diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-8.txt | 7162 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 126155 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 369749 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h/34280-h.htm | 7414 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h/images/illus1.jpg | bin | 0 -> 50216 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h/images/illus2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 52526 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h/images/illus3.jpg | bin | 0 -> 74164 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280-h/images/illus4.jpg | bin | 0 -> 63254 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280.txt | 7162 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 34280.zip | bin | 0 -> 126107 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
13 files changed, 21754 insertions, 0 deletions
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/34280-8.txt b/34280-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7611f2d --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +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: Lightnin' + After a Play of the Same Name by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon + +Author: Frank Bacon + +Release Date: November 11, 2010 [EBook #34280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + LIGHTNIN' + + BY FRANK BACON + + + After the Play of the Same Name by + WINCHELL SMITH and FRANK BACON + + With Illustrations from + PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PLAY + + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + Copyright 1920, by Harper & Brothers + Printed in the United States of America + Published February, 1920 + + +[Illustration: YOU LOOKED INTO LIGHTNIN'S SHREWDLY HUMOROUS EYES, AND +YOU SMILED--SMILED WITH HIM ] + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +YOU LOOKED INTO LIGHTNIN'S SHREWDLY HUMOROUS EYES, AND YOU +SMILED--SMILED WITH HIM + +"PROMISE ME YOU WON'T SIGN THE DEED" ... BILL HESITATED + +LIGHTNIN', IN HIS FADED G. A. R. UNIFORM ... LISTENED ATTENTIVELY + +...HE TOOK IT FROM HIS POCKET, SAYING, "MILLIE, I WANT TO SHOW YOU +SOMETHING" + + + + +LIGHTNIN' + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +"Him?" the local postmaster of Calivada would say, in reply to your +question about the quaint little old man who had just ambled away from +the desk with a bundle of letters stuffed in his pocket. "Why, that's +Lightnin' Bill Jones! We call him Lightnin' because he ain't. Nature +didn't give no speed to Bill. No, sir, far as I know, Lightnin' 'ain't +never done a day's work in his life--but there ain't none of us ever +thinks any the less of him for that! Bill's got a way with him, an' he +kin tell some mighty good yarns. Lightnin's all right!" + +And when you met Bill Jones you agreed with the postmaster. You looked +into Lightnin's twinkling, shrewdly humorous eyes and you smiled--smiled +with him. You thought of the reply he made to a stranger who protested +against his indolence. + +"Well," Bill said, with that shrewd glance of his, "I ain't keepin' +_you_ from makin' a million dollars, am I?" + +Old Bill was full of remarks like that, and sometimes those about him +were not so sure as to his lack of speed, in spite of his aimless, +easy-going habits. You never can tell from the feet alone. Those closest +to him were not sure at all; he "had them guessing." There was no doubt +that his wife, simple, earnest, hard-working woman that she was, loved +him. She mothered him and did not seem to worry much about his shiftless +ways. He was her husband, and that was enough for her. What Mrs. Jones +thought of her husband's mental acumen would be another question, +perhaps, but up to the present she had always consulted Bill's wishes +and sought his advice. Their adopted daughter, Millie, a pretty, +wholesome, brown-haired girl of nineteen, worshiped Bill. Any one who +said a word against "daddy" had Millie to deal with. The third person +Bill had guessing was John Marvin, a young man who owned a tract of land +and a cabin a few miles down the trail. Marvin had a lot on his mind, +and was studying law all alone in the cabin at nights into the bargain, +but he liked to have Bill drop in, liked to hear him talk. Bill could +tell some pretty tall yarns, but he told them so well you had to swallow +them. There was an odd, friendly, understanding bond between the +ambitious young fellow and the easy-going, humorous old man. They +confided in each other a great deal, and--well, like Mrs. Jones and +Millie, Marvin frequently found himself crediting Bill with a semblance +of mental speed. But then his mind would picture the ambling, aimless +figure of Bill Jones with its shock of disordered gray hair and +half-shut eyes, and Marvin would smile to himself and turn his thoughts +to something else. But he wondered, nevertheless. + +At the present moment, the afternoon of a late summer's day, Bill Jones +was doing a little wondering himself, though no one would have suspected +it as he ambled lazily up the trail, bound for home. Things were not +going well with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones and Millie were worrying, +and Bill knew it. Characteristically, he had evaded the issue for +several years, content to let each day take care of itself as best it +could, but now matters were reaching a crisis and circumstances were +forcing Bill to consider it. They had been selling the timber on the +land, but that did not help much; and now they were taking summer +boarders--when they could get them, for boarders were scarce. Again, +this only made more hard work for Millie and Mrs. Jones. + +It was of this Bill was thinking as he went along. He had been sent to +get the mail and to meet the morning train from San Francisco for the +purpose of enticing a few boarders to the Jones establishment if +possible. He should have been home hours ago with the mail, and there +were some odd jobs awaiting him, but he had dallied in the little local +town. This was his usual habit, for, like a good many lonely souls, Bill +was also a social one. People liked to buy Bill drinks and cigars in the +tavern and listen to his yarns. But to-day Bill was lingering +intentionally; he knew that his wife and Millie expected to take him +into consultation this afternoon in regard to the critical state of the +family affairs. Naturally Bill dreaded such a proceeding, but there was +something more than that to it to-day. His old heart, usually full of +happy-go-lucky sunshine, was harboring shadows, for he knew that he +ought to help and wanted to. But how? As he had turned slowly homeward, +Lightnin' hadn't the faintest idea. + +Then suddenly, when about a mile from the house, Bill paused in the +middle of the trail, chuckled, and then sat down on a fallen tree. He +pushed back his battered old hat, drew a bag of tobacco and a Manila +paper from his pocket, and rolled himself a cigarette. All signs and +manifestations indicated that Bill Jones was overwhelmed by an idea. He +sat puffing the cigarette and grinning to himself for a few minutes; +then he arose slowly and ambled on; but now the amble was not so +aimless. It had a suggestion of the walk of a man with a purpose, and +there was a gleam of satisfaction and humorous self-importance in his +half-shut eyes. + +Nearing the house, he observed his wife sitting on the broad veranda, +rocking to and fro, obviously on the watch for him. From force of habit, +Bill tried to make a detour with the intent of entering unseen through +the back door; but, knowing his ways, Mrs. Jones was too quick for him. +She called to him, and, with the air of one who had no intention +whatever of entering by the back door, he came up on the porch and +dropped into a chair beside her. + +"Well, mother," he said, amiably, "you look all tuckered out. Glad to +see you restin'." + +"Where you been all day?" she asked, ignoring his remark. Her tone was +none too tender, but there was a gentle gleam in her motherly, tired +eyes as they sought her husband's, sheepishly hiding behind half-closed +lids. + +"Just takin' a look at town," Bill drawled. "Just takin' a look." He +settled himself comfortably in his chair and rolled a cigarette. + +"Don't you know there's some new boarders come?" + +"Sure," said Bill, easily. "I sent 'em, didn't I? Told 'em you was the +best cook in two states, mother. Guess I ought to know." + +Millie, an apron over her neat and simple house dress, came out and drew +a chair between her foster-parents. She glanced quickly from one to the +other, and then her gentle brown eyes came to rest lovingly on old Bill. +He returned her smile. + +"What a long time you were, daddy!" she said. "I bet you stayed away +just because you knew mother and I wanted to talk to you to-day--own up, +daddy!" + +Bill grinned delightedly, despite his knowledge of the rather grave +situation the girl's smiling comment covered. "Well, Millie," he +answered, "I'm here now, ain't I? Guess we can have a little talk before +them boarders begin to yell for their supper. I kinder wish as you +didn't have to cook for 'em, mother--an' Millie waitin' on 'em. 'Tain't +fair." + +Mrs. Jones's lips twitched; the weight of a hard day was on her. + +"It ain't no use puttin' it off, Bill," she said, wearily. "We got to do +somethin'. Mr. Townsend was here this afternoon." + +"What o' that?" asked Bill. + +"Well, he's pretty shrewd, you know, an' he's thinkin' about us, Bill. +He seen how much of the timber's gone. He knows we sold another strip o' +land last month for next to nothin'--" + +"What's that to him?" Bill queried, rolling another cigarette and +apparently completely absorbed in the operation. + +"He--he's just worried about us, an' it's nice of him, Bill, him knowin' +us all these years. He--he thinks as we might move into--into one o' +them little cabins down the trail an'--" + +"Lem Townsend's all right," Bill cut in, lazily, "but we ain't goin' to +move, mother. An' it ain't nobody's business, neither--not even Lem +Townsend's. I hope you told him that." + +"Why, Bill!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed, sharply. "I told him no such thing! +An' I ain't so sure but what I ain't goin' to take his advice!" + +Bill looked at her, a hidden smile in his eyes. "It's your property, +mother," he said, quietly. + +Tears sprang into the woman's eyes and she made an impulsive gesture. + +"You mustn't think that way, Bill!" she cried. "I know you deeded the +whole place over to me when we were married--and it was all you had! I +wasn't thinkin' o' that--'ceptin' as I always think. You must say _our_ +place, Bill. It's yours an' mine an' Millie's. We'll stick together. +But we got to do _somethin'_." + +Bill glanced slyly at the girl, whose brown head was bowed thoughtfully. +"What you think, Millie?" he asked. + +"I don't know what to say," she replied, slowly. "I could go back to San +Francisco and work as I did last year. But maybe we could pull through +this winter--if only we could get boarders. I don't mind the work, +and--and I'd rather stay home here." + +Bill's eyes suddenly twinkled. "What's the matter?" he chuckled. "John +Marvin come back from the city to stay at his cabin?" + +Millie blushed. "Daddy!" she pouted. + +Mrs. Jones did not seem any too pleased at her husband's remark. "John +Marvin 'ain't got nothin' to do with it!" she exclaimed. "I don't see +what he comes foolin' around here for, anyway--Millie 'ain't got _him_ +on her mind!" + +"I should say not!" Millie echoed, though it occurred to Bill that the +softness of her brown eyes belied the petulant toss of her head. +"Perhaps, after all, it would be best for me to go back to Mr. Thomas's +office!" + +Bill turned his half-shut eyes on her quickly, but Millie did not note +the expression of genuine concern in them. He sat lost in thought. The +last winter had been the most difficult of all for them. Millie, feeling +that it was time for her being some help, had studied typewriting and +stenography and had obtained a position in the office of Raymond Thomas, +a San Francisco lawyer. Presumably on a vacation, Thomas had chanced to +spend a week at the Jones place the previous summer. Millie had told him +of her design to help the family, and Thomas had suggested that she take +the position open in his office. + +But that had been a dreary and lonely winter for Bill and his wife. +Millie's pretty face and youthful ways had been missed sorely; the girl +had come to be all in all to the old couple, and they could not bear to +see her go away again for another long winter. + +Then, too, Bill had his own reasons for feeling grave and down in the +mouth when Millie suggested her returning to work in the office of +Raymond Thomas. Bill Jones was not one to analyze, or to voice or +explain his thoughts--even to himself--unless he took a notion to, or +considered that the right moment had arrived; it was all too much +trouble, anyway. Certain thoughts were running through his mind now, +however; running a little at random, to be sure, but they were there. +His young friend, John Marvin, had worked in Thomas's office for a +time--was working there when Millie entered the office. Indeed, that was +how Marvin had met Millie and found, to his delight, that they were +neighbors up in Nevada--that she was the pretty daughter his friend Bill +Jones was always mentioning. + +But Bill was thinking now especially of the fact that Marvin had left +Raymond Thomas's office suddenly, and had told Bill precisely why he had +left. + +"Don't _you_ think it would be best for me to go back, daddy?" Millie +questioned, interrupting his random musings. "Maybe mother could manage +here, with one or two boarders and the money I shall send her. And there +will be your army pension. Mr. Thomas is coming to pay us a visit +to-morrow, you know, and I'll ask him at once for my old position. I +know it will be all right, for he's always been perfectly splendid! He +told me the position would always be open to me. You have no idea how +kind and considerate he is, daddy! Then maybe next summer--" + +"Next summer we're all goin' to be rich!" said her odd foster-father, +unexpectedly. "Yes, sir, meanin' you an' mother, Millie girl, next +summer we're goin' to be awful rich. Leastways, you an' mother is. Bein' +rich wouldn't mean nothin' to me--I'm above it!" + +"Why, daddy!" Millie exclaimed, staring at him. "How--What do you mean, +daddy?" + +Slumped away down in his chair, Bill's eyes were now all but closed +tight and he was grinning. + +"Nothin' particular," he answered, softly. "'Cept that maybe Bill Jones +ain't called Lightnin' for nothin'." + +"Bill," said his wife, "this ain't no time for to be smart! If you have +anything to say, I wish to goodness you'd say it!" + +Bill half opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Millie ain't goin' back +to that tailor-made lawyer's office," he said. + +"Daddy, please!" said Millie, flushing. + +"You mustn't make fun of Mr. Thomas when--" + +"All right, Millie," he stopped her, resting his thin hand on her brown +hair for an instant. "I wouldn't say nothin' as would hurt you. But you +won't have to go back, my dear--not unless you really want to leave us. +I got an idea, mother--that's why I was late gettin' home. Ideas take +time, 'specially when they're good ones! I got a good one what'll fix +this whole business!" + +Bill stuck his thumbs in his faded old shirt comically. Even slumped +down in his chair as he was, the suggestion of a harmless swagger was in +his manner--the easy swagger of one who, hitherto unconsidered, has +astonished the skeptics by giving birth to an idea and solving a +problem. There was something about Bill that suppressed the gentle but +none the less amused smile that was dimpling Millie's cheeks. + +"Out with it, daddy!" she demanded, restraining a desire to pull his +ear. + +"If Lem Townsend is so anxious to help us," he stated, "he can arrange +all the details for you, mother. I 'ain't got time for details--that's +what I told Grant once, when we was havin' supper before Petersburg. Got +enough to do with the idea. Lem can put the ads. in them Reno papers, +an' hire the maids for you, an' things like that." Then Bill suddenly +stopped, hugely enjoying the mystification of his two listeners. + +His wife sat up. "Bill Jones," she said, "you been drinking again down +to town, that's what I think!" + +"Go on, daddy!" Millie encouraged, putting her hand on his arm. "I feel +that you've thought of something! Tell us!" + +Ignoring his wife's accusation, Bill gave Millie a grateful glance and +resumed, in his slow drawl: + +"I got an idea--sure enough, mother an' Millie! It didn't hit me until I +was half-way home to-day, but I got it lookin' at the mornin' train what +goes on through to Reno. I've looked at a pile o' trains in my time, but +I never got no idea from 'em before. Look here, don't the state line run +plumb through the middle o' this house, so's half of it is in California +an' the other half in Nevada? Well, what's the matter with makin' this +house a hotel temporary for busted hearts what takes six months to cure? +Lots o' them rich folks from the East who goes on down to Reno to git +divorced would like to live on the lake, but they can't because they got +to live in Nevada for six months. They can live on one side o' this +house an' be in Nevada. An' at the same time they gits all the good o' +livin' in California! They'd be tickled to death an' they'd be comin' in +shoals all year, winter an' summer. An' what they pays ain't nothin' to +them--the Reno hotels is so rich off them they don't want to take in no +one what 'ain't a busted heart! You better start right away gettin' +ready, mother!" + +Mrs. Jones and Millie gasped. Bill, however, having spoken at +considerable length for him, merely reached for his eternal bag of +tobacco and paper and idly rolled himself a cigarette. + +Millie clapped her hands. "Why, mother!" she cried, "daddy's right--it +is an idea! And so simple!" + +"All big things is simple," Bill remarked, with the air of one who ought +to know. + +Mrs. Jones stared from her husband to Millie. "Oh, Bill," she said, +finally, "I really think we can do it! And now I'll tell you somethin'. +I--I was goin' to suggest this very thing some time ago, but--but I +thought you wouldn't approve of it on account o' Millie. Lem Townsend +put the notion in my head when he was talkin' about our sellin' the +timber." + +Bill looked up. "Lem thought of it, eh? Didn't think Lem had that much +sense. Anyways, I bet I thought of it first--I must 'a' been thinkin' of +it for a long time without knowin' it. Why shouldn't I approve--on +account o' Millie, mother?" + +"I--I don't know," said his wife, uncertainly. "I hear some of them +divorcers is--is--" + +"Shucks, mother," Bill stopped her. "They're human beings, ain't they? +An' them as ain't we needn't take. But they're all right. I seen a lot +o' them on the trains. Right smart lookers, most o' them! They can't +help it if their hearts gets busted, can they? Human beings is human +beings. Besides, we gotter look at it from a business point o' view--as +Lincoln said to me about the Civil War. I was a business man once an'--" + +Millie laughed, and Bill, remembering that he was in the bosom of his +family and that there were certain things he couldn't "get away with" +there, subsided. + +Evidently Mrs. Jones had been thinking hard during the past few minutes, +and now she spoke. "We'll do it, Millie!" she said. "Some o' them Reno +hotels got started overnight, just like this, an' we can do the same. +It'll be kinder queer at first, turning our home into a hotel, but maybe +we can soon make enough to--to make it a home again. Shall we try it, +Millie?" + +"Of course!" Millie exclaimed. "I think it will be great fun! You're +awful clever, daddy, to think of it!" + +Bill, who had rolled and lighted another cigarette, arose and stuck his +hands carelessly in the pockets of his worn, baggy old trousers. +"'Tain't nothin'," he remarked, swaying on his heels and toes. "Nothin' +at all! I think o' lots o' things like that, but I don't tell 'em--too +busy! Well, mother, as Lem Townsend's comin' over to-night, you better +have him fix them details. I got to go an' think some more about the +idea!" + +He moved away with elaborate unconcern and started to amble down the +veranda steps. His wife suddenly remembered several odd jobs he should +be attending to, but she did not stop him. Her mind was full of +plans--and one is naturally timid about asking a Man with a Big Idea to +perform menial tasks. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +After supper the following evening Bill slipped from the house and +ambled through the woods to the lake border, where a young moon, cradled +above the western ridge, sent its shafts of silver light across the +darkened waters. It was evident that Bill Jones wanted to be alone. He +settled down on the trunk of a fallen tree and absently rolled himself a +cigarette. When it was satisfactorily lighted he glanced down the shore. +It was deserted, but a little way back, on the woodland path, he +observed two people strolling in the dim shadows of the pines and +cedars. He knew that the girl in the white dress was Millie, and he +guessed that the man with her was John Marvin. Bill was not especially +romantic, but there was no doubt that the sight of those two together +pleased him. He knew that the pair had not seen much of each other of +late, and he wondered why. He himself had not seen John Marvin for +nearly two weeks. Though he did not indulge in romance personally, he +understood much, and he sighed deeply as he watched the dim figure of +the girl strolling along the path. His mind wandered off through a vista +of past years to the time when Millie had first come to the Tahoe region +and to the Jones family, a bit of a girl of three. Sinking into a +reverie, Bill failed to note that the pair had finally parted, Marvin +striding off up the trail in the direction of his cabin. A pull at his +ear brought him back to earth. + +"Why, daddy! What are you doing out here all alone?" + +Millie sat down beside him, putting an arm around his neck. + +"Hello!" said Bill, reaching for his bag of tobacco and papers. "Where's +John?" he asked, a humorous gleam in his eyes, as he met hers. + +Millie seemed to hesitate before answering: "He's gone back to his +place. I told him Mr. Thomas was here and he wouldn't even come in to +see him! He says he does not like it. I don't think it is any of his +business," she added, giving Bill a hug. + +"Why ain't it?" Bill asked. + +Again Millie hesitated, then said, "Mr. Thomas is just as nice as he can +be daddy, and--" + +"His yaller gloves is nice. So's his cane. Must take him an awful long +time to dress." + +Millie took her arm away and looked at him. She caught the lift of his +eyebrows and the peculiar expression of his half-open mouth and +half-shut eyes, an expression which always decorated Bill's face when he +gave vent to sentiments which Millie had come to regard as "Daddy's +intuitions." Bill always used trivial words at such moments, but that +did not minimize the effect. + +"But, daddy, it seems so hard to make you understand how good Mr. Thomas +has been to me! Mother understands. He took such pains with me. I was a +perfect greenhorn and didn't know the first thing about office work. No +matter what mistakes I made, he was just as patient as he could be. And +he says he loves this beautiful country up here! He liked to hear me +tell about our wonderful waterfall." + +Bill puffed his cigarette, an odd gleam in his eyes, perhaps of +amusement, perhaps of wisdom. Millie glanced back toward the house; then +her eyes swept the shore and finally came to rest on something barely +visible far up on the mountain--John Marvin's cabin. She sighed and +continued to gaze in the same direction. Bill stole a look at her. + +"Liked to hear about our waterfall, eh?" he remarked. "I thought so." + +Millie started. "Thought what, daddy?" she asked, her brown eyes trying +to read his face. + +"Nothin'. Nothin'," he replied, with a note of finality that she had +long learned to know as indicating the futility of further questioning. + +"Well," she said, rising, "I think you'd better come up to the house, +daddy. I suppose you left Mr. Thomas all alone there on the veranda, +didn't you? You might have stayed and entertained him until I got back." + +"Guess he entertains himself pretty well," said Bill. "Besides, mother's +with him." + +"But you ought to be there, too, daddy; you're the head of the house, +you know!" + +He gave her an amused glance as she cuddled his arm in hers and walked +him off. "All right, Millie, but I kinder keep fergettin' that part of +it." + +Coming up the veranda steps, they found Mrs. Jones sitting there with a +handsome, perfectly groomed young man of possibly twenty-seven. Raymond +Thomas looked actually too good to be true in that backwoods region. He +arose quickly, placed a chair for Millie, and then drew one beside his +own, urging Bill to occupy it. + +"Please sit right here, Mr. Jones!" he insisted, with an easy, +flattering smile. "Where did you disappear to after supper? I've been +looking all over for you. I want to hear some more of those famous +stories of yours! Tell me how to get him started, Miss Buckley," he +added, with mock appeal and turning his dazzling smile on Millie. + +"Oh, daddy just starts himself!" she answered, laughing. + +Bill dropped into the chair and crossed his legs. Gingerly he took the +cigar Thomas offered him. + +"I want to hear about some of your experiences in the Civil War," Thomas +urged. "Why, I have heard that you were in most of the big battles!" + +Bill glanced at his smiling questioner with an odd look. With great +deliberation he bit off the end of the cigar. "I was in all them battles +but two," he said, finally, holding up the cigar and subjecting it to a +minute inspection. + +"Yes?" Thomas encouraged. "Allow me to light the cigar, Mr. Jones!" + +Bill gave him a quizzical glance at this unusual attention, a glance +that apparently was quite lost on Thomas. + +"Sure. All but two," said Bill, taking a long pull at the cigar. "I was +in Washington on private business when them two was goin' on. I was +greatly disappointed." + +"I can imagine so!" exclaimed Thomas. + +"You can imagine a lot o' things, can't you?" said Bill, unexpectedly. +"I often imagine I never saw some people. It makes you feel better. But +about them battles. Ye know Grant 'd never won the battle of Lookout +Mountain if it hadn't been for me--" + +"Indeed!" cried Thomas, in a tone of pleasant surprise. + +"Nope. I was the only man he would let look out." + +Thomas laughed effusively and gently tapped Bill on the back. "Capital!" +he exclaimed. "You must tell me some more later on. And you've got to +come to town with me some time, Mr. Jones. But"--and for a moment he +turned his brilliant smile on Millie and Mrs. Jones--"I've been +thinking ever since supper of that great idea of yours about turning +this place into a hotel for the broken-hearted. Really, I've given much +serious thought to it, as I was telling your wife just before you and +Miss Buckley joined us. I am so interested in you all that I hate to act +like a damper, but I have very grave doubts about it being a paying +proposition. And then I fear none of you have taken into consideration +the vast amount of work, preparation, and alteration the scheme will +entail. Now, as you are doing this to--er--well, to improve the +financial yield of the establishment--you have flattered me by deeming +me worthy of your confidence, Mrs. Jones, so perhaps I need not hesitate +over words--it seems to me that we might find some other and easier way +of accomplishing the desired object--" + +"Hello, Lem! Come an' set down," called Bill, calmly interrupting the +above flow of words and addressing a tall, rather impressive and +distinguished-looking man of about forty who had come up the veranda +steps. + +"How's it goin' Lem?" Bill asked. He turned his eyes on Thomas. "Lem's +runnin' fer superior judge o' Washoe County at the fall election." + +Mrs. Jones and Millie greeted Townsend cordially and the girl placed a +chair for him while he turned to shake hands with Thomas, who had +recovered his slightly shattered poise and risen gracefully. Townsend +shook hands genially, but there was a lurking frown in Raymond Thomas's +eyes--more than a suggestion that he was annoyed at the interruption, +and, for reasons of his own, resented the presence of another person on +the veranda. His dazzling smile was at work, however. + +"It is a pleasure to meet the future legal light of Washoe County!" he +said. + +"That's right--better make yourself solid with him now," said Bill, +throwing away the remains of the cigar and bringing out his tobacco and +papers. There was something in his voice that somehow did not bring a +laugh. + +"Why, daddy!" cried Millie. "I don't think that's funny at all!" + +Bill merely glanced at her and went on rolling his cigarette. Thomas had +given Bill a keen, puzzled look; but no one could ever tell from +Lightnin's expression whether or not any special meaning lay back of +his words. + +Mrs. Jones created a diversion. Eagerly she imparted Bill's great idea +to Townsend and their intention of carrying it out at once. Millie +joined in and asked him if he would help. He declared himself at their +immediate disposal. + +"I'm very glad you are going to do it, mother!" he said. "In my +judgment, it is an excellent solution of your problem. You will recall +that I suggested this--" + +"But I beat you to it, Lem!" Bill cut in quickly. "Forethought and +execution is the whole carnage!" + +Raymond Thomas had been listening closely. If there was disapproval and +annoyance at the turn things were taking, it did not show in his face. + +"But are you sure this venture will pay these good friends of ours, Mr. +Townsend?" he asked, in a tone of grave doubt. "Those divorce +people--they are mostly women, you know--are generally on short rations, +though they have been used to having a lot of money to spend. I'm afraid +they'll demand comforts and luxuries that will run expenses into big +figures, and they won't want to pay enough to make a reasonable margin +of profit." + +"I am certain it will pay splendidly!" replied Townsend. "Look at the +Reno hotels! Oh yes, I strongly advise our friends to tackle it!" + +Thomas frowned slightly. "Perhaps you are right, Mr. Townsend. I presume +you have investigated the matter. But there is another point to +consider. I don't think--well, personally, I do not think it is +altogether a good plan to--to bring women of that sort into contact with +women like Mrs. Jones and Miss Mildred." + +He turned to Millie, his expression one of delicate concern and appeal. + +"It's fine of you to speak like that, Mr. Thomas," she said, flushing +slightly, "but mother and I have talked over all that. We do not mind. +And, besides, I don't think it right for us to feel that way about it. +I'm sure most of those women are nice--and maybe they need just the +sympathy and care we can give them." + +Lemuel Townsend, on hearing Thomas's statement, had sat bolt upright. +"Sir," he said, in tones of personal injury, adjusting his glasses and +eying Thomas from head to foot, "I think that a rather broad and +sweeping statement for you to make. Miss Mildred is perfectly correct +in her surmise. I must remind you that I am a Nevada attorney. I have +known, in my life, many of these young women, and I have found them most +estimable!" + +"Ye like 'em, don't you, Lem?" remarked Bill, chuckling. + +Townsend flushed; he looked appealingly at Mrs. Jones and Millie, his +judicial manner gone. It must be confessed that Millie suppressed +something resembling a giggle. + +"You old fogies up here in the mountains have the wrong idea!" Townsend +said, turning to Bill. "Why should two people be hitched together when +they are pulling in different directions? That doesn't get them any +place." He rose and reached for his hat on the veranda rail. "Well, I +must be off. I'll get to work at once, Mrs. Jones. The Reno papers shall +have your ad. to-morrow, and I'll get busy on some other things at +once." + +The two women rose, profuse in their thanks, which he smilingly waved +aside. With a nod to Bill, and a rather formal bow to Thomas, he went +down the steps. + +Thomas resumed his seat and his dazzling smile; there was nothing in his +manner to show that he had been thinking quickly. He crossed his legs +easily and drew out another cigar. + +"Have you ever thought of selling the place, Mrs. Jones?" he asked, +suddenly. + +"Why--why, no! Can't say as we have!" she answered, evidently surprised. +"An' I don't know as we could if we wanted to. Ain't much call for a +place like this, Mr. Thomas!" + +"But you can't always tell about these things, my dear lady," said +Thomas, addressing himself exclusively to Mrs. Jones. "It might not be +so hard to find a purchaser, and at a good price, too." + +"I--I don't think Bill would like to sell," she replied, doubtfully. +"Would you, Bill?" + +Her husband made no reply. He sat gazing straight ahead, his eyes half +shut as usual. + +"Perhaps Mr. Jones is indifferent on the subject," Thomas resumed. "Now +I am sure that if he felt that you and Miss Mildred were well +provided--" + +"Say, you're kinder full of ideas yourself, ain't you?" Bill +interrupted, unexpectedly turning and bringing his thin, unshaven face +close to the other man's, quite unwonted force and anger in his manner. + +"Daddy!" Millie cried, while his wife stared at him. + +The anger left his face and the old, shrewd, humorous light crept back +into his eyes. + +"I don't believe in more 'n one idea at a time," he said, grinning. +"No--I guess mother an' me an' Millie 'll try out that little +busted-heart notion o' mine first, afore we tackles any other notions. +Guess I'll turn in, mother--had a kinder tall day. Look sorter all in +yourself. Better come along. Tirin' business, havin' ideas. If Mr. +Thomas 'ain't been entertained ernough, maybe Millie 'll stay down an' +keep the show goin'." And he got up slowly, stuck his hands in his +pockets, and ambled into the house. + +"I think we'd better go in, too, mother," said Millie, rising. "I know +you're just fagged out, and it's late, anyway. You won't mind if we +leave you to finish your cigar, Mr. Thomas, will you?" + +"Not at all! Not at all!" Thomas exclaimed, with his smile. "A thousand +pardons for keeping you up so late--it was thoughtless of me!" + +He sprang to the screen door, held it open for them, and called a cheery +"Good-night!" as they disappeared up the stairs. Then he sat down again +and thoughtfully finished his cigar. He appeared to have a lot to think +about, to figure out. When finally he went up to his own room a light +burned there for an hour longer. + +In the morning Bill Jones was up and about unwontedly early. He got +himself some breakfast, then went to the little desk where the few +boarders habitually left the letters they had written the night before +for the outgoing mail, which he took to the post-office. He found some +half-dozen letters on the desk this morning, and he examined the +addresses deliberately. One in particular seemed to interest him +immensely. It was in a handwriting he had seen before and recognized as +that of Raymond Thomas. He put a finger to his cheek and gazed up at the +ceiling--which is the same as saying that Bill Jones was making a +careful mental note of the name and address on that letter. It was +addressed to one Everett Hammone, the Golden Gate Land Company, San +Francisco. It was quite obvious that Bill Jones had a strong desire to +know the contents of that letter; but he dropped it carelessly among the +rest, bundled them up with a string and stuffed them in his pocket as he +strolled out of the house on his daily journey. + +Out on the trail a bit, his ambling feet came to a pause. He took out +his tobacco and papers and rolled a cigarette. Lighting it, he turned +around and gazed up the mountain, his eyes blinking in the morning +sunlight as they rested on the dot that was John Marvin's cabin. For a +moment it seemed as if Bill had it in mind to change his direction and +go up the mountain. + +"I sure would like to have er talk with John," he mused. "Sure would. +'Ain't had a talk with him for some time. But I guess as John is pretty +put to it with that there timber proposition--things must be gittin' +some excited up there! Maybe I'll go up to-morrer." + +And having characteristically decided to do it to-morrow, Bill continued +his morning stroll toward the post-office. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +For reasons obvious and otherwise, Bill Jones did not carry out his +intention of visiting John Marvin's cabin "to-morrow." In spite of +himself, Bill naturally was drawn into the vortex of work and +preparation necessary to turning his home into the Calivada Hotel. The +period of change was a nightmare to Bill, the only leaven in his misery +being the astonishing fact that he actually evolved quite a number of +ideas--ideas which Mrs. Jones, Millie, and Lem Townsend not only O.K.'d, +but put into instant execution--and found exceedingly workable. He made +many attempts to disappear from the premises, but his wife, or Millie, +or Lem always had an eye on him and managed to frustrate his hasty +sorties or more subtle schemes to take French leave. This went on day +after day, and now Bill had endured nearly six weeks of more or less +pleasantly enforced captivity. + +In the mean time the mysterious "excitement" up the mountain about +which Bill had mused that morning on the trail had come to a head, and +John Marvin's little cabin seemed to be the center of it. + +It was shortly after sundown one evening that a big, red-headed +lumberjack, obviously a Swede, put his head in the door of the cabin and +glanced quickly around the one room. Seeing that there was no one +inside, he entered, closing the door behind him. Going to the window, he +looked out through the thick grove of pines and cedars, but evidently +could see no one. He was breathing hard, as if from running, and he sank +into a chair. + +His rest was short-lived. There was a rap at the door, which was +instantly pushed open, and a lanky, sinewy man in sombrero and +riding-breeches, with two revolvers at the belt, strode in. The Swede, +on his feet in an instant, recognized the intruder as Nevin Blodgett, +sheriff of Washoe County. + +"What you want?" the lumberjack asked, in his heavy voice. + +The sheriff did not answer at once, but took a quick survey of the +cabin's contents, his eyes lighting up as they rested upon the unwashed +dishes on the table, telling of a recent meal. There was a +self-satisfied swagger about the sheriff as he walked up to the Swede. + +"You're John Marvin, ain't you?" he demanded. + +"No, sir," replied the Swede, with a heavy frown. + +The sheriff looked puzzled for a moment; then it seemed to dawn on him +that it was just possible that a big, red-headed Swede was not likely to +be John Marvin. + +"Well!" he snapped. "Then I guess you're working for him, ain't you?" + +The lumberjack shook his head and went close to Blodgett, emphasizing +his words, "Who I work for bane my business!" There was no fear in his +manner as he stood looking into his interrogator's face with a grin that +boded ill for any one looking for trouble. + +Blodgett backed away, his eyes following the breadth of the Swede's +husky shoulders and the line of his powerful arms. + +"None of that!" he said. "You're with the gang that's been chopping down +that timber out there. You know well enough that Marvin's stealing that +timber, don't you?" + +"Stealing?" + +"Yes! He's stealing it from the Pacific Railroad Company, and I'm here +to arrest him for it!" + +"Humph!" The Swede shrugged his shoulders and wheeled around, gazing +anxiously out of the window, where the path through the forest was +visible. + +"You know where he is, don't you?" Blodgett asked. + +"He gone away." + +"Where?" Blodgett stamped his spurred boot. + +"I doan' know." + +"When did he go?" + +"Maybe--yesterday." + +"When's he coming back?" + +"I doan' think he coomin' back." The Swede deliberately put a kettle on +the stove and whistled indifferently. + +Blodgett was evidently torn between a desire to maintain his dignity and +authority as sheriff and a rather healthy reluctance to have any trouble +with the great, hulking Swede. + +"It's going to be hard for you if you're lying--" + +He got no farther. The Swede stepped up to him with blazing eyes. + +"You call me liar?" he yelled. "I throw you out the door!" + +Blodgett backed quickly away--very quickly. His hand sought the latch +behind him. "If you threaten me, the next thing you know you'll find +yourself in jail!" he cried, shaking his fist. + +The Swede's only answer was an ugly grin. Blodgett opened the door, +slamming it after him as he went away. + +The big lumberjack stood quiet for several minutes, listening to the +sounds of retreat beaten by the hoofs of Blodgett's horse. Assured that +the sheriff was safely out of the way, he crept to the window, thrust +his head over the sill, and gave a low whistle. + +There was a stir in the soap-plant outside and Marvin emerged, hurried +around to the door, and entered the cabin. + +"Good work!" he exclaimed, laughing and clapping the grinning Swede on +the back. "You got rid of him very well, Oscar! Now I'll go on with my +supper!" + +He took off his coat and went over to the stove, where he began to shake +the damper to let out the ashes. Oscar came and stood beside him. + +"He tell me--" + +"I know what he told you," Marvin interrupted, continuing to shake the +ashes. + +"Do that land belong to the railroad?" There was a slight note of alarm +in the Swede's voice. + +"It does now, Oscar," Marvin replied, throwing some paper and wood into +the stove and lighting it; "but I sold the timber a long time before the +railroad got the property, and I'm trying to save the timber for the man +who bought it from me." + +"Oh!" The Swede turned toward the door, as if to go. "Bane they arrest +you for that?" + +"Not unless they find me!" Marvin chuckled. + +"An' me an' the boys--can they arrest oos?" + +"No, Oscar," Marvin laughingly reassured him. "You fellows are working +for me and you are not supposed to know anything about my affairs." + +"Oh!" The Swede gave a satisfied nod of his head. "I see--you know that +from--from your books." He jerked his thumb toward a table in the corner +on which some law-books stood. + +"Yes," said Marvin, looking into the coffee-pot. "Anyhow, you'll be gone +in the morning. The job's done, thanks to you and the boys." + +The lumberjack stood for a moment, nodding his red head; then he turned +slowly and went out. + +Marvin put the coffee-pot on the stove, watched it a minute, and then +sank thoughtfully into the shabby but comfortable arm-chair at the end +of his reading-table--which also served as a dining-table. He sat there +for several minutes--until the coffee, boiling over on the stove, +brought him out of his reverie and to his feet. At the same moment he +caught the sound of remote but high words coming from that part of his +land where the recently cut timber was stacked. + +"I tell you he bane gone away!" he heard, in Oscar's heavy, threatening +voice. + +Hurriedly pushing the coffee-pot on to the back of the stove, he sprang +to the door, but before he could reach it it was thrust in against him +and he was thrown back into the middle of the room, where he stood, +perforce, facing a tall, athletic-looking man in motor togs. The man's +strong, intellectual face, undoubtedly pleasant and agreeable +ordinarily, was now clouded with anger, his jaw set and grim. + +At sight of him, however, Marvin's fists unclenched and he smiled +amiably, despite the other's attitude. + +"Why, hello, Mr. Harper!