cook his +food. I actually think she would have been glad to see that fiend, Lord +Nick, take Landis away!" + +Donnegan smiled wanly. But could he tell her, poor girl, the story of +Nelly Lebrun? Landis, in fear of his life, was no doubt at this moment +pouring out protestations of deathless affection. + +"And they both consider you an archdemon for keeping Lord Nick away!" + +Again Donnegan winced, and coughed behind his hand to cover it. + +"However," went on the colonel, "when it comes to matters with the +hearts of women, I trust to time. Time alone will show her that Landis +is a puppy." + +"In the meantime, colonel, she keeps you from coming near Landis?" + +"Not at all! You fail to understand me and my methods, dear boy. I have +only to roll my chair into the room and sit and smile at Jack in order +to send him into an hysteria of terror. It is amusing to watch. And I +can be there while Lou is in the room and through a few careful +innuendoes convey to Landis my undying determination to either remove +him from my path and automatically become his heir, or else secure from +him a legal transfer of his rights to the mines." + +"I have learned," said Donnegan, "that Landis has not the slightest +claim to them himself. And that you set him on the trail of the claims +by trickery." + +The colonel did not wince. + +"Of course not," said the fat trickster. "Not the slightest right. My +claim is a claim of superior wits, you see. And in the end all your +labor shall be rewarded, for my share will go to Lou and through her it +shall come to you. No?" + +"Quite logical." + +The colonel disregarded the other's smile. + +"But I have a painful confession to make." + +"Well?" + +"I misjudged you, Donnegan. A moment since, when I was nearly distraught +with disappointment, I said some most unpleasant things to you." + +"I have forgotten them." + +But the colonel raised his strong forefinger and shook his head, +smiling. + +"No, no, Donnegan. If you deny it, I shall know that you are harboring +the most undying grudge against me. As a matter of fact, I have just +had an interview with Lord Nick, and the cursed fellow put my nerves on +edge." + +The colonel made a wry face. + +"And when you came, I saw no manner in which you could possibly thwart +him." + +His eyes grew wistful. + +"Between friends--as a son to his future father," he said softly, "can't +you tell me what the charm was that you used on. Nick to send him away? +I watched him come out of the shack. He was in a fury. I could see that +by the way his head thrust out between his big shoulders. And when he +went down the hill he was striding like a giant, but every now and then +he would stop short, and his head would go up as if he were tempted to +turn around and go back, but didn't quite have the nerve. Donnegan, tell +me the trick of it?" + +"Willingly. I appealed to his gambling instinct." + +"Which leaves me as much in the dark as ever." + +But Donnegan smiled in his own peculiar and mirthless manner and he went +on to the hut. Not that he expected a cheery greeting from Lou Macon, +but he was drawn by the same perverse instinct which tempts a man to +throw himself from a great height. At the door he paused a moment. He +could distinguish no words, but he caught the murmur of Lou's voice as +she talked to Jack Landis, and it had that infinitely gentle quality +which only a woman's voice can have, and only when she nurses the sick. +It was a pleasant torture to Donnegan to hear it. At length he summoned +his resolution and tapped at the door. + +The voice of Lou Macon stopped. He heard a hurried and whispered +consultation. What did they expect? Then swift foot-falls on the floor, +and she opened the door. There was a smile of expectancy on her lips; +her eyes were bright; but when she saw Donnegan her lips pinched in. She +stared at him as if he were a ghost. + +"I knew; I knew!" she said piteously, falling back a step but still +keeping her hand upon the knob of the door as if to block the way to +Donnegan. "Oh, Jack, he has killed Lord Nick and now he is here--" + +To do what? To kill Landis in turn? Her horrified eyes implied as much. +He saw Landis in the distance raise himself upon one elbow and his face +was gray, not with pain but with dread. + +"It can't be!" groaned Landis. + +"Lord Nick is alive," said Donnegan. "And I have not come here to +torment you; I have only come to ask that you let me speak with you +alone for a moment, Lou!" + +He watched her face intently. All the cabin was in deep shadow, but the +golden hair of the girl glowed as if with an inherent light of its own, +and the same light touched her face. Jack Landis was stricken with +panic: he stammered in a dreadful eagerness of fear. + +"Don't leave me, Lou. You know what it means. He wants to get you out of +the way so that the colonel can be alone with me. Don't go, Lou! Don't +go!" + +As though she saw how hopeless it was to try to bar Donnegan by closing +the door against him, she fell back to the bed. She kept her eye on the +little man, as if to watch against a surprise attack, and, fumbling +behind her, her hand found the hand of Landis and closed over it with +the reassurance of a mother. + +"Don't be afraid, Jack. I won't leave you. Not unless they carry me away +by force." + +"I give you my solemn word." said Donnegan in torment, "that the colonel +shall not come near Landis while you're away with me." + +"Your word!" murmured the girl with a sort of horrified wonder. "Your +word!" + +And Donnegan bowed his head. + +But all at once she cast out her free hand toward him, while the other +still cherished the weakness of Jack Landis. + +"Oh, give them up!" she cried. "Give up my father and all his wicked +plans. There is something good in you. Give him up; come with us; +stand for us: and we shall be grateful all our lives!" + +The little man had removed his hat, so that the sunshine burned brightly +on his red hair. Indeed, there was always a flamelike quality about him. +In inaction he seemed femininely frail and pale; but when his spirit was +roused his eyes blazed as his hair burned in the sunlight. + +"You shall learn in the end," he said to the girl, "that everything I +do, I do for you." + +She cried out as if he had struck her. + +"It's not worthy of you," she said bitterly. "You are keeping Jack +here--in peril--for my sake?" + +"For your sake," said Donnegan. + +She looked at him with a queer pain in her eyes. + +"To keep you from needless lying," she said, "let me tell you that Jack +has told me everything. I am not angry because you come and pretend that +you do all these horrible things for my sake. I know my father has +tempted you with a promise of a great deal of money. But in the end you +will get nothing. No, he will twist everything away from you and leave +you nothing! But as for me--I know everything; Jack told me." + +"He has told you what? What?" + +"About the woman you love." + +"The woman I love?" echoed Donnegan, stupefied. + +It seemed that Lou Macon could only name her with an effort that left +her trembling. + +"The Lebrun woman," she said. "Jack has told me." + +"Did you tell her that?" he asked Landis. + +"The whole town knows it," stammered the wounded man. + +The cunning hypocrisy spurred Donnegan. He put his foot on the threshold +of the shack, and at this the girl cried out and shrank from him; but +Landis was too paralyzed to stir or speak. For a moment Donnegan was +wildly tempted to pour his torrent of contempt and accusation upon +Landis. To what end? To prove to the girl that the big fellow had coolly +tricked her? That it was to be near Nelly Lebrun as much as to be away +from the colonel that he wished so ardently to leave the shack? After +all, Lou Macon was made happy by an illusion; let her keep it. + +He looked at her sadly again. She stood defiant over Landis; ready to +protect the helpless bulk of the man. + +So Donnegan closed the door softly and turned away with ashes in his +heart. + + + + +35 + + +When Nelly Lebrun raised her head from her hands, Donnegan was a far +figure; yet even in the distance she could catch the lilt and easy sway +of his body; he rode as he walked, lightly, his feet in the stirrups +half taking his weight in a semi-English fashion. For a moment she was +on the verge of spurring after him, but she kept the rein taut and +merely stared until he dipped away among the hills. For one thing she +was quite assured that she could not overtake that hard rider; and, +again, she felt that it was useless to interfere. To step between Lord +Nick and one of his purposes would have been like stepping before an +avalanche and commanding it to halt with a raised hand. + +She watched miserably until even the dust cloud dissolved and the bare, +brown hills alone remained before her. Then she turned away, and hour +after hour let her black jog on. + +To Nelly Lebrun this day was one of those still times which come over +the life of a person, and in which they see themselves in relation to +the rest of the world clearly. It would not be true to say that Nelly +loved Donnegan. Certainly not as yet, for the familiar figure of Lord +Nick filled her imagination. But the little man was different. Lord +Nick commanded respect, admiration, obedience; but there was about +Donnegan something which touched her in an intimate and disturbing +manner. She had felt the will-o'-the-wisp flame which burned in him in +his great moments. It was possible for her to smile at Donnegan; it was +possible even to pity him for his fragility, his touchy pride about his +size; to criticize his fondness for taking the center of the stage even +in a cheap little mining camp like this and strutting about, the center +of all attention. Yet there were qualities in him which escaped her, a +possibility of metallic hardness, a pitiless fire of purpose. + +To Lord Nick, he was as the bull terrier to the mastiff. + +But above all she could not dislodge the memory of his strange talk with +her at Lebrun's. Not that she did not season the odd avowals of Donnegan +with a grain of salt, but even when she had discounted all that he said, +she retained a quivering interest. Somewhere beneath his words she +sensed reality. Somewhere beneath his actions she felt a selfless +willingness to throw himself away. + +As she rode she was comparing him steadily with Lord Nick. And as she +made the comparisons she felt more and more assured that she could pick +and choose between the two. They loved her, both of them. With Nick it +was an old story; with Donnegan it might be equally true in spite of its +newness. And Nelly Lebrun felt rich. Not that she would have been +willing to give up Lord Nick. By no means. But neither was she willing +to throw away Donnegan. Diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. +Which handful must she discard? + +She remained riding an unconscionable length of time, and when she drew +rein again before her father's house, the black was flecked with foam +from his clamped bit, and there was a thick lather under the stirrup +leathers. She threw the reins to the servant who answered her call and +went slowly into the house. + +Donnegan, by this time, was dead. She began to feel that it would be +hard to look Lord Nick in the face again. His other killings had often +seemed to her glorious. She had rejoiced in the invincibility of her +lover. + +Now he suddenly took on the aspect of a murderer. + +She found the house hushed. Perhaps everyone was at the gaming house; +for now it was midafternoon. But when she opened the door to the +apartment which they used as a living room she found Joe Rix and the +Pedlar and Lester sitting side by side, silent. There was no whisky in +sight; there were no cards to be seen. Marvel of marvels, these three +men were spending their time in solemn thought. A sudden thought rushed +over her, and her cry told where her heart really lay, at least at this +time. + +"Lord Nick--has he been--" + +The Pedlar lifted his gaunt head and stared at her without expression. +It was Joe Rix who answered. + +"Nick's upstairs." + +"Safe?" + +"Not a scratch." + +She sank into a chair with a sigh, but was instantly on edge again with +the second thought. + +"Donnegan?" she whispered. + +"Safe and sound," said Lester coldly. + +She could not gather the truth of the statement. + +"Then Nick got Landis back before Donnegan returned?" + +"No." + +Like any other girl, Nelly Lebrun hated a puzzle above all things in the +world, at least a puzzle which affected her new friends. + +"Lester, what's happened?" she demanded. + +At this Lester, who had been brooding upon the floor, raised his eyes +and then switched one leg over the other. He was a typical cowman, was +Lester, from his crimson handkerchief knotted around his throat to his +shop-made boots which fitted slenderly about his instep with the care of +a gloved hand. + +"I dunno what happened," said Lester. "Which looks like what