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand. "You're +just the man I've been looking for! But you seem a bit upset. What's the +trouble?" + +Ignoring the outstretched hand, Harper threw off his duster and tossed +it, with his gloves, on the table. + +"Just a minute, young man," he said, with a grim tightening of his jaw +and his keen eyes boring into Marvin's. "Just a minute. I came here to +have a look for myself and to see precisely where I stand." He turned +and carefully closed the door. + +Marvin went to the stove and calmly poured himself a cup of coffee. +"Well," he remarked, with a laugh, "won't you have a chair and some +coffee first--you can shoot just as easily sitting down." + +Harper, his hand at his belt, glared at him. + +"You don't think I mean business, do you?" he said, grimly. "Or perhaps +you think you have beaten me to it, eh? Now what sort of man are you and +what nice little game is this you are playing? Here I buy a grove of +timber from you, and while my back is turned you sell the property, +timber and all, to the railroad! I want an explanation and I want it +now!" + +"You have the facts a bit mixed up," Marvin replied, still smiling and +nodding toward the chair, at the same time placing the coffee on the +table. "Sit down and we'll talk it over--and I think you'll decide not +to shoot!" + +Harper, however, was adamant. + +"All right," said Marvin. "In the first place, when I sold you the +timber you said you were going to cut it at once--" + +"Correct--correct! But something came up and I could not attend to +it--and I don't see how that exculpates you in the least!" + +"It doesn't," replied Marvin, adding, as he took up his coffee, "if you +won't join me, I'll have to go it alone, as this is the first I've had +since morning. Well, when I sold you that timber I never thought I would +sell any of this property. My mother loved every inch of it. It was our +dream that when I received my diploma and established a practice we +would make a home here; but she was taken sick--" + +"Yes, I remember your telling me about her being in the hospital." +Harper's voice softened a bit. + +Marvin was silent a moment. "I took her to San Francisco. She died +there." + +Harper fumbled with the buckle of his belt. His heart went out to the +younger man; yet he felt that right was on his side. He picked up a +picture of Mrs. Marvin that stood in a small frame on the table. "I'm +deeply sorry," he said, softly. "I did not know." + +"There is no need to apologize," Marvin answered, quietly. "You have a +perfect right to demand an explanation about that timber." With a last +swallow of coffee, he put down his cup and stood squarely facing Harper, +and his own expression was grim as he continued: + +"When we got to San Francisco--mother and I--a lawyer in whose office I +had been a student came to the hospital and got into her good graces. He +had taken a great interest in me and I would have taken an oath as to +his integrity. But when I came up here to sell you the timber--and +mother and I needed the money desperately at the time--this man took +advantage of my absence to persuade mother to deed him fifty acres, +nearly the whole of the property! It was to be a pleasant surprise for +me when I returned! Instead of cash, he gave her a batch of stock in the +Golden Gate Land Company, stock of which I have been unable to dispose. +And the next day he resold the property to the Pacific Railroad Company +for three or four times the price represented by the stock he gave +mother. I found that out later, of course. Well, after mother's death I +hurried up here, only to discover that you had not cut the timber I sold +you _before_ the property was sold. I got busy at once and have been +staying on here until the gang out there finished cutting it and piling +it on what is left to me of the property. Your timber is ready for you, +Mr. Harper, any time you are ready to haul it away." + +It was Harper's turn to put out his hand. "I'm mighty sorry I +misunderstood you, Marvin!" he exclaimed, as the latter returned the +clasp. "But look here! Can't you do anything about this fellow, this +lawyer? What's the rascal's name?" + +"Raymond Thomas. He's up in these parts quite frequently of late. Made +himself solid with some dear friends of mine, I'm sorry to say, and I'm +worried about it. I can't help believing that he's up to some new game, +though I can't just see what it is. He's a remarkably smooth customer. +It's very hard to pin anything on him. I'm going to make him disgorge my +property if I can, but I shall have a difficult legal fight on my +hands." + +Harper nodded understandingly. "I see, I see--covered himself cleverly. +I don't know the gentleman, but I'll be only too glad to do anything to +help you, Marvin." He took a turn about the room, while Marvin leaned +against the table. "I'll have the timber hauled away at once. I didn't +have it cut, myself, because--well, I've had a lot of trouble myself. +Had a strike at the mill, and--oh, hang it all! It's my wife, Marvin! +She's packed up in a hurry and left me!" + +He flung himself into the chair and stared ruefully, comically, at the +younger man, who, not knowing what to say, said nothing. + +"I didn't mind the strike so much, nor this timber mix-up!" Harper +rushed on, with the air of a man who must tell some one or explode. "It +was my wife, young man! It's her being so unreasonable that makes me +sore. I bought her a present when I was East and had it shipped to the +office. It happened to arrive about the time Mrs. Harper was to come to +the office in the machine to take me home, and she walked in just as I +was showing it to my stenographer. Of course my wife thought I bought it +for Miss Robbins, and--well, what's the use of talking about it?" + +With a gesture of dismissal for the subject, he stood up and took out a +wallet. + +"How much do I owe you?" he asked. "I figured it would cost about eight +hundred dollars to do that job out there--" + +Marvin put up a deprecatory hand. "I can't take it now, Mr. Harper," he +interrupted. "You haven't got that timber yet, and--" + +"The railroad will have some job on its hands to get it away from me!" +said Harper. "And unless they do I owe you eight hundred dollars--do you +understand?" + +A faint noise outside broke into their conversation. With a warning +gesture, Marvin tiptoed to the door and put his ear against it. Harper, +thinking that it might be a railroad employee who had come to eavesdrop +in order to report their plans, stood with his jaw set, his hand on the +revolver at his belt. With a quick movement Marvin jerked open the door. + +Instead of a railroad employee, or the sheriff, it was only Lightnin' +Bill Jones who stood there, leaning idly against the doorframe, his +hands in his pockets. He ambled silently into the middle of the room, +his half-shut eyes blinking in the sudden light. + +"I guess I must 'a' been out there some time, come to think of it," he +remarked, meditatively, and addressing himself to the ceiling, quite as +if he were alone. Then he turned carelessly to Marvin. + +"I knocked, too--but I guess maybe you wasn't expectin' me." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +With a laugh, Marvin shut the door. "It's all right," he said, winking +at Harper. Smiling, he went up to Bill and swung him around to face him. + +"Hello, Lightnin'!" he exclaimed. "I'm mighty glad to see you. What do +you mean by staying away from me all this time? And you were so quiet +and mysterious outside there that we thought some one was spying on us!" + +"I was a spy once--with Buffalo Bill," said Lightnin', conversationally. +He stared interestedly at Harper. "Friend of yours, John?" + +"This is Lightnin' Bill Jones, Mr. Harper. This is the gentleman I sold +that timber to, Bill." The two men acknowledged the introduction. + +"Have you had any supper, Bill?" Marvin asked, resuming operations at +the stove. "If not, you'd better stop and have it with me." + +Bill shook his head with an air of importance. "No; can't stop. Got to +be home at the hotel at supper-time to see that everythin's goin' right. +What time is it now?" + +"Seven o'clock." + +Bill shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, meditated, and announced: +"Well, maybe they can get along without me. I got everythin' +sys-sys-matized." + +Marvin glanced at him quickly. "Bill, I'm afraid you've been having a +drink or two?" + +"Nope. Nope!" Bill repeated, with the debonair innocence of a +mischievous and prevaricating school-boy. "I was just sayin' good-by to +the boys out there." He signified with a jerk of his head that the +lumberjacks were responsible if he seemed in any way elated. "You see, +they're breakin' up camp--an' I didn't want to hurt their feelin's, as +they're all friends o' mine." + +Harper, who had resumed his seat in the chair, glanced at Marvin. + +"Does our friend Bill know--what we were talking about?" + +"Everything!" said Marvin, readily. "Rest easy, Mr. Harper--you'll never +find a better friend, nor a more trustworthy one, than Lightnin'. But, +surely, you have heard of his hotel, haven't you?" + +"I'm afraid not." + +"Then I guess you're the only man what 'ain't!" said Bill, emphatically, +and gazing at the ceiling and thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was +the subject of the conversation. + +Rapidly Marvin sketched the conception and success of the Calivada +Hotel. "It was a real idea--" + +"It was my idea," put in Bill, conversationally. + +"It certainly was, Bill!" Marvin went on. "And the new hotel is a big +success! You see, the state line runs right through the middle of the +house--through the center of the lobby, in fact! There are two separate +desks, one on the California side and one on the Nevada side. Women +began to arrive, and they all wanted rooms on the Nevada side--and they +wanted them for six months!" + +Harper roared with laughter. "The Reno divorce brigade!" he exclaimed. + +Bill fairly beamed at the attention his affairs were drawing. He sat +down on the corner of the table and grinned at Harper, while Marvin went +on: + +"Exactly! Everybody knows what a woman goes to Reno for, but at Bill's +hotel she can get a room on the Nevada side and still make her friends +believe that she is at a California resort!" + +Again Harper laughed. "A corking good business idea!" he said. "And so +it was your idea, Mr. Jones? I congratulate you! I suppose you have been +out West here a long time?" + +"Sure--came out in the gold excitement," replied Bill, calmly. + +Harper stole an amused glance at Marvin. "Why, the gold excitement was +away back in forty-nine!" + +"Well, they was still excited when I got here!" Bill gazed up at the +ceiling, his half-shut eyes hiding their twinkle. + +"It's too bad you didn't happen to be one of the lucky ones," Harper +consoled him, arising from his chair. + +"Lucky?" Bill scratched his head under his ragged slouch-hat. "Say, I +located more claims than any man what ever came out here! I been a civil +engineer." + +The table was not a sufficient throne for Bill, so he slipped down from +it and went close to Harper, peering up at him. + +"You ought to be a rich man, Mr. Jones!" + +"Always cheated out of my share." Bill shook his head sadly. "Crooked +partners was the reason." + +"Couldn't you do anything to them?" + +"I shot some, put all the others in the penitentiary--all but one." + +"What happened to him?" + +"He died before I got him." + +"Died of fright, perhaps?" + +"I guess so." + +Harper took his hat from the table, clapped Bill on the back, and said, +laughingly, "I think I'll get out before you tell me any more!" + +Marvin urged him to have a bite of supper, but Harper declined, +explaining, as he went to the door, that he had to be in Truckee in two +hours, and that it would take him fully that time to make it in his car. +Bill, anxious to retain his audience, added his entreaty to Marvin's. +That failing, he followed Harper to the door, searching for an excuse to +hinder his leaving. + +Harper paused at the door. "Well, Marvin," he said, "I'm going to send +the trucks down here to-morrow and start hauling. And you might as well +disappear from here for a while; then, if there's any kick, no one here +will know anything about it. I'll keep you posted. Are you sure you +don't want that eight hundred now?" He took out his wallet and again +tried to make Marvin take the money, but again Marvin refused. + +Bill had been listening to every word. Now he seemed to have hit on a +way to detain Harper and at the same time prove his own personal +importance. As Harper shook hands with Marvin, Bill took an envelop from +his pocket. Drawing a paper from it, he offered it to Harper. + +"If you want to get rid of some of that money," he remarked, easily, +"maybe you'd cash that check for me." + +Harper, examining it, saw that it was a government check. "Oh, a pension +check! So you were in the war?" + +"First man to enlist!" + +Smiling, Harper handed him the check to "indorse"--which happened to be +a new word on Bill. + +"Write your name on the back of it," said Harper. + +"I always do that," said Bill, as he complied. Then he held the check up +to the light, pointing to the signatures on its face. "See all them +names," he asked, "Secretary of the Treasury, and all of 'em?" + +Harper nodded wonderingly. + +"Well, they ain't no good at all--not unless I sign it!" said Bill, +triumphantly. + +Harper laughed; handed Bill the money for the check, and, with a final +"Good-night!" hurried out of the door. Bill poked his head out, watching +him crank his machine and drive away in the moonlight. + +When the car was out of sight Bill turned back into the middle of the +room and stood watching Marvin, who had sat down and was eating his +delayed supper. + +"Better join me, Bill," Marvin again invited, and at the same time +noting a change in the old man's manner, now that they were alone. + +"No," Bill said; "I had mine with the boys outside, as I told you--but +I'll have a drink with you, John," he added, hesitatingly, knowing +Marvin's disapproval of his drinking. + +"I haven't anything in the house, Bill," said Marvin, as he went on +eating. "You know that." + +Bill edged slowly toward the table, his hand in the back pocket of his +baggy, slouchy trousers. "Yes, you have," he remarked, producing a +half-filled flask. + +"You mean you have," Marvin replied, trying not to smile. "And you've +had enough for to-night. Put it away, Bill, and promise me not to drink +any more to-night." + +"All right, John," said Bill, unconcernedly, and putting the flask back +in his pocket. "I promise--an' I 'ain't never broke a promise yet! I'll +keep this for--for emergencies. Say, Oscar told me the railroad had the +sheriff after you. You remember the last promise what I give you?" + +"What was that, Lightnin'?" + +"That if they goes to court, I'll come an' be a witness. I can swear +them trees was cut when you sold the property, an' I'll--" + +"No, Bill!" said Marvin, putting down his knife and fork and staring at +the old man, whose half-shut eyes had the suggestion of a flash in them. +"No; I couldn't let you swear to anything like that." + +"You can't help yourself--I got a right to swear to anythin' I want!" +There was an unexpected finality in Bill's usually drawling voice. + +"But I haven't got to prove when those trees were cut," said Marvin. + +"I know it," Bill responded; then, catching the smiling doubt in the +other's eyes, he added, "I was a lawyer once." + +"Then why don't you practise?" asked Marvin, inwardly chuckling. + +"Don't need no practice." And Bill resorted to his bag of tobacco and +papers, rolling himself a cigarette. By this time Marvin had finished +his meal. + +"Look here, Lightnin'," he said, as he cleared the table, "you seem to +have something on your mind. How are things going up at your place? +Anybody at home know that you are here?" + +"Not unless they're mind-readers." + +"I thought so. Well?" + +"It's a wonder you 'ain't come up to take a look yourself," Bill +countered. "You 'ain't even been up to--to see Millie," he added, +thoughtfully. + +Marvin flushed. "That's true, Bill," he said, slowly. "But I've been +mighty busy with this timber here, as you know; and, besides--well, +Millie seems to be a bit interested elsewhere." + +"That's just the trouble, I guess," said Bill, settling himself on the +corner of the table. + +Marvin looked at him quickly. "What do you mean, Bill?" he demanded. + +Lightnin' crossed his legs, took a final puff of his cigarette, and let +it drop from his fingers. + +"Oh, there ain't nothin' much to that, John!" he replied. "Nothin' to +worry about. But it's what lays back o' that." + +"For the Lord's sake stop talking in riddles, Lightnin'!" Marvin +exclaimed. "What lies back of what?" + +"Well," said Bill, looking up shrewdly, "this here Thomas has shown his +hand--an' we gotter admit, John, that he plays a mighty smooth an' slick +game! He wants to buy our place, waterfall an' all." + +"So that's it!" Marvin knew that Thomas had been buying up property in +the section, and he knew from experience what sort of treatment the +sellers were likely to get. That old Bill and his family should now be +involved filled him with concern and anger. + +"But surely you're not going to sell, Bill!" + +Lightnin' looked up, then down. "The property belongs to mother, John; +an' this here Thomas person sure knows how to go after what he wants! +He made himself solid with mother an' Millie some time ago, as you know. +They think he's Santa Claus, or somethin'. Why, he's got mother an' +Millie all het up so's they don't know whether they're standin' on their +head or feet! Mother's kinder simple about some things, John--but Millie +oughter have more sense! He's been tellin' them that this here hotel +idea won't pay for long, an' that he's willin' to buy the place at once +for a good price. He tells 'em as how they can enjoy themselves an' live +comfortable on the proceeds--an' I can have a nice, easy old age! He +'ain't said much to me, o' course--I don't give him a chance to find me +around, much. But he's got the womenfolk all fed up, eatin' out o' his +yaller gloves, an' crazy to sell. An'--an' mother an' Millie is kinder +sore at me 'cause I ain't takin' much interest in the proposition. Say, +what was the name o' that feller what acted as agent for the railroad +an' bought your property from Thomas when he done you out of it?" + +"Hammond, Everett Hammond," said Marvin. "Go on, Bill--I'm listening!" + +"Hammond, eh? To--be--sure. Well, Mister Everett Hammond is up at the +hotel now, John, with Thomas--Hammond come up in a hurry, an' they got a +deed to the property all ready fer mother an' me to sign. Mother's crazy +to sign, but I ain't--not yet. An' it seems they gotter have my name on +it, to make sure." + +"What--you mean to say it has gone that far!" exclaimed Marvin. + +"Sure thing," said Bill, rolling another cigarette. "An' say, I happen +to think them two--Hammond an' Thomas--has been in cahoots fer some +time--got an idea they is actually partners." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"I was a detective once," said Bill, with a sudden return to his usual +manner, as he lighted the cigarette. + +Marvin made an impatient gesture. "Hang it! This is really too bad, +Bill! Look here, I'll see if I can do anything! I'm going to come up to +the hotel to-morrow as soon as I can get away from here! You're not +going to sign that deed, are you, Lightnin'?" + +"No," replied Bill, slowly, a little nervously; "no--but mother an' +Millie is kinder hot on my trail fer to make me do it. Them two fellers +has sure got 'em goin', John! Well, I guess as they'll all be in bed by +the time I gets back now, so I'll be gettin' along. You'll be up +to-morrow, John?" + +"I'll come--don't worry, Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Better go now, Bill; +you've got a long walk ahead of you, you know." + +He dropped into his chair and reached thoughtfully for one of his +law-books. Bill opened the door; then turned back for a moment. + +"Studyin' them books?" he inquired. + +"Trying to," Marvin remarked, turning a page. + +"That's right--that's how I got _my_ start!" said Bill, as he went out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The following morning, rising at dawn, Mrs. Jones again tried to awaken +her husband to a full sense of his shortcomings anent his foolish +reluctance to sign the deed to the property. Bill, however, merely +turned on the pillow, gave her a brief smile, and dropped quickly into a +gentle snore. After several more attempts to awaken him and impress on +him the fact that his absence the day before had kept Thomas and Hammond +on a day longer when they had important business calling them to the +city, she gave up in despair and went below to look after breakfast, +taking with her the packet of letters that should have been in the hands +of the guests the afternoon previous. + +The morning was a busy one for Mrs. Jones and Millie. Bill, coming down +unexpectedly, escaped them, calling through the door, on his way out, +that he was going for the mail. When noon came and Bill did not turn up, +Mrs. Jones's anxiety reached fever pitch, and she sought Millie in the +hope that she could offer some solution of the problem of forcing the +deed through Bill's unwilling hands. + +At breakfast, Thomas and Hammond again had painted to her and Millie +golden pictures of the ease and even luxury that would be theirs as a +result of the sale of the property. Trembling with anticipation, Mrs. +Jones had then and there put her name to the deed which disposed of her +last bit of land; and she was determined that, no matter what it cost +her in seeming coldness and harshness toward him, Bill should be made to +place his name directly under hers. She made up her mind that he should +be brought to terms as soon as he got back; hence her extreme annoyance +as the morning went by without his showing up. + +As she went about the house, looking for Millie, her determination took +on a hard and bitter aspect which was only softened when she caught the +sound of Raymond Thomas's voice. He was speaking softly to Millie in the +lobby. Mrs. Jones belonged to a generation not so long past when +eavesdropping was not considered a wholly unworthy occupation if it +tended to place the culprit in a position to know the inner secrets of +those bound by the tie of relationship. For some time, so cleverly did +he manage her, Mrs. Jones had felt a motherly tenderness for Thomas +springing up within her, and she hoped and dreamed that her affection +would have a chance to express itself. That Thomas was in love with +Millie she had fully decided on. It was for this reason that the very +sight of John Marvin, whom she knew to be a poor young man with no +particular prospects, filled her with displeasure. Then, too, she did +not approve of her husband's friendship with Marvin, having a strong +suspicion that Marvin was influencing Bill against Thomas, and an +intuition that Bill, in his unworldliness, would stand back of Marvin's +love for Millie. + +And so it was that the sight of Millie smiling up at Thomas as he looked +earnestly down into the girl's brown eyes set Mrs. Jones's heart beating +hopefully--and sent her behind a curtain to listen to what was being +said. + +Thomas had just come in from the veranda, where he had begged to be +excused from accompanying two prospective widows on a walk to see the +waterfall at the edge of the place. He was smiling with affected +indifference when he met Mildred, who had just come down one of the +stairways, of which there were two, one leading to the Nevada side of +the house and the other to the California side. "It's a shame to miss a +stroll with them!" belying his words with a sneering toss of the head +and shrug of the shoulders. + +Millie's brow was drawn thoughtfully into wrinkles and there was a +wistful pucker to her mouth. + +At once he was all attention. "What is the matter, Millie?" he asked, a +note bordering on tenderness in his voice. + +"It's daddy again. He did not get back until midnight, and he was off +again this morning before mother or I could prevent him. I just heard +the boarders complaining about the mail service. It's all so hard on +mother, and yet"--she hesitated, her mind reverting to her +foster-father's kindness to her through all the years of her babyhood +and girlhood--"and yet," she went on, "he's really so good and kind at +heart, he really would feel dreadfully if he understood what he puts us +through." She stood by the newel-post, her eyes pleading for advice. + +Thomas took her hand and looked at it thoughtfully. + +For a moment Millie let it lie in his; then her lids dropped and she +blushed, withdrawing her hand and walking slowly toward one of the +desks, of which there were also two, one on each side of the hall. + +Thomas followed her, bending down and looking into her face. "I would +not let his absence bother you. I'm going up-stairs to pack my grips. As +soon as I finish I'll go after him," he said, soothingly, as, one hand +in pocket, he let the other flip a pack of cards on the table. + +"Oh, you've been too kind already," Millie protested, again meeting his +eyes and turning away, her lips quivering. + +"Oh, I'm not so kind as you think!" He laughed, an honest humor rising +to infrequent expression. "I've got to see Lightnin' myself before I go. +He hasn't signed the deed yet, and--" + +"I really can't see what he's got to do with it!" Millie interrupted. +"The place is mother's. Oh, well"--she sighed and shook her head in +despair--"I suppose to be safe his signature must be obtained. I do hope +he'll turn up before you leave. It's too bad--" + +"Well, if he doesn't, maybe you and Mrs. Jones can make him see the +light. I'll leave the papers with you, and when he signs them you can +send for me and I'll be up and--" + +"You don't know how much I appreciate all you've done for us. Now don't +say it's nothing." Millie turned and put her hand on his arm, her eyes +resting intently on his. + +He bent over her for a minute, then straightened up as he heard a slight +movement in the portière, a gleam of wisdom illuminating his face. He +smiled with a nonchalant disregard of his former intention and backed +away from the girl. + +Millie's color mounted her forehead. Shyly she withdrew her hand from +his arm and fumbled with the bunch of keys about her neck. After an +awkward silence she continued: + +"You've been so good to us. When mother and I've been in such distress +that we did not know where to turn and mother was nearly frantic, you +come forward and in no time arrange everything so that mother and daddy +are going to be better off than they ever dreamed of. For years, you +know, mother and I have worried about her and daddy's old age. Piece by +piece we've sold the land and the timber. Even if this place does pay it +will only be running expenses, with nothing saved up, as you said. And +then the Nevada divorce laws might change. Oh! You've been so kind," she +breathed, in deep sincerity. + +"Now don't make me ashamed," Thomas coaxed in his soothing way, backing +slowly toward the stairs on the California side. "What I've done is just +the simplest thing in the world. I grew to be very fond of you when you +were in my office, Millie, and I'm glad to be of what service I can." + +As he was half-way up the stairs, Mrs. Jones emerged from behind the +portière. He stopped and bent in a nattering bow, a twinkle in his eye. +"Why, good morning, Mrs. Jones!" he called down. + +"Oh, excuse me!" Mrs. Jones, a guilty conscience bringing his courtly +sarcasm, which would otherwise have escaped her gullible nature, into +notice, stepped back, turning to the kitchen, whence she had come when +she stopped to listen. But Millie followed her, and, with arm around her +waist, drew her into the room and seated her near the table. + +"You're not going into that hot kitchen again to-day," remonstrated +Millie, planting a daughterly kiss on her cheek. "You've been out there +working like a slave for three mortal hours." + +Mrs. Jones hid her hands awkwardly under her apron and reddened as she +glanced up at Thomas, who had come back from above-stairs. + +"I don't look presentable," she murmured, fidgeting in the chair. + +"Come now, you mustn't mind me," said Thomas, Millie adding her word to +his: "Please stay there just for a few minutes, mother. You look ready +to drop." + +"She's always tellin' me that." Mrs. Jones showed her pleasure in +Millie's concern by beaming knowingly from one to the other, an act +which sent Millie to the desk, where she pretended to look at the +register. + +Thomas smiled. "Millie's right," he responded. "You do work a great deal +too hard; but it won't be long now before you can say good-by to hard +work for the rest of your life." + +"Oh, Mr. Thomas!" Mrs. Jones arose, forgetting the red, hardened hands +she had been endeavoring to hide behind the blue and white checked +apron, and hastened to Thomas, holding them toward him in a gesture half +of gratitude, half of pleading. "I can scarcely realize that all this is +going to come true and we owe it all to you. I only wish I could tell +you how grateful I am." + +Thomas was quite determined to escape further enthusiasm, either on +Millie's or on Mrs. Jones's part. His game nearly played, he wished to +withdraw gracefully and without detriment to a certain lurking decency +which had not quite been swept away. Thwarting Mrs. Jones's attempt to +wring his hand in gratitude, he took two light bounds up the stairs, +stopping to laugh back: "Well, I'm going to get out for fear you'll +spoil me with a thankfulness I don't deserve. Hang on to her, Millie." +He directed a gleam toward the young girl as she went up to her mother. +"Make her take a rest." + +"Oh dear! Do you think I've driven him away?" There was genuine concern +in Mrs. Jones's voice as she sank back into the chair and gazed +anxiously after Thomas. + +"No, you haven't." Millie smoothed the brown hair which was fast +streaking with gray from her brow, damp with excitement. "He is going +up-stairs to pack. He's arranged everything about selling the place, and +there's nothing more for him to stay--" + +"You're here, ain't you?" Mrs. Jones folded her arms stiffly across her +chest and assumed a rigid position in her chair as she questioned Millie +with eyes suddenly grown fierce with the look of an angry hen when she +thinks her brood has been disturbed. + +"Oh, mother!" The girl pursed her lips into a pouting smile as she +leaned over the back of the chair, an affectionate arm on Mrs. Jones's +shoulder. "Please get that foolish idea out of your head. You know--" + +"Know nothin'." Mrs. Jones's head jerked vehemently while she insisted: +"Every letter you wrote home all the time you was workin' in his office +showed that he cared for you." + +"I never wrote anything of the sort!" Millie drew a surprised breath as +her mouth was drawn into a tiny O of expostulation. "Never!" she +reiterated, with a slight stamp of her foot, as she went to the +California desk and became absorbed in the register. + +"Oh, I could read between the lines! I ain't that stupid. If he isn't +in love with you, why is he plannin' for us to come and live in San +Francisco? Oh, won't it be grand!" Mrs. Jones, carried away by the +recollection of a long-ago visit to the city, and by a dream of what a +permanent life there would be, resumed her own hearty enthusiasm. "I +want to live in the city real bad, but I'm just skeered to death I won't +know how to dress. I want to get a lot o' pretty things 'n' be like the +women I saw when I was at the Palace. Do ye think Bill 'll think I'm +getting crazy?" + +An indulgent smile from Millie met her uneasy but smiling gaze, and she +went on: "I know I've talked about the city ever since I can remember, +but now that it's in sight I'm awful afraid I'll be out o' place." + +"Well, you'll not," answered Millie, going behind the counter to look at +the letter-rack, almost empty. "I'm going to see that you have just as +nice things as any of the women stopping here." + +There was a silence as both of the women smiled in contented +anticipation. Mrs. Jones was the first to speak, a sudden doubt +expressing itself in an anxious frown and a narrowing of the eyes. "But +there's Bill," she said, with a start. "I'm so afraid of the way he'll +act!" + +"Daddy 'll be all right, I'm sure." + +Mrs. Jones composed herself and began planning. "When his pension comes, +you must take him to town and buy him some new clothes. Them others we +got before didn't fit a bit good." + +Millie turned quickly at the mention of her father's pension, +remembering that it was time for it to arrive. She reminded her mother +of this fact. + +Mrs. Jones's gaiety had brief life after Millie's remark. "He ain't back +with the mail! I'll bet--" + +"Oh, mother!" Millie, deeply concerned, came from behind the desk and +went up to the older woman, questioning, "You don't suppose his pension +has come?" + +"I think it's gone!" Mrs. Jones bowed emphatically in a rising voice and +hurried to the desk on the Nevada side, where she took a cursory but +none the less exhaustive look at the mail indexes. "I found him hanging +around this desk this morning, and when I come in he beat it, sayin', +before I could stop him, that he was goin' after the mail. I wonder--" +She stopped and gave a deep groan of acquiescence. "Huh! Huh!" She had +opened up the top of the desk to find a half-filled flask. "There!" she +exclaimed, holding it to the light. "He was waiting for a chance to get +this when I shooed him away!" + +Millie put her arm around her and drew her into the middle of the room, +trying to soothe her. "Anyway, don't let's blame him for anything until +we're sure. He may come home perfectly all right. You know he loves the +woods and the lake and the autumn coloring which is so wonderful now. He +always lingers like this. Please go up-stairs and have a good rest." +Millie tried to lead her mother toward the stairs, but Mrs. Jones gently +shook the girl's arm from about her waist and went toward the kitchen. + +"Where are you going?" Millie asked, standing still, a puzzled frown +giving place to an understanding laugh as Mrs. Jones hesitated and +looked at the floor, answering in a manner half ashamed: "Why--well--I +thought--" she stammered, "he might come home soon, an' he's used to +findin' somethin' good kept warm--though he don't deserve it!" + +She hesitated, her kindly, better nature shining in her eyes, battling +for expression. "Yes--please set a place for him, Millie!" And Mrs. +Jones hastily disappeared into the kitchen to avoid the girl's rippling +laugh of gentle amusement. Smiling to herself, Millie crossed the lobby +and went into the dining-room. + +The moment she had left the lobby the street door of the hotel was +pushed open cautiously and an inquiring head thrust itself in. The head +was that of Bill Jones. Evidently satisfied that the coast was clear, +Bill came slowly into the lobby. Looking warily up at the stairs on +either side, and toward the dining-room and kitchen doors, he eased +himself softly over to the Nevada desk, raised the top and fumbled +expectantly inside. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As Bill reached the desk and lifted the top, another gray-haired old +man, possibly the same age as Lightnin', though larger and huskier in +build, stole in through the street door and stood there doubtfully, +puffing a cigar. He looked about fearfully, evidently ready to decamp at +an instant's notice; but his glance, traveling back to the figure at the +desk, bespoke a childlike trustfulness in Bill Jones. This gentleman's +clothes were as disreputable as might be, as was his battered +slouch-hat. His face was very red and very unshaven, and his expression +was a comical mixture of uncertainty as to his welcome on the premises +and maudlin kindliness toward the world at large. He rejoiced in the +name of "Zeb," and was a down-and-out prospector, a relic of the past. +His only reason for existence these days seemed to be that he was a +crony and devout satellite of Bill's--to the great aggravation of Mrs. +Jones. There was a legend in the district that Zeb and Bill had spent +many years together in the old days, up and down the trails. There +seemed to be considerable truth in the story. Anyway, no efforts of Mrs. +Jones's or of anybody else's could make Bill forget his pal. Zeb was +always sure of a meal, or a drink and a cigar, provided Lightnin' could +find a way of producing those necessities of a broken-down prospector's +life. + +Bill felt around in the desk for a minute, while Zeb watched, fearfully, +hopefully; then Lightnin' turned around, disappointment in his face. But +before he could break the sad news regarding the strange disappearance +of a half-filled flask, Zeb held up a warning finger and began to back +through the door. His ear, ever keen for the swish of Mrs. Jones's +skirts, reported danger. + +"What's the matter, Zeb?" Bill asked. "Aw, come back. What ye 'fraid +of?" With a disgusted motion he beckoned Zeb into the room again. + +But Zeb, answering the warning that had never failed him, stayed close +to the door, whispering back to Bill, "Where's your old woman?" + +"That's all right. Come on in. She ain't here now." Bill, determined in +his search, lifted the lid a second time and began to take out the +contents of the drawer. + +Zeb, taking heart, tiptoed up to him and, looking over his shoulder, +murmured, contemptuously, "I don't believe you've got a drop." + +"I'll show ye!" Looking intently under the lid, Bill's voice was half +smothered. It stopped short when the kitchen door flew open and Mrs. +Jones burst with emphatic and quick tread into the room. + +She did not pay heed to Bill at once. Zeb received the full force of her +mood. "Clear out now!" she called, in no gentle tone, as she swept up to +him--an unnecessary action, as Zeb, catching one glance of the irate +woman, made double-quick time in getting out of the door and down the +steps of the veranda. + +Zeb disposed of, Mrs. Jones turned her attention to her errant husband. +Both arms akimbo, she stood still in the middle of the floor and +concentrated her glare upon him. + +"Bill Jones," she asked, in a loud, rasping tone, "where have you been?" + +Bill had put down the lid at the first hint of her entrance. While she +was addressing Zeb he had quietly slipped behind the desk and busied +himself with the mail which he had drawn from the back pocket of his +trousers. Whistling softly to himself, he sorted the letters, placing +them in their proper pigeonholes. + +He did not answer Mrs. Jones at once, but went on whistling. After a +second in which he decided that a soft answer might draw the sting from +her wrath, he stood still and, without looking around, said, gently, +"Hello, mother." Without waiting for a reply, he went on sorting the +mail. + +The fire in Mrs. Jones's eye flamed brighter. Nothing exasperated her as +did Bill's refusal to take her tempers seriously. It was not easy to do +all of the fighting--one reason why Bill usually succeeded in carrying +his idleness with a high hand. But this time she was not going to be +ignored. The conference with Hammond and Thomas, the knowledge that he +had been looking for his flask--that he was looking for it more for +Zeb's sake than his own, this time, made no difference--as well as +complaints by the guests because of Bill's tardiness with the mail, had +exhausted her patience and whetted her into bringing Bill to quick +order. + +"Do you know what time it is?" She took a step closer to Bill, her +voice retaining its hard ring. + +Bill paid no attention to the question, but went on whistling and +sorting the mail. + +"It's after two o'clock!" She stamped her foot and glared at him. + +Her glare fell on unseeing eyes, her tones on unheeding ears, for the +uneven tenor of Bill's whistle kept up and the spasmodic sorting of the +mail went on. + +"Let's see," he said, softly, to himself, "Mrs. Taft's letter--she's in +Number Four, ain't she?" he addressed his wife. Receiving no answer +himself this time, he kept on with his soliloquy, changing the letter to +its proper place. "There! that's right. This one," he said, holding the +envelop to the light and studying it, "is for Mr. Thomas." He hesitated +and looked at it more closely. Placing the other letters on the desk, he +came from behind it and went toward Mrs. Jones. + +Noting that Mrs. Jones was interested in the letter and that she had +made a quick move toward him, he changed his mind and sauntered to the +other side of the room, still scrutinizing the letter in his hand. As he +paused, he placed the envelop close to his eyes and read, "Raymond +Thomas Es-_Q._" + +Mrs. Jones, her arms folded across her adamant breast, narrowed her eyes +into a quizzical stare. Satisfied that her estimate of Bill's condition +was correct, she hastened to verify it. Going close to him, she +demanded, "Bill, have you been drinkin'?" + +For once in his life Bill could prove his innocence. He was quick to +avail himself of the opportunity, and, much to her surprise, he turned +and blew his blameless breath at her. + +Mrs. Jones relaxed, exclaiming, in tones of relief, "Thank the Lord!" + +"What's He got to do with it?" Bill asked, quickly. + +Mrs. Jones smiled. For the time being her manner was mollified. She +followed him to the desk behind which he had returned to the mail-rack. +"You know," she explained, "it's 'way past dinner-time, and if you won't +work, the least you can do is to be on time for your meals." + +"I been workin'," Bill chirped, as he placed the last letter in its box +and went toward the dining-room door. + +Mrs. Jones placed herself in the middle of the room and in such a way +that Bill could not reach his goal without passing her. "What work have +you been doin'?" The sarcasm in the glance which pierced Bill's