counts is +the things that didn't happen. Landis is still with that devil, Macon. +Donnegan is loose without a scratch, and Lord Nick is in his room with a +face as black as a cloudy night." + +And briefly he described how Lord Nick had gone up the hill, seen the +colonel, come back, taken a horse litter, and gone up the hill again, +while the populace of The Corner waited for a crash. For Donnegan had +arrived in the meantime. And how Nick had gone into the cabin, remained +a singularly long time, and then come out, with a face half white and +half red and an eye that dared anyone to ask questions. He had strode +straight home to Lebrun's and gone to his room; and there he remained, +never making a sound. + +"But I'll give you my way of readin' the sign on that trail," said +Lester. "Nick goes up the hill to clean up on Donnegan. He sees him; +they size each other up in a flash; they figure that if they's a gun it +means a double killin'--and they simply haul off and say a perlite +fare-thee-well." + +The girl paid no attention to these remarks. She was sunk in a brown +study. + +"There's something behind it all," she said, more to herself than to the +men. "Nick is proud as the devil himself. And I can't imagine why he'd +let Donnegan go. Oh, it might have been done if they'd met alone in the +desert. But with the whole town looking on and waiting for Nick to clean +up on Donnegan--no, it isn't possible. There must have been a showdown +of some kind." + +There was a grim little silence after this. + +"Maybe there was," said the Pedlar dryly. "Maybe there was a +showdown--and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a +six-year-old broke down in front." + +She stared at him, first astonished, and then almost frightened. + +"You mean that Nick may have taken water?" + +The three, as one man, shrugged their shoulders, and met her glance with +cold eyes. + +"You fools!" cried the girl, springing to her feet. "He'd rather die!" + +Joe Rix leaned forward, and to emphasize his point he stabbed one dirty +forefinger into the fat palm of his other hand. + +"You just start thinkin' back," he said solemnly, "and you'll remember +that Donnegan has done some pretty slick things." + +Lester added with a touch of contempt: "Like shootin' down Landis one +day and then sittin' down and havin' a nice long chat with you the next. +I dunno how he does it." + +"That hunch of yours," said the girl fiercely, "ought to be roped and +branded--lie! Lester, don't look at me like that. And if you think Nick +has lost his grip on things you're dead wrong. Step light, Lester--and +the rest of you. Or Nick may hear you walk--and think." + +She flung out of the room and raced up the stairs to Lord Nick's room. +There was an interval without response after her first knock. But when +she rapped again he called out to know who was there. At her answer she +heard his heavy stride cross the room, and the door opened slowly. His +face, as she looked up to it, was so changed that she hardly knew him. +His hair was unkempt, on end, where he had sat with his fingers thrust +into it, buried in thought. And the marks of his palms were red upon his +forehead. + +"Nick," she whispered, frightened, "what is it?" + +He looked down half fiercely, half sadly at her. And though his lips +parted they closed again before he spoke. Fear jumped coldly in Nelly +Lebrun. + +"Did Donnegan--" she pleaded, white-faced. "Did he--" + +"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn't. That's what +everybody'll say. I know it, don't I? And that's why I'm staying here by +myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his +face, why--I'll break him in two." + +She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick +should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much +for credence. + +"You know I don't believe it, Nick? You know that I'm not doubting you?" + +But he brushed her hands roughly away. + +"You want to know what it's all about? Then go over to--well, to +Milligan's. Donnegan will be there. He'll explain things to you, I +guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I'll come over later and join +you." + +Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, +she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless. + +"Nick, dear--" she pleaded. + +He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back +across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire +had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had +robbed him of it. + + + + +36 + + +It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because +the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last +moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed +across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great +and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no +more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the +sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from +the first thrill of finding him not devil but man. + +Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick +or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; +for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she +wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the +invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His +love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a +superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly +visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came +to her eyes at the thought. + +Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her +room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no +one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn +to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt +her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most +lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by +this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring +Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale +under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the +love which he offered her? + +She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But +nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that +night. + +As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with +Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness +of the men, were what she pictured. + +In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, +Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and +file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could +readily control and subdue. + +To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At +the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual +murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any +chance. + +"Nelly, there's going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know +why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is +losing his head; he's losing it over you. So play your cards." + +"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly. + +"I've said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again. +But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick's star to be past +its full glory. + +Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan's and left +her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor. + +"I'm waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her +table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner--full of the +subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What +had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they +would all know in time: one thing was certain--Lord Nick had not taken +water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand. + +Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of +some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into +the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun. +Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and +regretted that he had interrupted. + +"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to +the girl. + +She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, +but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her +game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in +his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she +thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, +but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she +felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have +learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan's shack when Lord Nick +was there. + +"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said. +"This time it's five minutes." + +No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly. + +"When I talk about myself, I'm always long-winded." + +"Tonight it's someone else?" + +"Yes." + +She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as +bright as ever. + +"Of course I'm listening." + +"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?" + +"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Yes, she's a lovely child." + +And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had +hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but +he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly. + +He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick." + +"Ah," said the girl a little coldly. + +Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played +it to the full. + +"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick +went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting +for him to bring the youngster down?" + +"Of course." + +"There was only one obstacle--which you had so kindly removed--myself." + +"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan." + +"Ah, don't you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came +to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so." + +Such frankness shocked her into a new attention. + +Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her +heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times +rather die than give way to any living man. + +"But I threw my case bodily before him--the girl--her love for +Landis--and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you +know, if he were sent back to your father's house. I placed it all +before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed +to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter +be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man +would see in my attitude nothing but foolishness. No man could have +appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named +another referee--yourself." + +She gasped. + +"And so I have come to place the question before you, because I know +that you will decide honestly." + +"Then I shall be honest," said the girl. + +She was thinking: Why not have Landis back? It would keep the three men +revolving around her. Landis on his feet and well would have been +nothing; either of these men would have killed him. But Landis sick she +might balance in turn against them both. Nelly had the instincts of a +fencer; she loved balance. + +But Donnegan was heaping up his effects. For by the shadow in her eyes +he well knew what was passing through her mind, and he dared not let her +speak too quickly. + +"There is more hanging upon it. In the first place, if Landis is left +with the girl it gives the colonel a chance to work on him, and like as +not the colonel will get the young fool to sign away the mines to +him--frighten him, you see, though I've made sure that the colonel will +not actually harm him." + +"How have you made sure? They say the colonel is a devil." + +"I have spoken with him. The colonel is not altogether without +sensibility to fear." + +She caught the glint in the little man's eye and she believed. + +"So much for that. Landis is safe, but his money may not be. Another +thing still hangs upon your decision. Lord Nick wanted to know why I +trusted to you? Because I felt you were honest. Why did I feel that? +There was nothing to do. Besides, how could I conceal myself from such a +man? I spoke frankly and told him that I trusted you because I love +you." + +She closed her hand hard on the edge of the table to steady herself. + +"And he made no move at you?" + +"He restrained himself." + +"Lord Nick?" gasped the incredulous girl. + +"He is a gentleman," said Donnegan with a singular pride which she could +not understand. + +He went on: "And unfortunately I fear that if you decide in favor of my +side of the argument, I fear that Lord Nick will feel that you--that +you--" + +He was apparently unable to complete his sentence. + +"He will feel that you no longer care for him," said Donnegan at length. + +The girl pondered him with cloudy eyes. + +"What is behind all this frankness?" she asked coldly. + +"I shall tell you. Hopelessness is behind it. Last night I poured my +heart at your feet. And I had hope. Today I have seen Lord Nick and I no +longer hope." + +"Ah?" + +"He is worthy of a lovely woman's affection; and I--" He called her +attention to himself with a deprecatory gesture. + +"Do you ask me to hurt him like this?" said the girl. "His pride is the +pride of the fiend. Love me? He would hate me!" + +"It might be true. Still I know you would risk it, because--" he paused. + +"Well?" asked the girl, whispering in her excitement. + +"Because you are a lady." + +He bowed to her. + +"Because you are fair; because you are honest, Nelly Lebrun. Personally +I think that you can win Lord Nick back with one minute of smiling. But +you might not. You might alienate him forever. It will be clumsy to +explain to him that you were influenced not by me, but by justice. He +will make it a personal matter, whereas you and I know that it is only +the right that you are seeing." + +She propped her chin on the tips of her fingers, and her arm was a thing +of grace. For the last moments that clouded expression had not cleared. + +"If I only could read your mind," she murmured now. "There is something +behind it all." + +"I shall tell you what it is. It is the restraint that has fallen upon +me. It is because I wish to lean closer to you across the table and +speak to you of things which are at the other end of the world from +Landis and the other girl. It is because I have to keep my hands gripped +hard to control myself. Because, though I have given up hope, I would +follow a forlorn chance, a lost cause, and tell you again and again that +I love you, Nelly Lebrun!" + +He had half lowered his eyes as he spoke; he had called up a vision, and +the face of Lou Macon hovered dimly between him and Nelly Lebrun. If all +that he spoke was a lie, let him be forgiven for it; it was the +golden-haired girl whom he addressed, and it was she who gave the tremor +and the fiber to his voice. And after all was he not pleading for her +happiness as he believed? + +He covered his eyes with his hand; but when he looked up again she could +see the shadow of the pain which was slowly passing. She had never seen +such emotion in any man's face, and if it was for another, how could she +guess it? Her blood was singing in her veins, and the old, old question +was flying back and forth through her brain like a shuttle through a +loom: Which shall it be? + +She called up the picture of Lord Nick, half-broken, but still terrible, +she well knew. She pitied him, but when did pity wholly rule the heart +of a woman? And as for Nelly Lebrun, she had the ambition of a young +Caesar; she could not fill a second place. He who loved her must stand +first, and she saw Donnegan as the invincible man. She had not believed +half of his explanation. No, he was shielding Lord Nick; behind that +shield the truth was that the big man had quailed before the small. + +Of course she saw that Donnegan, pretending to be constrained by his +agreement with Lord Nick, was in reality cunningly pleading his own +cause. But his passion excused him. When has a woman condemned a man for +loving her beyond the rules of fair play? + +"Whatever you may decide," Donnegan was saying. "I shall be prepared to +stand by it without a murmur. Send Landis back to your father's house +and I submit: I leave The Corner and say farewell. But now, think +quickly. For Lord Nick is coming to receive your answer." + + + + +37 + + +If the meeting between Lord Nick and Donnegan earlier that day had +wrought up the nerves of The Corner to the point of hysteria; if the +singular end of that meeting had piled mystery upon excitement; if the +appearance of Donnegan, sitting calmly at the table of the girl who was +known to be engaged to Nick, had further stimulated public curiosity, +the appearance of Lord Nick was now a crowning burden under which The +Corner staggered. + +Yet not a man or a woman stirred from his chair, for everyone knew that +if the long-delayed battle between these two gunfighters was at length +to take place, neither bullet was apt to fly astray. + +But what happened completed the wreck of The Corner's nerves, for Lord +Nick walked quietly across the floor and sat down with Nelly Lebrun and +his somber rival. + +Oddly enough, he looked at Donnegan, not at the girl, and this token of +the beaten man decided her. + +"Well?" said Lord Nick. + +"I have decided," said the girl. "Landis should stay where he is." + +Neither of the two men stirred hand or eye. But Lord Nick turned gray. +At length he rose and asked Donnegan, quietly, to step aside with him. +Seeing them together, the difference between their sizes was more +apparent: Donnegan seemed hardly larger than a child beside the splendid +bulk of Lord Nick. But she could not overhear their talk. + +"You've won," said Lord Nick, "both Landis and Nelly. And--" + +"Wait," broke in Donnegan eagerly. "Henry, I've persuaded Nelly to see +my side of the case, but that doesn't mean that she has turned from you +to--" + +"Stop!" put in Lord Nick, between his teeth. "I've not come to argue +with you or ask advice or opinions. I've come to state facts. You've +crawled in between me and Nelly like a snake in the grass. Very well. +You're my brother. That keeps me from handling you. You've broken my +reputation just as I said you would do. The bouncer at the door looked +me in the eye and smiled when I came in." + +He had to pause a little, breathing heavily, and avoiding Donnegan's +eyes. Finally he was able to continue. + +"I'm going to roll my blankets and leave The Corner and everything I +have in it. You'll get my share of most things, it seems." He smiled +after a ghastly, mirthless fashion. "I give you a free road. I surrender +everything to you, Donnegan. But there are two things I want to warn you +about. It may be that my men will not agree with me. It may be that +they'll want to put up a fight for the mine. They can't get at it +without getting at Macon. They can't get at him without removing you. +And they'll probably try it. I warn you now. + +"Another thing: from this moment there's no blood tie between us. I've +found a brother and lost him in the same day. And if I ever cross you +again, Donnegan, I'll shoot you on sight. Remember, I'm not threatening. +I simply warn you in advance. If I were you, I'd get out of the country. +Avoid me, Donnegan, as you'd avoid the devil." + +And he turned on his heel. He felt the eyes of the people in the room +follow him by jerks, dwelling on every one of his steps. Near the door, +stepping aside to avoid a group of people coming in, he half turned and +he could not avoid the sight of Donnegan and Nelly Lebrun at the other +end of the room. He was leaning across the table, talking with a smile +on his lips--at that distance he could not mark the pallor of the little +man's face--and Nelly Lebrun was laughing. Laughing already, and +oblivious of the rest of the world. + +Lord Nick turned, a blur coming before his eyes, and made blindly for +the door. A body collided with him; without a word he drew back his +massive right fist and knocked the man down. The stunned body struck +against the wall and collapsed along the floor. Lord Nick felt a great +madness swell in his heart. Yet he set his teeth, controlled himself, +and went on toward the house of Lebrun. He had come within an eyelash of +running amuck, and the quivering hunger for action was still swelling +and ebbing in him when he reached the gambler's house. + +Lebrun was not in the gaming house, no doubt, at this time of night--but +the rest of Nick's chosen men were there. They stood up as he entered +the room--Harry Masters, newly arrived--the Pedlar--Joe Rix--three names +famous in the mountain desert for deeds which were not altogether a +pleasant aroma in the nostrils of the law-abiding, but whose sins had +been deftly covered from legal proof by the cunning of Nick, and whose +bravery itself had half redeemed them. They rose now as three wolves +rise at the coming of the leader. But this time there was a question +behind their eyes, and he read it in gloomy silence. + +"Well?" asked Harry Masters. + +In the old days not one of them would have dared to voice the question, +but now things were changing, and well Lord Nick could read the change +and its causes. + +"Are you talking to me?" asked Nick, and he looked straight between the +eyes of Masters. + +The glance of the other did not falter, and it maddened Nick. + +"I'm talking to you," said Masters coolly enough. "What happened between +you and Donnegan?" + +"What should happen?" asked Lord Nick. + +"Maybe all this is a joke," said Masters bitterly. He was a square-built +man, with a square face and a wrinkled, fleshy forehead. In +intelligence, Nick ranked him first among the men. And if a new leader +were to be chosen there was no doubt as to where the choice of the men +would fall. No doubt that was why Masters put himself forward now, ready +to brave the wrath of the chief. "Maybe we're fooled," went on Masters. +"Maybe they ain't any call for you to fall out with Donnegan?" + +"Maybe there's a call to find out this," answered Lord Nick. "Why did +you leave the mines? What are you doing up here?" + +The other swallowed so hard that he blinked. + +"I left the mines," he declared through his set teeth, "because I was +run off 'em." + +"Ah," said Lord Nick, for the devil was rising in him, "I always had an +idea that you might be yellow, Masters." + +The right hand of Masters swayed toward his gun, hesitated, and then +poised idly. + +"You heard me talk?" persisted Lord Nick brutally. "I call you yellow. +Why don't you draw on me? I called you yellow, you swine, and I call the +rest of you yellow. You think you have me down? Why, curse you, if there +were thirty of your cut, I'd say the same to you!" + +There was a quick shift, the three men faced Lord Nick, but each from a +different angle. And opposing them, he stood superbly indifferent, his +arms folded, his feet braced. His arms were folded, but each hand, for +all they knew, might be grasping the butt of a gun hidden away in his +clothes. Once they flashed a glance from face to face; but there was no +action. They were remembering only too well some of the wild deeds of +this giant. + +"You think I'm through," went on Lord Nick. "Maybe I am--through with +you. You hear me talk?" + +One by one, his eyes dared them, and one by one they took up the +challenge, struggled, and lowered their glances. He was still their +master and in that mute moment the three admitted it, the Pedlar last of +all. + +Masters saw fit to fall back on the last remark. + +"I've swallowed a lot from you, Nick," he said gravely. + +"Maybe there'll be an end to what we take one of these days. But now +I'll tell you how yellow I was. A couple of gents come to me and tell me +I'm through at the mine. I told them they were crazy. They said old +Colonel Macon had sent them down to take charge. I laughed at 'em. They +went away and came back. Who with? With the sheriff. And he flashed a +paper on me. It was all drawn up clean as a whistle. Trimmed up with a +lot of 'whereases' and 'as hereinbefore mentioned' and such like things. +But the sheriff just gimme a look and then he tells me what it's about. +Jack Landis has signed over all the mines to the colonel and the +colonel has taken possession." + +As he stopped, a growl came from the others. + +"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick. "Where do +the rest of you figure in it? Lester had the mines; he lost 'em because +he couldn't drop Landis with his gun. He'd never have had a smell of the +gold if I hadn't come in. Who made Landis see light? I did! Who worked +it so that every nickel that came out of the mines went through the +fingers of Landis and came back to us? I did! But I'm through with you. +You can hunt for yourselves now. I've kept you together to guard one +another's backs. I've kept the law off your trail. You, Masters, you'd +have swung for killing the McKay brothers. Who saved you? Who was it +bribed the jury that tried you for the shooting up of Derbyville, +Pedlar? Who took the marshal off your trail after you'd knifed Lefty +Waller, Joe Rix? I've saved you all a dozen times. Now you whine at me. +I'm through with you forever!" + +Stopping, he glared about him. His knuckles stung from the impact of the +blow he had delivered in Milligan's place. He hungered to have one of +these three stir a hand and get into action. + +And they knew it. All at once they crumbled and became clay in his +hands. + +"Chief," said Joe Rix, the smoothest spoken of the lot, and one who was +supposed to stand specially well with Lord Nick on account of his +ability to bake beans, Spanish. "Chief, you've said a whole pile. You're +worth more'n the rest of us all rolled together. Sure. We know that. +There ain't any argument. But here's just one little point that I want +to make. + +"We was doing fine. The gold was running