shifting +gaze did not pierce his good humor. He continued to chirp. "I got the +mail." + +"The mail?" There was contempt in his wife's question and in the answer +she gave to it. "The mail came at ten o'clock." + +"I got it, didn't I?" Bill registered another cheerful quip. + +Suddenly Mrs. Jones's mind recurred to the day of the month. Her +contempt gave place to anxiety and she stepped close to her husband and +looked into his face again. "Bill, was there a letter for you?" she +asked. + +Bill did not answer her with words. Instead he looked away from her and +shook his head slowly. + +"Bill Jones," his wife persisted, her tones reverting to their former +clear coldness, "didn't your pension come to-day?" + +"To-day?" Bill smiled a self-congratulatory smile for the word which +gave him the loophole of escape. Had his wife omitted that one word he +would have, for his honor's sake, been forced to admit that he had it. +For it was a part of his peculiar code that under no circumstances was +"mother" ever to be lied to. Prevarications, yes, but downright, +indisputable lies, no. And that with vigorous emphasis. But now she had +mentioned the day. The pension had not come to-day. It had reposed in +his pocket since yesterday, where, true to his promise to John Marvin, +it should remain until he had made up his mind to hand it over to his +family. So he felt the coins in his pocket and looked up at her with a +half-guilty grin, drawing out his words one by one, in halting tones. +"Not--to--day." + +"Well, when it does come," she said, pleasantly, "Millie's going to go +to Truckee with you and buy you some clothes. You gotta have some new +ones for when we goes to the city." + +It was on the tip of Bill's tongue to reaffirm, as he had countless +times, that he was never going to the city as long as he lived; but he +had begun to realize in the last few days that tact must enter into his +negotiations with his dissatisfied spouse. So he responded, mildly, "I +got clothes enough." + +Mrs. Jones made an impatient gesture and tossed her head in dismay. "I +don't know what's got into you, Bill Jones. When you came courtin' me +you had good clothes." + +"This is the same suit." Bill's jest might have brought further nagging +upon his shoulders, but Millie's entrance from the dining-room turned +Mrs. Jones's attention to her. + +"Oh, daddy, you're back!" Millie went quickly to her foster-father and +attempted to put her arms about his neck. + +He drew away from her, asking, quickly, "What of it?" + +"Are you all right?" Her tones were anxious and her gaze not less so. +Whereupon Bill proved his sobriety just as he had proved it to her +mother. + +"Now are you satisfied?" he asked, as she smiled at him. + +Kissing him, Millie reminded him gently that it was past dinner-time and +that he had better go into the dining-room, where something hot awaited +him. + +"Please come now, daddy," she added. "The girls want to get their work +done." + +Bill hesitated. He glanced surreptitiously over at the Nevada desk, +where, to the best of his knowledge, he had deposited a half-filled +flask the night previous. His wife's eye, however, was on him. Suddenly +she stepped up to him and took him firmly by the arm. + +"Bill Jones," she said, "you're comin' right inside now an' eat! +Whatever else is on your mind can wait--an' it might be a waste o' time, +anyway!" + +Finding himself propelled toward the dining-room, Lightnin' cast an +appealing, whimsical glance at Millie, but she covertly shook her head +to indicate that even she could not gainsay Mrs. Jones just then. + +Left alone, Millie busied herself at the desk with some accounts which +she wanted to finish before the arrival of a fresh contingent of guests, +due that afternoon. She put down her pencil after a few minutes of work, +however, and leaned her elbows on the desk, her chin in her hands +thoughtfully. She had a well-defined suspicion as to where Lightnin' had +been the night previous, and--well, Millie was curious about it. + +Her reflections were interrupted by the entrance of Lemuel Townsend. +There was an air of importance about him. He was frock-coated and +altogether spick and span. + +"Hello, Millie!" he said, walking up to the desk and shaking hands with +her. "I've been trying to get around here all week, but I'm mighty +pressed for time these days, you know! How is everything? You're all +filled up, I suppose?" + +"Nevada is full," Millie answered, smiling; "it always is, but the +California side is often empty. Oh, it's great fun--I call it the Hotel +Lopside! Sometimes I'm sorry that we're giving it up." + +"Oh! Then you've really decided to put through the idea of selling the +place!" + +"Yes. Mother made up her mind this morning, and I more than approve it, +all things considered. Daddy hasn't--hasn't quite agreed, though, but +it's for his own good. I don't quite understand daddy's objections. I +wanted to talk to him this morning about it, but I didn't get a chance. +There's been something mysterious in his manner lately." + +"Something mysterious--about Lightnin'?" + +"Yes," said Millie, thoughtfully. "Mother hasn't noticed it, of course, +being so busy and worried--and outwardly daddy is his usual easy-going, +amiable self. But I have a feeling that he has--or thinks he +has--something up his sleeve. Daddy can't hide things from me, you know! +Another thing, he doesn't seem to like Mr. Thomas at all--is downright +rude to him at times. I can't understand it, for it isn't like daddy!" + +Townsend frowned in a puzzled way. "Perhaps you're taking some of dear +old Lightnin's notions too seriously, Millie," he remarked. "Though I +must say that I have a great deal of faith in Bill. I've been a little +out of touch with the situation lately," he went on, judicially, "but +from what you and mother have told me about the proposed sale, and from +the one or two talks I have had with Mr. Thomas, I am inclined to agree +with you and mother that this sale is an excellent idea. So far as I can +judge, it is a sound investment and all for the best." + +"Of course it is!" said Millie. "But now--how about yourself? How is the +campaign going, Mr. Townsend?" + +"Splendidly! But it's rather trying, as I have to do most of the +campaigning myself--even the odd jobs!" + +He looked down at a bundle of large, printed placards which he carried +under his arm. Withdrawing one, he held it up for her inspection. Millie +read, "Vote for Lemuel Townsend for Superior Judge of the Second +Judicial District." + +"Would you mind if I tacked up some of these in the lobby?" he asked, +joining in her laugh. + +"Not at all!" Millie exclaimed. "I've a hammer and tacks right here in +the desk. Let me help you--and I do so hope you'll win!" + +Chatting, they proceeded to embellish the lobby with Lem Townsend's name +and ambition. Their operations were brought to a pause by the arrival of +the expected new guests. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +As the motor-stage drew up to the door, Millie ran out on the veranda to +deliver a few commissions to the driver to execute when he got back to +town. She noted that Sheriff Blodgett was a passenger, and that he +jumped down and preceded the guests into the lobby. + +The first of the new arrivals to step out of the stage and enter the +hotel was a chic little woman of about twenty-four, with big brown eyes +and auburn hair, dressed in a bright blue outing-flannel coat and skirt +and a tiny red hat from which hung a heavy veil. It was obvious that she +was suffering from great embarrassment, as she walked quickly about the +lobby, going from one register to the other, while a maid followed her +with an armful of bundles. The woman looked helplessly from wall to wall +and desk to desk. The presence of Blodgett and Townsend seemed to add to +her embarrassment, a condition still further aggravated by the +appearance of a third man, Everett Hammond, who chanced to come +strolling down from up-stairs at the moment. She fluttered up to Millie +as the girl came in from the veranda. + +"Would you like to register?" Millie asked. + +"How do you do," was the reply, uttered in a timid treble. "I am Mrs. +Harper. I understand--" Her head turned from side to side as she +hesitated. She clasped her hands and gazed pleadingly at Millie. "I've +been told--" Again she hesitated nervously, tears in her eyes. She +noticed Blodgett and Hammond gazing at her. In desperation, her blushes +showing under the heavy veil, she whispered, quaveringly, "Could I speak +to you privately?" + +"Certainly," said Millie, hiding her amusement. "Just step into this +room," and she led the little woman away. + +As they left the room, followed by the faithful maid, another guest +entered, an attractive woman of thirty. She was highly colored as to +hair and complexion, and she had about her an air far removed from the +chic, haughty member of the millionaire divorce colony that centered +about the Reno hotels. In type she was not unlike Mrs. Harper, except +that she did not show any special evidence of timidity. On the contrary, +she seemed perfectly at home. But she came in with the aid of a crutch +and leaning on the arm of the stage-driver. Her eyes took a calm +inventory of the lobby--including Townsend, on whom she smiled +coquettishly as she sighed with relief and sank into a chair. + +Townsend was leaning against the California desk, and he had been +watching Blodgett and Hammond, who, conversing in low tones, had +strolled out to the veranda. He was surprised to note that the pair had +met before and seemed to know each other quite well. His attention, +however, was now drawn to the attractive new guest. Her smile was not +without effect. She turned to the driver. + +"I'm all right now, thank you," she drawled, though her voice was soft +and pleasant. "Just drop my bag here." Fumbling in her purse for change +that did not seem to be there, she directed a glance toward Townsend and +smiled again. "Will you change five dollars for me?" she asked. + +Townsend drew out his wallet and examined its contents, but put it back +again disappointedly. "I'm afraid I can't," he said, with obvious +regret. + +"Well, then," said the attractive woman, with a frown, "pay the driver, +please." + +Townsend gave a slight start of chagrin, feeling that his standing as a +candidate for a judgeship was suffering by her lack of discernment. +Then, as the truth of the situation dawned on him, he suppressed a +chuckle. Without a word, he handed some change to the driver. + +"Charge it to my account," she ordered, settling herself comfortably in +the chair, extending one foot which was bound in a heavy bandage about +the ankle and clad in a soft slipper. + +Townsend, still smiling, began: "Well--er--" + +"I'm Mrs. Davis," she interrupted, ignoring his embarrassment. "Mrs. +Margaret Davis." She turned her wide blue eyes full upon him as she +switched in her chair, the movement bringing a twinge of pain to her +face. + +Townsend left the desk and came toward her. "I'm very glad to meet you." +He extended an affable hand. "I'm Lemuel Townsend, and I--" + +Mrs. Davis did not offer him her hand at once, but gave him an +inquisitive glance. "Will you show me to my room?" she asked. + +"I don't know where it is," he said, laughing. By this time his ruffled +dignity was assuaged by the twinkle in Mrs. Davis's eye and the deep +dimple in her chin. + +"Why, weren't you expecting me?" she asked, in astonishment, her mind as +yet refusing to grasp the situation. + +"No, I wasn't." He was bending over her, a courtly flattery in his gaze. + +"But I wrote you!" She turned clear about on her chair, forgetting for +the moment the pain in her foot, her eyes and mouth wide open with +surprise at the thought that she could be thus forgotten. + +"No, you didn't write me. You see, I'm only a guest, just as you are." + +Here they both laughed, while Townsend placed a chair close to hers and +sat down beside her. + +Mrs. Davis prolonged her giggle and bent her head, her eyes seeking his +under her heavily beaded lashes. "And I said--Oh!" She put her two hands +to her mouth and sidled, "I took you for the clerk." + +He nodded indulgently. + +"Oh, and I made you pay the driver! I couldn't allow that. Just as soon +as somebody comes I'll return it. I hope you'll forgive me." By this +time her manner was as friendly as Townsend's feminine-loving soul could +wish. She sidled her chair a little closer to his, still holding him +with her eyes, wide as the innocent stare of a baby. + +"I'm glad it happened," said Townsend. + +"Will you allow me to introduce myself properly?" + +She nodded, and he got up and went to the desk, returning with one of +his campaign cards and handing it to her. "Permit me," he said, "my +card." As she took it from him he explained, "I'm candidate for judge at +the next election." + +Immediately Mrs. Davis's interest was aroused to fever pitch. With a +knowing look she leaned forward, placing a hand on his arm, while she +slowly and attentively dwelt upon the words on the card. "Oh, really?" +she drawled. "Where will you be judge?" + +"If I'm elected--in Reno." + +"Will you try divorce cases?" the question was snapped out. + +He nodded. + +"Oh, I'm awfully glad to meet you!" she gushed, shaking his arm. + +"The pleasure is mutual, believe me," he responded, placing his hand on +top of hers. As she withdrew hers with a giggle, he went on, unabashed, +"Do you intend remaining here long?" + +"I'm in for six months." She sighed like a hurt baby. + +He was all sympathy as he leaned toward her and apologized: "Oh, I'm +very sorry for you, Mrs. Davis--If--" + +"Oh, my case doesn't call for sympathy. Congratulations! +Congratulations!" she emphasized with a long-drawn-out inflection. + +"Oh!!!" he shook his head wisely, adding, laughingly, "It's that way?" + +A twinge from the invalid ankle concentrated Mrs. Davis's full attention +as she lifted her foot, adjusting it against the crutch, thinking to +stop the pain. When it had subsided she smiled up at Townsend again, +pointed to it and said, with an ingénue turn of the head, "I'd probably +never have been able to get a divorce if it had not been for this." + +"You don't mean that your husband was brute enough to--" Townsend was +shocked at the thought, but was not allowed to deliver himself of his +full sympathy. Mrs. Davis was just getting into the lines of her part +and she was quick to catch her cues. + +"Oh, heavens, no!" she broke in upon his condolences. "This was an +accident. It's a sprain, and it is quite serious, as I'm a dancer." She +beamed up at him and wriggled in the chair, continuing her explanation. +"It's probably all for the best. Of course it'll break into my +engagements. I'm in vaudeville, you know. I've wanted a divorce for +years, but I'm always booked solid and I never stay in one place long +enough to get one. When this happened I saw my chance to get a good long +rest, and my freedom in the bargain." Her eyes begged his for +understanding and received it. + +While she had been talking Townsend had been drinking in every word she +said. Her variety of attractiveness was a new one to him. It appealed to +his small-town idea of being a gay blade. He had often cast longing eyes +at the Eastern wives sojourning in Reno for the six months necessary to +establish a residence and therefore their right to a quick freedom which +brought with it no restrictions in the matter of remarrying. The +majority of these prospective divorcées were of a larger world and +reckoned in figures of which Lemuel Townsend did not know the simplest +rules. The only notice he had received for his ambitions being a smile +to his face and a snicker at his back. But here was some one who not +only was taking notice of him, but was actually meeting his advances +half-way. Besides, she was pretty, and he could never withstand a pretty +woman. As she finished the first lap of her story he exclaimed, "That +certainly is a scheme!" + +"It's nice of you to listen to it all," she murmured, apologetically, +moving her idle crutch up and down as if writing her mood in invisible +letters on the floor. + +"I'm glad you told it to me. Do you know--" and he sidled in his chair, +while a sugar-laden approval beamed at her in a steady flow from over +the top of his glasses, "from the minute I saw you enter the door I was +worried about you--I was afraid--Well, it was a great relief to find +that you had two good--" he halted in hopeless confusion, as his eyes +sought her ankle. He took his handkerchief from his pocket and blew his +nose furiously, hoping to hide the real reason for a blush that seemed +to have come to stay, having settled in a deep crimson even from the +nape of his neck to the top of a head whose sparse hair refused to hide +his embarrassment. + +But Margaret Davis, seeing no reason for shyness, just smiled graciously +upon him and hastened to standardize her reputation. "Any one who has +seen me dance can inform you about--well--about--_them_," she said +seriously, adding by way of flavor to her remark another languishing +droop of her eyelids. There was a moment of coy silence for the two of +them. Then Mrs. Davis asked, "Are you stopping here for pleasure or are +you doing time?" + +"I'm a bachelor." + +"How nice!" she replied, in honeyed accents, as she leaned toward him +and put a soft hand on his arm. Undoubtedly in Lem Townsend she saw the +possibility of an easy divorce trial. Besides, Townsend was by no means +without personal attractions. Mrs. Davis gazed at him, her languishing +smile concealing the feminine appraisal in her eyes. She decided to +cultivate the possibility, and was about to say something in furtherance +of her object when she was startled by a gentle voice coming from +directly behind her and inquiring, pleasantly, "Rheumatism?" + +Bill Jones had entered the lobby unobserved by the pair and was leaning +over the desk idly, looking at his new guest with kindly interest. +Townsend introduced Bill, and Mrs. Davis, with Lem's assistance, rose +and took up a pen. + +"No," she said; "I have not acquired rheumatism as yet, Mr. Jones. I'll +register--you're reserving a room for me." + +"How long you here for?" Bill asked. + +"The usual," she sighed, and rolled her eyes toward Townsend. + +"Eh?" Bill grinned and walked slowly from behind the desk. + +"Six months," she drawled, wearily. + +Politely staying her hand and taking the pen from her, Bill pointed to +the other desk. "This is the six months' side--over here," he said, +sauntering to the back of the Nevada desk. + +When the lady was at last settled in her room, and Townsend had +left--having made an arrangement to dine with Mrs. Davis that +evening--Bill found himself strangely alone for the moment. Instantly he +seized on the opportunity to make a thorough investigation into the +mysterious disappearance of a half-filled flask. After turning the +Nevada desk inside out, at last he was convinced that the disappearance +was a fact and not a matter of imagination. "Guess mother has +seequesterated it," he remarked, to himself. "Not that I'm hankerin' +after it so much myself, but I told Zeb I had it, an' when he finds that +I 'ain't, the moral effect on Zeb will sure be bad." + +As Bill, rolling a cigarette, meditated on this, Mrs. Harper, followed +by her maid and still casting about like a frightened bird in search of +cover, tiptoed into the lobby, went uncertainly to the California desk +and took up a pen. + +Wisdom twitching at the corners of his mouth, Bill was beside her at +once. + +"Is either o' you ladies gettin' a divorce?" he inquired, in a helpful +tone, his question including the indignant maid. "'Cause, if you are," +he explained, "I just wanted to let you know that you are flockin' round +the wrong desk." + +Mrs. Harper fluttered some more. "Oh, I--er--but--where--" + +"This way, my dears," Bill said, in a gentle, fatherly tone, as he led +them to the Nevada desk. + +Mrs. Harper signed her name. As Bill read it he looked up at her with +sudden interest. He put a detaining hand on her arm before she could +flutter away, and at the same time, turning to the maid, he directed her +to have a chair for a moment--at the other side of the lobby, out of +earshot. + +When the maid had complied Bill looked down at the register. "Mrs. +Harper, Truckee," he repeated. Then, glancing up at the surprised and +startled little woman, he asked, "Does your husband happen to drive a +green automobile, ma'am?" + +Mrs. Harper stared at him with the big, frightened eyes of a child. +"Why--er--yes. But--why do you ask?" + +"I met him last night," said Bill. "He's a fast driver, ain't he? Gets +to Truckee in two hours!" + +The color rose to the little woman's face. "I don't see--" + +"He's a mighty fine feller!" Bill went on, calmly. "Got a pile o' money, +too, an' I bet he's some generous with it--specially to them what he +loves. People is always makin' fool mistakes. Say, you ain't really +goin' to git a divorce, are you?" + +Now the astonished little woman's eyes filled with angry tears. "Oh!" +she gasped. "Oh! How dare you speak to me like this! It's none of your +business!" + +"Sure it is," said Lightnin', his voice kindly, confidential. "I know +all about it. He didn't git that present for his stenographer." + +"How do you know?" she snapped. + +"I heard him tellin' all about it to Marvin, the boy what sold him that +timber up yonder. I knocked," Bill explained, whimsically, "but they +didn't seem to hear, an' I was kinder forced to listen in from the +outside. Your husband was all het up an' near committin' suicide 'cause +you thought he done what he didn't. He told Marvin he bought that +present for you when he was in Noo York. He was just a-showin' it to his +office lady when you walked in." + +"Nonsense!" + +"No, it ain't. It's truth. There's some things I don't go wrong on, an' +this is one, Mrs. Harper. Your husband's a mighty fine feller an'--" + +With a stamp of her foot, the little woman flung away from the desk +and, followed by the faithful maid, hurried up-stairs, where--and +perhaps Bill suspected this--she buried her head in a pillow and cried +and cried. + +Bill stood at the desk with his head cocked on one side, idly tapping +his ear with a pen. He heard the door of Mrs. Harper's room slam and he +grinned amiably. + +"Eatin' her heart out for him," he mused. "Just eatin' her heart out, +but too spunky to back down!" + +He gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling for a few minutes; then slowly he +reached into the drawer and took out a telegram blank. His eyes twinkled +as he wrote a brief message. He folded up the blank, stuffed it into his +pocket, and was turning away from the desk with the intention of seeking +the telegraph-office, when Hammond and Sheriff Blodgett came strolling +back into the lobby. + +"Oh, so you're actually here, are you?" exclaimed Hammond, glaring at +Bill. "Have you signed that deed yet?" + +Hammond, direct, bulldozing, totally lacking in Thomas's smooth +diplomacy, had lost all patience with Bill Jones. That morning he had +decided that the only way to handle Bill was to ride over him +rough-shod. "Have you signed that deed?" he repeated, loudly. + +"Deed?" remarked Lightnin', carelessly. "Oh, I'd kinder forgot about +that little matter. Nope. 'Ain't had time, old top--nope!" Ignoring the +glares of the two men, he started to amble toward the door. + +"Look here," Hammond called after him, "is Mr. Thomas in?" + +"I guess so," replied Bill, pausing directly in front of Hammond and +gazing up at him with a calm, shrewd light in his half-shut eyes. "He +seems to stick around pretty close." + +"Well," said Hammond, with a heavy frown, "just be good enough to step +up and tell him that Sheriff Blodgett and I would like to see him!" + +"Step up yourself," said old Bill, quietly, without shifting either his +gaze or his position. "You ain't crippled, be you? An' I don't think as +your friend Thomas'll fall off'n his chair with surprise if you drop in +on him unexpected." + +Without waiting for a reply, Bill turned away and ambled out of the +lobby. Hammond swore; then strode angrily up-stairs, followed by +Blodgett. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +A few minutes after Lightnin' disappeared down the trail, headed for the +local telegraph-office, John Marvin approached the hotel from the +opposite direction. He paused when some distance away and viewed the +place. It was his first visit in many weeks, and naturally his first +since the great transformation. It could be surmised, however, that this +visit was not one of idle curiosity; neither was his pause due to a mere +desire to observe the various changes recently made. He watched the +establishment closely for a minute; then came on slowly, keeping a sharp +eye on his surroundings. As he reached the steps Millie came out on the +veranda. She was engaged in what, these days, had become one of the +chief occupations of nearly every one in the Hotel Calivada--searching +for Lightnin' Bill Jones, whose persistent faculty of being absent when +most wanted was fast assuming the dimensions of a public aggravation. + +"Why, hello, stranger!" Millie exclaimed, with a welcoming smile. "I +thought you had forgotten all about us! You haven't been here for ever +so long!" + +Marvin came up the steps and seized both her hands, which she let him +hold for a moment. + +"I haven't forgotten _you_, Millie," he said, gently, smiling down into +her brown eyes. "But--well, you know I went away last time with an idea +that you didn't care to see me." + +"Silly boy!" Her tone was gaily impersonal, but her red lips puckered +into a pretty pout as she walked to a chair in the corner of the veranda +and sat down. + +"I thought that maybe you had returned to Mr. Thomas's office," he +remarked, following her and standing beside her chair. + +"No; I'm not going back, not now," said Millie, thoughtfully. She did +not look up at him, but fixed her gaze on her hands, folded in her lap. +"What a tremendous student you were in his office! I never saw any one +work so hard as you did." + +"Except when you were in the room--then I was looking at you, most of +the time!" Marvin bent over her, but she gave no sign that she read his +attitude. + +"If you'd been looking at me, I'd have seen you." She smiled and raised +her eyes. "You've not given up the study of law, have you?" There was +concern in the lift of her brow. + +"Oh no! But I'm not going back into Mr. Thomas's office. Why did you +leave him, Millie? Was there any trouble?" + +"Trouble? Of course not! How could any one have trouble with Mr. +Thomas?" Surprise and annoyance stood in her eyes. + +Marvin did not reply at once, but drew up another chair and sat down +facing her. He leaned forward, his eyes searching hers as he questioned, +"You like Mr. Thomas--like him very much, don't you, Millie?" + +"I more than like him!" An angry color suffused her cheeks as she looked +Marvin up and down. "I adore him!" she added. "You've no idea how fine +he is!" + +Marvin started at this--naturally. The situation was going to be more +difficult than he had anticipated. Could it be that Millie was really in +love with Raymond Thomas? Or had he merely convinced her that his +business motives were all that they should be? Perhaps it was both! +Anyway, it was obvious that the girl had Thomas up on some sort of +pedestal; she was in a spunky mood, and Marvin saw that he was going to +have his hands full trying to convince her that the feet on the pedestal +were made of clay. Marvin flushed himself; he did not relish his +position; he shrank from seemingly disparaging another man behind his +back, especially to a girl. If there had been only himself to consider, +he would not have spoken at all. Neither was it altogether for Millie's +sake. She was young, capable, quick-witted; she would see through Thomas +of her own accord, soon enough--if she were not actually in love with +him! But Marvin was thinking of the old people, of hard-working, simple +Mrs. Jones, and of amiable, careless Bill. Millie was the young, strong +member of the Jones household, and it was Millie who must be convinced +and won over, if possible. Thus ran Marvin's thoughts--but quite +honestly he admitted to himself that his love for the girl might be +coloring his logic and his motives just a little. + +"I'd like to tell you something I know about Thomas--" + +"Oh, I know!" Millie interrupted, quickly. "He sold some property for +your mother, isn't that it?" + +"Yes; he sold it to the railroad--for a big price." + +"I know--he told me all about it. He's a splendid business man! Why, +that's exactly what he is doing for us! Hasn't daddy told you about it?" +She glanced at him quickly, but he gave no sign of having heard this +wonderful news. "I should think you'd like to see Mr. Thomas. He's +up-stairs packing, now. He's leaving this evening. He came all the way +from San Francisco just to help me--to help us all!" + +"To help you?" Marvin asked. + +Millie clasped her hands over her knees and went on, enthusiastically: +"Why, this hotel idea has turned out splendidly, you know. But a week or +two ago, Mr. Thomas wrote to mother, saying that he had heard that the +railroad company had got wind of our success and contemplated putting up +a rival hotel just back of us. Mother was nearly crazy at the news, and +I wrote to Mr. Thomas, asking him his advice. He telegraphed that he +would be right out to see us! Wasn't that just like him?" + +"Exactly," said Marvin, dryly. "And I presume that when Mr. Thomas +arrived he suggested that you let him persuade the railroad to buy this +place and erect the new hotel here, instead of next door!" + +"Why, John--aren't you clever!" Millie exclaimed. "How did you guess it? +That is exactly what he suggested, and now it's all arranged! And +they're going to pay enough to make mother and daddy comfortable for the +rest of their lives!" + +With a hopeless gesture, Marvin got to his feet and took a pace or two +up and down the veranda. The girl watched him, puzzled. + +"Are they going to pay cash?" Marvin asked, pausing in front of her. + +"It's much better than cash! It's shares of stock that pay ten per cent. +a year! It seems almost too good to be true." + +"It does--it certainly does!" came from Marvin. + +The girl had risen, glowing with enthusiasm. Quite naturally she put her +hand on his arm and looked up at him happily, intimately, naïvely +seeking his approval. + +In the midst of his perplexity Marvin's heart gave a bound. That naïve +touch on his arm and the intimate light in the brown eyes told him that, +in one respect at least, all was not lost--not yet! He was about to take +her hands and break into a rush of words when the girl suddenly turned +her attention from him, remarking, eagerly: "Here comes daddy. We were +afraid he'd deserted again!" + +Marvin swung around. Much as he wanted to see Lightnin' to-day, he +wished, just then, that Bill could have seen fit to delay his appearance +a few minutes longer. Bill Jones, however, came serenely up the steps +and stood with his hands in his pockets, shrewdly and humorously +inspecting the pair. + +"Sorry to interrupt the billin' an' cooin'," he remarked. "But say, +John, ain't you takin' some chances round here? Did you know that +Blodgett's here? I seen him go up-stairs when I went out." + +Millie had flushed and turned away at her foster-father's first words, +but now she looked curiously from one to the other. + +"What on earth do you mean, daddy?" she questioned. + +"He's just _helping me_, Millie," said Marvin, grinning at Bill. "Thanks +for the tip, Lightnin', but I wanted to see you particularly to-day, so +I--" + +He stopped abruptly, for Bill had raised a warning hand. + +Marvin recognized a familiar voice talking in the lobby. Glancing in, +he saw Raymond Thomas standing in the center of the room, holding Mrs. +Jones in conversation. Hammond and Blodgett had just come down the +stairs and were joining the other two. + +"Better beat it, John!" Lightnin' whispered. + +But Marvin stood there. He was thinking quickly. He had caught a word or +two of what Thomas was saying, and he gathered that matters were coming +to a climax. Suddenly his expression cleared and he grinned. + +"Never mind about that, Lightnin'," he said, mechanically opening the +door for Millie, who, seeing that they were ignoring her, tripped in +with a petulant toss of her head. "I think I have a little scheme that +will fool our friend Blodgett. But first--Bill, promise me that you +won't sign that deed without consulting me!" + +"All right," said Lightnin', slowly. "I promise. But you better be +careful, John, an'--" + +"Come on!" Marvin interrupted, leading the way himself. "I've a great +desire to be in on these proceedings!" + +Seeing that the young man was not to be stopped, Bill said no more as he +slid through the door and ambled after him into the lobby. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +"I think it is only fair to tell you, Mrs. Jones," Thomas was saying, a +delicate, apologetic note creeping into his voice as he caught sight of +Millie, "that this Marvin is not a proper person for your daughter to +see. I fully believed that he was a fine young man myself once, and you +cannot imagine my surprise when I discovered that he is the head of a +gang of thieves who are going all over this part of the country, +stealing timber." + +"Mercy me!" cried Mrs. Jones. "A thief, no less!" Then, seeing Marvin +unexpectedly present in person, she glared at him. "Somethin' always +warned me against you, John Marvin! Oh, Millie, Millie! How many times +have I told you you was makin' a terrible mistake lettin' him annoy +you!" + +Millie was evidently too astonished and puzzled to say anything. +Meanwhile, Thomas had flushed deeply on finding himself confronted by +the man he was in the act of damning. Instinctively he took a step back. +Blodgett made a quick move toward Marvin, but Hammond seized his arm and +stopped him. + +"Hold on a minute, Blodgett," he whispered. "You can nab him later--he +can't very well get away from us now. I want to have a word, first--I'm +going to show this young cub just where he stands!" + +Meanwhile, though the sheriff's move did not escape him, Marvin, a grim +smile on his face, was gazing steadily at Thomas. + +"Go on, Thomas," he said, quietly. "I'm interested! What else were you +going to say to Mrs. Jones?" + +Indifferently he strolled over beside Lightnin', who was in front of the +California desk, his hands in his pockets, his half-shut eyes roving +from one to another of the group. To look at him, one would not imagine +that Bill Jones had any special interest in the proceedings. He drew out +his bag of tobacco and papers and idly rolled a cigarette. + +Thomas, having regained his poise again, turned to Mrs. Jones with his +dazzling smile. "I'm really very glad that the young man chanced to +present himself at this moment, Mrs. Jones, because--" + +"That's all right, Thomas!" Hammond interrupted, suddenly thrusting +himself forward and waving the other aside. "But we have something much +more important on hand. Let's get to it! I can't monkey around here any +longer. + +"Mrs. Jones," he went on, "I've been trying to get you all together +before I left, but you seem such busy people that it is as if I wouldn't +have this opportunity. I wanted to tell you that the company for which I +am acting has just wired me to close the transaction, and so I am ready +to take over the property at once!" + +Mrs. Jones, bewildered by his briskness and the swift sequence of +events, stared at him, then transferred a gaze no less confounded to +Thomas. "You mean," she questioned, "that--that you want us to leave at +once?" + +"Oh no! That's not necessary. But now that you have put your signature +to the deed, the transfer will be made at once and we'll take over the +management, allowing you to remain on until you have made your +arrangements for the future." + +With a sharp nod to her and an insolent sneer directed at Bill, Hammond +swung on his heel and busied himself with a portfolio of papers he had +dropped on the Nevada desk. + +"I'm sure you can have no objections to these arrangements, Mrs. Jones," +said Thomas, his voice as smooth as glass, though there was a slight +quiver of his eyelids as he avoided Marvin's steady gaze and caught a +strange gleam that emanated from Bill's puckered-up eyes. + +Mrs. Jones had forgotten all about Bill and his part in the signing of +the deed. But a multitude of thoughts were running through her mind, +confused as it was. All that she could think of now was the simplest +answer to Thomas's question. She stepped up to him and put a hand of +confidence on his arm. + +"Certainly I do not mind," she said. "I'm delighted and relieved that it +is all settled!" Turning to Hammond, she added: "I want to leave the +whole matter in Mr. Thomas's hands. I'll do just as he advises." + +"All right, Hammond," said Thomas, deliberately turning his back on old +Bill. "We shall deliver the deed to you at once, and you can take charge +of the place immediately. I presume you will want to have--" + +"Hold on there, young feller!" Lightnin's usual lackadaisical monotone +was raised to a degree which bespoke a greater interest than his +careless attitude indicated. He stepped forward and stood in front of +Thomas, looking up at him with his shrewd gaze. When he felt that the +man was ready to give him sufficient attention, Bill returned to his +customary drawl. + +"We ain't goin' to sell this place, my boy," he said. "Not until I +consult my lawyer!" + +His words brought his wife to his side instantly, her eyes blazing. +"Bill Jones," she cried, "you just be quiet! What in the world's the +matter with you--tryin' to throw away a chance to be nice and +comfortable the rest o' your life! Are you crazy?" + +"Nope. I'm the only one that ain't--'cept John, here." + +Bill's steady, quiet grin exasperated Hammond and Thomas to white heat, +but they were too near their goal to miss it by a step. They knew that +under ordinary conditions Bill, in spite of his many shortcomings, held +first place in Mrs. Jones's affections, and that any show of harshness +toward him on their part might rally her unexpectedly to his support. So +they smothered their rage. Hammond leaned an elbow on the desk and +nonchalantly twirled his watch-chain, his mouth drawn into an ugly +sneer. Thomas continued his air of deference toward Mrs. Jones, leaning +over her with an appealing smile. Reacting to it, she took Bill by the +arm and shook it roughly. + +"You just got to listen to reason, Bill!" she said, transfixing him with +angry eyes. "I set my heart on sellin' the place an' goin' to the city, +as you oughter know by now. An', besides, it's 'most all fixed up, +anyways--all but you signin' that deed. You got to do it, Bill!" + +"You're all het up, mother," replied Bill, gazing at her with kindly +eyes. "Ease up a bit! Nope. I ain't goin' to sign no deed for them two +scamps--leastways not until I consult my lawyer!" And Bill pushed back +his battered slouch-hat and stuck his thumbs in his faded vest. + +"Scamps--!" + +But before Mrs. Jones could complete her sentence Marvin stepped forward +and put a friendly arm over Bill's shoulder. + +"Bill's right, Mrs. Jones," he said, gently, though there was a fighting +light in his eyes as he met those of Thomas. "Lightnin' has no need to +apologize for anything he may say about these two men. This sale is a +nice little scheme of theirs. They are trying to rob you." + +Millie, who had been listening to it all, amazed and abashed, now stared +at Marvin defiantly. "How dare you say that?" she blazed. "What right +have you to interfere?" She rallied to Mrs. Jones's side and placed an +affectionate arm around her waist. + +Mrs. Jones was crying by this time. She wiped her eyes on her apron and +looked at Marvin. "So it's you who's been puttin' Bill up to this!" she +exclaimed. "I might have known--it's right in line with what we just +heard about you! Well, he don't need none o' your advice--you just leave +Bill alone!" + +Marvin held out a deprecating hand. "But, Mrs. Jones, you don't +understand--" + +Blodgett, at a sign from Hammond, strode up to Marvin and put a hand on +his shoulder. Marvin shook him off. + +"Don't interrupt me now!" he said. "I've something more important to--" + +"I'll show you how important it is!" said Blodgett, jingling a pair of +handcuffs in front of Marvin. "I got a warrant for your arrest for +stealin' timber! Put out your hands!" + +Mrs. Jones and Millie stood by, bewildered, while Thomas, with +supercilious satisfaction in his smile, sank into a chair and crossed +his legs with an air. Hammond laughed coarsely. + +Bill, his arm drawn through Marvin's, looked on, his enigmatic grin +between his half-closed eyes and half-open mouth betokening an +unswerving confidence in the ultimate. + +"I can't be bothered with you now," said Marvin, addressing Blodgett. +"Bill needs--" + +"None o' your lip!" Blodgett grabbed him roughly and attempted to place +a handcuff on one of his wrists, but Marvin flung him off and the +sheriff went sprawling. Marvin stepped back a pace or two as Blodgett +got up and came at him again, bawling, "Now you're worse off than +ever--resisting an officer of the law!" + +Marvin, however, did not seem to be worried. He faced Blodgett with an +amused smile and pointed to the floor, where an uncovered space left +between two rugs indicated the now famous state line. + +"Law?" Marvin echoed. "Why, Blodgett, old boy, don't you know any more +about law than to try to serve me with a Nevada warrant when I'm in the +state of California?" + +"By jiminy, he's right!" cried Lightnin', clapping Marvin on the back. +"You got 'em where--where the rugs is short, John. Guess I didn't build +this house on the state line for nothin'!" + +Blodgett started back with a howl of disgust, while Thomas and Hammond +looked at each other, making no effort to hide their chagrin. Millie had +given an exclamation--an exclamation that sounded very much like one of +relief, when she saw the sudden turn of the tables; but if it was an +expression of her inner and secret feelings, she quickly smothered it. +Mrs. Jones glared at Marvin with keen disgust and disappointment. + +Lightnin', grinning, evidently was enjoying the scene hugely. Cocking +his old hat over one ear, he struck a pose of comic nonchalance against +the California desk and looked across the lobby at the furious Hammond. + +"Hello, Hammond, old top!" he called, airily. "How's everythin' in +Nevada? Come on over to California, an'--an' have a glass o' water!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The unexpected dénouement between Marvin and Sheriff Blodgett brought +consternation to those who had contrived toward his apprehension. +Everett Hammond, in consultation with Thomas, would have taken the young +man by force--for Hammond was a strapping six feet two or thereabouts, +and Marvin was but a stripling in strength. But Thomas, cool and +controlled, and always an advocate of keeping within the letter of the +law, counseled him against any such hot-headed procedure, explaining +that it might militate against them in a court where outside operators +in land or mining stocks were not looked upon with any too friendly a +spirit. Mrs. Jones and Millie, astounded and uncomfortable in a +situation far afield from their uneventful lives, were too perplexed to +speak, contenting themselves with staring at Marvin in unbridled +disgust. Millie felt something of compassion for his predicament, but +the thought that any one she knew should be accused of theft filled her +with horror. Besides, it was he who was preventing her foster-father +from signing the deed which would place them all in easy circumstances +as against the difficulties of the present. Whatever of pity she had +quickly disappeared. With one long look of disdain toward Marvin, she +led Mrs. Jones up-stairs. + +Blodgett, after his first surprise, was overcome with rage at the +knowledge that a whippersnapper such as he considered Marvin should have +placed him in such a ludicrous position. He, too, like Hammond, would +have liked to have tried force, but he knew that Marvin stood well among +the lumbermen in Washoe County and his attempt at re-election was too +close at hand to permit of his taking any chances when those to gain by +them were strangers without a voice in the politics of the section. + +With a covert eye he watched Marvin, who stood a few feet from the line +and smiled down at Bill, the latter grinning up at him, warming to the +affectionate arm placed about his shoulder. As the two women went up the +stairs, Marvin watched them, a half-shadow in his eyes as he caught +Millie's disdainful glance. Giving Bill a good-by pat, Marvin, hat in +hand, made a sweeping bow which took in Hammond, Thomas, and Blodgett. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," he laughed ironically. Sidling with his back +to the California desk, he reached the door, where he waved his hand at +his astonished persecutors and slid out upon the veranda and down the +steps, where he wandered off in the twilight. + +Blodgett walked to the door and looked after him. "Guess I'll stick +'round a bit," he grumbled to Thomas, who had followed him to the door +and was gazing after Marvin. + +Hammond remained where he was, leaning up against the desk, watching +Thomas and Blodgett with surly eyes. "You two are a nice pair of +mollycoddles," he sneered, "letting him make a get-away like that. If +either of you had any gumption you'd have knocked him over the line." + +"Yes?" drawled the sheriff. "'N' be arrested for assault. My +jurisdiction stops on this side of the line." He was silent, while he +took a piece of tobacco from his pocket and cut off a bite. After a +minute he grunted: "Humph! He'ain't gone yet. I'm goin' to stay here +'til to-morrow mornin'. By that time he'll be home, for he 'ain't got no +place else to go. Then I'll nab him good 'n' quick." + +All this time Bill had stood in the middle of the floor, listening to +all that was said, saying never a word himself. Now he went slowly to +one side of the room, took a chair that stood against the California +wall and placed it in front of the table, close to the dividing line. +Blodgett, thinking there was reason for his act, so deliberate was it, +took a chair from its place near the Nevada wall and placed it parallel +with Bill's, seating himself in it. + +The two men contemplated each other in silence. Thomas and Hammond stood +in short consultation, and then the latter went to his room on the +California side of the hotel, Thomas sauntering to a rocking-chair on +the veranda. He lighted a cigar and sat looking out over the lake, where +the moon was rising over the rim of the bordering Sierras. + +There was scrutiny in the eye with which Blodgett viewed Bill. There was +distrust in the steady look which thrust itself between Bill's half-open +lids and struck straight in the center of Blodgett's pupil. The latter +opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, as steps were heard on the +veranda and Rodney Harper entered the lobby. + +"Do you know where I can find John Marvin?" he asked of the two men +whose backs he faced. Both immediately turned in their chairs, the +sheriff alert for any news he might obtain of the habits and customs of +the man he was pursuing. Bill, when he saw who it was, arose and slowly +went toward him, holding out his hand. + +"Oh! Hello, old chap! I got your telegram, also one from Marvin. Where +is he?" Harper grasped Bill's hand and gave it a hearty shake, glancing +anxiously about the lobby. + +Bill ignored the last question, keeping a slanting eye on Blodgett. +"Your wife's up-stairs," he whispered, with a nod toward the Nevada +up-stairs hallway. + +"Where?" Harper turned in the direction of Bill's nod. + +"In Nevada," Bill drawled, with a slow grin. + +Harper shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Bill, continuing with his +subject, "What's the number of her room?" + +"You'd better go slow." Bill thrust his hands in his pockets, assuming +an air of counselor. "I told her I thought you'd be here." + +"What did she say?" Harper was at the register and going quickly down +the list. He came to his wife's name, letting his finger run across the +page until he came to the number of her room; then he swept past Bill +and had his foot on the first step when Bill stopped him. + +"Ye'll spoil it all, if ye ain't careful." The old man drew the younger +one's head close to his mouth, speaking in low tones. + +"What makes you say that? In your telegram you made me believe +everything was all right," Harper said, as he leaned against the +newel-post. + +"So 'twill be if you listen to some one that knows summat 'bout women. +If you chase chickens they run like wild-fire 'n' ye can't catch 'em +unless you get 'em in a corner. But if you holds out your hand with a +little feed, by 'n' by they eat right out of it." + +Harper laughed. "That's what you think, is it?" + +"I know," Bill chuckled. "You oughter heard what she said to me." Bill +loved to think that he knew something the other fellow would like to +know. Even his sympathy with Harper and his desire to see all well +between him and his wife could not contain him when it came to holding +out in a matter of mere curiosity. "I was goin' to tell you, but I'd +better not," he added, with a wise look. "'Twan't very encouragin'," he +added. + +Harper walked away from the stairway, his arm through Bill's. "Don't you +think you'd better tell me?" There was real concern in Harper's voice +and Bill knew it was the expression of the anxiety in his heart. Too, +Bill knew that it required tact to approach Mrs. Harper in her present +hysterical mood. + +So he answered, with a brusk shake of his head, "Nope." + +"Well, of all the damned-fool things!" Harper stood still, letting go of +Bill's arm. + +"I wouldn't call her that," Bill remonstrated, moving away from Harper +with a quick look of astonishment. + +"Who's calling her that?" Harper paced up and down, a scowl on his face. +"I mean the whole situation. It's such a silly mistake. And yet she +won't believe it." + +"Same here." There was a warm sense of comradeship in the same sad cause +in the air with which Bill made his last remark. It brought Harper to a +standstill. With a smile he listened to the old man's explanation. +"Folks don't believe nothin' I tell 'em. Women never do believe you when +you tell 'em the truth, but tell 'em a lie 'n' they swallows it hook 'n' +bait. Why don't you write her a letter? Ef she knows yer here 'n' ain't +too anxious ye got a good chance." + +"I believe I'll do that. It sounds like a good scheme. Give her a chance +to think things over instead of running in on her all of a sudden. Have +you got a room?" Harper went to the Nevada desk and took up the pen to +register, but Bill interrupted him. + +"Come on over here," Bill nodded to the California desk, following his +own gesture to a place back of the counter. "We always got plenty of +room on this side." + +"Where's the bar?" + +At this question put by Harper, Bill's head struck an interesting and +inquisitive attitude. "Down to the saloon," he said. + +But he was doomed to disappointment. "Never mind, then," was Harper's +disheartening reply. + +Bill's interest slackened, but was quickly revived as Harper, in the +middle of scribbling a note to his wife, looked up long enough to add, +"I've got a flask in my bag." + +It did not take Bill long to get from behind the desk. That bag was a +friend. He had promised Marvin that he would not spend his pension, and +Mrs. Jones had carefully removed the flask from its corner in the Nevada +desk. "I'll show you right up," he exclaimed, making an undue and +unaccustomed haste toward the stairs, bag in hand. + +At the top of the stairs he stood, waiting for Harper to seal the +envelop. + +Harper came up the stairs, two at a time, and handed the letter to Bill, +offering to take the bag from Bill as he did so. But Bill shook his hand +loose. "I'd better take the bag to the room for you first. Ye must be +pretty tired." There was a hidden implication in the monotone in which +the last speech was delivered. + +Rodney Harper was too possessed of his own affairs to feel it, and with +an impatient gesture he stooped to take his bag from Bill, pleading, +"Please, old man, won't you deliver the letter?" + +But Bill, attuned to a rare occasion, had quickly evaded Harper's +outstretched hand and was down the hallway with the bag. He opened the +door of Harper's room and went in first, depositing the bag on the +floor. Then he went up to the frowning guest, caught hold of his arm, +and whispered: + +"Marvin's here, but I didn't want them folks down-stairs to know it. +They come to git him fer cuttin' down your timber, but he jumped over +the California line. He'll be back by 'n' by, I'm thinkin'." + +Harper was interested in the news and asked Bill to let him know when +Marvin was about again, but he was not interested enough to make him +forget what was his present paramount concern. He gave a desperate +glance toward the letter in Bill's hand. + +But Bill had no intention of leaving until his own possessive intention +was fulfilled. He backed away from the bed where he had placed the bag, +slowly retreating until he came to the door, which Harper had left open +for Bill's exit. When he reached the sill he grasped the knob with one +hand, half closing it, while he stood in front of it on the inside. The +anxiety in Harper's contracted brow met the slow grin that wrinkled +about Bill's eyes and mouth. A question started from Harper's tongue. + +Bill forestalled it. "I'm sorry," he said, slowly and gently, but with a +wise twinkle in his blue eyes, "thet there ain't no bar. Mother she +doesn't like drink." He paused a moment to see what effect his words +were having. As he saw his intention was slowly penetrating through +Harper's absorption in his own affairs, Bill made his final coup. "She +lifted my flask from the desk, or I could be askin' you to have a swig." + +Harper threw back his head and laughed. "So that's it!" he exclaimed, +hurriedly opening his bag and extracting the flask. "Well, I tell you +what I'll do. If you'll beat it in quick time with that note I'll treat +you to the whole darned flask." + +Bill needed no second bidding. With flask secure in his back pocket he +lost no time in descending the California stairs and mounting the flight +to the Nevada half of the hotel and leaving the letter with Mrs. Harper. +On the way back to the lobby he slightly diminished the contents of the +flask. + +He entered the lobby with a smile whose target was the whole world and +threw himself whole-heartedly into the pleasure of tormenting Blodgett. +He knew that Blodgett was furious at the manner of Marvin's escape as +much as at the fact itself. So he dropped into the chair next to the +sheriff, drawling, "You goin' over to Truckee to get a California +warrant?" + +Blodgett gave Bill a mean look, sneering, as he sniffed at the air, +"Say, you're collecting something, ain't you?" + +"I didn't get nothin' from you," Bill answered, shortly. Which answer +was not without its point, Blodgett's reputation as one of the closest +men in Washoe County not being unknown to Bill. + +"Don't get sore. I wished I was in your place," said Blodgett, as he +fidgeted about in his chair and looked through the doorway. + +Thomas, who had been on the veranda all this time, came indoors just as +Blodgett finished his remark. + +Bill caught it quickly, his smile flashing into a gleam of humor toward +Thomas. + +"In my place?" asked Bill, with a twinkle. With a nod toward Thomas, he +added, "You're like that other fellow." + +Thomas flushed, but ignored the innuendo. Taking a paper from his +pocket, he looked through it. At the California desk he stopped to sign +his name at the end of it. Then he called to Bill, "Did you tell your +wife we were waiting for her?" + +"No, I didn't. I've been up visiting my friend Harper. He's a big +millionaire. Havin' trouble with his wife. Patched it up. Told him to +write her a note 'n' I brought it to her. He gimme this fer the idea." +Bill produced the flask from his pocket and extended it toward Blodgett, +but when it was half-way on its journey he jerked it back, just as Mrs. +Harper emerged from between the portières of the Nevada upper hallway. + +Clad in a fluffy, silken négligée, she tiptoed half-way down the stairs +before she saw Thomas, who had left the desk and was standing in the +doorway with his face toward the moonlit lake. She gave a smothered cry +and was about to turn back. Bill held up a warning finger toward +Blodgett, who quickly obeyed the injunction to look straight ahead. + +Arising from his seat, the old man made a friendly motion toward the +frightened little creature on the stairs and she came down to where he +stood in the middle of the floor, casting bewildered glances to right +and left and trembling as he whispered in her ear: + +"He's in Number Four. Hurry now, before any one catches on." + +"Do they all know he's my husband?" she flittered as she sped lightly up +the California stairs. + +"I won't say nothin' about it." Bill could not resist a wink, which met +with a toss of Mrs. Harper's pretty head as she glided between the +portières toward her husband's room. + +Bill went back to his chair again. Everett Hammond came into the room +from the porch outside. Laying his hat on the California desk, he went +around behind the counter and turned the pages of the register. + +Bill did not sit down, but wandered over to the desk where Hammond stood +and gazed at him through half-open eyes. "Oh, you runnin' the place +now?" he questioned. + +Hammond did not answer him at once, but kept on running over the names +on the list. But there was a compelling force in the mild gaze of the +old man which made Hammond stop to reckon with him. "Yes," he said, +bruskly, while he frowned at Bill. "I've just settled everything with +your wife. All that's needed now is for you to sign that deed." + +There was no answer forthcoming from Bill. Instead, he slowly took the +flask from his pocket and held it in front of him. "I'll take a drink +with you," he said, with a slow smile. + +Hammond did not glance up, but answered, with a half-smile, "I'm sorry, +but I, haven't got anything." + +"I have," said Bill, shuffling toward him with the flask. + +Blodgett twisted about in his chair and called, "You look and act as if +you'd had enough." + +Bill left the desk and seated himself beside Blodgett again. "I don't +want it for myself," he said, putting the spurned flask back in his +pocket; "it's just for social--ability. I don't drink." + +"Don't tell me that," scoffed the sheriff. "You're a booze-fighter." + +"No, I ain't," Bill answered, quickly. + +Then seeing a chance for romance, he added, "I'm an Indian-fighter." + +"Is that so?" Blodgett drew out his answer in an accent that spoke of +disbelief. + +"You bet it's so. Did you ever know Buffalo Bill?" Bill leaned forward +so he could see what impression he was making upon the sheriff. + +Out of the corner of his eyes Blodgett was watching Bill. "Yes, I knew +him well," said the sheriff, gruffly. + +Bill leaned closer to Blodgett and looked squarely into his eyes, which +showed the same doubt as his own. "I learned him all he knew about +killing Indians. Did he ever tell you about the duel I fought with +Settin' Bull?" + +"Settin' Bull?" The sheriff sat up straight and let his glance travel +the length of Bill's body and back again to the old man's eyes, which +were not quivering a lash. + +"He was standin' when I shot him," grinned Bill. "I never took advantage +of nobody, not even an Indian." + +The sheriff relaxed contemptuously into his chair again. "You've got a +bee in your bonnet, 'ain't you?" + +"What do you know 'bout bees?" Bill started to roll a cigarette. + +"Not much. Do you?" was Blodgett's reply as he looked straight ahead. + +Bill slowly rolled the weed, put it in his mouth, and chewed on the end +of it. Then he made slow answer, halting between sentences, his eyes +slanting toward Blodgett to gather the effect of his words: + +"I know all about 'em. I used to be in the bee business. Drove a swarm +of bees across the plains in the dead of winter once. And never lost a +bee. Got stung twice." + +The sheriff jumped to his feet and directed a scornful glance Bill's way +as he straightened his coat about his shoulders, twisted his belt, and +started for the door, taking his chair and putting it in its place +against the wall on his way. "I got enough. I'm going outside." + +Hammond, who had been busy going over the register all this while, now +came from behind the desk and walked toward Bill. "Now look here, Mr. +Jones--" + +"Won't do no good fer you to talk," Bill interrupted him, but did not +even glance up, remaining seated in the middle of the lobby. "I ain't +goin' to sign nothin'--understand that," he said, not ungently. + +Hammond planted himself squarely in front of Bill, setting his doubled +fists on his hips. "Well, if you don't," he snarled in a loud voice, +"you'll find yourself without a home. You understand that--if you're not +too drunk." He delivered the last remark with a sneer that was almost a +bark. + +"Do you think I'm drunk?" Bill went close to Hammond, his head thrown +back the better to look into his opponent's shifting eyes. + +But Hammond made him no answer, for just then Mrs. Jones, dressed in an +evening gown of the latest cut, appeared on the stairs leading from the +California side and walked self-consciously down on the arm of Thomas. + +At first Bill did not recognize her. He thought it was some one of the +boarders, who often wore evening dress for dinner. He hurried toward the +Nevada desk, asking, as his eyes began at Mrs. Jones's feet incased in +shining silver slippers and wandered slowly up the folds of handsome +yellow brocade to the wide expanse of bare neck and shoulder, "Do you +want your key?" + +Mrs. Jones blushed, and the tears sprang to her eyes, as she wrapped the +lace scarf flung over her shoulders closer across her bosom. Turning +toward Bill, she did not answer him, but took up the pen and pointed to +the paper which Hammond had placed on the desk, ready for them both to +sign. + +By this time Bill's glance had reached her face. For a moment he stared +in astonishment. Then he gave a gasp and stood back, his arms limp at +his sides. "Mother, 'tain't you?" he gasped. + +"Yes, it's me," Mrs. Jones replied, angrily, as she gulped to keep back +the tears which were forcing themselves to the surface, part in timidity +and part in rage at her spouse, who she thought was making fun of her. + +Bill straightened himself and, with a droll nod of his head, replied to +Hammond, "You're right, I'm drunk." + +Thomas stifled the smile that rose to his lips in spite of himself. He +was standing on the other side of Mrs. Jones. Now he came around and +stood in front of Bill. "Don't you approve, Lightnin'?" he asked, +pleasantly. "She's dressed in the height of fashion." + +"Looks higher 'n that to me," Bill drawled, as his eyes twinkled at the +eight inches of bare ankle between Mrs. Jones's skirt edge and her +silver pumps. + +Mrs. Jones, with an insulted toss of her head, dropped the pen with +which she had signed the paper and hurried across the lobby to the +dining-room door. She was crying, but Bill did not see her tears. His +eyes were still fastened upon her ankles. "The mosquitoes 'll give you +hell in that this summer," he called out as she slammed the door behind +her. + +Thomas shrugged his shoulders and smiled indulgently. He had made up his +mind to leave matters entirely in Hammond's hands now; so he went up the +California stairs, calling out to Bill, "You'll get yourself disliked +around here, if you don't look out." + +"So'll you," Bill called back as he shambled to the same stairway. + +But he got no farther than the first step. Hammond laid a detaining hand +on his arm, pulling him around in front of him. "See here, Jones," he +said, harshly, "I've taken over the management of this place and I don't +propose to stand any more nonsense from you, and unless you do as your +wife tells you to, sign this deed, I'll kick you out." + +Bill pulled himself loose from Hammond and stood facing him, a defiant +grin antagonizing Hammond to greater fury. "No, you won't!" Bill +laughed, never flinching in the half-open eyes with which he held +Hammond's eyes. + +"What's the reason I won't?" Hammond asked, making a threatening move. + +Still Bill remained unmoved. "'Cause you talk too much about it." + +Hammond stood and looked in fury at Bill. But he knew that any harsh +treatment on his part might spoil the whole game, which he now felt to +be near an end, which meant victory for his plans, so he smothered his +desire to lay hands on the old man, and with sudden impulse, born of a +desire to end the discussion, he hurried up-stairs to his room, calling +back, "You'll see whether I will or not." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +When Bill was once more alone he meandered slowly to the Nevada desk and +leaned against it, looking abstractedly toward the veranda. Outside, the +moon was shining in long shafts of silver light through the branches of +the tall cedars. Beyond the lake lay, itself a moon of silver on the +floor of the valley. He could hear the hoot of a hundred billy owls. +Unthinkingly he went to the door and stood there, sniffing at the +fragrance of the pines. Then he went back to the desk again. + +As Mrs. Jones had closed the dining-room door behind her, he had seen +that she was crying. Her tears had acted like a knife on his obstinacy. +If there was one method of bringing Bill to a realization of his +shortcomings, it was the knowledge that he had brought his wife to +tears. No matter what the occasion, through the years of his many +omissions, he had never failed to awaken to a sense of duty at the +slightest hint of a sob on her part. And now remorse was gnawing heavily +at his heart. He knew that she was sorely tried by his laziness. He knew +that ever since she had come from the city she had longed for some of +the luxuries which she had tasted for the first and only time in those +few brief days when Thomas had given her a bit of every woman's +paradise. And as he looked out he wondered in his slow, but none the +less logical, way what it mattered, after all, if the place did go, just +so long as mother was happy. To be sure, the place was worth much more +than Hammond was willing to pay them. But it was enough for their humble +needs. From the door beyond he could hear the sound of her sobs. He went +half-way across the room. "Yes," he reasoned with himself, "after all, +the property is hers. I gave her my part of it to do as she pleased +with." And a sudden resolve to do her will possessed him. + +But as he reached the middle of the lobby he heard some one on tiptoe +behind him. He turned to see Marvin, crouched down by the desk, so that +any one coming from up-stairs could not see him. + +"'Sh!" Bill put up a warning hand. "Blodgett's outside there some +place." + +"He's snoring in his buggy," Marvin whispered back, with a half-smile. +"Bill," he added, quickly, "I've been outside and I've heard every word +they've been saying to you. I haven't time to tell you all I want to +just now. Promise me again that you won't sign that deed until you've +talked further with me about it." + +[Illustration: "PROMISE ME YOU WON'T SIGN THE DEED." ... BILL HESITATED] + +Bill hesitated. "Well, mother wants to awful bad," he answered, slowly. + +From the dining-room voices could be heard. "Ye'd better get out," said +Bill. + +"Not until you promise," persisted Marvin. + +Bill wavered an instant. He wanted mother to be happy, and yet, another +day did not make so much difference--especially when Marvin was in +danger. The door in back of him swung open. Leaning quickly down to +Marvin, as the latter crept toward the outer door, he whispered: "All +right. I promise." + +Mrs. Jones walked into the room with a swagger, half of indignation, +half of sorrow. She was still wiping the tears from her eyes. The deed +and the pen were in her hand. + +Bill went to her, placing an affectionate hand on her bare arm. "Mother, +ain't you cold?" He could not resist another tilt at her unusual +costume. + +"No." She stamped her foot at him, withdrawing her arm from his hand. +"I'm hot all over at you, insulting me before those gentlemen." Hurrying +to the California desk, she buried her head on her crossed arms and +began to cry. "Makin' fun of me," she sobbed, "because I try to look +presentable for once in my life." + +Following her to the desk, Bill patted her gently on the back. "It's +gettin' late, mother," he coaxed. "You're tired and you've been working +hard. You're all tuckered out. Now you go up-stairs and put on some +clothes and go to bed." + +Mrs. Jones shook him from her and went to the other desk, where she +stood facing him, her face red and swollen from her tears. "Oh!" she +wrung her hands as she looked at him with blazing eyes. "You ought to be +ashamed of yourself with the gentlemen here to buy the place and you +around the office drinking liquor." + +"No, I ain't." Bill answered her outburst mildly, backing away from her +lest she should discover the flask in his back pocket. + +He was too late. Her eye, accustomed to just such investigations, had +detected the lines of the flask as it protruded from his back pocket. +Taking hold of him, she put her hand in his pocket and produced the +flask, holding it, half empty, to the light. + +"That belongs to Mr. Harper," was Bill's ready excuse, given in the +monotone which invariably masked a world of guilt. Seeing the doubt in +his wife's eye, he added, "You can go up-stairs and ask him, if you +don't believe it." + +Mrs. Jones did not reply to his last remark. Instead of which she went +back to the California desk, where she set down the flask, taking up the +deed and holding it out to him. "Now, Bill," she said, in a coaxing +voice, "I want you to put your name to this paper." She smiled kindly +upon him for the first time in many hours. + +Bill wavered before her smile. It was difficult for him to withstand it, +especially as he knew how sorely he had tried her. But a promise was a +promise with Bill, and his one pride was that he had kept intact through +all the years of his digressions this one principle--he never broke his +word. He had told Marvin he would not sign the deed without consulting +him further, so he turned his eyes from his wife's face and answered, in +a low voice, "I can't, mother." + +"What's the reason you can't?" Mrs. Jones planted herself in front of +him, determined that he should not evade her this time. + +"Because I promised my lawyer I wouldn't," he answered, his head turned +away from her. + +Mrs. Jones took him by the arm and swung him into line with her gaze. +"Now see here, Bill," she snapped, "I've been working my fingers to the +bone and I'm entitled to a rest and you sha'n't stop my having it. Mr. +Thomas is going to take Millie and me to the city to live. If you sign +that you can come with us. If you don't you've got to look out for +yourself for a while." + +Bill had not paid much heed to Hammond's threat delivered a few minutes +back. But now something in his wife's tone brought it, recurrent, to his +mind. He wondered if, after all, there was some truth behind it. + +Pausing to gather his points together, Bill nodded toward the stairs. +"Mother, that fellow, Hammond, said he'd throw me out. Do you want me to +get out? Is that what you mean?" + +It was not what Mrs. Jones had meant at all. But the events of the day +had strained her nerves to breaking-point. Since daylight Thomas and +Hammond had been after her to force Bill to do as she wished him to. To +their suggestions that she teach him a lesson by leaving him for a while +she had turned a deaf ear. But now they came surging back and, in answer +to her call for a method of persuasion, clamored for recognition. Before +she had time to stifle them they had their way. "I mean just that, +Bill." There was silence as she thrust the words from her mouth. Bill +stood still, gazing steadily at her. + +She lowered her lids. + +Then he came closer and looked up under her eyes, in the hope that he +would find a relenting gleam there. But she turned away from him. + +"All right, mother--I'll go." + +Without another word he turned and walked toward the door. Mrs. Jones +took a quick step forward, then paused. "Where'll you go?" she asked, +half in surprise, half in defiance, for she had not believed that he +would accept her challenge. + +"Oh, 'most anywhere," he said, gaily, forcing a whistle, though his lips +quivered. "I'll be all right, mother." + +His wife stepped forward again, extending a staying hand, but her +resentment had her in its grip. Her hand fell back to her side. + +"Well," she called out to him as suddenly she turned from him and +hurried up the stairs, "I mean every word I've said! It's one thing or +the other! Either you make up your mind to sign this," and she tapped +the paper in her hand, "or I'm through with you!" Without a backward +glance--fearing, perhaps, that she might weaken--she disappeared along +the upper hallway. + +Bill took his hand from the door and came slowly back into the room. He +strolled to the California desk, pushed back his old hat, and stood +there with his hands in his pockets, thoughtfully. Of a sudden his +absent eyes lighted on the flask resting on the desk, where Mrs. Jones +had put it down. Bill stroked his stubbled chin and gazed at the flask. +It seemed to suggest an idea to him. Satisfying himself that there was +no one around at the moment, he strolled to the door, poked his head +out, and gave a peculiar whistle; then he walked back to the desk and +leaned against it, waiting. + +In a few minutes Zeb's unkempt visage silently framed itself in the +softly opened door. Lightnin' jerked his head as a sign to enter. +Stealthily, with many a wary glance to right and left, his disreputable +partner of the past eased himself across the lobby and stood before +Bill, childlike, trustful inquiry in his eyes. + +"What's the idee, Lightnin'?" he rumbled, puffing at the frayed remains +of a cigar. + +With a gesture of calm triumph Bill pointed to the flask on the desk. + +"I said I had it, Zeb," he remarked, in the tone one uses when +confronting and confounding a skeptic with ocular proof, "an' there it +is!" + +"Why, so it be!" said Zeb, reaching out for the prize. + +But Lightnin' stopped him. "Hold on a minute, partner. The evidence +ain't to be absorbed just yet. In fact, brother, we better keep it +intact for future use, 'cause you're goin' on a long journey, Zeb. You +an' me is goin' to hit the trail again, old-timer!" + +"Gosh! You mean it, Lightnin'?" Zeb showed almost human delight and +anticipation. "But for why? You had a row with your old woman?" + +"Nope," Bill replied. "Can't call it that, exactly. You needn't worry +them brains o' yours about why we're goin', Zeb. It's just that I got a +notion to teach some people 'round here a lesson, an'--an' maybe I can +bring poor mother to her senses," he added, gently. + +"When we goin'?" Zeb questioned, his eyes on the flask. + +"Right away--this here minute, in fact," said Bill. + +Zeb looked at him dazedly. "Just as we is? Where 're we hittin' fer?" + +"I ain't telling that just yet," said Bill, slowly. "Where we are goin' +is a secret." + +"Oh," Zeb answered, with a nod of wisdom. "I--see. You ain't tellin' 'em +you be goin'--not even your old woman, eh?" + +"Them brains o' yours is pickin' up a bit, ain't they, Zeb?" Bill +commented, with encouraging approval. "Well, you hit it, all right! +Nope, we ain't tellin' nobody. We're goin' to kinder disappear +completely for a pretty good space. Mother ain't to be able to locate me +a-tall. There's some others as 'll likely find out, but I ain't worryin' +about them--they want to get rid o' me, an' they ain't likely to exhaust +themselves any tryin' to find me. I got a object, Zeb. It ain't none o' +your business what that object is--by which I merely mean to say, +old-timer, that you wouldn't have no particular interest in it. Come +on--let's get out now, afore they begins to gather 'round me again!" + +Picking up the flask and sliding it into his coat pocket, Lightnin' +walked away toward the door. Nodding wisely, Zeb followed, eyes +hopefully on the pleasant bulge in his old partner's coat. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +"Well!" Millie, appearing with a tray of late supper to take up-stairs +to one of the guests' rooms along about ten o'clock that evening, almost +ran into Marvin, who had returned to the hotel in the hope of seeing +Bill and giving him the full reason for his not being a party to the +sale of the place. The lights in the lobby were turned low and he had +managed to evade the sheriff, who was sitting in his buck-board outside, +waiting for Lemuel Townsend, who was to return to Reno with him. + +Millie's exclamation, because of her surprise in seeing Marvin again, +escaped her in pleasant tones, but her memory asserted itself and the +smile rapidly faded from her face and she gave a haughty toss of her +head, saying, as he stepped in front of her when she started for the +stairs, "Will you please let me pass?" + +But Marvin had wanted to see her quite as much as he did Bill, the +impression she had given him of her liking for Thomas having cut deeper +than the events of the earlier part of the day had given him time to +realize. Ignoring her request, he removed his hat and said, as he +searched her eyes for some play of the old light that had often +gladdened his heart in the days when they were together in Thomas's +office in San Francisco, "I suppose you are surprised to find me here +still?" + +Millie swayed toward the Nevada desk, depositing her tray upon it. She +faced him, her eyes flashing, her cheeks flushed. Her first impulse was +not to answer him. She could not understand his interference in the +matter of the deed. Neither did she believe one word he had uttered +against Hammond and Thomas. On the contrary, Thomas's apparent interest +in her and her mother and his constant flattery and attentions had +attained their end. She believed in him implicitly and therefore had +given credence to every word he had said against Marvin. Nevertheless, +the charge that he was not honest could not quite overcome the +quickening of her interest which had manifested itself lately in a heart +that ran far ahead of itself at his approach. + +After a silence in which she stared at him steadily, his eyes answering +hers with an unflinching candor mixed with a vague wistfulness, she +answered him. "I don't think anything you could do would surprise me, +after all that has happened to-day and all that I've been told about +you." + +"Millie!" Marvin awkwardly rolled his hat in his hands, while his speech +faltered. "I've been waiting around here now for two hours in the hope +that I could explain to you why I wanted to stop that sale. And I cannot +bear to have you believe that I am a thief and--" + +Millie was touched by his attitude. Her hand left her hip and started +toward his arm in friendly contact. But again returned the whole picture +of the afternoon's events and she coolly turned from him and went to +take up her tray again. + +"Will you please let me pass?" she asked a second time, as he tried to +prevail upon her by taking the tray from her and setting it down again. +"I wish to have nothing to say to you. I do not believe your excuses. +Mr. Thomas is the best friend I have in the world. I won't listen to a +word against him, and I am sure he is too fine a gentleman to say +anything about any one unless he were sure that it was true." As she +came to the last words she swallowed to keep back the tears, for +although they were uttered in perfect faith, her words burned into her +own heart with as much bitterness as they were directed toward Marvin. + +He was too filled with his mission and too sure that Millie's interest +in him was gone to notice the catch in her voice or to attribute it to +any sense of affection for him, had he noticed it. He took her hands in +his and shook them gently in an endeavor to get her to look into his +eyes again. "Millie, please listen to me! I know what I'm talking about +when I say that Mrs. Jones is being cheated and robbed--" + +She broke away from him, and stood glaring at him, as she stamped her +foot. "Don't you dare to say another word about Raymond Thomas to me! +Anyway, it is none of your business if he is cheating us!" + +"Millie, Millie." Marvin's voice was full of pleading as he persisted, +going close to her again and shaking his head sadly. "Why do you allow +yourself to be taken in this way? Don't you know that the only reason I +am concerned is because I care--Oh, well." He turned away with a sigh +and went over to the Nevada desk and took up the tray. "I won't say any +more. Will you let me carry the tray up-stairs for you? I'll go then, +and you won't be bothered with me any more." + +The glare in her eyes melted and she made a gesture as if she would +call him to her side again. But she could not forget so easily, and she +said, without turning to look at him, in tones less sharp, "Why didn't +you tell me before that you suspected him?" + +"How could I? You told me how much you thought of Raymond Thomas. I +hadn't realized that before--" He put the tray down and came to her side +once more. + +"Do you mean to say," Millie was again angered, "that I told you I loved +Mr. Thomas?" + +"That's what I understood," Marvin replied. + +The two stood there, Millie glancing at him in contempt, while his whole +heart went out to her from his eyes. + +He was the first to break the silence. Almost touching her hand with +his, he said, softly, "You mean you don't love him?" + +Millie snatched her hand away and went back to the desk. "You're always +wrong! I told you he was my best friend and he is. I never said I loved +him." + +If Marvin had not been attracted by the arabesque of the faded +rose-garlanded rug at that moment, he would have found some solace in +the lowered lids and half-smile which Millie vouchsafed him. But he did +not see it. Slowly he followed her back to the desk, this time standing +aside as she made her way toward the stairs. "Well, say it now--I +mean"--he hesitated, embarrassed, then went on--"I mean--say you don't +care for him. And then if you'll only give me time I'll find out what +their game is." + +Millie stood at the newel-post, steadying the tray against it. Looking +down at him, the hard gleam returned to her eyes as she replied, +emphatically: "Oh, I don't want you to find out anything about it! I +know you're mistaken and you're not going to prevent mother's selling +the place, because it's already sold. As soon as daddy's name is signed +to it we get the money." + +"Well, you sha'n't have that, Millie." Marvin swung his hat against the +post without looking up at her. Through the window he traced the +moonbeams as they filtered through the pines outside. Above the hoot of +an owl the swish of the lake came in to them. They both stood there, +gazing out to where so few weeks ago they had walked in the happiness of +an unconscious awakening. + +It was within Millie's heart to relax as she saw him sigh. From above +just then came the sound of Mrs. Jones's voice. It brought back her +concern for the tired woman above-stairs. With it returned her anger at +Marvin. "You're trying to prevent this sale just to hurt Mr. Thomas in +my eyes!" she snapped. + +He turned and met her with the question, "Thomas told you that, didn't +he?" + +She nodded. + +"Just the same, Millie," and here Marvin mounted the step and stood +close to her as he looked squarely in her eyes, "I'll never let Bill +sign that deed. Some day you'll thank me for it." + +This was more than her patience could stand. In her anger she almost +dropped the tray, but she managed to hold it taut against the balustrade +as she frowned at him and stamped her foot. + +"Thank you?" she asked, in no gentle voice. "I shall always hate and +despise you for it. Always! I hope I shall never see you again, and if I +do I shall never notice you--nor speak to you the longest day I live!" +Exhausted with her temper, she turned to mount the stairs, when she +looked out toward the veranda and saw a figure slowly and stealthily +coming up the steps. She recognized it at once and shrieked out, just as +the sheriff entered the door, "John, look out!" + +But Marvin had been watching her, and the fear in her eyes as she saw +Blodgett had been warning enough for him. He gave three quick skips to +the other side of the lobby, making mock obeisance toward her, laughter +in his voice because of her betrayal of her solicitude in spite of all +that she had said. + +"Thank you, Miss Buckley," he called as he went up the California stairs +to the hall above, just as the sheriff had reached out for him, "thank +you, Miss Buckley! I shall be grateful to you--always!