fine and free. Along comes this +Donnegan. He busts up our good time. He forks in on your girl--" + +A convulsion of the chief's face made Rix waver in his speech and then +he went on: "He shoots Landis, and when he misses killing him--by some +accident, he comes down here and grabs him out of Lebrun's own house. +Smooth, eh? Then he makes Landis sign that deed to the mines. Oh, very +nice work, I say. Too nice. + +"'Now, speakin' man to man, they ain't any doubt that you'd like to get +rid of Donnegan. Why don't you? Because everybody has a jinx, and he's +yours. I ain't easy scared, maybe, but I knew an albino with white eyes +once, and just to look at him made me some sick. Well, chief, they ain't +nobody can say that you ever took water or ever will. But maybe the fact +that this Donnegan has hair just as plumb red as yours may sort of get +you off your feed. I'm just suggesting. Now, what I say is, let the rest +of us take a crack at Donnegan, and you sit back and come in on the +results when we've cleaned up. D'you give us a free road?" + +How much went through the brain of Lord Nick? But in the end he gave his +brother up to death. For he remembered how Nelly Lebrun had sat in +Milligan's laughing. + +"Do what you want," he said suddenly. "But I want to know none of your +plans--and the man that tells me Donnegan is dead gets paid--in lead!" + + + + +38 + + +The smile of Joe Rix was the smile of a diplomat. It could be maintained +upon his face as unwaveringly as if it were wrought out of marble while +Joe heard insult and lie. As a matter of fact Joe had smiled in the face +of death more than once, and this is a school through which even +diplomats rarely pass. Yet it was with an effort that he maintained the +characteristic good-natured expression when the door to Donnegan's shack +opened and he saw big George and, beyond him, Donnegan himself. + +"Booze," said Joe Rix to himself instantly. + +For Donnegan was a wreck. The unshaven beard--it was the middle of +morning--was a reddish mist over his face. His eyes were sunken in +shadow. His hair was uncombed. He sat with his shoulders hunched up like +one who suffers from cold. Altogether his appearance was that of one +whose energy has been utterly sapped. + +"The top of the morning, Mr. Donnegan," said Joe Rix, and put his foot +on the threshold. + +But since big George did not move it was impossible to enter. + +"Who's there?" asked Donnegan. + +It was a strange question to ask, for by raising his eyes he could have +seen. But Donnegan was staring down at the floor. Even his voice was a +weak murmur. + +"What a party! What a party he's had!" thought Joe Rix, and after all, +there was cause for a celebration. Had not the little man in almost one +stroke won the heart of the prettiest girl in The Corner, and also did +he not probably have a working share in the richest of the diggings? + +"I'm Joe Rix," he said. + +"Joe Rix?" murmured Donnegan softly. "Then you're one of Lord Nick's +men?" + +"I was," said Joe Rix, "sort of attached to him, maybe." + +Perhaps this pointed remark won the interest of Donnegan. He raised his +eyes, and Joe Rix beheld the most unhappy face he had ever seen. "A bad +hangover," he decided, "and that makes it bad for me!" + +"Come in," said Donnegan in the same monotonous, lifeless voice. + +Big George reluctantly, it seemed, withdrew to one side, and Rix was +instantly in the room and drawing out a chair so that he could face +Donnegan. + +"I was," he proceeded "sort of tied up with Lord Nick. But"--and here he +winked broadly--"it ain't much of a secret that Nick ain't altogether a +lord any more. Nope. Seems he turned out sort of common, they say." + +"What fool," murmured Donnegan, "has told you that? What ass had told +you that Lord Nick is a common sort?" + +It shocked Joe Rix, but being a diplomat he avoided friction by changing +his tactics. + +"Between you and me," he said calmly enough, "I took what I heard with a +grain of salt. There's something about Nick that ain't common, no matter +what they say. Besides, they's some men that nobody but a fool would +stand up to. It ain't hardly a shame for a man to back down from 'em." + +He pointed this remark with a nod to Donnegan. + +"I'll give you a bit of free information," said the little man, with his +weary eyes lighted a little. "There's no man on the face of the earth +who could make Lord Nick back down." + +Once more Joe Rix was shocked to the verge of gaping, but again he +exercised a power of marvelous self control "About that," he remarked +as pointedly as before, "I got my doubts. Because there's some things +that any gent with sense will always clear away from. Maybe not one +man--but say a bunch of all standin' together." + +Donnegan leaned back in his chair and waited. Both of his hands remained +drooping from the edge of the table, and the tired eyes drifted slowly +across the face of Joe Rix. + +It was obviously not the aftereffects of liquor. The astonishing +possibility occurred to Joe Rix that this seemed to be a man with a +broken spirit and a great sorrow. He blinked that absurdity away. + +"Coming to cases," he went on, "there's yourself, Mr. Donnegan. Now, +you're the sort of a man that don't sidestep nobody. Too proud to do it. +But even you, I guess, would step careful if there was a whole bunch +agin' you." + +"No doubt," remarked Donnegan. + +"I don't mean any ordinary bunch," explained Joe Rix, "but a lot of hard +fellows. Gents that handle their guns like they was born with a holster +on the hip." + +"Fellows like Nick's crowd," suggested Donnegan quietly. + +At this thrust the eyes of Joe narrowed a little. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I see you get my drift." + +"I think so." + +"Two hard fighters would give the best man that ever pulled a gun a lot +of trouble. Eh?" + +"No doubt." + +"And three men--they ain't any question, Mr. Donnegan--would get him +ready for a hole in the ground." + +"I suppose so." + +"And four men would make it no fight--jest a plain butchery." + +"Yes?" + +"Now, I don't mean that Nick's crowd has any hard feeling about you, Mr. +Donnegan." + +"I'm glad to hear that." + +"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things +over. Suppose you look at it this way--" + +"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut +this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand." + +Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley. + +"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester +and the rest of us want--the mines!" + +"Ah?" + +"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get +'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel +while you're around." + +"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's +kind of you to warn me." + +"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in +a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our +side." + +"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?" + +"Mr. Donnegan," said the other, spreading out his hands solemnly on the +table, "you ain't doin' us justice. We don't hanker none for trouble +with you. Any way it comes, a fight with you means somebody dead besides +you. We'd get you. Four to one is too much for any man. But one or two +of us might go down. Who would it be? Maybe the Pedlar, maybe Harry +Masters, maybe Lester, maybe me! Oh, we know all that. No gunplay if we +can keep away from it." + +"You've left out the name of Lord Nick," said Donnegan. + +Joe Rix winked. + +"Seems like you tended to him once and for all when you got him alone in +this cabin. Must have thrown a mighty big scare into him. He won't lift +a hand agin' you now." + +"No?" murmured Donnegan hoarsely. + +"Not him! But that leaves four of us, and four is plenty, eh?" + +"Perhaps." + +"But I'm not here to insist on that point. No, we put a value on keepin' +up good feeling between us and you, Mr. Donnegan. We ain't fools. We +know a man when we see him--and the fastest gunman that ever slid a gun +out of leather ain't the sort of a man that me and the rest of the boys +pass over lightly. Not us! We know you, Mr. Donnegan; we respect you; we +want you with us; we're going to have you with us." + +"You flatter me and I thank you. But I'm glad to see that you are at +last coming to the point." + +"I am, and the point is five thousand dollars that's tied behind the +hoss that stands outside your door." + +He pushed his fat hand a little way across the table, as though the gold +even then were resting in it, a yellow tide of fortune. + +"For which," said Donnegan, "I'm to step aside and let you at the +colonel?" + +"Right." + +Donnegan smiled. + +"Wait," said Joe Rix. "I was makin' a first offer to see how you stood, +but you're right. Five thousand ain't enough and we ain't cheapskates. +Not us. Mr. Donnegan, they's ten thousand cold iron men behind that +saddle out there and every cent of it belongs to you when you come over +on our side." + +But Donnegan merely dropped his chin upon his hand and smiled +mirthlessly at Joe Rix. A wild thought came to the other man. Both of +Donnegan's hands were far from his weapons. Why not a quick draw, a snap +shot, and then the glory of having killed this manslayer in single +battle for Joe Rix? + +The thought rushed red across his brain and then faded slowly. Something +kept him back. Perhaps it was the singular calm of Donnegan; no matter +how quiet he sat he suggested the sleeping cat which can leap out of +dead sleep into fighting action at a touch. By the time a second thought +had come to Joe Rix the idea of an attack was like an idea of suicide. + +"Is that final?" he asked, though Donnegan had not said a word. + +"It is." + +Joe Rix stood up. + +"You put it to us kind of hard. But we want you, Mr. Donnegan. And +here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Come over to us. We'll stand +behind you. Lord Nick is slipping. We'll put you in his place. You won't +even have to face him; we'll get rid of him." + +"You'll kill him and give his place to me?" asked Donnegan. + +"We will. And when you're with us, you cut in on the whole amount of +coin that the mines turn out--and it'll be something tidy. And right +now, to show where we stand and how high we put you, I'll let you in on +the rock-bottom truth. Mr. Donnegan. out there tied behind my saddle +there's thirty thousand dollars in pure gold. You can take it in here +and weigh it out!" + +He stepped back to watch this blow take effect. To his unutterable +astonishment the little man had not moved. His chin still rested upon +the back of his hand, and the smile which was on the lips and not in the +eyes of Donnegan remained there, fixed. + +"Donnegan," muttered Joe Rix, "if we can't get you, we'll get rid of +you. You understand?" + +But the other continued to smile. + +It gave Joe Rix a shuddering feeling that someone was stealing behind +him to block his way to the door. He cast one swift glance over his +shoulder and then, seeing that the way was clear, he slunk back, always +keeping his face to the red-headed man. But when he came to the doorway +his nerve collapsed. He whirled, covered the rest of the distance with a +leap, and emerged from the cabin in a fashion ludicrously like one who +has been kicked through a door. + +His nerve returned as soon as the sunlight fell warmly upon him again; +and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had observed his flight. + +There was no one on the whole hillside except Colonel Macon in the +invalid chair, and the colonel was smiling broadly, beneficently. He had +his perfect hands folded across his breast and seemed to cast a prayer +of peace and goodwill upon Joe Rix. + + + + +39 + + +Nelly Lebrun smelled danger. She sensed it as plainly as the deer when +the puma comes between her and the wind. The many tokens that something +was wrong came to her by small hints which had to be put together before +they assumed any importance. + +First of all, her father, who should have burst out at her in a tirade +for having left Lord Nick for Donnegan said nothing at all, but kept a +dark smile on his face when she was near him. He even insinuated that +Nick's time was done and that another was due to supersede him. + +In the second place, she had passed into a room where Masters, Joe Rix, +and the Pedlar sat cheek by jowl in close conference with a hum of deep +voice. But at her appearance all talk was broken off. + +It was not strange that they should not invite her into their confidence +if they had some dark work ahead of them; but it was exceedingly +suspicious that Joe Rix attempted to pass off their whispers by +immediately breaking off the soft talk and springing into the midst of a +full-fledged jest; also, it was strangest of all that when the jest +ended even the Pedlar, who rarely smiled, now laughed uproariously and +smote Joe soundingly upon the back. + +Even a child could have strung these incidents