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Bill's disappearance brought quick changes to the little hotel at +Calivada. His ready acceptance of Mrs. Jones's alternative was a +complete surprise, and it was several days before she and Millie +realized that he had taken her at her word. Even then they thought he +had gone off on one of his temporary jaunts in the hills. When the days +grew into a fortnight and he did not return they instituted a search +among the near-by villages and mining-camps. Everett Hammond and Raymond +Thomas were solicitous aids in the inquiry, not for the two women they +were defrauding, nor because they felt any concern for Bill's welfare. +Rather was their full attention turned toward securing a deed which the +Pacific Railroad would consider law-proof. Had the property been +entirely within the state of Nevada, Bill's signature would not have +been imperative, but the California laws regarding the sale of property +were evadable by numerous small technicalities, and shrewd counsel +demanded that bona-fide deeds must appear as freewill transfers from +both the husband and wife. It was for this reason that Bill's +disappearance was a matter of deep satisfaction to both Hammond and +Thomas. They had begun to despair of his putting his name to the deed. +Now, should he not return within six months, they evolved a new scheme +and one which would be law-proof if it could be carried through. + +If Mrs. Jones could be persuaded into a divorce, and the decree obtained +with full rights to the property, the deed would be legal without Bill's +name. It was for this reason that Hammond and Thomas put themselves at +Mrs. Jones's service and did everything in their power to discover +Bill's whereabouts. It was several weeks before they traced him to +Sacramento and from there to the veterans' home at Yountville. By this +time Mrs. Jones was quite beside herself, for, in spite of Bill's +shiftlessness, which was quite enough to wear away the patience of the +average woman, she felt a deep affection for the generous-hearted, +whimsical old creature and his companionship through fifteen years, and +at a time when her father's death had left her desolate had relieved the +monotony of a life which had had little else but hard work. Millie, too, +missed her foster-father, whose frequent sallies kept humor alive when +work and poverty pressed hard. In reverent and grateful memory she held +the thought of his care for her when she had been left a waif by her own +father's death. And so, together, Millie and Mrs. Jones pressed Thomas +for news of Bill. + +He knew that if they learned his whereabouts they would not rest until +they had brought him home again. Mrs. Jones's persistent melancholy +since Bill's departure told Thomas that in order to get Bill back, the +deed itself would be abrogated by her, should that be one of his +conditions of return. Therefore both he and Hammond determined that they +would not let the two women know of Bill's whereabouts. Instead, they +said they had traced him as far as Placerville, known to old-timers as +the Hangtown of the gold days, and that from there he had taken the +trail up over the Georgetown Divide, where he said he was going to find +work in the mines. Search throughout the entire district, Hammond and +Thomas informed her, had failed to locate him, and they assured her and +Millie that inquiry should be kept up until he was found. + +Winter came, bringing with it no news from Bill, and Mrs. Jones settled +into a melancholy resignation wherein she seldom smiled and where she +spent most of her time in the rocking-chair by the front window, gazing +down the path up which Bill had usually zigzagged his recalcitrant way. +Thomas was quick to recognize her symptoms and he resolved upon his +master-stroke. + +One day toward the end of March when a heavy storm had blown up from the +lake and the entire forest was torn and twisted by a wind in high and +angry mood, Mrs. Jones sat crying in front of the window, wondering +where Bill was and beset with the fear that some place beyond the ridge +in that vast ocean of mountain billows Bill might be homeless and cold +and without food. A sudden gust shook the hillside, bringing down a +grizzled pine that had stood close to the house. The crash of its +falling resounded down the slope and Mrs. Jones, keyed to high pitch by +her vigil of three months, was brought to a sudden burst of despair just +as Thomas, who had come to Calivada to superintend the wiring of the +house which was now to be put on modern basis, came down the stairs. It +was his chance and he took it. + +"Mrs. Jones!" There was a surcharge of pity in his voice as he glided +across the room and stood over her chair, placing a gentle hand upon +her shoulder. "I hate to see you upset. We've done everything in our +power to find Mr. Jones and we will leave no stone unturned until we +succeed. In the mean time you must think of yourself and Millie." + +"It was thinking of myself and Millie that drove him out of his home." +Mrs. Jones buried her head on her hand and leaned against the +window-sill. The wind, with renewed shock, beat the sleet against the +window-pane. "He may be out this minute wandering the hills with no +place to go," she sobbed, "and he ain't young no more, neither. + +"Of course, I thought all along," she went on, "that by selling the +place I could take care of him in his old age, and now he ain't here and +the place can't be sold." + +"The place can be sold, Mrs. Jones, and you will then have enough money +to institute a real search for Mr. Jones." Thomas's emphasis of the +possibility of a sale without Bill's signature relaxed Mrs. Jones's mood +and she sat up straight in her chair, lifting questioning eyes toward +him. + +"There is a way." He answered her unspoken inquiry with calm +deliberation, while he scrutinized her for the least sign of +encouragement or of antagonism as his plan unfolded. "It is a difficult +way and one which you may balk at pursuing, but it will justify itself +in the end." + +"Oh, what is it, Mr. Thomas?" Mrs. Jones's brown eyes widened and hope +returned to them as she smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her gingham +apron and folded her arms across her waist, rocking expectantly back and +forth. "I'd do 'most anything if I thought it'd bring Bill back," she +exclaimed, raising her voice to an enthusiastic pitch. + +Thomas brought an arm-chair from the center-table and sat down beside +her. Clasping his hands, he leaned forward, "You can get a divorce, +and--" + +"Oh, I could never do that!" Mrs. Jones protested and stopped rocking as +she lifted up her hands in horror. "He 'ain't never done anything; and +besides--" + +"That's not the question." Thomas was quick to interrupt her flow of +excuses. "I know he has done nothing, Mrs. Jones. But as things stand at +present you have neither Bill nor the money for the place. You can't +give a clear title to the place while you are married to Mr. Jones +unless it bears his signature. You have not the money to find him. A +divorce will straighten all this out. You can sell the place for enough +money to find Bill. You can remarry him and you will both have a +comfortable old age." + +"Oh!!!" Mrs. Jones drew the word out with a long inflection of surprise, +and she shook her head in the wisdom of a new light. "I see what ye +mean." After a moment's abstraction in which she pondered Thomas's +suggestion, she continued, "Some way or 'nuther it don't seem straight +by Bill." + +"It's the only way I see to settle matters. But I sha'n't try to +persuade you against your will, Mrs. Jones." Thomas brought to bear on +the situation his finest modulations, both in voice and manner, as he +sat nonchalantly in his chair, one knee cocked over the other and his +foot swinging listlessly back and forth, portraying a personal +indifference which Mrs. Jones's simple mind could not penetrate. + +"It does seem a good way," she mused aloud, adding, in little spurts, +"but I guess--maybe--Well--I think I'll talk it over with Millie." + +Mrs. Jones did talk it over with Millie. Also, she had several prolonged +interviews with Thomas on the subject, and three days later she put her +name to the petition which asked for a divorce from Bill Jones without +so much as giving the document a thorough reading. Whatever Thomas +proposed was to her, by the very fact of its being his idea, a thing +worthy to be done. Millie, being of the same turn of mind, aided her in +accepting his decision. And it was only when the first publication of +summons appeared in the Reno papers that her heart sank at the words +which characterized Bill as a drunkard and a man who was cruel to his +wife--lies which Thomas justified as necessary to strengthen the one +truthful ground for the divorce--that of failure to provide. Even that +Mrs. Jones felt was beside the truth, for although Bill had never +exerted himself needlessly, he had performed the chores, gone after the +mail, made beds, and, by his gift to her on their marriage day of his +three hundred and twenty acres, which were far the better portion of the +property, he had made some slight concession to his responsibilities. +Bill's digressions had been those of omission rather than those of +commission, and Mrs. Jones's misgivings were frequent during the three +months that followed. + +In the mean time, Thomas and Hammond were quick to inaugurate a new +regime at the hotel. Mrs. Jones and Millie remained on in the capacity +of guests, while a clerk and a housekeeper were brought from the city to +take over the management. Modern improvements and equipment soon turned +it into a hostelry that verged on the fashionable. With the early spring +freshet augmenting the waterfall and the stream into a cataract whose +potential horse-power did not escape Everett Hammond, he made a hurried +trip from San Francisco with an official of the Pacific Railroad and +succeeded in persuading the company to advance a comfortable sum of +money for an option on the Jones property. Mrs. Jones and Millie, +fretting under the suspense and without funds, were given a small amount +to tide them over until the sale should be consummated, when they were +to receive a large block of certificates in the Golden Gate Land +Company. + +All would have been well with Thomas, who saw life spreading before him +in a panorama of ease and elegance, had it not been for two +people--Lemuel Townsend and John Marvin. Lemuel Townsend had been placed +by the November elections on the list of Superior Court judges, where he +immediately came into his own as presiding judge in the majority of +divorce cases in Reno. Thomas, unable to withstand the rôle of popular +and irresistible Beau Brummell among the prospective divorcées at the +hotel, had run against Townsend's displeasure two days before the +election, when he had dared to play interloper in Lemuel Townsend's +attentions to Mrs. Margaret Davis. With Townsend, it had been love at +first sight. With Mrs. Davis it was something less, her only idea at +that time being a quick snatch at freedom and a hurried trip back to +Broadway, where she hoped to sign up for the summer circuit. Lem +Townsend did well enough to pass the time, and it was her own diversion +rather than any feeling for him which bade her accept his attentions. +Thomas on frequent trips had scattered his flatteries between Millie and +the various divorcées. Mrs. Davis came in for her full share and several +times there had been clashes between the two men, Thomas invariably +stepping aside, but only after verbal skirmishes with Townsend. + +Marvin had not been seen in the neighborhood since a few days after Bill +Jones had disappeared. He had returned to his cabin, after having +established himself in an office in San Francisco with the intention of +taking Bill back with him. During the days spent on the trails in search +of the old man he had successfully evaded Sheriff Blodgett and had gone +back to his office, where he had received a forwarded letter from Bill +at the veterans' home at Yountville. He had taken one trip to the home +with the purpose of persuading Bill to return with him to the city. But +when he saw how comfortable Bill was there in the hillside country, +surrounded by the old veterans who vied with one another in recounting +their past prowess, he decided to let him alone until such time as he +could effect a reconciliation between Bill and Mrs. Jones. + +This, he trusted, would be at the termination of the case brought +against him by the Pacific Railroad to recover the timber which he had +sold to Rodney Harper previous to the sale of his timber-land to the +Golden Gate Land Company by Mrs. Marvin. Then, too, he hoped the way +would be made straight for him and Millie, although he had half lost +hope under his realization of Thomas's superior eligibility. + +These things, known to the latter, destroyed his composure and made the +lapse between the filing of Mrs. Jones's divorce suit and the +termination of its three months' summons by publication, required by +law, a period of anxiety. He knew that if Marvin were vindicated before +Mrs. Jones could secure her divorce his whole framework would collapse, +as Millie and Mrs. Jones, straightforward as they were, would brook no +hint of dishonesty on his part. Once discovered as unworthy of trust, +their confidence in him would be broken and Marvin would be restored to +full standing, not only in Millie's affections, but in Mrs. Jones's +approval. + +In the latter part of March he took a hurried trip to Reno, where, in +conference with Blodgett, who had never been able to forgive Marvin's +evasion of arrest, maneuvers to have the two suits tried at the same +time sent him back to San Francisco rejoicing in the anticipation that +his days of discomfort would soon be over and he could return to his +own world again. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Mid-April came with its arabesquan days of sunlight and shadow and its +fragile broidery of new leaf and timid blossom. It was as if its coming +had stirred anew the life in Reno's divorce colony. All winter the +courts had been dull, most of the men and women seeking divorces +arriving in the early fall and biding their time of six months by +hibernating through the long, cold season. But now there was a renewed +activity in divorce circles. The court calendars were full and there was +a steady stream of gaily clad applicants making their way in and out of +the Washoe County court-house, going in with nervous, hasty, anxious +tread and coming out with a gait which spoke of a new freedom and a +smile that bespoke life as once again worth living. + +It was one morning just after the flux of spring divorces had begun that +Sheriff Blodgett stood looking over the calendar in Judge Lemuel +Townsend's court-room. He scowled as he read the words announcing that +the first case was that of the Railroad Company versus John Marvin. He +patted the warrant which still occupied the waiting list in his pocket. +Placing a chair close to the court-room door, he waited for the crowd to +begin to file in. He knew that he could not arrest a man in the +court-room, but he intended to keep his eye on the corridor, and to that +end had propped one of the doors open with a chair so that he could see +clear to the swinging doors that led in from the street. If Marvin put +in an appearance, he intended to arrest him at once. The thought gave +him satisfaction and he sat twirling his long, drooping mustache with +one hand and fondling the handcuffs in his coat pocket with the other. +Revenge at last would play its part to-day, for, even if Marvin failed +to appear and therefore balked him again, the railroad company would get +judgment, anyway. + +It was at this point in his reverie that Thomas entered the court-room, +greeting the sheriff with a genial, "Oh, hello there, Blodgett! I guess +our day's come." + +With a patronizing pat on Blodgett's shoulder, Thomas passed and went to +the clerk, where he procured a list of the day's cases. He, too, nodded +in satisfaction, as he saw that the Pacific Railroad case, in which he +was attorney, was to come up first. Running his finger down the line, he +stopped at another close to the end, smiled again, and turned to the +sheriff. + +"The Marvin case is first," he observed. + +The sheriff nodded and a frown slowly puckered his brow. He walked +slowly up to Thomas, who stood at the clerk's desk just within the +railing. He hesitated, clearing his throat, and found the courage to +ask, with a slight timidity in his voice and manner, "You ain't a-goin' +to bring up the old story of my serving the warrant at Calivada, are +you?" + +Thomas laughed. "No," he replied; "I don't think I'll have to go into +that. But I will ask you about the time you went to Marvin's camp." + +Blodgett heaved his shoulders in relief, and, with hands in his pockets, +went back to his station at the door. "That's all right!" He exhaled a +full breath once again. + +Thomas turned the leaves of the calendar, looked ahead for a day or two, +without noticing much that he saw, then turned the leaves back again to +the day's list. He went to the court-room window and looked out upon the +valley that ran from Reno up toward the foothills. He sniffed the keen, +cool air that was blown up to him. He stood contemplating the rushing +waters of the Truckee River below. After several minutes' thought he +faced Blodgett again. + +"I'm going to ask you what time you were at Marvin's camp, for I want to +show he was taking down the timber," he announced. + +"I didn't get out where the timber was," the sheriff replied. + +"But you know he had a gang of lumbermen there?" In Thomas's tone and in +the gleam on his cold, blue eyes the sheriff caught the message of +persuasion. + +"Oh, sure." He nodded with the air of a man who understood what was +wanted of him. + +"And they drove you off by force?" + +Blodgett nodded again. + +"And you remember the date?" + +"I guess I won't fergit it." There was emphasis in Blodgett's answer and +he arose impatiently from his chair and stood, his arms akimbo, peering +down the corridor. "Do you think Marvin'll be here to-day?" This time he +was interlocutor. "I got a notion he won't," he added, fathering his +disappointment by admitting the possibility of frustration in the one +desire that had held him ever since Marvin had foiled him by the +technicality of the state boundary-line. He was bound, however, that +there should be no opportunity for escape this time. + +"I don't care whether he turns up or not," Thomas answered, going to the +lawyers' table, opening his brief-case, and setting them out before him +as he swung gracefully into a chair. "The case is a cinch," he +emphasized, with a grin that found reflection in Blodgett's eyes. + +With a warning to the clerk to keep an eye on things until he should +return, Blodgett left the court-room and swaggered up the corridor, +stopping at the door of the other rooms and taking a frowning survey of +the occupants, hoping that Marvin had entered one of them by mistake. If +John Marvin was in Reno he was not going to escape arrest this day. With +this comforting conclusion in mind, he took up his stand just outside of +the court-house door at the top of the steps. + +In the mean time Everett Hammond, escorting Mrs. Jones and Millie +Buckley, entered Judge Townsend's court-room and were greeted effusively +by Thomas. + +"Oh, good morning!" He bowed low over Mrs. Jones's hand, which he held +in his. "I'm glad to see you." Staring at Millie, who looked very +fetching in a trim blue serge tailor suit, he beamed. "How fine you look +this morning; quite irresistible, I assure you!" + +Millie blushed and looked with frightened glance from the judge's bench +to the lawyers' table, and from there to the witness-stand and back +toward the door, for all the world as if she were contemplating a rapid +escape. She took a deep breath. "I don't feel irresistible," she said. +"I feel just as if I wanted to cry and run away." She pouted at Thomas, +with entreaty in her pretty eyes. + +Thomas laughed, put his hand on her arm in deprecation, and shrugged her +fears away. "Oh, the trial won't amount to anything, little lady. What +do you say to that, Mrs. Jones?" + +The older woman's brown eyes were staring straight ahead, as if she saw +a real horror and was without power to controvert it. "All I can say," +she replied, in a high-pitched, high-strung voice, "is that I'm here." +She waited for a moment, casting furtive glances at Hammond and Thomas, +who stood one on each side of her. Having found the courage to assert +herself, she burst out, "And I wish I wasn't!" + +"Now, now, Mrs. Jones!" There was banter in Hammond's voice, but there +was concern in the wise direction of his eyes toward Thomas. "You're a +mighty brave woman and I know you're going through with this, for it +means that you'll be in a much better position to find your husband and +look out for your old age after you get the money for the place." + +Mrs. Jones made no response, but cast anxious eyes about the room, and +she folded her hands in resignation across her ample waist-line. + +"It's like going to the dentist. The worst part is making up your mind +to it." Thomas leaned over Mrs. Jones and smiled his most engaging +smile. He received no answer to it, so he turned to Millie, who stood at +the other side of him. + +Before he could speak, the girl rid herself of the question that had +been ever present in her mind now for six months, and one which she had +never failed to ask him every time she saw him or wrote to him. + +"Have you heard anything of daddy?" + +Thomas's smile disappeared. He left the little group of four in the +middle of the space inside of the rails and sat down again at the table, +annoyance in the slump with which he threw himself into his chair. "No, +we haven't been able to locate him." He would have been sullen had he +dared, but his game was too nearly played and he did not wish to foozle +at the last, so he controlled his mood and forced a smile as he thought +of a method of getting away from his client's importunity for awhile. + +"It must be distasteful for you two women to remain in here any longer +than possible," he said, rising from his chair again and pointing to a +door at one side of the court-room. "Lennon," he called to the clerk, +"my clients can wait in there, can't they?" + +The clerk acquiescing, he and Hammond courteously escorted Mrs. Jones +and Millie to the door and showed them into a small room which had been +fitted up for hysterical women overcome with the proceeding in their +cases, or for those who, like Mrs. Jones and Millie, wished to avoid the +embarrassment of a long wait in the court-room. + +As the two women went through the door, Thomas turned to Hammond and +advised, in a low voice: "You better go, too, Hammond. Keep them +cheered up." + +With bad grace in his shrug and in his eyes, he followed Thomas's +suggestion, first murmuring in his partner's ear: "I'll be damn glad +when this day is over. All I've been doing this last week is to keep +these darned women from backing out." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +By this time the court-room was filling up with its usual motley crowd +of interested parties and spectators. There were the seekers after +freedom, a heterogeneous collection of them, in all sorts and conditions +of clothes, of all ages and of all kinds of faces and figures. There +were the women from the millionaire colonies of the East, chic, sleek, +and composed. They retired into a far corner with their attorneys, +conferring in low tones, or else sitting, apparently unperturbed, while +waiting for their cases to be called. There were always the adventuress +types, chic, too, but made up with an eye to future conquest, their +skirts always tighter or wider or shorter or longer than the style +decreed, their hair a little more so-so, their lips redder, their cheeks +rosier, and their faces whiter than their more conservative sisters of a +narrower way. There were tired women from far states not allowing +divorces for cruelty or desertion. They sat, in nondescript clothes, +most of them, with eyes heavy-lidded, as if they were too weary to care +much what happened to them. There were gay young creatures, dancers and +small-time vaudeville actresses, who refused to take life seriously and +who availed themselves of a dull season to make themselves free for +another venture. There was a sprinkling of men, one of them a lumber +magnate from an Eastern state, another a noted cabaret entertainer. They +sat around, restlessly out of place, but at the same time taking an +interest in those about them. + +Supplementing these were the spectators. Among them were tourists who +came to Reno for the express purpose of attending the divorce trials. +Inquisitive folk, regular residents of the town, dropped in to pass an +hour's time and to gather gossip for the afternoon tea-table. +Club-women, anxious to find food for reform, took up their seats close +to the railing, determined that no word of the testimony or proceedings +should escape them. And there were the usual hangers-on, old men and +women with nothing to do, who found entertainment in listening to the +human dramas unfolded from the witness-stand. + +Raymond Thomas, before taking his seat at the lawyers' table, took a +comprehensive view of his audience. Lifting the skirt of his frock-coat, +he sat down, viewing the world and himself complacently. He heard the +court-room door swing to, and, looking up, he saw the sheriff coming +toward him with Mrs. Margaret Davis by his side. + +Mrs. Davis's six months' residence in Nevada had been established and +she had come over from Calivada, where she had become quite one of the +Jones family, to get her decree. She had expected to meet Mrs. Jones at +the Riverside Hotel, but she had been late and had hurried over, her +effort flushing her cheeks even beyond the heavy coat of peach-bloom +with which she hid the natural roses of her cheeks. She had been +scurrying like a chicken around the corridors when she had caught sight +of Sheriff Blodgett and importuned him to see her safely to a seat in +the court-room. + +As soon as she saw Thomas she dismissed the sheriff summarily, while +Thomas arose and went forward, opening the swinging gates that admitted +the lawyers and witnesses behind the railing. Their greeting was +effusive, and Thomas held Mrs. Davis's hand for a moment. She blushed +vigorously and simpered: + +"Oh, Mr. Thomas, my case comes up to-day, and I'm just worried sick +about it. Do you think I could see Lem--" she stopped, hung her head, +and looked coquettishly up at Thomas as she bit her lip, correcting +herself, "I mean Judge Townsend?" + +Thomas looked around to see if any one were listening. "I'm afraid you +can't see him just now," he replied, leading her to a chair just under +the judge's desk, which was set upon a high platform. "Is there anything +I can do?" he asked, in his smooth, bland voice. + +"I don't know." Mrs. Davis whined and twisted in her chair. "My lawyer's +sick. I telephoned his doctor, who was just as mean as could be and said +he couldn't come to court to-day. If I could only tell the judge--" She +gave Thomas a look laden with understanding. + +"There shouldn't be any trouble about that," laughed Thomas, dropping +easily into the chair beside her. "You can explain the circumstances to +the judge when your case is called, and--" + +"But I don't want it postponed! A court-room scares me just half to +death. I'll die if I have to put it off and go through screwing up my +courage again. I just will!" She nodded her head emphatically until the +bright blue plumes that fell from the back of her enormous picture-hat +threatened Thomas's eyes. + +He moved away from them, offering, after a moment's thought: "Well, I'll +be very glad to represent you if you care to have me. There's nothing to +your case, anyhow. The judge is a friend of yours, isn't he?" + +Mrs. Davis hesitated and rolled her baby-blue eyes at him from under her +heavily beaded lashes as she giggled. "Oh yes--he's a friend," and then, +thinking better of her confidence, she ended, with a sigh, "that is, I +know him--slightly." + +Thomas smiled to himself, reassuring her. "Then don't give it a thought. +Just leave everything to me." + +A grateful hand was laid upon his arm and she looked up at him with +fervid admiration. "You are so smart and so kind, Mr. Thomas. You've +taken such a load off my mind. If anything went wrong after waiting all +these months I'd just die--that's all there is about it." + +At this moment the door of the judge's chambers opened and Lemuel +Townsend appeared, clad in a Prince Albert suit and beaming on Mrs. +Davis, who arose and walked well into the middle of the floor so that +she should not escape his immediate attention. + +This was a moment of great satisfaction for Thomas, who looked about the +court-room, scrutinizing every man in it, his face brightening as he saw +that John Marvin had not put in an appearance. When the sheriff had +finished opening court he arose from his place at the lawyers' table, +for he knew that the case of the railroad against John Marvin was the +first upon the day's calendar. He pulled his revers together with a +pompous gesture and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could do so +Judge Townsend called to the clerk, whose desk was at one side of the +bench, and suggested in low tones: + +"I think this first case can go over--" + +Thomas caught the words and disappointment drove the self-satisfaction +from his face. He ventured to address the court: "If it please your +Honor, this is an action for the wrongful taking of timber, and I've +come a long way and I would like to get home--" + +Townsend had not been listening to a word, his attention being +concentrated on the tip of an upstanding feather on Mrs. Davis's hat, +which could barely be seen over the top of his desk. "Eh? What's that?" +he asked, sharply, not too pleased to be interrupted in his endeavor to +catch further sight of Mrs. Davis. + +Marvin not having put in an appearance, Thomas's hopes of winning the +case for the railroad by default were high. He did not think Marvin +would appear, but every delay might be fatal and it took an effort on +his part to appear unperturbed. However, he managed to answer in urbane +tones, "I was saying, your Honor, that--" + +"Oh yes." Townsend bent his head and looked down with severe eyes over +the top of his glasses. "Just a moment, please," he added, as Thomas +would have finished his plea. Turning to the clerk, he ordered, "Let me +see the list." + +The list was handed to him and he ran down it, finally remarking to the +clerk, "I think I will dispose of these short cases first." Half rising +in his chair, he looked over the top of his desk to where Mrs. Davis was +twisting and turning in her chair in an effort to get a look at him. + +"Mrs. Davis," he called in gentle tones, "are you ready?" + +She hurriedly precipitated herself into the middle of the space in front +of the platform. "Why, yes," she answered, looking about as if she did +not know where to turn and gathering her sealskin cape about her. + +"I'll take your case at two o'clock," the judge said to Thomas, who +shrugged his shoulders, but did not sit down as Townsend had expected +him to do. + +As the clerk called the case, "Davis _versus_ Davis," Thomas moved close +to the bench, exclaiming, "If it please your Honor--" + +He was interrupted by a glower from Townsend, who said, "This case is +Davis _versus_ Davis, Mr. Thomas," his eyes wrinkling into a broad smile +as he again turned his attention to Mrs. Davis, who stood, bewildered, +not knowing whether to laugh or cry. + +"I am quite aware that it is the Davis case, your Honor," Thomas +answered, not without a note of triumph in his voice and demeanor. "I am +the attorney for Mrs. Davis." + +Thomas's announcement shocked Townsend into dropping a document he held +in his hand. It fell on the desk and was blown by the strong east wind +that came in from the window clear across the room. "_You_ are?" he +asked, with a mouth fallen half open from surprise and annoyance, his +spectacles tilting to the end of his nose. + +Thomas did not answer at once, but flushed, turning, for the sake of a +few moments in which to think, toward the clerk, who was scrambling +after the paper. His glance on its way back to the judge met that of +Blodgett, which had both a warning and an "I-told-you-so" quality in it. + +"Well?" The judge's question was drawn into a length which further +embarrassed Thomas. Being a young man of poise, however, he straightened +the revers of his coat and settled them with a shake upon his shoulder, +replying, graciously, "Mrs. Davis has appointed me in the place of Mr. +Adams." + +Townsend continued to stare most ungraciously at the young man in front +of him, but Thomas, unabashed, went on: "Your Honor, I believe, is +familiar with the complaint and has gone over the depositions submitted +by the plaintiff. As the defendant has neither entered a denial, put in +an appearance, nor been represented in court, I move that the plaintiff +be granted an absolute separation from the defendant." + +Swift shafts of indignation bolted from Townsend's eyes back and forth +between Thomas and Margaret Davis. He saw that consternation was plainly +written on the latter's baby face and that tears were gathering in her +big blue eyes now pleadingly uplifted to his. His jaw relaxed and a +smile played at the corners of his mouth. But Thomas' complacency at the +softening in the judge's attitude was too much, and Townsend snapped +out, "The motion is denied." + +From her chair directly in front of the judge's desk Margaret Davis +immediately jumped up, her eyes opening into large, round, moist orbs +which threatened to grow moister as she asked, in a voice that fear had +robbed of its ingenuousness, "Does that mean I can't get a divorce?" + +Thomas was about to reassure her, when he was again interrupted by the +judge, whose voice flattened as he looked away from her, afraid to trust +the melting effect of her coy glances. "It means that the motion of your +counsel is unusual and that I have good and sufficient reasons for +denying it," he said, with emphasis. + +Margaret put her handkerchief to her eyes to stem the threatening tide, +while Thomas hastened to forestall the avalanche by informing her, as he +placed a comforting hand on her arm, that he would be able, at least, to +try the case. + +Had Lem Townsend been able to prevent the latter, he would have done so, +but he was too young as a jurist to allow criticism of his knowledge of +points of law, and he reluctantly gave consent to the trial of the case. + +It was with a beating heart and a jaw set against the impending quiver +of a not too slender frame that she held up her hand for the oath and +took her place upon the stand, looking about with a terror that was new +born in eyes heretofore ungiven to everything but treacle. Her lips +trembled an almost inaudible reply to the clerk's question. + +She was still standing, and Thomas, noticing this, motioned her to be +seated, beginning at the same time her examination. + +"Mrs. Davis, where do you live?" he asked. His own tones were of no +certain quality, for the firm pressure of Townsend's white lips and his +obvious intention of steering clear of any attempt at honeyed coercion +on Margaret Davis's part were not encouraging. + +In vain she cast her eyes about in an effort to inveigle the sympathy of +Lem Townsend. He stared straight ahead at the paper in front of him, +although he saw not a word. Her answer to Thomas's question came with a +gasp. "New York." Then realizing that her case was lost and her entire +six months' sojourn at Calivada was as nothing unless she immediately +corrected her mistake, she gasped a second time as she drew the folds of +her blue-velvet cape about her. "Oh no! I don't mean that at all. I live +here--I live here in Nevada and I've lived here long enough to get a +divorce. The judge--" and here she stopped for breath, making another +attempt to corral his stubborn favor--"his Honor--" she jerked, with a +quick breath, "can tell--you that." + +But the judge did not smile and his eyes remained rigid in their sockets +as they glared at the paper in his hand. + +"Just answer the questions, please, Mrs. Davis," Thomas cautioned her +pleasantly, although as a witness she was disconcerting. + +"Well," she drawled, fidgeting in her chair, "that's not easy when +you're sworn to tell the truth." + +A titter ran through the court-room and was brought to an abrupt end by +the sheriff's gavel. + +Thomas resumed his examination. "You are the wife of Gerald Davis, are +you not?" + +She nodded. + +"And when and where were you married to him?" + +"Seven years ago, October fifth--in Peoria." She glanced about at the +sea of smiling faces, again seeking sympathy from the judge. + +Again he was adamant. + +"You were living in Peoria?" + +The insinuation that anything less than a metropolis should be her +abiding-place was more than she could bear and in turbulent leaps, +broken by her gasps for breath, she blurted, her lips quivering and her +eyes filling with tears: "I should--say--not! My husband and I were +playing there. We were partners doing a dancing act--" + +Thomas tried to interrupt her and succeeded with half a question. "When +did your husband first show signs of not loving you and--" + +He got no farther, for she went on, determined to get over the +disagreeable business of being truthful. "He stopped loving me about a +year before we were married." + +This time a storm of laughter surged through the court-room and it took +several taps of Blodgett's gavel to regain quiet. Undaunted, she +finished her story. "It's really hard to explain why we were married. +You see"--she hesitated and resumed jerkily--"we were in Peoria--and we +were partners--and--and--it rained all week--Well, somehow it seemed a +good idea at the time." + +At this point it became necessary for Townsend, in order to maintain the +dignity of the bench, to caution the spectators that if there were any +more such outbursts of joy he would have the court-room cleared. + +Thomas still maintained his control, although cold perspiration was +wilting his highly polished collar. "But after you were married he was +cruel to you, was he not?" he asked. + +"I should say he was!" The answer was accompanied by an emphatic nod of +the head and again she flew onward, over his head, determined that she +should tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. + +"Why," she opened her left hand and enumerated the said Gerald Davis's +shortcomings by pressing its fingers with the thumb and forefinger of +her right hand, "he put his name on the bill in larger type than mine. +He tried to strike me once--but he was a poor judge of distance. +And--and--" she stopped. This time her appeal was directed to Thomas. + +"He deserted you, did he not?" Thomas eagerly took up the thread, hoping +to unravel the snarl she had worked with it. + +"Well, we parted--" + +"After he deserted you?" + +Before Mrs. Davis could answer the last question, Townsend straightened +the spectacles on his nose and entered the case. Slowly welling within +him was a jealousy now overwhelming. His political ambitions alone had +stood in the way of his descending from the bench and throwing Thomas +out of the court-room. It was only by remaining silent that he had +curbed his temper. Now it broke away from him, and he turned, +thundering, "So far, Mr. Thomas, the witness has not testified that her +husband deserted her!" + +"Oh--" Margaret Davis turned squarely in her chair, pursing her carmine +lips into an irresistible moue. "Of course he deserted me! We were +playing in Chicago, and I went West and he stayed there and--" + +"That looks to me, madam, as if you deserted him. So far, your testimony +has not brought out anything to substantiate your complaint." + +Tears unrestrained burst forth at this moment. The thought that not only +had she lost all chance of securing her freedom, but that Lemuel +Townsend, whose attentions had helped to while away a six months which +would otherwise have been dull to one accustomed to a barrage of suitors +at the stage door, was more than she could bear. Pointing to Thomas, she +sobbed into a purple silk handkerchief that smelled not faintly of +patchouli. "That's because he told me to do nothing but answer his +questions, and then he asked me all the wrong things--" Her emotion, out +of bounds, spent itself in a cataract of tears. Unable to go on, she sat +there, trying to stem the tears with a handkerchief inadequate for their +volume. + +Thomas tried to save his case. "Your Honor--I--" + +He hesitated, Margaret Davis coming to his rescue. "Oh, I don't mean to +blame you," she said to him, addressing the last of her remark to the +judge. "He doesn't know anything about my case!" + +What Lemuel Townsend would have liked to do at that moment was to have +taken her in his arms and reassure her, as old fools are apt to do with +naïve young creatures. But her apparent friendliness with Thomas and her +deceitfulness in employing him for her attorney was more than he could +condone. He would not relax his stern exterior, although his interior +was softening. "Then, why," he asked, in measured tones, "is he +appearing for you if he does not understand your case?" + +Recognizing the opportunity for explanation, Margaret wiped her eyes, +sniffed, and, went on: "My lawyer's sick, you see. And I wanted to tell +you all about it, but Mr. Thomas explained that I couldn't see you. And +he said he'd do everything for me, and you'd give me a divorce without +any trouble at all." + +Thomas whitened and turned to the table, where he fingered his +brief-case nervously. He could not brave the glare which he knew +Townsend was directing at him, nor the tirade he feared would follow. + +"When did he tell you all that?" the judge asked, his nostrils quivering +with rage, his voice strained to a tenor. + +"Just now." Margaret grew happily voluble and she nodded her head back +and forth like a child of six as she ogled the judge. "When I came into +court he was here and I told him the trouble I was in. It's the only +time I've seen him since you asked me not to." + +Townsend was so relieved that he did not hear the last of her remark and +the noisy delight of the spectators also escaped him. He was bent upon +one purpose, that of chastising Thomas. "Why didn't you tell me this +before?" he asked Margaret, in tender tones, forgetting, in his ardor, +that there was such a thing as a court-room. He leaned far over the desk +and beamed upon her. "There, there, don't let it upset you." He offered +her a glass of water. + +As she took it, Thomas stepped up to the bench again and tried to +palliate the judge's wounded sensibilities. "If your Honor please, I +was simply acting from a friendly standpoint and I thought--" + +"No matter what your motives were, sir, you presumed when you told the +plaintiff what the court's rulings would be." He turned abruptly from +Thomas and leaned graciously toward the plaintiff. "Now, Mrs. Davis," he +resumed, "let me question you. Why did you leave your husband in +Chicago?" + +Reassured, Margaret bridled coyly and answered, lifting her lids to the +judge: "Because he didn't show up for a performance and I had to go on +alone--and afterward the manager told him the act was better without +him. And he sulked and stayed away from the theater all the rest of the +week and on our next jump he refused to go with me." Her last words +dwindled into a plaintive whine. + +"And you were obliged to go without him?" Lem Townsend subtly gave a +slight nod of his head which Margaret caught and interpreted into a +vigorous acquiescence with her own curly blond head. + +"Did you try to have him go with you?" Again the hint and again +Margaret scored her point. + +"Of course I did!" she responded. "I mean, yes--your Honor. But he said +he'd show me how long I could go it on my own; but I showed _him_, for +I've never seen him since. I only heard from him once and that was when +I sent him money." + +"Have you tried to see him?" Lem Townsend asked the last question +grudgingly, but he felt that his own honor in the case was in danger of +impeachment, and he was sure that his slight nod would be followed as it +had before. He was right. + +"Of course I did. Mr. Blackmore--he was our manager--gave me his sworn +statement." + +Townsend for the first time really saw the paper in front of him. He +read it carefully, answering in tones of quick delight. "Yes, here it is +and a deposition dated Chicago stating that Davis left you without +warning and refused to dance with you again." + +"Yes, your Honor," she cooed. + +There was silence while Townsend scrutinized the papers in front of him. +Margaret sat with her eyes anxiously fastened on him. With a nod of +satisfaction he shoved the papers aside and, smiling down at her, +announced in kindly tones, "Your decree is granted." + +"Your Honor!" She arose from her chair and sat down in it again, a +copious flow of tears making it impossible for her to leave the stand. + +Townsend reached for the glass of water and held it toward her once +again. "Please, please, Mrs. Davis," he endeavored to calm her, but his +compassion only served to bring on another storm. "I'm _so_ emotional," +she sobbed, "I can't stop it!" + +Townsend looked about helplessly. A sudden awakening to his own +prerogative solved the dilemma. "Mr. Sheriff, announce a recess," he +ordered. And leaving the bench, he went to Mrs. Davis and guided her +into his chambers. + +The crowd filed out of the court-room, while Thomas, weak with shame and +disappointment, took his seat at the table again, impatiently toying +with a paper-knife that had fallen from his pin-seal brief-case. + +Blodgett went to him and leaned over with the intention of reassuring +him, when there was a disturbance at the window which opened from a +balcony a few feet above the street. Both of the men turned just in time +to see John Marvin climb through the window and pull his suit-case in +after him. + +The sheriff stepped forward, hesitating as he realized his powers were +negative in a court-room. + +"Here, what you doing?" the clerk called out, getting up from his desk. + +The sheriff glared and handled the manacles in his pocket with an +intemperate disgust. + +Marvin looked at him and laughed, answering the clerk. "I've got +business in this court. I'm John Marvin and I'm appearing in the case +the Pacific Railroad has brought against me." He did not deign to glance +at Thomas, who had arisen, facing him, white from the blow to his hope +of obtaining a judgment by default. + +Marvin went calmly to the other end of the attorneys' table and opened +up his shabby brown-canvas brief-case. He whistled to himself softly as +he did so and glanced at Thomas, whose pallid mouth was drawn into a +dogged sneer. + +Blodgett went back to his seat just within the swinging gates that gave +entrance behind the railing and sat glaring at Marvin. Quiet reigned in +the court; then a faint shuffle of feet was heard beyond the door. + +As Blodgett looked around, the door of the court-room opened gently and +Bill Jones, clad in a Civil War veteran's uniform, faded from the sun, +its brass buttons tarnished, and wearing his soldier's black soft hat +with its gold cord cocked jauntily over one eye, sauntered down the +aisle, holding out his hand to Marvin, who had jumped from his seat and +bounded around the table to greet him. + +"Hello, John!" Lightnin' drawled, grinning. "How's tricks? You look +kinder legal this morning?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +As Bill made his way through the swinging gates, Blodgett put out a +detaining arm, asking, with a scowl, "Here, what do _you_ want?" + +"Been arrestin' any one in California lately?" Bill slid past Blodgett, +ignoring his attempt to stop him, the old twinkle in his eye as he +touched what he knew to be the sheriff's sensitive spot. + +"Well, Lightnin'," Marvin exclaimed, "how did you get here and what in +the world have you come for?" + +"Yer case ain't over yet, is it?" + +Marvin shook his head, repeating his first question. + +Bill did not reply at once. Not wanting Marvin to know that he and Zeb +had been nearly two weeks getting there, and that they had come in much +the same way they had gone, riding when they could get a lift on a train +or a wagon, walking when they could not, he pretended to forget the +young man's questions, asking one himself instead, "What time your case +comin' up?" + +"Two o'clock." + +The sheriff sauntered up to them. Bill knew the purpose of his approach +was to catch the drift of their conversation, so he turned abruptly, +his hands in his back pockets, and grinned at Blodgett. Nodding toward +Marvin, he drawled, "I'm a witness for him. I got to testify how you +served a warrant on him." + +The sheriff glared and slouched over to his chair, throwing himself into +it as he pulled his black sombrero down over his eyes. + +Marvin, his arm about Bill's shoulders, leaned over him, guiding him +gently to the attorneys' table. "Well, Lightnin'," he questioned, in an +indulgent voice, "how did you happen to show up here?" + +"I promised you, didn't I?" + +"But that was a long time ago. I supposed you'd forgotten all about it." + +Bill glanced quickly at him and smiled. "I ain't never forgotten nothin' +since I was four years old." + +Marvin, happy to see the old Lightnin' behind the boast, smiled, asking +him, "How did you know the trial was to-day?" + +"That's easy," Bill replied, as he sat against the edge of the table, +steadying himself with his hands. "I seen it in a Reno paper at the +Home." + +"But I told you the time I came to see you that you needn't bother +about coming. I wouldn't have had you come all this long way for the +world if I had known it." There was concern in Marvin's voice as he +slowly dropped into a chair in front of Bill. + +"That's why I didn't say nothin'." + +"Where did the money come from?" + +"I saved my pension." Bill glanced slyly at him. Catching his +questioning eye, he stopped and looked through the window into the +distance. + +"You told me you sent your pension money to your wife!" + +"I did--some of it. I sent mother six dollars, but I didn't get no +answer." The laughter went from Bill and he leaned over, looking toward +the far hills, strange, unreal purple against the clear, cold blue of +the April sky. + +Marvin watched him, asking, "Did you tell her you were in the Soldiers' +Home?" + +"No." Bill's voice was devoid of inflection. + +"Then she probably didn't know where you were." + +"Where else could I be?" His lips were puckered into a whistle, although +they were quivering and no tune came. It was always this way when he +thought of mother, so he straightened himself and stood by Marvin's +chair, forcing a smile to his lips and jerking out, "And six dollars is +six dollars." + +The court-room was filling again, five minutes having elapsed since +recess was declared. A side door opened and Townsend came into court. +Blodgett stood up, pounded the desk with his gavel and announced the +opening of the session. Bill and Marvin, rising to order, started and +looked at each other as Thomas entered the room just behind the judge. +Following him was Everett Hammond, who, when he saw Bill and Marvin +together at the attorneys' table, began vigorous and anxious whispering +in Thomas's ear as he took his place next to him on the other side of +the table. + +Margaret Davis entered from the judge's chambers. She was accompanied by +Mrs. Jones and Millie. + +Bill did not see them. His eyes were fastened on Hammond and Thomas in +close conference. + +But suddenly, as he turned to take in the rest of the people in the +room, his eyes alighted on his wife. He arose and wandered toward her, +exclaiming, as she came to meet him, "Why, mother, what are you doing +here?" He stared at her and held out his hand. + +Mrs. Jones was so surprised to see him that she could not speak and +stood still, her hands in the air half-way between her waist and +shoulder. + +Millie was the first to answer him. "Oh, daddy--" She was going to put +her arms around him, when Blodgett rapped upon the table for order. + +Tears sprang to Mrs. Jones's eyes and Margaret Davis arose and led her +to a chair next to hers and just at the foot of the platform, from which +Townsend smiled happily upon them. + +"Come along, Mr. Clerk!" There was cheer in Townsend's voice as he +directed another saccharine shaft toward Margaret. "I've got an +important engagement and I want to get through. Call the next case." + +Bill, his eyes still on his wife, walked slowly to the table and sat +down just behind Marvin. + +"Jones _versus_ Jones," read the clerk, standing at one side of the +platform and unfolding the document he held in his hand. + +Bill did not hear him. He was gazing at Mrs. Jones, an old tenderness +in his eyes, a bitter longing in his heart. Drifting, living only for +the hour, as was his nature, but one scar had remained unobliterated +upon his memory, one hope alone flickered in the lonely sanctuary of a +soul that had known no conflicts. His affection for his wife had been +something deeper than emotion, something lighter than passion. It had +been the lasting quantity in a life of fleeting concepts, and his six +months at the Home had subdued it into a dull ache which found relief +only when a faint optimism brought vague dreams of a remote reunion. + +Her presence in court puzzled him. He felt that it must have something +to do with the sale of the place, or, perhaps, with Marvin's case. And +yet he was sure she knew nothing of the transaction between Mrs. Marvin +and Thomas, or between Rodney Harper and Marvin. Whatever it was, it had +brought a ray of expectancy to Bill, and he jumped as he was brought out +of his reverie by Marvin's perplexed whisper: "Jones _versus_ Jones. By +Jove, Lightnin', I believe that's you!" + +"Me?" Bill glanced around as if he were half awake and leaned far +forward in his chair, putting his hand to his ear and straining to catch +every word as the clerk read the complaint: + +"To the people of the State of Nevada, Mary Jones, Plaintiff _versus_ +William Jones, Defendant. A civil action wherein the said plaintiff +deposes and says she was lawfully married to the said defendant on the +14th day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, in the state of +Nevada. The said plaintiff prays this court for a permanent annulment of +her marriage vows, the defendant, William Jones, having disregarded and +broken all obligations of the marriage contract, thereby causing the +plaintiff great suffering and mental agony and the said Mary Jones +claims a final separation and divorce from the said William Jones on the +grounds of failure to provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable +cruelty. Subscribed and sworn to me on the fifth day of April, nineteen +hundred and seventeen. Alexander Bradshaw, Notary: Raymond Thomas, +Attorney for the plaintiff." + +When the clerk had finished Bill sent a beseeching glance toward his +wife. Each word of the document had entered far into a mind little given +to taking account. One by one he had tolled off the record against him, +placing the accusations in two files--the true and the false. That his +wife had cause for anger against him he now, for the first time, fully +realized. But he was bewildered, and when Bill was bewildered it was his +habit to seek enlightenment. + +After a moment, in which Mrs. Jones darted swift glances from beneath a +brow bowed with regret, he turned to Marvin, who had arisen and was +standing back of his chair, bending over him, and asked, simply, "Is +that all about me?" + +Blodgett tapped his sheriff's gavel. + +Townsend caught Bill's question and asked, "What did you say?" + +Marvin, knowing that Bill was inadequate to the test placed upon him, +came quickly to the rescue. Standing in front of the judge, he +explained: "Your Honor, Mr. Jones is the unconscious defendant in this +case. It just happened that he came to court to-day to be a witness in +another case. He has had no previous knowledge of this action." + +Before he could go farther Raymond Thomas, upon whom the entire +situation was reacting in swift, powerful threats to his cause, arose, +his face drawn with the agony of frustration, his voice high pitched +from the effort to subdue the feelings fast getting beyond his control. +"The defendant's whereabouts were unknown to us, your Honor, and the +court allowed us to serve notice by publication." + +"Publication in what?" Marvin demanded, as he darted contempt at Thomas. + +Townsend answered him. "Proper service was given, if the defendant could +not be located." To Bill he addressed the next question, "Is that what +you asked about?" + +Still confused, and not yet quite getting the trend of the whole matter, +he asked, in his quiet, disinterested way, "Who, me?" + +"Yes," replied the judge. "You made some remark after the complaint was +read." + +"I wasn't sure I'd got it straight," Bill said, looking ahead of him, +mouth half open. + +"You mean the grounds on which the action is based?" the judge +persisted. + +There was a pause, in which Bill looked first at Thomas, whose lids +drooped under the old man's scrutiny, and then at his wife, who hung her +head. "I guess so," he jerked, drumming his fingers softly on the table. + +Townsend ordered the clerk to repeat that part of the complaint wherein +the grounds for the suit were mentioned. The clerk repeated, "Failure to +provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable cruelty." + +Bill listened attentively. As the clerk sat down, Bill looked up at the +judge, asking, "Is that all?" + +[Illustration: LIGHTNIN', IN HIS FADED G. A. R. UNIFORM ... LISTENED +ATTENTIVELY] + +"Don't you think it's enough?" There was admonition in his manner, but +there was a certain gentleness in his voice and a smile of sympathy +lurked at the corners of his mouth. It was difficult for Lemuel +Townsend, who knew the lovable side of the careless old man, but he was +determined to maintain the dignity and the integrity of the law, and he +knew that he must remain unbiased, no matter how strong his feeling was +that here there had been sad tampering with truth and the finer essences +of happiness. + +His severity did not touch Bill. His sense of humor, always close to the +surface, asserted itself. A gleam that was half derision, half +amusement, lighted his eyes as he grinned up at the judge. "Sounded as +if there was more the first time." + +Marvin again stood before the judge. He knew that Bill had no one to +defend him and he had not felt the necessity of offering himself. He +just took it for granted that Bill would turn to him in the dilemma and +so he took the case in his hands. "I am counsel for the defendant, your +Honor," he said, "and he is entering a general denial." + +"Are you counsel for the defense?" Townsend's astonishment was evident +in his long-drawn inflection. He had not heard of Marvin's admission to +the bar. Neither had he seen the young man about lately, and the whole +situation puzzled him. + +Before Marvin could answer him, Bill was out of his seat, replying for +him, "Yes, sir, he is my lawyer." + +It was not the judge's way to admit himself baffled. Turning to Thomas, +he instructed him to call his witnesses. + +Marvin took a seat in front of Bill at the attorneys' table, while Bill +on the edge of his chair leaned forward expectantly, his eyes fastened +not on Thomas, but upon his wife, who sat with her head bowed and her +eyes staring into her lap. + +Thomas beckoned to Mrs. Jones, calling her name. + +As she arose, Hammond, who sat next to Thomas on the other side of the +table from Marvin and Bill, and who had appeared indifferent and bored +so far in the proceedings, jumped to his feet, dismay written on every +feature, and hastened to whisper in his partner's ear: "Are you crazy? +The most dangerous thing you can do, now that old Jones is in court, is +to call her to the stand." + +Thomas in his vaunted shrewdness had overlooked this possibility, but +now that Hammond mentioned it to him he saw what disastrous +complications Mrs. Jones's presence on the witness-stand might lead to. +Nodding in answer to Hammond's counsel, he again turned to Mrs. Jones, +saying, "I don't think it will be necessary for you to testify at all, +Mrs. Jones." As she sat down, he smiled at Millie, addressing her, "Miss +Buckley, will you take the stand, please?" + +Millie had not expected to be called, and as she arose at his summons +her face flushed with embarrassment. She stood still momentarily and her +eyes met Marvin's for the first time since he had appeared in court. +With an angry flash they quickly sought the witness-chair, and, although +trembling at the ordeal before her, she made an effort to trip lightly +to the stand. As she took her place and was sworn in by the clerk her +replies were scarcely audible. Casting frightened glances up through her +long lashes at Thomas, she was reassured by a smile. After the +preliminary examination as to her adoption by Bill and Mrs. Jones and +her residence with them since she was three years old, he began upon the +intimate questions which he hoped would weave a web of incriminating +evidence against Bill, evidence which would redound to his justification +in the part he had played in bringing about the divorce. + +"Miss Buckley," he asked, pulling nervously at his cuffs and bringing +them down two or three inches below his sleeves, "Mrs. Jones has toiled +early and late to provide for the family ever since you can remember, +has she not?" + +Millie nodded, gazing anxiously at Bill, who, far forward on his chair, +was drinking in every word she said. There was a pitiful accusation +behind the sadness in the eyes with which he returned her gaze. + +As Thomas continued she, like her mother, concentrated her attention on +her hands folded tight in her lap. + +"Why did you leave home three years ago, Miss Buckley?" + +"To earn my living, of course," was the reply, in low, reluctant tones. + +"What did you do with your wages?" + +Millie hesitated. After taking out barely enough to live on in meager +fashion she had sent most of the remainder home, not because either Mrs. +Jones or Bill had asked for help, but because she knew how difficult was +their living during the long winter months when their only source of +income was Bill's pension and the few mountain people who dropped in +when passing back and forth and remain overnight and for a meal or so. +Had she known that she was to be called as a witness she might even have +refused to accompany Mrs. Jones to court, for Bill's derelictions could +never outweigh the knowledge that it was he who had saved her from an +orphanage. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but even this did not +keep back her tears at the thought that her answer might be the betrayal +of the old man who had been a father to her through all the years. + +Thomas saw her disinclination and understood the condition of mind which +prompted it. He knew he must call his persuasive powers to his aid, so +he went very close to the witness-stand, and, leaning over her, spoke +in his softest tones. + +"I am sorry to have to ask these questions, Miss Buckley, because I know +how you dread to testify in this case, but it is unavoidable. Will you +answer my question? You sent the greater part of your wages home, did +you not?" He spoke as if he, too, were distressed. + +Millie, falling into the trap, sighed, "Yes, sir." + +"And you really left home to earn money in order to help support the +Jones family, didn't you?" + +Again, overcome by the complications of the situation in which she found +herself, she was unable to answer except with a reluctant nod. + +"Did you ever see Mrs. Jones's husband drunk?" + +As Thomas asked this question he looked toward Bill. Millie did not +answer. The tears gathered in her eyes and she wiped them away, burying +her face in the handkerchief she held in one of her hands. + +Thomas insisted. "You have seen him in that condition hundreds of +times, have you not?" + +There was a malicious note in his voice this time, as well as in the +look he directed at the old man at the table. + +Millie caught it, and a slight antagonism crept into her voice as she +straightened in her chair, answering, in surprise, "Why, I never +counted." + +Thomas was deriving a long-desired satisfaction in his prodding of Bill, +and it threatened his shrewder self-control. "But he was in the habit of +coming home drunk, wasn't he?" There was real glee in the question, but +it escaped Millie this time. With a beseeching glance at Thomas, and one +which pleaded for forgiveness toward Bill, she said, slowly, +"Sometimes." + +"And because of the poverty brought about by those bad habits you were +obliged to leave--" + +Here Millie broke in. Forgetting her embarrassment and the crowded +court-room in the realization that words were being put into her mouth, +words which fell far short of the truth, she burst out, indignantly: +"Why, I never said any such thing! I went away to work because there was +no opportunity in Calivada to earn any money, and I thought as long as I +was going at all I might just as well go to San Francisco where I could +make a salary large enough to take care of myself and to help Mr. and +Mrs. Jones, who have been very good to me." + +Thomas saw that he had overstepped himself and he groped in his mind for +new questions, until a scowl from Hammond reminded him that it might be +better to stop rather than to bring out evidence which might turn +against them and in favor of Bill. So he dismissed Millie from the +stand. + +She stood up while Thomas took his place next to Hammond at the table. +But Marvin, after a few whispered words with Bill, took Thomas's place +by the witness-chair, holding up a detaining hand and calling, "Miss +Buckley!" + +Millie glared at him, blushed deeply, and walked off the stand. She had +not been able to forgive him for his advice to Bill and still held him +responsible for Bill's leaving home, as she had felt that if Bill had +not been prejudiced against Thomas and Hammond the place would have been +sold and they would have all been living together in comfort. + +But she did not get very far. As she left the platform Townsend motioned +her to return and, submerging his personal friendship for her beneath +his judicial duties he exclaimed, severely: + +"One moment, Miss Buckley. The counsel for the defense has asked you a +question." + +Millie turned her back on Marvin as she dropped into the chair again. A +smile played on Marvin's lips, but it was a rueful one. To come thus +face to face with her in a situation where he was compelled to be her +antagonist in order to see that justice was done to his old friend was +not a happy ordeal for him. + +Townsend knew what was going on between the young people and he felt +keenly for them, but it was a part of him to hold to his duty always and +not to his own personal biases. His severity did not relax even when +Millie pouted: "I don't want to answer _his_ questions! Must I?" + +The people in the court-room, interested and amused at the unusual +dénouement, went into a peal of laughter which received swift check from +the sheriff's gavel. She flushed violently and obeyed Judge Townsend's +admonishment that she must answer all of Marvin's questions. + +Marvin's first inquiry did not tend to make things any easier for her. + +"Who employed you as a stenographer?" he asked. His back was turned to +Thomas, but he could feel the latter shifting in his chair. + +Finding no mercy in Townsend's manner, she succumbed to the inevitable, +snapping, with a toss of her head, "Mr. Thomas!" + +"_This_ Mr. Thomas?" Marvin asked. + +"Yes," said Millie. There had been nothing in her heart but deepest +misery and shame at having to testify against Bill during her +examination by Thomas. Now she was fired by a resentment against Marvin, +Bill being forced out of the equation. Her answers came in a swift +defiance that bespoke a determination to make it as difficult for him as +possible. Marvin, seeing at once that she and Mrs. Jones were still +plastic in the hands of Thomas and Hammond, was tempted into battle. + +"Did Mr. Thomas," he asked, "give you this position because you told him +you wanted to be of financial assistance to the Jones family?" + +Millie opened her mouth to reply, but Thomas was on his feet at once, +objecting to the question. + +Facing the judge, Marvin ignored Thomas, saying, "I am quite willing to +withdraw it if it is found objectionable, your Honor." + +Thomas stepped quickly to Marvin's side. He was a few inches the taller +and he glared down at Marvin, who stared back, his jaw set in the +resolution to stand firm against the man he knew to be a fraud. + +That he was standing on thin ice Thomas knew, and he knew also that +bluff was the only feasible strategy to employ against the unforeseen +crisis wrought by Bill's sudden and unexpected arrival. "Don't flatter +yourself that I mind any question you might ask," he emphasized, "only +this one has no bearing on the case." + +At this, Townsend sustained the objection. Marvin, resorting to a legal +trick, changed the form of the question, for he was bound to prove his +point. "Well, Miss Buckley," he asked, "Mr. Thomas has taken an interest +in your affairs and given you advice?" + +The insinuation was more than Millie could bear calmly. She turned +quickly, meeting his eyes in anger as she flashed a significant smile +toward Thomas. + +"Mr. Thomas has been more than kind to me always. He has given me advice +when I had no one else to turn to." + +"And you have always followed his advice?" + +Following his key, Millie replied, "Always, implicitly, in spite of what +_others_--" and she paused long enough to send a pointed shaft Marvin's +way--"have said against him." + +Marvin grinned and continued, "Miss Buckley, you have never known Mr. +Jones to be cruel or even unkind to his wife, have you?" + +An objection from Thomas was overruled, the judge contending that +cruelty was one of the grounds in the complaint. As he had forgotten how +the question read, he asked the stenographer to repeat it. Millie +answered in the negative and Marvin prodded her further, "You have never +seen him unkind to any one or anything, have you?" + +Gentleness had always been such an ever-present quality in Bill's +treatment of Millie that she forgot her anger for the moment and +hastened to reply, as she smiled sweetly at Bill, "Daddy has always been +most kind to me and every one else." + +This was an opportunity to lead her into an admission which might +immediately quash all of the grounds of the complaint. Marvin saw it at +once and took advantage of it. "Now, Miss Buckley," he argued, "the +complaint asks for a divorce on the grounds of drunkenness, failure to +provide and cruelty. In all honesty you know that not one of these is +the real reason that Mrs. Jones has asked for a divorce, don't you?" + +Unused to the ways of the law and its peculiar methods of arriving at +conclusions, Millie was perplexed. The only excuse in her mind for the +divorce had been that it would bring about the sale of the property and +that Mrs. Jones would thereby have sufficient money with which to find +Bill, which would mean happiness for the three of them. Had Thomas not +intervened with an objection which the judge sustained, she would have +given her answer, but as it was she remained silent. + +Marvin, determined to prove Bill Jones's simple sweetness, so that he +would at least be understood by the world, went to his purpose again. + +"Miss Buckley, you know that Mr. Jones loved his wife, loved her +devotedly, don't you?" he asked. + +Townsend beamed in judicial humor upon Marvin and laughed. "How can she +know that? That's not an astute question for a lawyer to ask, and I +don't sanction such methods." + +The question, however, had brought back a certain softness in Millie's +attitude. Forgetting for the moment her dislike of Marvin, she smiled, +but to regret it and to efface the smile with a frown. + +His examination of Millie had been difficult for Marvin. Into his mind +had crowded old memories--happy walks along the cliff in San Francisco, +afternoons in Golden Gate Park, and days in the office when he had dared +to hope that some day she might learn to care. His heart leaped at the +thought of moonlight strolls in the mountain woods and along the shores +of the lake. Those were days when she had interested herself in his +plans and it all came back to him with desperate force as her +unintentional smile awakened a poignant longing within him. A whirlwind +of reminiscent emotion caught him in its teeth. + +"If it please your Honor," he said, his eyes shining, "there is one +thing that a woman does know, and that is whether a man loves her or +not! She may believe a man to be a contemptible liar. She may say that +she will hate and despise him always, but somehow down in her heart, if +he really loves her, she knows it!" + +Forgetting that there was such a place as a court-room, or that he was +defending a divorce suit against Bill Jones, all he saw was the scorn in +the eyes of the girl he loved. All he felt was that he was fighting +single-handed against overwhelming odds for his own happiness. He leaned +close to the witness-chair and looked into the girl's eyes, and she, +seeing in his eyes the thing that she had tried to forget through all +the long and sorrowful months, turned away from him, lest she should +betray the longing that lurked in her own heart. But Marvin's fervid +plea flamed higher and higher and he went on: + +"If a woman is a man's ideal--if he would gladly lay down his life for +her--she knows it and no matter what she says about him or what anybody +else says about him the knowledge that he cares more for her than for +anything else in the entire universe must count for something, and I +contend, your Honor--" + +He got no farther. The whole court-room was in roars of laughter and the +sheriff's gavel was knocking loudly on his table. Millie, unable to bear +the situation any longer, was sobbing aloud. Townsend arose quickly and, +leaning over his desk, shook a warning finger at Marvin. + +"Hold on there!" he called, half in humor and half in anger. "Are you +trying a divorce case or are you making love?" + +The laughter in the court-room began again, but subsided, for there was +something in the situation that struck deep into the hearts of the +spectators and they knew that, grotesque as it might appear, shattered +romance was stalking before them. + +Marvin, himself once again, lowered his voice and pleaded, +apologetically: "I beg your pardon, your Honor. I did not mean to go so +far." Smiling sadly at Millie, he added, "That is all, Miss Buckley." + +"I should say it is quite enough!" satirized the judge. "I think we had +better get back to business." + +Without looking at Marvin, Millie left the stand and took her seat +beside her mother. Thomas called Everett Hammond as the next witness. + +Hammond, although outwardly nonchalant, was inwardly ill at ease. +Marvin's appearance in court followed so closely by Bill's arrival was a +contact that puzzled him. Millie's hesitancy as a witness was another +feature which he felt was not altogether in favor of the cause of the +Golden Gate Land Company. During her testimony he had kept close watch +of her mother, who several times wept audibly, burying her face in her +handkerchief. He knew that he and Thomas were playing a close game and +that the slightest contradiction in his testimony might set Mrs. Jones +to thinking in the wrong direction; especially with Bill Jones in the +court-room, his eyes divided between the witness-stand and his wife. He +assumed an air of bravado as he took the stand, glaring down at Marvin, +who was seated not far from him and who was smiling blandly upon him. + +Preliminaries over, Thomas launched into Hammond's direct examination. +"How long have you known Mr. and Mrs. Jones?" he asked. + +"I met them first," Hammond answered, pausing to think, "about seven +months ago." + +"Kindly tell the court how you happened to meet them." + +Hammond, looking at the judge, answered: "I was asked to consider the +purchase of a piece of property belonging to Mrs. Jones. I had some +other business near by and stopped off at the Joneses' place." + +"What was the other business?" was Thomas's next question. He glanced at +Marvin, who met his look with straightforward, unswerving eyes, which +turned Thomas's attention to his witness. + +"The Pacific Railroad," said Hammond, scowling at Marvin, "was being +robbed of timber in that locality and they sent me with the sheriff," he +nodded toward Blodgett, who flushed at the memory of that embarrassing +incident, "to arrest the thief." + +"Who was the thief?" There was triumph in Thomas's voice as he asked the +question. + +"His name is John Marvin." + +"Since that time, you have had dealings with Mrs. Jones, have you not?" + +"I have, and I have always found her to be an honest and splendid +woman." Hammond smiled over at her. + +"And Mr. Jones was a source of trouble and great embarrassment to her, +wasn't he?" + +This time Hammond made Bill the goal of his insulting focus. "Yes, sir, +he was! He was shiftless and drinking, cruel and untruthful." With a +malicious sneer he added, "Why, to my knowledge, he's the biggest liar +in the county!" + +All this time, without a word, Bill had been sitting on the edge of his +chair, accepting the testimony against him in the same indifferent +manner in which he met most of life's difficulties. Hammond's last +remark proved to be the first telling blow at his equanimity. It was too +much! This Hammond person had called him, Bill Jones, a liar! In +Lightnin's code, shrunken and old though he was, there could be but one +answer. Calmly and quietly Bill stood up and began to draw his faded +blue coat from his bent old shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Every eye in the court-room was on Bill. There was even a cheer, which +the judge, half out of his chair, failed to reprove. Townsend knew that +Bill was sore tried and had been brought to the point where his temper +was not an impulse, but a last resort. His personal sympathies were with +Lightnin's fistic intent. However, the order of his court must be +observed and he signed to Blodgett, who raised his gavel. Before it was +necessary to bring it down upon the table Marvin was quickly on his +feet. He put a restraining hand on Bill's arm and with the other hand +drew the coat back into its place on the bent shoulders. + +In amused contempt, Thomas continued his examination. + +"Did you ever see Mr. Jones drunk?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir, I never saw him any other way." Hammond laughed lightly. + +"And you saw him abuse his wife?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You heard him tell lies?" + +"I did indeed. Why, he broke the law by harboring a fugitive from +justice in his house." + +Thomas, having brought skilfully to the attention of the court the +numerous charges that he hoped would result in securing Mrs. Jones a +divorce, dismissed Hammond from the stand. + +His experience as a witness had not been a joyous one to Hammond, and he +prepared to take quick action on his dismissal, but Marvin had other +intentions. + +Standing between Hammond and his way of escape, Marvin exclaimed: "I am +not through with the witness, Mr. Thomas! I also have some questions to +ask him." With a scowl Hammond threw himself back into the chair. + +"You say, Mr. Hammond, that you had business dealings with Mrs. Jones? +Do you mind telling the court what that business was?" + +"Not at all," said Hammond, defiantly. "I purchased three hundred and +twenty-nine acres of land, including buildings, from Mrs. Jones for some +clients of mine." + +"Why didn't you consult Mr. Jones?" asked Marvin. + +"Because Mrs. Jones was the sole owner," sneered Hammond. + +Marvin looked him in the eye and said, slowly: + +"You had seen the records?" + +Hammond grunted in acquiescence and Marvin went on, each question +bringing his victim nearer to an outburst of temper, which he hoped +would lead to the self-contradictions he was sparring for. + +"Now you testified that you first met Mr. and Mrs. Jones about seven +months ago. Do you remember the exact date?" + +"No, I don't recall the exact date. Perhaps you can," he emphasized, +with a contemptuous twist of his black mustache. "It was the day I +brought the sheriff there with a warrant for your arrest." + +Marvin, undaunted by this attempt to slander him, took occasion to give +a thrust at Blodgett, who had been glaring at him all through the case. +"Possibly the sheriff will remember the date," he said, with a smile, +while Blodgett squirmed in his chair. "And you also met Mr. Thomas on +that same day, did you not?" + +Hammond made no reply. It was his desire to make the court think that he +and Thomas had never known each other previous to this transaction. He +directed an imploring and searching squint toward Thomas. Receiving no +help and seeing trouble in the gray pallor that had spread over Thomas's +face, he floundered on, "Yes, I think that was the day I met Raymond +Thomas--and Miss Buckley was there, too." + +"Are you sure you had never met Miss Buckley or Mr. Thomas before? In +his office in San Francisco, for instance?" + +Hammond hesitated. He had been in Thomas's office several times while +Millie was employed there, and, though he had not met her, it was more +than likely that she had seen him. The moment was dangerous. + +"No, I don't think I had ever met them before," he said, slowly. + +"All right," said Marvin, nodding his head complacently and going closer +to the witness-stand. + +"Mr. Hammond," he went on, "you have told the court that Mr. Jones was a +lawbreaker." + +Hammond fairly jumped to this question. "Yes," he flared. "You were a +fugitive from justice and Jones was harboring you in his house." + +Marvin smiled. "Didn't you just testify that Mrs. Jones was the sole +owner of that house? That being so, how could Mr. Jones harbor a +fugitive in his house, if he didn't own a house?" + +Caught in his own net, Hammond twisted angrily in his chair, reddening +as the spectators laughed and the sheriff pounded for order. + +"Well, I don't suppose he could," he blurted. + +"Then you will withdraw the statement that he broke the law?" + +"Yes, I withdraw it," Hammond drawled. + +Bill got up smiling from his chair and went over to Marvin, patting him +proudly on the shoulder; but a look from the judge and a snarl from +Blodgett sent him back again. + +Marvin continued. "Now, up to the time you met Mr. Jones you did not +know anything about him, did you?" + +Hammond shrugged, drawing his mouth into an angry curve. "Of course not, +but it didn't take me long to find out about him." + +Marvin gave the arm of the witness-chair two angry thumps. "I agree with +you there, Mr. Hammond," he said. "Eight hours after you first saw Mr. +Jones he was driven from his house and you have never set eyes on him +since. Yet you have testified that he is a drunkard, a loafer, a liar, +and a lawbreaker!" + +Hammond, startled at the swiftness with which Marvin had turned his +testimony to profit, shrugged himself into a straight position. "Well, +it didn't take me one hour to see what Jones was," he said. + +Marvin nodded with half-closed eyes at Hammond and smiled reassuringly +at Bill. "You also said he was cruel to his wife?" + +Hammond nodded. + +"In what way?" + +Hammond hesitated, moving uneasily from side to side. "Well," he +snarled, "his manner was insulting. He criticized the dress she was +wearing before the other guests." + +This amused the court-room, which in turn had to be quieted. "And do you +think the claim of intolerable cruelty is substantiated by a husband's +criticizing his wife's dress?" asked Marvin, smiling. + +Thomas arose at once. "I object to that question," he said, his lips +twitching and his face livid from disappointment and fear of what was +coming next. + +"I should think you would!" Marvin said, laughing. + +The objection sustained, he went at his witness again. "You testified +that Mr. Jones was a drunkard and that you had never seen him sober?" + +"I never have," emphasized Hammond, insolently. + +Going to the table, Marvin took Bill by the arm, assisted him to his +feet and guided him into the middle of the court-room until he stood +before the witness-stand. Then he asked of Hammond, motioning with his +head toward Bill, "Is he drunk now?" + +Bill stood quietly, a quizzical smile half closing his eyes, half +opening his mouth. + +Hammond, infuriated, swallowed in order to control himself, and then +blurted with a disgusted shrug of his shoulders, "I don't know." + +Having fulfilled Marvin's intention, Bill took his seat again and the +cross-examination was resumed. + +"If you don't know whether he is drunk or not now, how did you know the +other time when you saw him?" + +Hammond gazed fiercely into space, replying, finally, "Oh, it was plain +enough then!" + +Seeing that Hammond was ruffled and that he was also confused, Marvin +felt that the time was now right to bring forth by a few swift, +well-put questions the full purpose of Hammond and Thomas in bringing +about the divorce between Bill and Mrs. Jones. + +"It was not possible for you to get a good title to the property unless +Mr. Jones signed the deed?" he asked. + +At once Thomas was on his feet, objecting. + +On Marvin's explanation that the complaint charged intoxication and that +his question had a direct bearing on that point, the judge overruled the +objection and Thomas took his seat again. + +Not discerning the trap that Marvin had set for him, Hammond turned to +the judge and said, in more even tones: "I don't mind answering in the +least. The property belonged entirely to Mrs. Jones, but the husband's +signature was wanted on the deed." + +"And he refused to sign it?" Marvin's question came back. + +"Yes," Hammond sneered, "after you told him not to." + +Marvin once more challenged Hammond's soul with the searchlight of his +own straightforward eye. "Was he drunk then?" he asked. + +Hammond paused, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, I think he was." + +"I am not asking you what you think," Marvin remarked. "You said under +oath that you never saw him sober. Was he drunk when he refused to sign +that deed?" + +"Yes, he