into a chain of evidence +which pointed toward danger. Obviously the danger was not directly hers, +but then it must be directed at some one near to her. Her father? No, he +was more apt to be the mainspring of their action. Lord Nick? There was +nothing to gain by attacking him. Who was left? Donnegan! + +As the realization came upon her it took her breath away for a moment. +Donnegan was the man. At breakfast everyone had been talking about him. +Lebrun had remarked that he had a face for the cards--emotionless. Joe +Rix had commented upon his speed of hand, and the Pedlar had +complimented the little man on his dress. + +But at lunch not a word was spoken about Donnegan even after she had +dexterously introduced the subject twice. Why the sudden silence? +Between morning and noon Donnegan must have grievously offended them. + +Fear for his sake stimulated her; but above and beyond this, indeed, +there was a mighty feminine curiosity. She smelled the secret; it reeked +through the house, and she was devoured by eagerness to know. She +handpicked Lord Nick's gang in the hope of finding a weakness among +them; some weakness upon which she could play in one of them and draw +out what they were all concealing. The Pedlar was as unapproachable as a +crag on a mountaintop. Masters was wise as an outlaw broncho. Lester was +probably not even in the confidence of the others because since the +affair with Landis his nerve had been shattered to bits and the others +secretly despised him for being beaten by the youngster at the draw. +There remained, therefore, only Joe Rix. + +But Joe Rix was a fox of the first quality. He lied with the smoothness +of silk. He could show a dozen colors in as many moments. Come to the +windward of Joe Rix? It was a delicate business! But since there was +nothing else to do, she fixed her mind upon it, working out this puzzle. +Joe Rix wished to destroy Donnegan for reasons that were evidently +connected with the mines. And she must step into his confidence to +discover his plans. How should it be done? And there was a vital need +for speed, for they might be within a step of executing whatever +mischief it was that they were planning. + +She went down from her room; they were there still, only Joe Rix was +not with them. She went to the apartment where he and the other three of +Nick's gang slept and rapped at the door. He maintained his smile when +he saw her, but there was an uncertain quiver of his eyebrows that told +her much. Plainly he was ill at ease. Suspicious? Ay, there were always +clouds of suspicion drifting over the red, round face of Joe Rix. She +put a tremor of excitement and trouble in her voice. + +"Come into my room, Joe, where we won't be interrupted." + +He followed her without a word, and since she led the way she was able +to relax her expression for a necessary moment. When she closed the door +behind him and faced Joe again she was once more ready to step into her +part. She did not ask him to sit down. She remained for a moment with +her hand on the knob and searched the face of Joe Rix eagerly. + +"Do you think he can hear?" she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder. + +"Who?" + +"Who but Lord Nick!" she exclaimed softly. + +The bewilderment of Joe clouded his face a second and then he was able +to smooth it away. What on earth was the reason of her concern about +Lord Nick he was obviously wondering. + +"I'll tell you why," she said, answering the unspoken question at once. +"He's as jealous as the devil, Joe!" + +The fat little man sighed as he looked at her. + +"He can't hear. Not through that log wall. But we'll talk soft, if you +want." + +"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down. He's already jealous of you, Joe." + +"Of me?" + +"He knows I like you, that I trust you; and just now he's on edge about +everyone I look at." + +The surprising news which the first part of this sentence contained +caused Joe to gape, and the girl looked away in concern, enabling him to +control his expression. For she knew well enough that men hate to appear +foolishly surprised. And particularly a fox like Joe Rix. + +"But what's the trouble, Nelly?" He added with a touch of venom: "I +thought everything was going smoothly with you. And I thought you +weren't worrying much about what Lord Nick had in his mind." + +She stared at him as though astonished. + +"Do you think just the same as the rest of them?" she asked sadly. "Do +you mean to say that you're fooled just the same as Harry Masters and +the Pedlar and the rest of those fools--including Nick himself?" + +Joe Rix was by no means willing to declare himself a fool beforehand. He +now mustered a look of much reserved wisdom. + +"I have my own doubts, Nell, but I'm not talking about them." + +He was so utterly at sea that she had to bite her lip hard to keep from +breaking into ringing laughter. + +"Oh, I knew that you'd seen through it, Joe," she cried softly. "You see +what an awful mess I've gotten into?" + +He passed a hurried hand across his forehead and then looked at her +searchingly. But he could not penetrate her pretense of concern. + +"No matter what I think," said Joe Rix, "you come out with it frankly. +I'll listen." + +"As a friend, Joe?" + +She managed to throw a plea into her voice that made Joe sigh. + +"Sure. You've already said that I'm your friend, and you're right." + +"I'm in terrible, terrible trouble! You know how it happened. I was a +fool. I tried to play with Lord Nick. And now he thinks I was in +earnest." + +As though the strength of his legs had given way, Joe Rix slipped down +into a chair. + +"Go on," he said huskily. "You were playing with Lord Nick?" + +"Can't you put yourself in my place, Joe? It's always been taken for +granted that I'm to marry Nick. And the moment he comes around everybody +else avoids me as if I were poison. I was sick of it. And when he showed +up this time it was the same old story. A man would as soon sign his own +death warrant as ask me for a dance. You know how it is?" + +He nodded, still at sea, but with a light beginning to dawn in his +little eyes. + +"I'm only a girl, Joe. I have all the weakness of other girls. I don't +want to be locked up in a cage just because I--love one man!" + +The avowal made Joe blink. It was the second time that day that he had +been placed in an astonishing scene. But some of his old cunning +remained to him. + +"Nell," he said suddenly, rising from his chair and going to her. "What +are you trying to do to me? Pull the wool over my eyes?" + +It was too much for Nelly Lebrun. She knew that she could not face him +without betraying her guilt and therefore she did not attempt it. She +whirled and flung herself on her bed, face down, and began to sob +violently, suppressing the sounds. And so she waited. + +Presently a hand touched her shoulder lightly. + +"Go away," cried Nelly in a choked voice. "I hate you, Joe Rix. You're +like all the rest!" + +His knee struck the floor with a soft thud. + +"Come on, Nell. Don't be hard on me. I thought you were stringing me a +little. But if you're playing straight, tell me what you want?" + +At that she bounced upright on the bed, and before he could rise she +caught him by both shoulders. + +"I want Donnegan," she said fiercely. + +"What?" + +"I want him dead!" + +Joe Rix gasped. + +"Here's the cause of all my trouble. Just because I flirted with him +once or twice, Nick thought I was in earnest and now he's sulking. And +Donnegan puts on airs and acts as if I belonged to him. I hate him, Joe. +And if he's gone Nick will come back to me. He'll come back to me, Joe; +and I want him so!" + +She found that Joe Rix was staring straight into her eyes, striving to +probe her soul to its depths, and by a great effort she was enabled to +meet that gaze. Finally the fat little man rose slowly to his feet. Her +hands trailed from his shoulders as he stood up and fell helplessly upon +her lap. + +"Well, I'll be hanged, Nell!" exclaimed Joe Rix. + +"What do you mean?" + +"You're not acting a part? No, I can see you mean it. But what a +cold-blooded little--" He checked himself. His face was suddenly +jubilant. "Then we've got him, Nell. We've got him if you're with us. We +had him anyway, but we'll make sure of him if you're with us. Look at +this! You saw me put a paper in my pocket when I opened the door of my +room? Here it is!" + +He displayed before the astonished eyes of Nelly Lebrun a paper covered +with an exact duplicate of her own swift, dainty script. And she read: + + Nick is terribly angry and is making trouble. I have to get + away. It isn't safe for me to stay here. Will you help me? + Will you meet me at the shack by Donnell's ford tomorrow + morning at ten o'clock? + +"But I didn't write it," cried Nelly Lebrun, bewildered. + +"Nelly," Joe Rix chuckled, flushing with pleasure, "you didn't. It was +me. I kind of had an idea that you wanted to get rid of this Donnegan, +and I was going to do it for you and then surprise you with the good +news." + +"Joe, you forged it?" + +"Don't bother sayin' pretty things about me and my pen," said Rix +modestly. "This is nothin'! But if you want to help me, Nelly--" + +His voice faded partly out of her consciousness as she fought against a +tigerish desire to spring at the throat of the little fat man. But +gradually it dawned on her that he was asking her to write out that note +herself. Why? Because it was possible that Donnegan might have seen her +handwriting and in that case, though the imitation had been good enough +to deceive Nelly herself, it probably would not for a moment fool the +keen eyes of Donnegan. But if she herself wrote out the note, Donnegan +was already as good as dead. + +"That is," concluded Joe Rix, "if he really loves you, Nell." + +"The fool!" cried Nelly. "He worships the ground I walk on, Joe. And I +hate him for it." + +Even Joe Rix shivered, for he saw the hate in her eyes and could not +dream that he himself was the cause and the object of it. There was a +red haze of horror and confusion in front of her eyes, and yet she was +able to smile while she copied the note for Joe Rix. + +"But how are you going to work it?" she asked. "How are you going to +kill him, Joe?" + +"Don't bother your pretty head," said the fat man, smiling. "Just wait +till we bring you the good news." + +"But are you sure?" she asked eagerly. "See what he's done already. He's +taken Landis away from us; he's baffled Nick himself, in some manner; +and he's gathered the mines away from all of us. He's a devil, Joe, and +if you want to get him you'd better take ten men for the job." + +"You hate him, Nell, don't you?" queried Joe Rix, and his voice was both +hard and curious. "But how has he harmed you?" + +"Hasn't he taken Nick away from me? Isn't that enough?" + +The fat man shivered again. + +"All right. I'll tell you how it works. Now, listen!" + +And he began to check off the details of his plan. + + + + +40 + + +The day passed and the night, but how very slowly for Nelly Lebrun; she +went up to her room early for she could no longer bear the meaning +glances which Joe Rix cast at her from time to time. But once in her +room it was still harder to bear the suspense as she waited for the +noise to die away in the house. Midnight, and half an hour more went by, +and then, at last, the murmurs and the laughter stopped; she alone was +wakeful in Lebrun's. And when that time came she caught a scarf around +her hair and her shoulders, made of a filmy material which would veil +her face but through which she could see, and ventured out of her room +and down the hall. + +There was no particular need for such caution, however, it seemed. +Nothing stirred. And presently she was outside the house and hurrying +behind the houses and up the hill. Still she met nothing. If The Corner +lived tonight, its life was confined to Milligan's and the gambling +house. + +She found Donnegan's shack and the one next to it, which the terrible +colonel occupied, entirely dark, but only a moment after she tapped at +the door it was opened. Donnegan, fully dressed, stood in the entrance, +outlined blackly by the light which came faintly from the hooded lantern +hanging on the wall. Was he sitting up all the night, unable to sleep +because he waited breathlessly for that false tryst on the morrow? A +great tenderness came over the heart of Nelly Lebrun. + +"It is I," she whispered. + +There was a soft exclamation, then she was drawn into the room. + +"Is there anyone here?" + +"Only big George. But he's in the kitchen and he won't hear. He never +hears anything except what's meant for his ear. Take this chair!" + +He was putting a blanket over the rough wood to make it more +comfortable, and she submitted dumbly to his ministrations. It seemed +terrible and strange to her that one so gentle should be the object of +so much hate--such deadly hate as the members of Nick's gang felt for +him. And