was!" Hammond reiterated, quickly. + +"And you tried to induce him to sign such an important document as that +when he was drunk?" Marvin asked the question in a slow, concise tone +and looked up at the judge to gather the impression made by Hammond's +evident duplicity. + +The deep water into which Hammond had walked was making itself felt and +he tried to wade toward shore. + +"I never tried to get him to sign! He didn't sign it!" he snapped. + +"No, he wasn't drunk enough for that! He wasn't drunk at all. He was as +sober as he is at this moment!" + +"You mean to call me a liar?" Hammond, his red neck swelling over the +top of his collar, and his small, close-together black eyes flashing +angrily, got up and made a threatening move toward his questioner. + +Marvin, although much smaller, did not flinch. "No, I mean to _prove_ +it," he answered. + +Judge Townsend made a quieting gesture to Hammond, who sat down in the +witness-chair again as Marvin went on with his rapid-fire. + +"Now you called Mr. Jones a liar, didn't you?" + +"Yes," was Hammond's gruff reply. "And everybody who knows him says the +same thing!" + +"Oh," said Marvin, with a shake of his head. "So you testified that he +was a liar because you heard others say so?" + +"No," jerked Hammond, "he lied to me." + +"What did he tell you that was untrue?" + +"Everything," said Hammond. + +"Can you repeat one lie that Mr. Jones told you?" + +"Oh, he told me so many," was the impatient reply, "I can't recall them. +Oh yes," after a pause, "he said he drove a swarm of bees across the +plains in the dead of winter." + +Bill, who was facing him, and who had not taken his eyes from him, burst +into a loud laugh, the whole court-room, even to the judge, following +suit, while Marvin raised his voice above the uproar to ask, "Now, how +do you know that is a lie?" + +"Why, I know the thing is impossible!" Hammond said, contemptuously. + +"Why?" + +"It's all nonsense," sneered Hammond, with an angry gesture. + +"That is precisely what it is, Mr. Hammond, and that is just what Mr. +Jones meant it to be! What else did he say?" + +"What's the difference?" asked Hammond. "You admit it's all nonsense." + +"Not all, Mr. Hammond." Marvin raised his voice and he looked +searchingly at the judge. "He said at least one thing that was not +nonsense. He said to his wife, 'Mother, these two men are trying to rob +you.' Do you remember that, Mr. Hammond? You were all there. Do you +remember that he said you and Mr. Thomas were trying to rob Mrs. Jones?" + +In order to make his question more impressive, Marvin nodded at Hammond +and pointed to Mr. Thomas, and then directed a glance toward Mrs. Jones. +Her hands were still folded in her lap and her head bent toward them. + +Everett Hammond, his face purple with rage, shouted at Marvin, "I don't +propose to sit here and be insulted by a criminal like you!" + +Thomas, too, had risen and come forward. Standing on the other side of +Marvin and looking down upon him, he exclaimed, with quivering, blue +lips: "This is insufferable, your Honor! This gentleman has come here to +give disinterested testimony, as a favor, and he is subjected to the +insults--" + +Judge Townsend interrupted him calmly: "I think the defense has brought +out quite clearly that this witness's testimony is not disinterested. +This divorce has got to be obtained to give him a deed to the Jones +property, hasn't it?" + +Thomas grew conciliatory, endeavoring to impress upon the judge that the +property sale had nothing to do, at all, with the testimony of Hammond. + +"Well, I wouldn't call him exactly disinterested," responded Townsend, +with a wise glance. + +"Nevertheless, your Honor, I protest against this man's insulting +manner," Thomas shouted. "How it is possible for such a person, a person +who even now ought to be serving a jail sentence, to be admitted to the +bar, I can't see!" He backed to his chair and sat down, taking up a +book and slamming it back on the table. + +Until now Marvin had been complete master of the situation, but Thomas's +last words drove the blood from his face and he grew troubled as he +looked up at the judge and then away and out through the window into +space. There had been something on his mind, but he had been able to +keep it in the background because of Bill's predicament. And now it came +to the surface again. + +Townsend studied Marvin intently for several moments and then he asked, +quietly, "You are an attorney in good standing, are you not?" + +At the judge's question, Thomas got up and looked down upon Marvin, in +insolent inquiry. + +Marvin did not answer at once; then he walked over to the judge's bench +and with his head bowed said, "No, your Honor, I am not." + +"Do you mean to say that you are not a member of the bar?" There was +surprise and injured dignity and at the same time a strong savor of pity +in Lem Townsend's voice. + +Thomas and Hammond exchanged smiles of triumph, the former advancing to +a place by Marvin's side in front of the judge. + +The horror in Millie's face told Marvin that her last shred of +consideration for him had been torn away. + +Bill alone held faith, smiling encouragement at the lad who had been his +only friend when his hour was at its worst. + +With eyes on the ground, slowly, and in low voice, Marvin explained, +"No, I have never been admitted to the bar, your Honor. But Mr. Jones +had taken a long journey from the Soldiers' Home, on his own account and +at his own expense, to testify in my case. When, without warning, this +action for divorce was called, I knew it was a conspiracy." The +injustice accorded Bill drew Marvin from himself again. Pointing at +Hammond and Thomas, he raised his voice. "I knew that these two +conspirators--" + +Thomas interrupted him by jumping from his seat and making a menace with +his right arm. + +"Sit down, Mr. Thomas," Townsend commanded. "I will attend to this. You +are making a very serious charge, Mr. Marvin, and if you believe you can +substantiate it you will find the courts open to you. In the mean time +you must be aware that you had no right whatever to undertake the trial +of this case under the guise of being an attorney. You are guilty of a +reprehensible act, and if I did not believe there were mitigating +circumstances I would punish you most severely for contempt of court." +He ordered the stenographer to strike out all of the cross-examination. + +"Mr. Thomas," he asked, "have you finished with your witness?" + +"If the cross-examination is to be stricken out, I will not take up the +court's time with any redirect testimony. We have had enough," Thomas +said. + +Hammond got up and shook himself as if he were rid of a heavy burden; +but as he walked from the stand Marvin made one more plea. "One moment, +please, your Honor," he asked. "Before the witness is excused--" + +Townsend interrupted him. "You have no standing in this court, young +man. If you wish to remain, you may take a seat on the visitors' bench," +and he pointed to a vacant seat just outside of the railing. + +If there was one person in the court-room who was pleased at that +moment, it was Blodgett. He arose, caressing his mustache, and opened +the gate. + +"This way," he called out, giving an overbearing wave of his hand. + +As he came to the gate, Marvin stopped. He was thinking hard. It did not +seem right that Bill should be left alone to fight his way with those +two keen schemers. He knew that Lem Townsend would look after Lightnin' +in so far as he could justifiably do so, but the figure of the lonely +old man, smiling complacently in the midst of his trouble, touched +Marvin deeply, and he delved into his mind in an effort to find a way to +help him. + +Then, unexpectedly, Lightnin' solved the problem. Getting to his feet, +he stood quietly before the bench, looking up at Townsend with an odd +excitement in his eyes. + +"Your Honor," he asked, in his usual drawl, "a defendant has the right +to plead his own case, ain't he?" + +"Yes, he has," Townsend replied, with a nod. + +"Well," said Bill, "I guess I'll plead this case myself!" + +Marvin hesitated. He had thought of this himself, of course, but had +dismissed the idea, not feeling quite sure as to the advisability of it. +Now, however, the deed was done. Quickly he put an arm over Bill's +shoulder and led him beside the witness-stand, where Hammond still sat. +Bill looked up at Townsend and smiled. + +"It's all right, Judge," he remarked, with his humorous twinkle. "I was +a lawyer once!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +The court-room fairly seethed with interest. The crowd was smiling, +amused; but, under the surface smile, every face reflected a strong +sympathy for the quaint old figure standing there, about to fight his +own battle. As Bill turned to conduct his case, Blodgett took Marvin by +the arm. + +"You come out here!" he commanded, roughly. + +Marvin pulled his arm free and appealed to the judge. + +"I am a witness for the defense, your Honor," he said. + +"Then you may remain where you are," replied Townsend, with a nod. He +looked at Lightnin'. "Examine your witness," he directed. + +For a moment Lightnin' stood in front of the frowning man in the chair +and silently inspected him with humorous interest, from the top of his +sleek, pomaded head to the gleaming toes of his immaculate boots. + +"Looks kinder all polished up, don't he?" Bill remarked. + +The noise of the general laughter and the pounding of the sheriff's +gavel seemed to distract Townsend's attention; anyway, he uttered no +objection when Marvin slipped from his place among the witnesses and +dropped into his former chair directly behind Bill. Looking up at +Townsend, Lightnin' resumed: + +"The things Marvin asked him were all right, your Honor," he said. Then, +with a terse but rather humorous shrug, he addressed Hammond, "Answer +'em!" + +"You mean the testimony he has already given will stand?" asked the +judge. + +"I got a right to ask 'em again, 'ain't I?" questioned Bill. + +Townsend nodded. Hammond could much better stand the young and impatient +manner of John Marvin than he could the wise humor of Bill. He grew red +and shifted in his chair angrily, asking the judge: + +"Do I have to go all over that, your Honor?" + +"Would your replies be the same?" Townsend's eyes as well as his +question begged Hammond for the answer and he was not comfortable. But +there was nothing else for him to do, and after a moment's hesitation, +in which he lowered his lids to avoid the judge's scrutiny, he replied: + +"Certainly." + +The cross-examination reinstated, Hammond for the fourth time started to +leave the stand. Bill held up his hand and snapped in a determined tone, +but with a smile playing among the wrinkles of his face: + +"Hold on! I got some more for you!" + +His victim threw himself back into the chair with a shrug and a sneer as +he gave his head an irate shake. + +"Mr. Hammond," Bill went on, "when you went after Mr. Marvin with the +sheriff, what was the charge against him?" + +Hammond answered, with a ready enthusiasm, "Trespassing on the property +of the Pacific Railroad Company." + +Bill nodded his head and said: + +"Uh, ha." + +He assumed an air of wisdom and raised his voice to the pitch that it +seldom knew, but to have the floor again after so many months was having +its effect upon him and he was taking the task in the same way and with +the same glee as if it were the opportunity for telling a good story. + +"If he was on their property," he began--then he seemed to forget what +it was he was going to ask. He turned to Marvin in whispered conference. +The unusual character of his procedure did not affect Lemuel Townsend, +who was anxious to give the old man his full chance. + +His way evidently made clearer by Marvin's advice, Bill sauntered slowly +back to Hammond. + +"If he was on the railroad's property, what did you have to do with it?" +he asked. + +"Oh, that's easy enough!" said Hammond, nonchalantly crossing one leg +over the other. "I went at the request of the president of the road." + +Bill grinned. "You sold the railroad the land he was trespassing on, +didn't you?" + +Thomas broke in with an endeavor to show that the question was +irrelevant, but Townsend, knowing Bill's natural acumen, felt that the +question did have some real connection with the case. + +"Mr. Thomas," he said, "you and your witness have been accused of +conspiracy. If I were you, I would allow him to answer Mr. Jones." + +Thomas knew that he was sparring for his life and he didn't intend to +let the question get by if he could help it, so he tried another +subterfuge. + +"Your Honor," he deplored, his voice hoarse with anger, "I don't propose +to defend the witness and myself from such a ridiculous charge at this +time. We are not on trial. This is a divorce action." He glared at +Marvin, pulling his cuffs angrily, in a way that he had, down over his +wrists. + +But the judge's opinion was unchanged. "If there is any conspiracy about +this action, the court wants to know it. Answer the question." + +With an insulting drawl, Hammond did as he was bid. + +"I purchased the property for the railroad, acting as their agent." + +"Who did you buy it from?" Bill snapped. + +"Mr. Thomas." + +"When did you buy it?" asked Bill. + +"About ten months ago." + +Bill's shoulders straightened at Hammond's reply and he drew himself +together with a quick shrug, taking a swift step forward and peering +into Hammond's face. + +"That was three months before you bought mother's place?" he asked. + +"Yes," jerked Hammond, sulkily. + +"Then, why did you say you had never met him until you met him at the +hotel?" + +Hammond started, alarm in the quick glance that traveled from Bill to +Raymond Thomas. He realized he had overstepped himself. Thinking the +better plan would be to brave it out, he bellowed: + +"Because I never did!" + +Bill smiled at him and said, in his slow, gentle monotone: + +"You bought all that land of him and never saw him about it?" He looked +up at the judge and laughed. "And he called _me_ a liar!" + +Hammond got up, but Bill detained him. "Don't go away," he admonished, +with a jaunty toss of his head. "We got some more for you, 'ain't we?" +and he looked at Marvin, who smiled in approval. "I've got a good one +for him!" Bill went on. + +"You know the railroad company leased the waterfall on mother's place +and put a power-plant there?" + +"I believe they have," said Hammond, impatiently. + +"And you know that the railroad pays you more for that lease in a month +than you agreed to give mother in a year?" + +It was a surprise to Hammond, and evidently to Marvin, too, that Bill +should know anything of the details of either the lease of the railroad +company or of what payment had been promised to Mrs. Jones. A great +light flashed on Marvin--obviously Bill Jones had not been altogether +wasting his time during his prolonged disappearance! Hammond, beginning +to suspect that Bill knew more than he had been given credit for, +decided that ignorance was the best stand to take. + +"How should I know the petty details of the railroad's lease?" he said. + +"How should _you_ know?" echoed Bill, his voice raised, unwontedly clear +and ringing. "Didn't the railroad lease the waterfall from a bum concern +called the Golden Gate Land Company? Didn't you, actin' for the Golden +Gate Company, put through the deal? Don't you know that the Golden Gate +Land Company is controlled by yourself and Raymond Thomas--ain't you and +Thomas the whole works o' that--" + +Thomas was on his feet with an objection, but the judge had no +opportunity to overrule it, for Bill had something to say and he was +going to say it. He lifted his voice above that of Thomas, calling out +and waving his arms violently in an excitement he had never known +before. + +"And all your stocks in the name of rummies?" + +His eyes twinkled as Marvin came up to him and whispered. Again waving +his arms, Bill shouted: + +"Dummies, I mean--dummies!" + +Thomas had been tried to the point of despair. There was a lump in his +throat as he beseeched the judge: + +"I protest against this!" + +The judge interrupted him. "I am beginning to believe in this plot +story." + +"Then let him go on," was Bill's agreeable reply. + +Hammond jumped up out of his chair and descended from the witness-stand. + +"Your Honor," he said, in an angry tone, "I absolutely refuse to submit +to this any longer--to stand here and be made to look like a criminal!" + +Bill could not withstand the chance for another quip and he smiled at +his antagonist. "Well, you look natural," he remarked. + +"Do you expect me to stand for this?" Hammond stormed. + +"Sit down, if you want to," said Bill, restored to his old nonchalance. +"I'm through with you," and he turned his back on Hammond and went over +to Marvin. + +Thomas, keyed to a high pitch, knew that something must be done at once, +for he saw that not only the Jones case was crumbling, but he sensed +trouble ahead in his afternoon's venture, so he resorted to Everett +Hammond's tactics of placing the matter in an absurd light. + +"All this ridiculous testimony," he argued, "has no possible connection +with the case in point, but I propose to prove that all the accusations +against the witness and myself are not only groundless but absolutely +malicious, and I shall do this at the first opportunity." + +Unable to stand the situation any longer, he went back and took his +seat. + +Marvin had sat quiet all through this controversy. Now he forgot the +judge's admonition as to his place in the case. He got up, stating to +the judge: + +"Your Honor, Mr. Thomas will have that opportunity at two o'clock this +afternoon, when the Pacific Railroad's action against me comes before +the court. At that time I will submit documentary proof that these men +control the Golden Gate Land Company and have been buying up all the +land wanted by the Pacific Railroad. I will submit to the court twenty +cases where the Golden Gate Land Company has swindled innocent farmers +out of their property and paid them with worthless stock. I will prove +to the court--" + +"Just a moment, Mr. Marvin," Townsend stopped him. "It will be most +interesting for you to prove your statements at two o'clock; but in the +mean time I must warn you again that you are not a party to this divorce +action and have no standing as an attorney in this court." + +Marvin bowed to the ruling and retired quietly to his seat. He stared +calmly at Thomas, seeming to have no fear that he had prematurely +revealed his own case and that his opponents might have an opportunity +to take advantage of his statements. + +"If the defense wishes you for a witness, Mr. Marvin," said Townsend, +"you may be sworn." + +Bill was on his feet again and, turning to the judge, said: "I don't +need no witness! I didn't know nothing about it at all until I got here, +but I've been thinking it over ever since and I have made up my mind +that mother's right. If mother can prove them things they read," and he +nodded toward the clerk, "she could get a divorce, couldn't she?" + +Townsend replied in the affirmative. Bill smiled sadly and, glancing at +Mrs. Jones, who was crying as if her heart would break, he went on, +"Well, I can prove them for her." + +"You can prove them?" Townsend asked, in surprise. + +"Oh yes," said Bill, with a flash of humor. "I used to be a judge." + +He stood still in the middle of the floor and looked into space for a +moment. He was a dejected figure as the humor that was his habit left +him and he stood there deserted by all but Marvin. But it was not his +way to remain an object of pity, either to himself or to anybody else, +and with a slight shrug he straightened and looked the judge in the eye. +Placing his hand in front of him, he tolled off the first count on the +thumb of his right hand. + +"Now, first it said," he began didactically, "that I got drunk," and he +paused and thought about it, adding, with a nod, "Well, I can prove +that! And then it said I was cruel to mother." He took a step forward +and bent his shoulders a bit, as if he would look under the brim of his +wife's hat and search her soul for the answer to his plea. "Well, I +can--no, I can't prove that, 'cause it ain't true, judge, an' I don't +believe mother ever said it." + +A dramatic hush fell in the court-room. It was suddenly, pathetically +clear to Marvin and to many others that, despite his unexpected +knowledge on other counts, Bill did not fathom the real reason behind +his wife's action for divorce. Plainly he thought she really wanted a +divorce, and, in Lightnin's sensitive code, if mother wanted it she +should have it. + +"An' then it said that I failed to provide," he went on, while the +court-room breathed softly, feeling the tug at the old man's +heartstrings. "Well, that what's on my mind, judge. I have failed. I +never thought anything about it before, and I don't see any chance of +providing, now that I do think about it. Mother an' Millie could get +along better without me. So you see, mother should get a divorce, +judge--" and here Bill for the first time in his life broke down. Tears +came into his eyes and he swallowed to keep them back. He hesitated and, +with a last brave effort, he dashed in to complete his testimony against +himself. + +"I'm all right, judge. I can go back to the Home and stay there +until"--he hesitated--"until--" and turning quickly away, "that's all, +judge." + +Before he could get to his seat Mrs. Jones had jumped up from hers and +was standing before the judge's desk, wiping the tears from her eyes and +sobbing loudly. + +"No, please, judge, don't give me a divorce! I don't want one, judge! I +can take care of Bill in our old age. They were just telling me lies, +judge, and I was a fool not to have seen through it!" + +Tears were in Townsend's eyes; also, Margaret Davis was sniffing +audibly, and the spectators in the court-room were deeply touched. +Thomas and Hammond gave one glance at each other and groaned, while Mrs. +Jones rushed to Bill and held one of his hands in both of hers, +pleading: + +"Bill, I have done you a wrong--a great wrong, and I cannot blame you if +you never look at me again, but I didn't mean to, Bill, I didn't mean +to! And if you will forgive me and take me back I will try all my life +to make up for it! Will you?" + +Bill took her hands in his and patted them. His eyes were moist, and +they blinked for a moment; then a slow, happy grin spread over his +stubbled face. + +"That's all right, mother," he said, easily. "Say, did you ever get the +six dollars I sent you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +Late that afternoon John Marvin and Bill Jones came out of the Reno +court-house together and sauntered down the street. There was a gleam of +triumph in Marvin's eyes and a deep satisfaction in his manner. +Lightnin's grin was equally expressive. + +"You better come right back to Calivada with me, John!" he urged. + +The triumph left Marvin's eyes and was replaced by a troubled +expression. + +"No, Bill," he said, quietly, "I don't think it is time for me to go +there yet. Mother and Millie may still feel that my part in the whole +scheme was not as kindly as it might have been, so I'll just drive over +to my cabin and maybe later, perhaps to-morrow morning, come over and +join you for a visit of an hour or two. It's a long time, old chap," he +said, as he patted Bill on the shoulder, "since you have been home, and +I think it is about time you were running along." + +Bill knew what was deterring him. Tactfully he said nothing, but smiled. +They walked along in silence for a block or two, until in a jeweler's +window Bill saw something that appealed to his imagination. He put his +hand in his pocket and withdrew it before it touched bottom, realizing +that his last dime had gone for a cup of coffee for himself and Zeb at a +lunch-counter early that morning. Zeb was waiting for him at the G. A. +R. Hall up the street a ways, but he had a duty to perform and it +seemed to him that that duty could best be done by the help of the +object in the jeweler's window. + +"John, will you lend me two dollars?" he asked. + +"At your old tricks, Lightnin'? You bet I can lend you two dollars! You +sure that's all you want?" Marvin laughed, taking the money from his +pocket. + +"Plenty," was Bill's brief reply, pocketing the two dollars. They walked +to the corner of the street, where they said good-by to each other. + +When Bill was satisfied that Marvin's back was well turned he sauntered +into the jewelry-shop and up to the counter, where he purchased a +sterling-silver ring, washed in gold, with a bright, shining piece of +glass set in it. + +The clerk in the store smiled at the old man as he pocketed the +monstrosity and went happily out of the store. + +How to get to Calivada from Reno had not entered his mind. It was a good +seventy-five miles, but he knew that some way or other he would get +home that night. With his mind made up to that issue, he wandered up the +street and joined Zeb, who had been waiting for him all afternoon. The +two old men, arm in arm, stood on the street corner and looked about. +And just then Rodney Harper and his wife, who were interested spectators +in the court-room during the afternoon trial, turned the corner in their +machine and stopped to say a good word to Bill. + +"What you going to do, Lightnin'?" asked Harper, while his wife beamed +at the two odd old souls. + +"What _you_ going to do?" was Bill's evasive answer. + +"Why, we are motoring back to Calivada, where we have a room at the +hotel," said Mrs. Harper. + +"Well, then, I guess," said Bill, putting his foot on the step of the +automobile, "that's just what me and Zeb is goin' to do." + +The Harpers laughed and looked at each other. They were both agreed. +Bill and Zeb climbed in and made a strange couple on the back seat of +the car as it whirled through the streets of Reno and on up into the +hills. + +In the mean time the hotel at Calivada, true to its nature, was the +scene of a new sensation. + +After court that afternoon Margaret Davis and Judge Townsend, leaving +Mrs. Jones and Millie to take the train home, went their own way. About +eight o'clock that evening they arrived at the hotel, going to the desk +where the sleek and dapper new clerk awaited them and came forward to +welcome them. "Hello, Mrs. Davis!" he said, extending his hand. + +"Good evening," Margaret replied, giggling and looking coyly back at the +judge. "Will you give me my key, Mr. Peters?" she asked. + +"Sure," he said, taking the key from the rack and handing it to her with +a smirk. + +"I didn't expect you back to-night." He smiled. + +"Well, I wasn't expecting it myself." The annoyance evidenced by the +frown on Lemuel Townsend's face immediately changed her tone. With a +"Thank you" she turned to go, but the clerk had other plans. + +"This has been a wonderful day, Mrs. Davis," he said, as he cast +languishing glances at her. Townsend was not at all pleased with the +attention Peters was showing her and he turned, asking, unctuously, "See +here, have you got a suite?" + +Peters stepped back and looked in surprise from one to the other. + +"Got what?" + +"Got a--?" repeated Townsend, but his question was broken into by +Margaret, who exclaimed: + +"Oh, Mr. Peters, we would like to see Miss Buckley and Mrs. Jones." + +"All right," he said; "I will go up and tell them you are here," and he +disappeared up the Nevada stairs. + +"But, young man," Townsend was insisting as he put his foot on the first +stair, "I want to get a--" he reiterated, but Margaret again placed a +restraining hand on his arm. "Wait until he comes down," she simpered. + +As the clerk disappeared behind the portières at the top of the stairs, +Townsend turned to Margaret, putting his arm about her waist. "What's +the matter, dear? Don't you want the clerk to know we are married?" he +asked, in injured tones. + +"I didn't want you to tell him right before me." + +He looked into her eyes. "You are not ashamed of it, are you?" + +"No," she drawled, in her usual giggle, "but it is embarrassing to leave +here this morning to get rid of number one and come back this evening +with number two." Townsend started, removing his arm from her waist. +Putting it back, she pouted, "You are not angry, are you, dear?" + +Indulgently, but not enthusiastically, he answered, "It is a little +jarring to be referred to as number two." + +"Oh, I didn't mean that!" she exclaimed, leaning coquettishly on his +shoulder. "But I can't bear to have every one staring at us." + +"But this isn't a secret marriage, Maggie," said the judge. + +At this Margaret drew herself away from him, horror in her opened mouth +and widening eyes. "Oh, don't say that!" she protested. "My name is +Margaret," adding, sweetly, "I don't mind if they find out about it +after we are gone, dear, but let's try to keep them from finding it out +to-night." + +"All right, my darling, just as you say," and he drew her to him again. +Peters reappeared at the stairs. + +"Mrs. Jones will be down in a minute," he announced, and was going to +say more, but the sight of Margaret locked close in Lemuel Townsend's +dignified arms permitted him no further expression than a prolonged and +astonished "Oh!" which wrought a quick parting of the loving couple, +while Margaret, blushing furiously, hastened to explain: "Judge Townsend +is my husband, Mr. Peters. We were married this afternoon." + +Peters had been having much of his own way since Mrs. Jones and Millie +had retired from the actual management of the hotel, and his authority +ran away with him at times, thrusting him into situations in which his +assumption brought him quick rebuke. This was one of them. Obsequiously +and with an easy laugh he extended a congratulatory hand to Townsend, +while he remarked, "Quick work, eh, judge?" + +Townsend stood back and withered Peters with a glance that did its full +duty from head to foot. + +Margaret, kind-hearted, and seeing Peters's embarrassment, hastened to +be friendly. "We don't want you to say a word about it to anybody!" + +"Oh, I can keep a secret. My congratulations. I hope this one turns out +better than the other one did," Peters effused. + +Margaret sighed. The judge shuddered. It was the fourth time since they +were married that he had been reminded that he was number two. + +"If you don't mind," he ordered, severely, "we won't discuss that +question." + +Margaret, anxious to prevent further repartee on the subject, went +up-stairs, calling back, "When Mrs. Jones comes down, will you tell her +I will be back in five minutes?" + +When she had disappeared Townsend ordered Peters to get up a special +supper for four, suggesting that the champagne he had brought with him, +and which was in the basket on the floor, be put on ice. Peters +disappeared to do his duty, but Townsend followed close behind him, +desirous of directing the spreading of a good wedding supper for Mrs. +Townsend, Mrs. Jones, and Millie. + +He had been gone but a few minutes when Mrs. Jones came down the stairs. +She looked around, expecting to find Margaret Davis awaiting her. Not +seeing her, she returned to the floor above, when Mr. and Mrs. Harper +came bursting in. + +"How do you do? Don't you remember us?" Harper called out, as he held +forth a welcoming hand. + +"Surely!" cried Mrs. Jones. She came quickly down the stairs and shook +hands with Harper, kissing his pretty wife. + +"We just brought your husband and a friend of his over from Reno," said +Harper. + +"Oh, where are they?" Mrs. Jones asked, excitedly. She had been waiting +all afternoon for Bill and was beginning to fear lest he had decided not +to return home. + +"Oh, Bill's out there telling his experiences as a lawyer," Harper +laughed, and Mrs. Jones joined him, happy to know that Bill was back, +the same lovable old boaster as before. + +Margaret Townsend, hearing the voices, hurried to join the group, +throwing her arms wildly around Mrs. Jones's neck and giggling like a +school-girl. + +"Who do you think drove me over?" she asked Mrs. Jones, answering +herself. "Judge Townsend." + +"My, but that was romantic!" exclaimed Mrs. Jones. + +"Why, what do you know about it?" Margaret simpered, putting Mrs. Jones +from her and looking into her eyes. + +The dining-room door opened and Townsend burst in, going to his wife and +exercising his new proprietorship by putting his arm about her. She drew +away, blushing, and hastened to introduce the Harpers. + +Townsend acknowledged the introduction; then he turned to Mrs. Jones. +"I'm very glad to see you under more pleasant circumstances, mother," he +said. + +"Thank you, Lem!" she answered, tears gathering in her eyes. "Oh, what a +mean fool I was! But, Lem, I 'ain't heard a word yet about how that fine +young man made out--I'm just dyin' to know if John Marvin won his case!" + +"Oh, you really haven't heard?" exclaimed Margaret. "I should say he +certainly did win his case, my dear!" + +"Thomas and Hammond were lucky to keep out of jail," said Townsend. +"They gave up this place without a murmur." + +"What?" Mrs. Jones gasped. + +"Surely you know that the place is yours again?" Harper asked, while +they all nodded eager confirmation. + +"Ours again?" Mrs. Jones repeated, excitedly. + +"Absolutely, my dear!" Margaret hastened to explain. "And the judge and +I were married this afternoon!" Irrespective of Mrs. Jones's bewildered +gasp, Margaret rushed on: "And, mother, you are to get all the money the +railroad pays for the waterfall, and it's an awful lot! The Golden Gate +Land Company is a fake concern! To keep out of jail, where they belong, +those two sharpers are making restitution at once to Mr. Marvin and to +everybody else they can! And now you're going to have supper with us, +mother! Mr. and Mrs. Harper are going to join us--and you, too, Millie +dear," she added, turning to the girl, who had joined the group and +stood there listening, her cheeks flushed with a conflict of emotions. + +"Oh!" Millie gasped. "Oh--then what--" + +What Millie was going to say was lost in a general chorus of delighted +exclamations. + +"Oh, Lem," cried Mrs. Jones, "won't you let me do the cooking? I'm just +dyin' to get back into that kitchen again!" + +"Well, I know what your cooking is like, mother," replied Townsend, +smiling; "and if you really want to go out there and cook that supper, I +say it would be a crime to stop you!" + +"Let's all help!" exclaimed little Mrs. Harper, who looked as if she +would not have the faintest idea what to do in a kitchen. + +"Fine!" echoed her amused husband. "Come on, folks!" + +Mrs. Jones led the way, and they all went out through the dining-room +and into the kitchen, bent on making a home of the place for the first +time since the new regime went into effect. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +The dapper Peters was left alone at his desk, but not for long. In a +few minutes the street door opened and Bill Jones, with a certain air +about him--one might even say with a certain flourish in his +manner--sauntered in. He ambled up to the desk. + +"Who might you be?" he asked, casually, his half-shut eyes making an +inventory of Peters. + +"I'm the manager!" Peters snapped. + +"No, you ain't," said Bill, grinning. + +"What's the reason I ain't?" inquired Peters. + +"Because you're fired," said Bill, calmly, turning his back and putting +his hands in his pockets. He gazed slowly around from floor to ceiling, +and then at the walls. Peters came from behind the desk and stood close +to him. + +"Say, Mrs. Jones pulled something like that on me," he said, "but I +ain't taking no orders from you people! I take my orders from Mr. +Hammond!" + +"Is that so?" asked Bill, nonchalantly. Drawing a letter from his +pocket, he handed it to the clerk. "Well, here they are!" he said. + +Peters opened the letter and read it. + +"Well, if I'm fired," he sighed, "I suppose I can go back to my old +job." + +A stealthy foot on the floor made Bill turn around to greet Zeb, who had +put his head in the door. + +"Got a segar for me, Bill?" Zeb whispered. + +Bill went over to the drawer in the California desk, where he knew there +was a box of cigars. He took one, extending it to Zeb. But the latter, +looking toward the dining-room, saw Millie coming, and in spite of the +fact that he wanted that cigar as desperately as he had ever wanted +anything, force of habit sent him scuttling out of the room as he warned +Bill, hoarsely, "Look out!" + +Bill called him back. "What you 'fraid of? It's only Millie." + +"Well," said Zeb, intrepid enough to grab the cigar, but not brave +enough to stay, "I'll see you to-morrow, when the women-folks is +working. It's safer then." + +Millie rushed over and took Bill in her arms, kissing him again and +again, while Bill, unused to such demonstration, tried to disengage +himself. + +"Did you just get here, daddy?" she asked, gazing fondly at him. + +"Yes," was his reply, as he sat down in the chair in front of the +table. + +"Have you seen mother?" she asked, standing very close to him. + +Bill, remembering the old days when his return home meant a searching +examination as to soberness, grinned, and then he breathed deeply toward +her. "I 'ain't had a drink in a month," he informed her. + +She laughed and was silent for a moment. Looking down at the floor, she +asked, "Did you come alone, daddy?" + +"Yes," he answered, slowly scrutinizing her. "Why didn't you speak to +John before you left the court to-day?" he asked, after a moment in +which he gazed at her intently. + +Tears came into her eyes and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I +just couldn't, daddy, that was all." + +Bill placed a reassuring hand on her hair. + +"Well, it's all right. I fixed it for you," he said, slowly. Millie +stepped back aghast, blushing violently. "You did _what_?" + +But Bill was unabashed. "I got him to promise he would come over here +and see you." Bill had done no such thing, but the one flaw to a perfect +happiness for him was the thought that John Marvin and Millie might not +make up. + +"You asked him to come over and see me?" Millie asked, in dismay. + +"No," said Bill, with a quiet grin; "I just told him you were crazy to +see him. You would have lost him if it hadn't been for me. Every girl in +Reno is crazy about John, but I got him so he's willing to marry you." + +"Oh, daddy, I don't know what I am going to do with you!" Millie was +almost in tears and leaned dejectedly on a shoulder indifferent through +habit and not will. + +"You don't mean to say you asked John Marvin to marry me?" she pouted. + +"Sure I did," said Bill, untouched by any thought of having done what +was not right. "It was a tough job after the way you treated him," he +admonished, dropping into the chair and tipping it back while he clasped +his hands behind his head and whistled. "I told him," he went on, "that +you had made a fool of yourself, but that most women did that now and +then, and not to mind it. After he's been married awhile he'll get used +to it. I asked him, if you would own up that you were wrong like mother +did, would he give you another chance?" Bill looked up at her, adding, +complacently, "'Ain't I done a good piece of business?" + +Millie gave one shriek and ran up the stairs. Bill, unmoved by any sense +of his own iniquity, followed her to the foot of the staircase, calling +after her, "Now, if you beg his pardon when he comes--" + +She stopped at the top step and looked back. "Beg his pardon!" she +exclaimed, defiantly. "I don't even intend to _see_ him when he comes!" + +Bill held out one hand toward her in a deprecating gesture. + +"Oh, come along down-stairs again." Taking a little square box from his +pocket, he opened it and held it up to view, saying, "If you don't see +him, what is he going to do with this?" + +"What is it?