now that he was sitting before her she could see that he had +indeed been wakeful for a long time. His face was grimly wasted; the +lips were compressed as one who has endured long pain; and his eyes +gleamed at her out of a profound shadow. He remained in the gloom; the +light from the lantern fell brightly upon his hands alone--meager, +fleshless hands which seemed to represent hardly more strength than that +of a child. Truly this man was all a creature of spirit and nerve. +Therein lay his strength, as also his weakness, and again the cherishing +instinct grew strong and swept over her. + +"There is no one near," he said, "except the colonel and his daughter. +They are up the hillside, somewhere. Did you see them?" + +"No. What in the world are they out for at this time of night?" + +"Because the colonel only wakes up when the sun goes down. And now he's +out there humming to himself and never speaking a word to the girl. But +they won't be far away. They'll stay close to see that no one comes near +the cabin to get at Landis." + +He added: "They must have seen you come into my cabin!" + +And his lips set even harder than before. Was it fear because of her? + +"They may have seen me enter, but they won't know who it was. You have +the note from me?" + +"Yes." + +"It's a lie! It's a ruse. I was forced to write it to save you! For +they're planning to murder you. Oh, my dear!" + +"Hush! Hush! Murder?" + +"I've been nearly hysterical all day and all the night. But. thank +heaven, I'm here to warn you in time! You mustn't go. You mustn't go!" + +"Who is it?" + +He had drawn his chair closer: he had taken her hands, and she noted +that his own were icy cold, but steady as a rock. Their pressure soothed +her infinitely. + +"Joe Rix, the Pedlar, Harry Masters. They'll be at the shack at ten +o'clock, but not I!" + +"Murder, but a very clumsy scheme. Three men leave town and commit a +murder and then expect to go undetected? Not even in the mountain +desert!" + +"But you don't understand, you don't understand! They're wise as foxes. +They'll take no risk. They don't even leave town together or travel by +the same routes. Harry Masters starts first. He rides out at eight +o'clock in the morning and takes the north trail. He rides down the +gulch and winds out of it and strikes for the shack at the ford. At half +past eight the Pedlar starts. He goes past Sandy's place and then over +the trail through the marsh. You know it?" + +"Yes." + +"Last of all, Joe Rix starts at nine o'clock. Half an hour between +them." + +"How does he go to the shack?" + +"By the south trail. He takes the ridge of the hills. But they'll all be +at the shack long before you and they'll shoot you down from a distance +as you come up to it. Plain murder, but even for cowardly murder they +daren't face you except three to one." + +He was thoughtful. + +"Suppose they were to be met on the way?" + +"You're mad to think of it!" + +"But if they fail this time they'll try again. They must be taught a +lesson." + +"Three men? Oh, my dear, my dear! Promise!" + +"Very well. I shall do nothing rash. And I shall never forget that +you've come to tell me this and been in peril, Nell, for if they found +you had come to me--" + +"The Pedlar would cut my throat. I know him!" + +"Ah! But now you must go. I'll take you down the hill, dear." + +"No, no! It's much easier to get back alone. My face will be covered. +But there's no way you could be disguised. You have a way of +walking--good night--and God bless you!" + +She was in his arms, straining him to her; and then she slipped out the +door. + +And sure enough, there was the colonel in his chair not fifty feet away +with a girl pushing him. The moonlight was too dim for Nelly Lebrun to +make out the face of Lou Macon, but even the light which escaped through +the filter of clouds was enough to set her golden hair glowing. The +color was not apparent, but its luster was soft silver in the night. +There was a murmur of the colonel's voice as Nelly came out of the +cabin. + +And then, from the girl, a low cry. + +It brought the blood to the cheeks of Nelly as she hurried down the +hill, for she recognized the pain that was in it; and it occurred to her +that if the girl was in love with Jack Landis she was strangely +interested in Donnegan also. + +The thought came so sharply home to her that she paused abruptly on the +way down the hill. After all, this Macon girl would be a very strange +sort if she were not impressed by the little red-headed man, with his +gentle voice and his fiery ways, and his easy way of making himself a +brilliant spectacle whenever he appeared in public. And Nelly +remembered, also, with the keen suspicion of a woman in love how weakly +Donnegan had responded to her embrace this night. How absent-mindedly +his arms had held her, and how numbly they had fallen away when she +turned at the door. + +But she shook her head and made the suspicion shudder its way out of +her. Lou Macon, she decided, was just the sort of girl who would think +Jack Landis an ideal. Besides, she had never had an opportunity to see +Donnegan in his full glory at Milligan's. And as for Donnegan? He was +wearied out; his nerves relaxed; and for the deeds with which he had +startled The Corner and won her own heart he was now paying the penalty +in the shape of ruined nerves. Pity again swelled in her heart, and a +consuming hatred for the three murderers who lived in her father's +house. + +And when she reached her room again her heart was filled with a singing +happiness and a glorious knowledge that she had saved the man she loved. + +And Donnegan himself? + +He had seen Lou and her father: he had heard that low cry of pain; and +now he sat bowed again over his table, his face in his hands and a +raging devil in his heart. + + + + +41 + + +There was one complication which Nelly Lebrun might have foreseen after +her pretended change of heart and her simulated confession to Joe Rix +that she still loved the lionlike Lord Nick. But strangely enough she +did not think of this phase: and even when her father the next morning +approached her in the hall and tapping her arm whispered: "Good girl! +Nick has just heard and he's hunting for you now!" Even then the full +meaning did not come home to her. It was not until she saw the great +form of Lord Nick stalking swiftly down the hall that she knew. He came +with a glory in his face which the last day had graven with unfamiliar +lines; and when he saw her he threw up his hand so that it almost +brushed the ceiling, and cried out. + +What could she do? Try to push him away; to explain? + +There was nothing to be done. She had to submit when he swept her into +his arms. + +"Rix has told me. Rix has told me. Ah, Nell, you little fox!" + +"Told you what, Nick?" + +Was he, too, a party to the murderous plan? + +But he allowed himself to be pushed away. + +"I've gone through something in the last few days. Why did you do it, +girl?" + +She saw suddenly that she must continue to play her part. + +"Some day I'll tell you why it was that I gave you up so easily, Nell. +You thought I was afraid of Donnegan?" He ground his teeth and turned +pale at the thought. "But that wasn't it. Some day I can tell you. But +after this, the first man who comes between us--Donnegan or any +other--I'll turn him into powder--under my heel!" + +He ground it into the floor as he spoke. She decided that she would see +how much he knew. + +"It will never be Donnegan, at least," she said. "He's done for today. +And I'm almost sorry for him in spite of all that he's done." + +He became suddenly grave. + +"What are you saying, Nell?" + +"Why, Joe told you, didn't he? They've drawn Donnegan out of town, and +now they're lying in wait for him. Yes, they must have him, by this +time. It's ten o'clock!" + +A strangely tense exclamation broke from Lord Nick. "They've gone for +Donnegan?" + +"Yes. Are you angry?" + +The big man staggered; one would have said that he had been stunned with +a blow. + +"Garry!" he whispered. + +"What are you saying?" + +"Nell," he muttered hoarsely, "did you know about it?" + +"But I did it for you, Nick. I knew you hated--" + +"No, no! Don't say it!" He added bitterly, after a moment. "This is for +my sins." + +And then, to her: "But you knew about it and didn't warn him? You hated +him all the time you were laughing with him and smiling at him? Oh, +Nell! What a merciless witch of a woman you are! For the rest of +them--I'll wait till they come back!" + +"What are you going to do, Nick?" + +"I told them I'd pay the man who killed Donnegan--with lead. Did the +fools think I didn't mean it?" + +Truly, no matter what shadow had passed over the big man, he was the +lion again, and Nell shrank from him. + +"We'll wait for them," he said. "We'll wait for them here." + +And they sat down together in the room. She attempted to speak once in a +shaken voice, but he silenced her with a gesture, and after that she sat +and watched in quiet the singular play of varying expressions across his +face. Grief, rage, tenderness, murderous hate--they followed like a +puppet play. + +What was Donnegan to him? And then there was a tremor of fear. Would the +three suspect when they reached the shack by the ford and no Donnegan +came to them? The moments stole on. Then the soft beat of a galloping +horse in the sand. The horse stopped. Presently they saw Joe Rix and +Harry Masters pass in front of the window. And they looked as though a +cyclone had caught them up, juggled them a dizzy distance in the air, +and then flung them down carelessly upon bruising rocks. Their hats were +gone; and the clothes of burly Harry Masters were literally torn from +his back. Joe Rix was evidently far more terribly hurt, for he leaned on +the arm of Masters and they came on together, staggering. + +"They've done the business!" exclaimed Lord Nick. "And now, curse them, +I'll do theirs!" + +But the girl could not speak. A black haze crossed before her eyes. Had +Donnegan gone out madly to fight the three men in spite of her warning? + +The door opened. They stood in the doorway, and if they had seemed a +horrible sight passing the window, they were a deadly picture at close +range. And opposite them stood Lord Nick; in spite of their wounds there +was murder in his face and his revolver was out. + +"You've met him? You've met Donnegan?" he asked angrily. + +Masters literally carried Joe Rix to a chair and placed him in it. He +had been shot through both shoulders, and though tight bandages had +stanched the wound he was still in agony. Then Masters raised his head. + +"We've met him," he said. + +"What happened?" + +But Masters, in spite of the naked gun in the hand of Lord Nick, was +looking straight at Nelly Lebrun. + +"We fought him." + +"Then say your prayers, Masters." + +"Say prayers for the Pedlar, you fool," said Masters bitterly. "He's +dead, and Donnegan's still living!" + +There was a faint cry from Nelly Lebrun. She sank into her chair again. + +"We've been double-crossed," said Masters, still looking at the girl. "I +was going down the gulch the way we planned. I come to the narrow place +where the cliffs almost touch, and right off the wall above me drops a +wildcat. I thought it was a cat at first. And then I found it was +Donnegan. + +"The way he hit me from above knocked me off the horse. Then we hit the +ground. I started for my gun; he got it out of my hand; I pulled my +knife. He got that away, too. His fingers work with steel springs and +act like a cat's claws. Then we fought barehanded. He didn't say a word. +But kept snarling in his throat. Always like a cat. And his face was +devilish. Made me sick inside. Pretty soon he dived under my arms. Got +me up in the air. I came down on my head. + +"Of course I went out cold. When I came to there was still a mist in +front of my eyes and this lump on the back of my head. He'd figured that +my head was cracked and that I was dead. That's the only reason he left +me. Later I climbed on my hoss and fed him the spur. + +"But I was too late. I took the straight cut for the ford, and when I +got there I found that Donnegan had been there before me. Joe Rix was +lyin' on the floor. When he got to the shack Donnegan was waitin' for +him. They went for their guns and Donnegan beat him to it. The hound +didn't shoot to kill. He plugged him through both shoulders, and left +him lyin' helpless. But I got a couple of bandages on him and saved him. + +"Then we cut back for home and crossed the marsh. And there we found the +Pedlar. + +"Too late to help him. Maybe Donnegan knew that the Pedlar was something +of a flash with a gun himself, and he didn't take any chances. He'd met +him face to face the same way he met Joe Rix and killed him. Shot him +clean between the eyes. Think of shooting for the head with a snap shot! +That's what he done and Joe didn't have time to think twice after that +slug hit him. His gun wasn't even fired, he was beat so bad on the draw. + +"So Joe and me come back home. And we come full of questions!" + +"Let me tell you something," muttered Lord Nick, putting up the weapon +which he had kept exposed during all of the recital. "You've got what +was coming to you. If Donnegan hadn't cleaned up on you, you'd have had +to talk turkey with me. Understand?" + +"Wait a minute," protested Harry Masters. + +And Joe Rix, almost too far gone for speech, set his teeth over a groan +and cast a look of hatred at the girl. + +"Wait a minute, chief. There's one thing we all got to get straight. +Somebody had tipped off Donnegan about our whole plan. Was it the Pedlar +or Rix or me? I guess good sense'll tell a man that it wasn't none of +us, eh? Then who was it? The only other person that knew about the +plan--Nell--Nell, the crooked witch--and it's her that murdered the +Pedlar--curse her!" + +He thrust out his bulky arm as he spoke. + +"Her that lied her way into our confidence with a lot of talk about you, +Nick. Then what did she do? She goes runnin' to the gent that she said +she hated. Don't you see her play? She makes fools of us--she makes a +fool out of you!" + +She dared not meet the glance of Lord Nick. Even now she might have +acted out her part and filled in with lies, but she was totally +unnerved. + +"Get Rix to bed," was all he said, and he did not even glance at Nelly +Lebrun. + +Masters glowered at him, and then silently obeyed, lifting Joe as a +helpless bulk, for the fat man was nearly fainting with pain. Not until +they had gone and he had closed the door after them and upon the murmurs +of the servants in the hall did Lord Nick turn to Nelly. + +"Is it true?" he asked shortly. + +Between relief and terror her mind was whirling. + +"Is what true?" + +"You haven't even sense enough to lie, Nell, eh? It's all true, then? +And last night, after you'd wormed it out of Joe, you went to Donnegan?" + +She could only stare miserably at him. + +"And that was why you pushed me away when I kissed you a little while +ago?" + +Once more she was dumb. But she was beginning to be afraid. Not for +herself, but for Donnegan. + +"Nell, I told you I'd never let another man come between us again. I +meant it. I know you're treacherous now; but that doesn't keep me from +wanting you. It's Donnegan again--Donnegan still? Nell, you've killed +him. As sure as if your own finger pulled the trigger when I shoot him. +He's a dead one, and you've done it!" + +If words would only come! But her throat was stiff and cold and aching. +She could not speak. + +"You've done more than kill him," said Lord Nick. "You've put a curse on +me as well. And afterward I'm going to even up with you. You hear me? +Nell, when I shoot Donnegan I'm doing a thing worse than if he was a +girl--or a baby. You can't understand that; I don't want you to know. +But some time when you're happy again and you're through grieving for +Donnegan, I'll tell you the truth and make your heart black for the rest +of your life." + +Still words would not come. She strove to cling to him and stop him, but +he cast her away with a single gesture and strode out the door. + + + + +42 + + +There was no crowd to block the hill at this second meeting of Donnegan +and Lord Nick. There was a blank stretch of brown hillside with the wind +whispering stealthily through the dead grass when Lord Nick thrust open +the door of Donnegan's shack and entered. + +The little man had just finished shaving and was getting back into his +coat while George carried out the basin of water. And Donnegan, as he +buttoned the coat, was nodding slightly to the rhythm of a song which +came from the cabin of the colonel near by. It was a clear, high music, +and though the voice was light it carried the sound far. Donnegan looked +up to Lord Nick; but still he kept the beat of the music. + +He seemed even more fragile this morning than ever before. Yet Lord Nick +was fresh from the sight of the torn bodies of the two fighting men whom +this fellow had struck and left for dead, or dying, as he thought. + +"Dismiss your servant," said Lord Nick. + +"George, you may go out." + +"And keep him out." + +"Don't come back until I call for you." + +Big George disappeared into the kitchen and the outside door was closed. +Yet even with all the doors closed the singing of Lou Macon kept running +through the cabin in a sweet and continuous thread. + + What made the ball so fine? + Robin Adair! + What made the assembly shine? + Robin Adair! + +And no matter what Lord Nick could say, it seemed that with half his +mind Donnegan was listening to the song of the girl. + +"First," said the big man, "I've broken my word." + +Donnegan waved his hand and dismissed the charge. He pointed to a chair, +but Lord Nick paid no heed. + +"I've broken my word," he went on. "I promised that I'd give you a clear +road to win over Nelly Lebrun. I gave you the road and you've won her, +but now I'm taking her back!" + +"Ah, Henry," said Donnegan, and a flash of eagerness came in his eyes. +"You're a thousand times welcome to her." + +Lord Nick quivered. + +"Do you mean it?" + +"Henry, don't you see that I was only playing for a purpose all the +time? And if you've opened the eyes of Nelly to the fact that you truly +love her and I've been only acting out of a heartless sham--why, I'm +glad of it--I rejoice, Henry, I swear I do!" + +He came forward, smiling, and held out his hand; Lord Nick struck it +down, and Donnegan shrank back, holding his wrist tight in the fingers +of his other hand. + +"Is it possible?" murmured Henry Reardon. "Is it possible that she loves +a man who despises her?" + +"Not that! If any other man said this to me, I'd call for an explanation +of his meaning, Henry. No, no! I honor and respect her, I tell you. By +heaven, Nick, she has a thread of pure, generous gold in her nature!" + +"Ah?" + +"She has saved my life no longer ago than this morning." + +"It's perfect," said Lord Nick. And he writhed under a torment. "I am +discarded for the sake of a man who despises her!" + +Donnegan, frowning with thought, watched his older brother. And still +the thin singing entered the room, that matchless old melody of "Robin +Adair;" the day shall never come when that song does not go straight +from heart to heart. But because Donnegan still listened to it, Lord +Nick felt that he was contemptuously received, and a fresh spur was +driven into his tender pride. + +"Donnegan!" he said sharply. + +Donnegan raised his hand slowly. + +"Do you call me by that name?" + +"Aye. You've ceased to be a brother. There's no blood tie between us +now, as I warned you before." + +Donnegan, very white, moved back toward the wall and rested his +shoulders lightly against it, as though he needed the support. He made +no answer. + +"I warned you not to cross me again." exclaimed Lord Nick. + +"I have not." + +"Donnegan, you've murdered my men!" + +"Murder? I've met them fairly. Not murder, Henry." + +"Leave out that name, I say!" + +"If you wish," said Donnegan very faintly. + +The sight of his resistlessness seemed to madden Lord Nick. He made one +of his huge strides and came to the center of the room and dominated all +that was in it, including his brother. + +"You murdered my men," repeated Lord Nick. "You turned my girl against +me with your lying love-making and turned her into a spy. You made her +set the trap and then you saw that it was worked. You showed her how she +could wind me around her finger again." + +"Will you let me speak?" + +"Aye, but be short." + +"I swear to you, Henry, that I've never influenced her to act against +you; except to win her away for just one little time, and she will +return to you again. It is only a fancy that makes her interested in me. +Look at us! How could any woman in her senses prefer me?" + +"Are you done?" + +"No, no! I have more to say: I have a thousand things!" + +"I shall not hear them" + +"Henry, there is a black devil in your face. Beware of it." + +"Who put it there?" + +"It was not I." + +"What power then?" + +"Something over which I have no control." + +"Are you trying to mystify me?" + +"Listen!" And as Donnegan raised his hand, the singing poured clear and +small into the room. + +"That is the power," said Donnegan. + +"You're talking gibberish'" exclaimed the other pettishly. + +"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand." + +"On the other hand, what I have to say is short and to the point. A +child could comprehend it. You've stolen the girl. I tried to let her +go. I can't. I have to have her. Willing or unwilling she has to belong +to me, Donnegan." + +"If you wish, I shall promise that I shall never see her again or speak +to her." + +"You fool' Won't she find you out? Do you think I could trust you? Only +in one place--underground." + +Donnegan had clasped his hands upon his breast and his eyes were wide. + +"What is it you mean, Henry?" + +"I'll trust you--dead!" + +"Henry!" + +"That name means nothing to me I've forgotten it. The worlds has +forgotten it." + +"Henry, I implore you to keep cool--to give me five minutes for talk--" + +"No, not one. I know your cunning tongue!" + +"For the sake of the days when you loved me, my brother. For the sake of +the days when you used to wheel my chair and be kind to me." + +"You're wasting your time. You're torturing us both for nothing. +Donnegan, my will is a rock. It won't change." + +And drawing closer his right hand gripped his gun and the trembling +passion of the gunfighter set him shuddering. + +"You're armed, Garry. Go for your gun!" + +"No, no!" + +"Then I'll give you cause to fight." + +And as he spoke, he drew back his massive arm and with his open hand +smote Donnegan heavily across the face. The weight of that blow crushed +the little man against the wall. + +"Your gun!" cried Lord Nick, swaying from side to side as the passion +choked him. + +Donnegan fell upon his knees and raised his arms. + +"God have mercy on me, and on yourself!" + +At that the blackness cleared slowly on the face of the big man; he +thrust his revolver into the holster. + +"This time," he said, "there's no death. But sooner or later we meet, +Donnegan, and then, I swear by all that lives, I'll shoot you +down--without mercy--like a mad dog. You've robbed me; you've hounded +me: you've killed my men: you've taken the heart of the woman I love. +And now nothing can save you from the end." + +He turned on his heel and left the room. + +And Donnegan remained kneeling, holding a stained handkerchief to his +face. + +All at once his strength seemed to desert him like a tree chopped at the +root, and he wilted down against the wall with closed eyes. + +But the music still came out of the throat and the heart of Lou, and it +entered the room and came into the ears of Donnegan. He became aware +that there was a strength beyond himself which had sustained him, and +then he knew it had been the singing of Lou from first to last which had +kept the murder out of his own heart and restrained the hand of Lord +Nick. + +Perhaps of all Donnegan's life, this was the first moment of true +humility. + + + + +43 + + +One thing was now clear. He must not remain in The Corner unless he was +prepared for Lord Nick again: and in a third meeting guns must be drawn. +From that greater sin he shrank, and prepared to leave. His order to +George made the big man's eyes widen, but George had long since passed +the point where he cared to question the decision of his master. He +began to build the packs. + +As for Donnegan, he could see that there was little to be won by +remaining. That would save Landis to Lou Macon, to be sure, but after +all, he was beginning to wonder if it were not better to let the big +fellow go back to his own kind--Lebrun and the rest. For if it needed +compulsion to keep him with Lou now, might it not be the same story +hereafter? + +Indeed, Donnegan began to feel that all his labor in The Corner had been +running on a treadmill. It had all been grouped about the main purpose, +which was to keep Landis with the girl. To do that now he must be +prepared to face Nick again; and to face Nick meant the bringing of the +guilt of fratricide upon the head of one of them. There only remained +flight. He saw at last that he had been fighting blindly from the +first. He had won a girl whom he did not love--though doubtless her +liking was only the most fickle fancy. And she for whom he would have +died he had taught to hate him. It was a grim summing up. Donnegan +walked the room whistling softly to himself as he checked up his +accounts. + +One thing at least he had done; he had taken the joy out of his life +forever. + +And here, answering a rap at the door, he opened it upon Lou Macon. She +wore a dress of some very soft material. It was a pale blue--faded, no +doubt--but the color blended exquisitely with her hair and with the +flush of her face. It came to Donnegan that it was an unnecessary +cruelty of chance that made him see the girl lovelier than he had ever +seen her before at the very moment when he was surrendering the last +shadow of a claim upon her. + +And it hurt him, also, to see the freshness of her face, the clear eyes; +and to hear her smooth, untroubled voice. She had lived untouched by +anything save the sunshine in The Corner. + +Her glance flicked across his face and then fluttered down, and her +color increased guiltily. + +"I have come to ask you a favor," she said. + +"Step in," said Donnegan, recovering his poise at length. + +At this, she looked past him, and her eyes widened a little. There was +an imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, as though the very thought of +entering this cabin horrified her. And Donnegan had to bear that look as +well. + +"I'll stay here; I haven't much to say. It's a small thing." + +"Large or small," said Donnegan eagerly. "Tell me!" + +"My father has asked me to take a letter for him down to the town and +mail it. I--I understand that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. +Will you walk with me?" + +And Donnegan turned cold. Go down into The Corner? Where by five chances +out of ten he must meet his brother in the street? + +"I can do better still," he said, smiling. "I'll have George take the +letter down for you." + +"Thank you. But you see, father would not trust it to anyone save me. I +asked him; he was very firm about it." + +"Tush! I would trust George with my life." + +"Yes, yes It is not what I wish--but my father rarely changes his +mind." + +Perspiration beaded the forehead of Donnegan. Was there no way to evade +this easy request? + +"You see," he faltered, "I should be glad to go--" + +She raised her eyes slowly. + +"But I am terribly busy this morning." + +She did not answer, but half of her color left her face. + +"Upon my word of honor there is no danger to a woman in the town." + +"But some of the ruffians of Lord Nick--" + +"If they dared to even raise their voices at you, they would hear from +him in a manner that they would never forget." + +"Then you don't wish to go?" + +She was very pale now; and to Donnegan it was more terrible than the gun +in the hand of Lord Nick. Even if she thought he was slighting her why +should she take it so mortally to heart? For Donnegan, who saw all +things, was blind to read the face of this girl. + +"It doesn't really matter," she murmured and turned away. + +A gentle motion, but it wrenched the heart of Donnegan. He was instantly +before her. + +"Wait here a moment. I'll be ready to go down immediately." + +"No. I can't take you from your--work." + +What work did she assign to him in her imagination? Endless planning of +deviltry no doubt. + +"I shall go with you," said Donnegan. "At first--I didn't dream it could +be so important. Let me get my hat." + +He left her and leaped back into the cabin. + +"I am going down into The Corner for a moment," he said over his +shoulder to George, as he took his belt down from the wall. + +The big man strode to the wall and took his hat from a nail. + +"I shall not need you, George." + +But George merely grinned, and his big teeth flashed at the master. And +in the second place he took up a gun from the drawer and offered it to +Donnegan. + +"The gun in that holster ain't loaded," he said. + +Donnegan considered him soberly. + +"I know it. There'll be no need for a loaded gun." + +But once more George grinned. All at once Donnegan turned pale. + +"You dog," he whispered. "Did you listen at the door when Nick was +here?" + +"Me?" murmured George. "No, I just been thinking." + +And so it was that while Donnegan went down the hill with Lou Macon, +carrying an empty-chambered revolver, George followed at a distance of a +few paces, and he carried a loaded weapon unknown to Donnegan. + +It was the dull time of the day in The Corner. There were very few +people in the single street, and though most of them turned to look at +the little man and the girl who walked beside him, not one of them +either smiled or whispered. + +"You see?" said Donnegan. "You would have been perfectly safe--even from +Lord Nick's ruffians. That was one of his men we passed back there." + +"Yes. I'm safe with you," said the girl. + +And when she looked up to him, the blood of Donnegan turned to fire. + +Out of a shop door before them came a girl with a parcel under her arm. +She wore a gay, semi-masculine outfit, bright-colored, jaunty, and she +walked with a lilt toward them. It was Nelly Lebrun. And as she passed +them. Donnegan lifted his hat ceremoniously high. She nodded to him with +a smile, but the smile aimed wan and small in an instant. There was a +quick widening and then a narrowing of her eyes, and Donnegan knew that +she had judged Lou Macon as only one girl can judge another who is +lovelier. + +He glanced at Lou to see if she had noticed, and he saw her raise her +head and go on with her glance proudly straight before her; but her face +was very pale, and Donnegan knew that she had guessed everything that +was true and far more than the truth. Her tone at the door of the post +office was ice. + +"I think you are right, Mr. Donnegan. There's no danger. And if you have +anything else to do, I can get back home easily enough." + +"I'll wait for you," murmured Donnegan sadly, and he stood as the door +of the little building with bowed head. + +And then a murmur came down the street. How small it was, and how +sinister! It consisted of exclamations begun, and then broken sharply +off. A swirl of people divided as a cloud of dust divides before a blast +of wind, and through them came the gigantic figure of Lord Nick! + +On he came, a gorgeous figure, a veritable king of men. He carried his +hat in his hand and his red hair flamed, and he walked with great +strides. Donnegan glanced behind him. The way was clear. If he turned, +Lord Nick would not pursue him, he knew. + +But to flee even from his brother was more than he could do; for the +woman he loved would know of it and could never understand. + +He touched the holster that held his empty gun--and waited! + +An eternity between every step of Lord Nick. Others seemed to have +sensed the meaning of this silent scene. People seemed to stand frozen +in the midst of gestures. Or was that because Donnegan's own thoughts +were traveling at such lightning speed that the rest of the world seemed +standing still? What kept Lou Macon? If she were with him, not even Lord +Nick in his madness would force on a gunplay in the presence of a woman, +no doubt. + +Lord Nick was suddenly close; he had paused; his voice rang over the +street and struck upon Donnegan's ear as sounds come under water. + +"Donnegan!" + +"Aye!" called Donnegan softly. + +"It's the time!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +Then a huge body leaped before him; it was big George. And as he sprang +his gun went up with his hand in a line of light. The two reports came +close together as finger taps on a table, and big George, completing his +spring, lurched face downward into the sand. + +Dead? Not yet. All his faith and selflessness were nerving the big man. +And Donnegan stood behind him, unarmed! + +He reared himself upon his knees--an imposing bulk, even then, and fired +again. But his hand was trembling, and the bullet shattered a sign above +the head of Lord Nick. He, in his turn, it seemed to Donnegan that the +motion was slow, twitched up the muzzle of his weapon and fired once +more from his hip. And big George lurched back on the sand, with his +face upturned to Donnegan. He would have spoken, but a burst of blood +choked him; yet his eyes fixed and glazed, he mustered his last +strength and offered his revolver to Donnegan. + +But Donnegan let the hand fall limp to the ground. There were voices +about him; steps running; but all that he clearly saw was Lord Nick with +his feet braced, and his head high. + +"Donnegan! Your gun!" + +"Aye," said Donnegan. + +"Take it then!" + +But in the crisis, automatically Donnegan flipped his useless revolver +out of its holster and into his hand. At the same instant the gun from +Nick's hand seemed to blaze in his eyes. He was struck a crushing blow +in his chest. He sank upon his knees: another blow struck his head, and +Donnegan collapsed on the body of big George. + + + + +44 + + +An ancient drunkard in the second story of one of the stores across the +street had roused himself at the sound of the shots and now he dragged +himself to the window and began to scream: "Murder! Murder!" over and +over, and even The Corner shuddered at the sound of his voice. + +Lord Nick, his revolver still in his hand, stalked through the film of +people who now swirled about him, eager to see the dead. There was no +call for the law to make its appearance, and the representatives of the +law were wisely dilatory in The Corner. + +He stood over the two motionless figures with a stony face. + +"You saw it, boys," he said. "You know what I've borne from this fellow. +The big man pulled his gun first on me. I shot in self-defense. As +for--the other--it was a square fight." + +"Square fight," someone answered. "You both went for your irons at the +same time. Pretty work, Nick." + +It was a solid phalanx of men which had collected around the moveless +bodies as swiftly as mercury sinks through water. Yet none of them +touched either Donnegan or George. And then the solid group dissolved at +one side. It was the moan of a woman which had scattered it, and a +yellow-haired girl slipped through them. She glanced once, in horror, at +the mute faces of the men, and then there was a wail as she threw +herself on the body of Donnegan. Somewhere she found the strength of a +man to lift him and place him face upward on the sand, the gun trailing +limply in his hand. And then she lay, half crouched over him, her face +pressed to his heart--listening--listening for the stir of life. + +Shootings were common in The Corner; the daily mortality ran high; but +there had never been aftermaths like this one. Men looked at one +another, and then at Lord Nick. A bright spot of color had come in his +cheeks, but his face was as hard as ever. + +"Get her away from him," someone murmured. + +And then another man cried out, stooped, wrenched the gun from the limp +hand of Donnegan and opened the cylinder. He spun it: daylight was +glittering through the empty cylinder. + +At this the man stiffened, and with a low bow which would have done +credit to a drawing-room, he presented the weapon butt first to Lord +Nick. + +"Here's something the sheriff will want to see," he said, "but maybe +you'll be interested, too." + +But Lord Nick, with the gun in his hand, stared at it dumbly, turned the +empty cylinder. And the full horror crept slowly on his mind. He had not +killed his brother, he had murdered him. As his eyes cleared, he caught +the glitter of the eyes which surrounded him. + +And then Lou Macon was on her knees with her hands clasped at her breast +and her face glorious. + +"Help!" she was crying. "Help me. He's not dead, but he's dying unless +you help me!" + +Then Lord Nick cast away his own revolver and the empty gun of Donnegan. +They heard him shout: "Garry!" and saw him stride forward. + +Instantly men pressed between, hard-jawed men who meant business. It was +a cordon he would have to fight his way through: but he dissolved it +with a word. + +"You fools! He's my brother!" + +And then he was on his knees opposite Lou Macon. + +"You?" she had stammered in horror. + +"His brother, girl." + +And ten minutes later, when the bandages had been wound, there was a +strange sight of Lord Nick striding up the street with his victim in his +arms. How lightly he walked; and he was talking to the calm, pale face +which rested in the hollow of his shoulder. + +"He will live? He will live?" Lou Macon was pleading as she hurried at +the side of Lord Nick. + +"God willing, he shall live!" + + +It was three hours before Donnegan opened his eyes. It was three days +before he recovered his senses, and looking aside toward the door he saw +a brilliant shaft of sunlight falling into the room. In the midst of it +sat Lou Macon. She had fallen asleep in her great weariness now that the +crisis was over. Behind her, standing, his great arms folded, stood the +indomitable figure of Lord Nick. + +Donnegan saw and wondered greatly. Then he closed his eyes dreamily. +"Hush," said Donnegan to himself, as if afraid that what he saw was all +a dream. "I'm in heaven, or if I'm not, it's still mighty good to be +alive." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gunman's Reckoning, by Max Brand + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUNMAN'S RECKONING *** + +***** This file should be named 10066.txt or 10066.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/6/10066/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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