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her anger +as she came slowly back down the stairs. Bill showed her his prize in +its nest of bright purple velvet. "He got it for you. He sent me out to +buy it while he was in court!" + +Mildred looked at the thing, and with one long "Oh!" of disgust she +turned and went through the door into the dining-room. + +Alone once more, Bill walked slowly, going to the desk and looking at +the register. Then he went back of the desk, examining familiar +objects. Suddenly his eyes rested on the electric-light switchboard. He +played with the lights for several seconds, turning them out finally. +With a start he grunted, "Now I broke 'em." Pushing the button again, +the lights came on, revealing Mrs. Jones, who had tiptoed in from the +dining-room when Millie told her Bill was there. When he saw her he came +out from behind the desk and she hurried toward him with outstretched +arms. + +"Are you all right, Bill?" she asked, tenderly. And Bill, smiling, +leaned over her and breathed so that she could see that he was all +right. But she had been through so much lately and where Bill was +concerned there was more tenderness than humor in her attitude. + +"Aren't you all tired out, dear?" she asked. + +Bill grinned sheepishly. It was a long time since his wife had shown +such affection for him. "No," was his quick reply. + +But her conscience bade her make sure that he was comfortable. She drew +a big arm-chair from the corner and placed it in the center of the +room, taking a pillow from the sofa and putting it on the back of the +chair. Gently she sat Bill down in it. + +He didn't know what to make of it all and he looked up at her, asking, +with a chuckle: + +"What's the matter, mother, you sick?" + +She laughed. "No, Bill, I ain't sick. I'm just thinkin'." + +Bill looked straight ahead of him. + +She took her rocking-chair and placed it next to him. Clasping one of +his hands, she leaned forward. + +"You've forgiven me, 'ain't you, Bill?" + +"Yep," chirped Bill, without so much as a glance. + +Her attempt to make love to Bill was not meeting with the success she +had hoped, but she was bound to make up to him for all the sorrow of the +last few months, and so she did not notice his apparent indifference. + +"Just think," she exclaimed, enthusiastically, "the place is ours +again!" + +"You mean it's yours again," said Bill, slowly. + +"No," She shook her head emphatically. "_Ours_, after this, Bill." + +"All right," Bill replied, again not moving. + +Mrs. Jones, seeing that her attempts to be affectionate were falling +upon unfertile ground, dropped his hand. + +"How did Mr. Marvin manage to get it away from them?" she asked. + +For the first time Bill took interest. + +"I fixed it," he said, sitting up straight in his chair. "Do you want me +to tell you how much money you get out of the waterfall?" + +"Yes, Bill. But please say _we_ get it." + +"You mean I get half of it?" + +Mrs. Jones nodded. + +"And you're going to keep it for me?" he went on. + +She smiled at him and nodded again. + +"How did you know about my getting the place back?" he asked. + +"Lem Townsend told me," she informed him. "Did you know that he and Mrs. +Davis were married to-day?" + +Bill didn't know it, but he didn't intend that his wife should know +this. Playing up to form, he smiled indulgently upon her as he stated, +glibly, "Yes, I fixed it!" + +They smiled wisely upon each other and Mrs. Jones once again took her +husband's hand. + +"We won't have any more divorce people here, will we, Bill?" + +"Then you will have to close up," was his answer. + +"I want to close up, Bill." Her voice was full of deep tenderness. "I +want to have a home again." + +"All right," Bill said, getting up from the chair. Display of affection +always embarrassed him. His attitude amused and at the same time hurt +Mrs. Jones, so she changed her subject to one that she felt might +interest him. + +"We are all going to have some supper soon, Bill. I have been cooking +it," she said. + +Bill patted her tenderly on the hand. "Mother, I found out one thing +when I was at the Home. I found that you were a good cook." + +She smiled happily, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Bill +looked at her a moment in surprise; then he laughed. + +A shadow crossed her face and she gazed into his eyes. "You don't mind +my doing that, do you, Bill?" she asked. + +There was a pause for a moment. Bill shifted awkwardly from side to side +as he stood up. + +"No, I guess I don't," he said. + +Mrs. Jones walked toward the dining-room, pausing half-way across the +room. + +"Bill," she said, glancing down at the floor, "would you kiss me?" + +Bill gaped at her in surprise. + +"Yes," he said, slowly walking to her. Mrs. Jones saw his hesitation, +and, realizing the humor of the situation, laughed heartily. + +"Oh, never mind, Bill! You can kiss me later." + +"Now, mother, I was going to." He grinned and followed her to the door, +but she was through it before he could reach her. He stood still and was +about to reopen the door when Marvin burst in, out of breath, but a new +radiance in his eyes. + +"Why, John," Bill remarked, "I thought you were going over to the +cabin!" + +"Well, I was," said Marvin. "But I heard about Lem and Mrs. Davis being +married, and I knew that everybody would be over there having a good +time. I didn't mean to be out of it. Where's your wife?" + +"Oh, she's all right. She's cooking supper," Bill replied. + +Marvin hesitated a moment. He went to a window and looked out; then he +came back, putting his arm through Bill's. + +"Is Millie--?" + +He could get no farther, for Bill interrupted him. + +"Oh yes, she's waiting for you. She's afraid you're not going to forgive +her." + +"Well, I think I can convince her of my forgiveness," said Marvin. + +Delving into his pocket Bill brought forth the ring. + +"When you see her just give her this," he said. + +Marvin smiled. "Now I know why you borrowed that two dollars this +afternoon!" + +"Sure! You can find her. She's around some place. After you give it to +her come in to the party." + +"What party?" + +Bill nodded toward the dining-room door. "Lem and his wife are giving a +party and we want you to come. But you can't come until you get Millie," +said Bill. + +Marvin turned and walked toward the stairs, wondering where Millie was. +His thought brought his wish, for she parted the curtains and came +slowly down. She stopped when she saw him, but there was a look in his +eyes that she could not mistake and her heart was beating as it had not +done for many months, ever since she and Marvin had walked on the shores +of Lake Tahoe many months ago. + +"Daddy has told you what I should say to you, hasn't he?" she asked, +coming slowly down the stairs. Marvin went half-way up. + +"What is it?" he asked. + +"Well, I have made a fool of myself and I am ashamed of myself and I beg +you to forgive me!" + +Pausing on the stairs, she lowered her eyes, coloring deeply. Marvin +could not help laughing, and there was a dimple of amusement in Millie's +cheek. He put an arm around her and led her down into the lobby. + +"I could tell you something better than that to say," he stated, seeing +that her eyes were at last answering his, "you might say, for example, +'John, dearest, I know that you love me always,' because that is +something a woman must know!" + +They both laughed delightedly at this repetition of the words he had +used in the court-room. + +"And I suppose I should say"--but here Millie turned her head +away--"please marry me!" + +"Exactly!" Marvin cried. "And my answer is, Yes, Millie--if you will +have me!" + +Suddenly he remembered the horrible ring Bill had bought. He took it +from his pocket, saying, with mock tenderness, "Millie, I want to show +you something, and--" + +[Illustration: ... HE TOOK IT FROM HIS POCKET, SAYING, "MILLIE, I WANT +TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING"] + +"I have seen it!" she interrupted, laughing softly, glancing down at the +object in its gaudy setting. + +"Well, we mustn't disappoint Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Put it on your +finger, dear, for the old fellow's sake and let him see it. It will show +him that his efforts were not in vain--no ring could be more beautiful +in thought than this one!" + +"You're right, John!" she said, with shining eyes, as she slipped the +thing on her finger and raised her face for a kiss. + +At that psychological moment Bill stuck his head in the door. He +withdrew, of course, but only to return in an instant with the whole +party at his heels. + +Bill was leading his wife by the hand. Gesturing toward Marvin and +Millie, his shrewd old eyes fairly snapping with whimsical happiness, +Lightnin' exclaimed: + +"Mother--look! I fixed that!" + + +THE END + + + + +BOOTH TARKINGTON'S NOVELS + + +_SEVENTEEN._ Illustrated by Arthur William Brown. + +No one but the creator of Penrod could have portrayed the immortal young +people of this story. Its humor is irresistible and reminiscent of the +time when the reader was Seventeen. + +_PENROD._ Illustrated by Gordon Grant. + +This is a picture of a boy's heart, full of the lovable, humorous, +tragic things which are locked secrets to most older folks. It is a +finished, exquisite work. + +_PENROD AND SAM._ Illustrated by Worth Brehm. + +Like "Penrod" and "Seventeen," this book contains some remarkable phases +of real boyhood and some of the best stories of juvenile prankishness +that have ever been written. + +_THE TURMOIL._ Illustrated by C. E. Chambers. + +Bibbs Sheridan is a dreamy, imaginative youth, who revolts against his +father's plans for him to be a servitor of big business. The love of a +fine girl turns Bibbs' life from failure to success. + +_THE GENTLEMAN FROM INDIANA._ Frontispiece. + +A story of love and politics,--more especially a picture of a country +editor's life in Indiana, but the charm of the book lies in the love +interest. + +_THE FLIRT._ Illustrated by Clarence F. Underwood. + +The "Flirt," the younger of two sisters, breaks one girl's engagement, +drives one man to suicide, causes the murder of another, leads another +to lose his fortune, and in the end marries a stupid and unpromising +suitor, leaving the really worthy one to marry her sister. + + + + +THE NOVELS OF MARY ROBERTS RINEHART + + +_DANGEROUS DAYS._ + +A brilliant story of married life. A romance of fine purpose and +stirring appeal. + +_THE AMAZING INTERLUDE._ Illustrations by The Kinneys. + +The story of a great love which cannot be pictured--an +interlude--amazing, romantic. + +_LOVE STORIES._ + +This book is exactly what its title indicates, a collection of love +affairs--sparkling with humor, tenderness and sweetness. + +_"K."_ Illustrated. + +K. LeMoyne, famous surgeon, goes to live in a little town where +beautiful Sidney Page lives. She is in training to become a nurse. The +joys and troubles of their young love are told with keen and sympathetic +appreciation. + +_THE MAN IN LOWER TEN._ Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. + +An absorbing detective story woven around the mysterious death of the +"Man in Lower Ten." + +_WHEN A MAN MARRIES._ Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker. + +A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him, finds that his +aunt is soon to visit him. The aunt, who contributes to the family +income, knows nothing of the domestic upheaval. How the young man met +the situation is entertainingly told. + +_THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE._ Illustrated by Lester Ralph. + +The occupants of "Sunnyside" find the dead body of Arnold Armstrong on +the circular staircase. Following the murder a bank failure is +announced. Around these two events is woven a plot of absorbing +interest. + +_THE STREET OF SEVEN STARS._ (Photoplay Edition.) + +Harmony Wells, studying in Vienna to be a great violinist, suddenly +realizes that her money is almost gone. She meets a young ambitious +doctor who offers her chivalry and sympathy, and together with +world-worn Dr. Anna and Jimmie, the waif, they share their love and +slender means. + + + + +STORIES OF RARE CHARM BY GENE STRATTON-PORTER + + +_MICHAEL O'HALLORAN._ Illustrated by Frances Rogers. + +Michael is a quick-witted little Irish newsboy, living in Northern +Indiana. He adopts a deserted little girl, a cripple. He also assumes +the responsibility of leading the entire rural community upward and +onward. + +_LADDIE._ Illustrated by Herman Pfeifer. + +This is a bright, cheery tale with the scenes laid in Indiana. The Story +is told by Little Sister, the youngest member of a large family, but it +is concerned not so much with childish doings as with the love affairs +of older members of the family. Chief among them is that of Laddie and +the Princess, an English girl who has come to live in the neighborhood +and about whose family there hangs a mystery. + +_THE HARVESTER._ Illustrated by W. L. Jacobs. + +"The Harvester," is a man of the woods and fields, and if the book had +nothing in it but the splendid figure of this man it would be notable. +But when the Girl comes to his "Medicine Woods," there begins a romance +of the rarest idyllic quality. + +_FRECKLES._ Illustrated. + +Freckles is a nameless waif when the tale opens, but the way in which he +takes hold of life; the nature friendships he forms in the great +Limberlost Swamp; the manner in which everyone who meets him succumbs to +the charm of his engaging personality; and his love-story with "The +Angel" are full of real sentiment. + +_A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST._ Illustrated. + +The story of a girl of the Michigan woods; a buoyant, loveable type of +the self-reliant American. Her philosophy is one of love and kindness +towards all things; her hope is never dimmed. And by the sheer beauty of +her soul, and the purity of her vision, she wins from barren and +unpromising surroundings those rewards of high courage. + +_AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW._ Illustrations in colors. + +The scene of this charming love story is laid in Central Indiana. The +story is one of devoted friendship, and tender self-sacrificing love. +The novel is brimful of the most beautiful word painting of nature, and +its pathos and tender sentiment will endear it to all. + +_THE SONG OF THE CARDINAL._ Profusely illustrated. + +A love ideal of the Cardinal bird and his mate, told with delicacy and +humor. + + + + +ZANE GREY'S NOVELS + + +_THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS_ + +A New York society girl buys a ranch which becomes the center of +frontier warfare. Her loyal superintendent rescues her when she is +captured by bandits. A surprising climax brings the story to a +delightful close. + +_THE RAINBOW TRAIL_ + +The story of a young clergyman who becomes a wanderer in the great +western uplands--until at last love and faith awake. + +_DESERT GOLD_ + +The story describes the recent uprising along the border, and ends with +the finding of the gold which two prospectors had willed to the girl who +is the story's heroine. + +_RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE_ + +A picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago when Mormon +authority ruled. The prosecution of Jane Withersteen is the theme of the +story. + +_THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN_ + +This is the record of a trip which the author took with Buffalo Jones, +known as the preserver of the American bison, across the Arizona desert +and of a hunt in "that wonderful country of deep canons and giant +pines." + +_THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT_ + +A lovely girl, who has been reared among Mormons, learns to love a young +New Englander. The Mormon religion, however, demands that the girl shall +become the second wife of one of the Mormons--Well, that's the problem +of this great story. + +_THE SHORT STOP_ + +The young hero, tiring of his factory grind, starts out to win fame and +fortune as a professional ball player. His hard knocks at the start are +followed by such success as clean sportsmanship, courage and honesty +ought to win. + +_BETTY ZANE_ + +This story tells of the bravery and heroism of Betty, the beautiful +young sister of old Colonel Zane, one of the bravest pioneers. + +_THE LONE STAR RANGER_ + +After killing a man in self defense, Buck Duane becomes an outlaw along +the Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a +young girl held prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down +upon himself the wrath of her captors and henceforth is hunted on one +side by honest men, on the other by outlaws. + +_THE BORDER LEGION_ + +Joan Randle, in a spirit of anger, sent Jim Cleve out to a lawless +Western mining camp, to prove his mettle. Then realizing that she loved +him--she followed him out. On her way, she is captured by a bandit band, +and trouble begins when she shoots Kells, the leader--and nurses him to +health again. Here enters another romance--when Joan, disguised as an +outlaw, observes Jim, in the throes of dissipation. A gold strike, a +thrilling robbery--gambling and gun play carry you along breathlessly. + +_THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS_ By Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey + +The life story of Colonel William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," as told by +his sister and Zane Grey. It begins with his boyhood in Iowa and his +first encounter with an Indian. We see "Bill" as a pony express rider, +then near Fort Sumter as Chief of the Scouts, and later engaged in the +most dangerous Indian campaigns. There is also a very interesting +account of the travels of "The Wild West" Show. No character in public +life makes a stronger appeal to the imagination of America than "Buffalo +Bill," whose daring and bravery made him famous. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + +***** This file should be named 34280-8.txt or 34280-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/8/34280/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/34280-8.zip b/34280-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e814781 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-8.zip diff --git a/34280-h.zip b/34280-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..92041db --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h.zip diff --git a/34280-h/34280-h.htm b/34280-h/34280-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6957f04 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h/34280-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7414 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lightnin', by FRANK BACON. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +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: Lightnin' + After a Play of the Same Name by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon + +Author: Frank Bacon + +Release Date: November 11, 2010 [EBook #34280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>LIGHTNIN'</h1> + +<h2>BY FRANK BACON</h2> + + +<h3>After the Play of the Same Name by<br /> +WINCHELL SMITH and FRANK BACON</h3> + +<h3>With Illustrations from<br /> +PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PLAY</h3> + +<h3>GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</h3> + +<h3>Copyright 1920, by Harper & Brothers<br /> +Printed in the United States of America<br /> +Published February, 1920</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>YOU LOOKED INTO LIGHTNIN'S SHREWDLY HUMOROUS EYES, AND +YOU SMILED—SMILED WITH HIM </h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#BOOTH_TARKINGTONS_NOVELS">By BOOTH TARKINGTON</a><br /> +<a href="#THE_NOVELS_OF_MARY_ROBERTS_RINEHART">By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART</a><br /> +<a href="#STORIES_OF_RARE_CHARM_BY_GENE_STRATTON-PORTER">By GENE STRATTON-PORTER</a><br /> +<a href="#ZANE_GREYS_NOVELS">By ZANE GREY</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p><a href="#illus1"><span class="smcap">You Looked into Lightnin's Shrewdly Humorous Eyes, and You +Smiled—Smiled with Him</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus2">"<span class="smcap">Promise Me You Won't Sign the Deed</span>" ... <span class="smcap">Bill Hesitated</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus3"><span class="smcap">Lightnin', in His Faded G. A. R. Uniform</span> ... <span class="smcap">Listened Attentively</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus4"><span class="smcap">...He Took It from His Pocket, Saying, "Millie, I Want to Show You +Something"</span></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LIGHTNIN" id="LIGHTNIN"></a>LIGHTNIN'</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>"Him?" the local postmaster of Calivada would say, in reply to your +question about the quaint little old man who had just ambled away from +the desk with a bundle of letters stuffed in his pocket. "Why, that's +Lightnin' Bill Jones! We call him Lightnin' because he ain't. Nature +didn't give no speed to Bill. No, sir, far as I know, Lightnin' 'ain't +never done a day's work in his life—but there ain't none of us ever +thinks any the less of him for that! Bill's got a way with him, an' he +kin tell some mighty good yarns. Lightnin's all right!"</p> + +<p>And when you met Bill Jones you agreed with the postmaster. You looked +into Lightnin's twinkling, shrewdly humorous eyes and you smiled—smiled +with him. You thought of the reply he made to a stranger who protested +against his indolence.</p> + +<p>"Well," Bill said, with that shrewd glance of his, "I ain't keepin' +<i>you</i> from makin' a million dollars, am I?"</p> + +<p>Old Bill was full of remarks like that, and sometimes those about him +were not so sure as to his lack of speed, in spite of his aimless, +easy-going habits. You never can tell from the feet alone. Those closest +to him were not sure at all; he "had them guessing." There was no doubt +that his wife, simple, earnest, hard-working woman that she was, loved +him. She mothered him and did not seem to worry much about his shiftless +ways. He was her husband, and that was enough for her. What Mrs. Jones +thought of her husband's mental acumen would be another question, +perhaps, but up to the present she had always consulted Bill's wishes +and sought his advice. Their adopted daughter, Millie, a pretty, +wholesome, brown-haired girl of nineteen, worshiped Bill. Any one who +said a word against "daddy" had Millie to deal with. The third person +Bill had guessing was John Marvin, a young man who owned a tract of land +and a cabin a few miles down the trail. Marvin had a lot on his mind, +and was studying law all alone in the cabin at nights into the bargain, +but he liked to have Bill drop in, liked to hear him talk. Bill could +tell some pretty tall yarns, but he told them so well you had to swallow +them. There was an odd, friendly, understanding bond between the +ambitious young fellow and the easy-going, humorous old man. They +confided in each other a great deal, and—well, like Mrs. Jones and +Millie, Marvin frequently found himself crediting Bill with a semblance +of mental speed. But then his mind would picture the ambling, aimless +figure of Bill Jones with its shock of disordered gray hair and +half-shut eyes, and Marvin would smile to himself and turn his thoughts +to something else. But he wondered, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>At the present moment, the afternoon of a late summer's day, Bill Jones +was doing a little wondering himself, though no one would have suspected +it as he ambled lazily up the trail, bound for home. Things were not +going well with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones and Millie were worrying, +and Bill knew it. Characteristically, he had evaded the issue for +several years, content to let each day take care of itself as best it +could, but now matters were reaching a crisis and circumstances were +forcing Bill to consider it. They had been selling the timber on the +land, but that did not help much; and now they were taking summer +boarders—when they could get them, for boarders were scarce. Again, +this only made more hard work for Millie and Mrs. Jones.</p> + +<p>It was of this Bill was thinking as he went along. He had been sent to +get the mail and to meet the morning train from San Francisco for the +purpose of enticing a few boarders to the Jones establishment if +possible. He should have been home hours ago with the mail, and there +were some odd jobs awaiting him, but he had dallied in the little local +town. This was his usual habit, for, like a good many lonely souls, Bill +was also a social one. People liked to buy Bill drinks and cigars in the +tavern and listen to his yarns. But to-day Bill was lingering +intentionally; he knew that his wife and Millie expected to take him +into consultation this afternoon in regard to the critical state of the +family affairs. Naturally Bill dreaded such a proceeding, but there was +something more than that to it to-day. His old heart, usually full of +happy-go-lucky sunshine, was harboring shadows, for he knew that he +ought to help and wanted to. But how? As he had turned slowly homeward, +Lightnin' hadn't the faintest idea.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly, when about a mile from the house, Bill paused in the +middle of the trail, chuckled, and then sat down on a fallen tree. He +pushed back his battered old hat, drew a bag of tobacco and a Manila +paper from his pocket, and rolled himself a cigarette. All signs and +manifestations indicated that Bill Jones was overwhelmed by an idea. He +sat puffing the cigarette and grinning to himself for a few minutes; +then he arose slowly and ambled on; but now the amble was not so +aimless. It had a suggestion of the walk of a man with a purpose, and +there was a gleam of satisfaction and humorous self-importance in his +half-shut eyes.</p> + +<p>Nearing the house, he observed his wife sitting on the broad veranda, +rocking to and fro, obviously on the watch for him. From force of habit, +Bill tried to make a detour with the intent of entering unseen through +the back door; but, knowing his ways, Mrs. Jones was too quick for him. +She called to him, and, with the air of one who had no intention +whatever of entering by the back door, he came up on the porch and +dropped into a chair beside her.</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," he said, amiably, "you look all tuckered out. Glad to +see you restin'."</p> + +<p>"Where you been all day?" she asked, ignoring his remark. Her tone was +none too tender, but there was a gentle gleam in her motherly, tired +eyes as they sought her husband's, sheepishly hiding behind half-closed +lids.</p> + +<p>"Just takin' a look at town," Bill drawled. "Just takin' a look." He +settled himself comfortably in his chair and rolled a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know there's some new boarders come?"</p> + +<p>"Sure," said Bill, easily. "I sent 'em, didn't I? Told 'em you was the +best cook in two states, mother. Guess I ought to know."</p> + +<p>Millie, an apron over her neat and simple house dress, came out and drew +a chair between her foster-parents. She glanced quickly from one to the +other, and then her gentle brown eyes came to rest lovingly on old Bill. +He returned her smile.</p> + +<p>"What a long time you were, daddy!" she said. "I bet you stayed away +just because you knew mother and I wanted to talk to you to-day—own up, +daddy!"</p> + +<p>Bill grinned delightedly, despite his knowledge of the rather grave +situation the girl's smiling comment covered. "Well, Millie," he +answered, "I'm here now, ain't I? Guess we can have a little talk before +them boarders begin to yell for their supper. I kinder wish as you +didn't have to cook for 'em, mother—an' Millie waitin' on 'em. 'Tain't +fair."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones's lips twitched; the weight of a hard day was on her.</p> + +<p>"It ain't no use puttin' it off, Bill," she said, wearily. "We got to do +somethin'. Mr. Townsend was here this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"What o' that?" asked Bill.</p> + +<p>"Well, he's pretty shrewd, you know, an' he's thinkin' about us, Bill. +He seen how much of the timber's gone. He knows we sold another strip o' +land last month for next to nothin'—"</p> + +<p>"What's that to him?" Bill queried, rolling another cigarette and +apparently completely absorbed in the operation.</p> + +<p>"He—he's just worried about us, an' it's nice of him, Bill, him knowin' +us all these years. He—he thinks as we might move into—into one o' +them little cabins down the trail an'—"</p> + +<p>"Lem Townsend's all right," Bill cut in, lazily, "but we ain't goin' to +move, mother. An' it ain't nobody's business, neither—not even Lem +Townsend's. I hope you told him that."</p> + +<p>"Why, Bill!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed, sharply. "I told him no such thing! +An' I ain't so sure but what I ain't goin' to take his advice!"</p> + +<p>Bill looked at her, a hidden smile in his eyes. "It's your property, +mother," he said, quietly.</p> + +<p>Tears sprang into the woman's eyes and she made an impulsive gesture.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't think that way, Bill!" she cried. "I know you deeded the +whole place over to me when we were married—and it was all you had! I +wasn't thinkin' o' that—'ceptin' as I always think. You must say <i>our</i> +place, Bill. It's yours an' mine an' Millie's. We'll stick together. +But we got to do <i>somethin'</i>."</p> + +<p>Bill glanced slyly at the girl, whose brown head was bowed thoughtfully. +"What you think, Millie?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what to say," she replied, slowly. "I could go back to San +Francisco and work as I did last year. But maybe we could pull through +this winter—if only we could get boarders. I don't mind the work, +and—and I'd rather stay home here."</p> + +<p>Bill's eyes suddenly twinkled. "What's the matter?" he chuckled. "John +Marvin come back from the city to stay at his cabin?"</p> + +<p>Millie blushed. "Daddy!" she pouted.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones did not seem any too pleased at her husband's remark. "John +Marvin 'ain't got nothin' to do with it!" she exclaimed. "I don't see +what he comes foolin' around here for, anyway—Millie 'ain't got <i>him</i> +on her mind!"</p> + +<p>"I should say not!" Millie echoed, though it occurred to Bill that the +softness of her brown eyes belied the petulant toss of her head. +"Perhaps, after all, it would be best for me to go back to Mr. Thomas's +office!"</p> + +<p>Bill turned his half-shut eyes on her quickly, but Millie did not note +the expression of genuine concern in them. He sat lost in thought. The +last winter had been the most difficult of all for them. Millie, feeling +that it was time for her being some help, had studied typewriting and +stenography and had obtained a position in the office of Raymond Thomas, +a San Francisco lawyer. Presumably on a vacation, Thomas had chanced to +spend a week at the Jones place the previous summer. Millie had told him +of her design to help the family, and Thomas had suggested that she take +the position open in his office.</p> + +<p>But that had been a dreary and lonely winter for Bill and his wife. +Millie's pretty face and youthful ways had been missed sorely; the girl +had come to be all in all to the old couple, and they could not bear to +see her go away again for another long winter.</p> + +<p>Then, too, Bill had his own reasons for feeling grave and down in the +mouth when Millie suggested her returning to work in the office of +Raymond Thomas. Bill Jones was not one to analyze, or to voice or +explain his thoughts—even to himself—unless he took a notion to, or +considered that the right moment had arrived; it was all too much +trouble, anyway. Certain thoughts were running through his mind now, +however; running a little at random, to be sure, but they were there. +His young friend, John Marvin, had worked in Thomas's office for a +time—was working there when Millie entered the office. Indeed, that was +how Marvin had met Millie and found, to his delight, that they were +neighbors up in Nevada—that she was the pretty daughter his friend Bill +Jones was always mentioning.</p> + +<p>But Bill was thinking now especially of the fact that Marvin had left +Raymond Thomas's office suddenly, and had told Bill precisely why he had +left.</p> + +<p>"Don't <i>you</i> think it would be best for me to go back, daddy?" Millie +questioned, interrupting his random musings. "Maybe mother could manage +here, with one or two boarders and the money I shall send her. And there +will be your army pension. Mr. Thomas is coming to pay us a visit +to-morrow, you know, and I'll ask him at once for my old position. I +know it will be all right, for he's always been perfectly splendid! He +told me the position would always be open to me. You have no idea how +kind and considerate he is, daddy! Then maybe next summer—"</p> + +<p>"Next summer we're all goin' to be rich!" said her odd foster-father, +unexpectedly. "Yes, sir, meanin' you an' mother, Millie girl, next +summer we're goin' to be awful rich. Leastways, you an' mother is. Bein' +rich wouldn't mean nothin' to me—I'm above it!"</p> + +<p>"Why, daddy!" Millie exclaimed, staring at him. "How—What do you mean, +daddy?"</p> + +<p>Slumped away down in his chair, Bill's eyes were now all but closed +tight and he was grinning.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' particular," he answered, softly. "'Cept that maybe Bill Jones +ain't called Lightnin' for nothin'."</p> + +<p>"Bill," said his wife, "this ain't no time for to be smart! If you have +anything to say, I wish to goodness you'd say it!"</p> + +<p>Bill half opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Millie ain't goin' back +to that tailor-made lawyer's office," he said.</p> + +<p>"Daddy, please!" said Millie, flushing.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't make fun of Mr. Thomas when—"</p> + +<p>"All right, Millie," he stopped her, resting his thin hand on her brown +hair for an instant. "I wouldn't say nothin' as would hurt you. But you +won't have to go back, my dear—not unless you really want to leave us. +I got an idea, mother—that's why I was late gettin' home. Ideas take +time, 'specially when they're good ones! I got a good one what'll fix +this whole business!"</p> + +<p>Bill stuck his thumbs in his faded old shirt comically. Even slumped +down in his chair as he was, the suggestion of a harmless swagger was in +his manner—the easy swagger of one who, hitherto unconsidered, has +astonished the skeptics by giving birth to an idea and solving a +problem. There was something about Bill that suppressed the gentle but +none the less amused smile that was dimpling Millie's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Out with it, daddy!" she demanded, restraining a desire to pull his +ear.</p> + +<p>"If Lem Townsend is so anxious to help us," he stated, "he can arrange +all the details for you, mother. I 'ain't got time for details—that's +what I told Grant once, when we was havin' supper before Petersburg. Got +enough to do with the idea. Lem can put the ads. in them Reno papers, +an' hire the maids for you, an' things like that." Then Bill suddenly +stopped, hugely enjoying the mystification of his two listeners.</p> + +<p>His wife sat up. "Bill Jones," she said, "you been drinking again down +to town, that's what I think!"</p> + +<p>"Go on, daddy!" Millie encouraged, putting her hand on his arm. "I feel +that you've thought of something! Tell us!"</p> + +<p>Ignoring his wife's accusation, Bill gave Millie a grateful glance and +resumed, in his slow drawl:</p> + +<p>"I got an idea—sure enough, mother an' Millie! It didn't hit me until I +was half-way home to-day, but I got it lookin' at the mornin' train what +goes on through to Reno. I've looked at a pile o' trains in my time, but +I never got no idea from 'em before. Look here, don't the state line run +plumb through the middle o' this house, so's half of it is in California +an' the other half in Nevada? Well, what's the matter with makin' this +house a hotel temporary for busted hearts what takes six months to cure? +Lots o' them rich folks from the East who goes on down to Reno to git +divorced would like to live on the lake, but they can't because they got +to live in Nevada for six months. They can live on one side o' this +house an' be in Nevada. An' at the same time they gits all the good o' +livin' in California! They'd be tickled to death an' they'd be comin' in +shoals all year, winter an' summer. An' what they pays ain't nothin' to +them—the Reno hotels is so rich off them they don't want to take in no +one what 'ain't a busted heart! You better start right away gettin' +ready, mother!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones and Millie gasped. Bill, however, having spoken at +considerable length for him, merely reached for his eternal bag of +tobacco and paper and idly rolled himself a cigarette.</p> + +<p>Millie clapped her hands. "Why, mother!" she cried, "daddy's right—it +is an idea! And so simple!"</p> + +<p>"All big things is simple," Bill remarked, with the air of one who ought +to know.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones stared from her husband to Millie. "Oh, Bill," she said, +finally, "I really think we can do it! And now I'll tell you somethin'. +I—I was goin' to suggest this very thing some time ago, but—but I +thought you wouldn't approve of it on account o' Millie. Lem Townsend +put the notion in my head when he was talkin' about our sellin' the +timber."</p> + +<p>Bill looked up. "Lem thought of it, eh? Didn't think Lem had that much +sense. Anyways, I bet I thought of it first—I must 'a' been thinkin' of +it for a long time without knowin' it. Why shouldn't I approve—on +account o' Millie, mother?"</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," said his wife, uncertainly. "I hear some of them +divorcers is—is—"</p> + +<p>"Shucks, mother," Bill stopped her. "They're human beings, ain't they? +An' them as ain't we needn't take. But they're all right. I seen a lot +o' them on the trains. Right smart lookers, most o' them! They can't +help it if their hearts gets busted, can they? Human beings is human +beings. Besides, we gotter look at it from a business point o' view—as +Lincoln said to me about the Civil War. I was a business man once an'—"</p> + +<p>Millie laughed, and Bill, remembering that he was in the bosom of his +family and that there were certain things he couldn't "get away with" +there, subsided.</p> + +<p>Evidently Mrs. Jones had been thinking hard during the past few minutes, +and now she spoke. "We'll do it, Millie!" she said. "Some o' them Reno +hotels got started overnight, just like this, an' we can do the same. +It'll be kinder queer at first, turning our home into a hotel, but maybe +we can soon make enough to—to make it a home again. Shall we try it, +Millie?"</p> + +<p>"Of course!" Millie exclaimed. "I think it will be great fun! You're +awful clever, daddy, to think of it!"</p> + +<p>Bill, who had rolled and lighted another cigarette, arose and stuck his +hands carelessly in the pockets of his worn, baggy old trousers. +"'Tain't nothin'," he remarked, swaying on his heels and toes. "Nothin' +at all! I think o' lots o' things like that, but I don't tell 'em—too +busy! Well, mother, as Lem Townsend's comin' over to-night, you better +have him fix them details. I got to go an' think some more about the +idea!"</p> + +<p>He moved away with elaborate unconcern and started to amble down the +veranda steps. His wife suddenly remembered several odd jobs he should +be attending to, but she did not stop him. Her mind was full of +plans—and one is naturally timid about asking a Man with a Big Idea to +perform menial tasks.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>After supper the following evening Bill slipped from the house and +ambled through the woods to the lake border, where a young moon, cradled +above the western ridge, sent its shafts of silver light across the +darkened waters. It was evident that Bill Jones wanted to be alone. He +settled down on the trunk of a fallen tree and absently rolled himself a +cigarette. When it was satisfactorily lighted he glanced down the shore. +It was deserted, but a little way back, on the woodland path, he +observed two people strolling in the dim shadows of the pines and +cedars. He knew that the girl in the white dress was Millie, and he +guessed that the man with her was John Marvin. Bill was not especially +romantic, but there was no doubt that the sight of those two together +pleased him. He knew that the pair had not seen much of each other of +late, and he wondered why. He himself had not seen John Marvin for +nearly two weeks. Though he did not indulge in romance personally, he +understood much, and he sighed deeply as he watched the dim figure of +the girl strolling along the path. His mind wandered off through a vista +of past years to the time when Millie had first come to the Tahoe region +and to the Jones family, a bit of a girl of three. Sinking into a +reverie, Bill failed to note that the pair had finally parted, Marvin +striding off up the trail in the direction of his cabin. A pull at his +ear brought him back to earth.</p> + +<p>"Why, daddy! What are you doing out here all alone?"</p> + +<p>Millie sat down beside him, putting an arm around his neck.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" said Bill, reaching for his bag of tobacco and papers. "Where's +John?" he asked, a humorous gleam in his eyes, as he met hers.</p> + +<p>Millie seemed to hesitate before answering: "He's gone back to his +place. I told him Mr. Thomas was here and he wouldn't even come in to +see him! He says he does not like it. I don't think it is any of his +business," she added, giving Bill a hug.</p> + +<p>"Why ain't it?" Bill asked.</p> + +<p>Again Millie hesitated, then said, "Mr. Thomas is just as nice as he can +be daddy, and—"</p> + +<p>"His yaller gloves is nice. So's his cane. Must take him an awful long +time to dress."</p> + +<p>Millie took her arm away and looked at him. She caught the lift of his +eyebrows and the peculiar expression of his half-open mouth and +half-shut eyes, an expression which always decorated Bill's face when he +gave vent to sentiments which Millie had come to regard as "Daddy's +intuitions." Bill always used trivial words at such moments, but that +did not minimize the effect.</p> + +<p>"But, daddy, it seems so hard to make you understand how good Mr. Thomas +has been to me! Mother understands. He took such pains with me. I was a +perfect greenhorn and didn't know the first thing about office work. No +matter what mistakes I made, he was just as patient as he could be. And +he says he loves this beautiful country up here! He liked to hear me +tell about our wonderful waterfall."</p> + +<p>Bill puffed his cigarette, an odd gleam in his eyes, perhaps of +amusement, perhaps of wisdom. Millie glanced back toward the house; then +her eyes swept the shore and finally came to rest on something barely +visible far up on the mountain—John Marvin's cabin. She sighed and +continued to gaze in the same direction. Bill stole a look at her.</p> + +<p>"Liked to hear about our waterfall, eh?" he remarked. "I thought so."</p> + +<p>Millie started. "Thought what, daddy?" she asked, her brown eyes trying +to read his face.</p> + +<p>"Nothin'. Nothin'," he replied, with a note of finality that she had +long learned to know as indicating the futility of further questioning.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, rising, "I think you'd better come up to the house, +daddy. I suppose you left Mr. Thomas all alone there on the veranda, +didn't you? You might have stayed and entertained him until I got back."</p> + +<p>"Guess he entertains himself pretty well," said Bill. "Besides, mother's +with him."</p> + +<p>"But you ought to be there, too, daddy; you're the head of the house, +you know!"</p> + +<p>He gave her an amused glance as she cuddled his arm in hers and walked +him off. "All right, Millie, but I kinder keep fergettin' that part of +it."</p> + +<p>Coming up the veranda steps, they found Mrs. Jones sitting there with a +handsome, perfectly groomed young man of possibly twenty-seven. Raymond +Thomas looked actually too good to be true in that backwoods region. He +arose quickly, placed a chair for Millie, and then drew one beside his +own, urging Bill to occupy it.</p> + +<p>"Please sit right here, Mr. Jones!" he insisted, with an easy, +flattering smile. "Where did you disappear to after supper? I've been +looking all over for you. I want to hear some more of those famous +stories of yours! Tell me how to get him started, Miss Buckley," he +added, with mock appeal and turning his dazzling smile on Millie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy just starts himself!" she answered, laughing.</p> + +<p>Bill dropped into the chair and crossed his legs. Gingerly he took the +cigar Thomas offered him.</p> + +<p>"I want to hear about some of your experiences in the Civil War," Thomas +urged. "Why, I have heard that you were in most of the big battles!"</p> + +<p>Bill glanced at his smiling questioner with an odd look. With great +deliberation he bit off the end of the cigar. "I was in all them battles +but two," he said, finally, holding up the cigar and subjecting it to a +minute inspection.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" Thomas encouraged. "Allow me to light the cigar, Mr. Jones!"</p> + +<p>Bill gave him a quizzical glance at this unusual attention, a glance +that apparently was quite lost on Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Sure. All but two," said Bill, taking a long pull at the cigar. "I was +in Washington on private business when them two was goin' on. I was +greatly disappointed."</p> + +<p>"I can imagine so!" exclaimed Thomas.</p> + +<p>"You can imagine a lot o' things, can't you?" said Bill, unexpectedly. +"I often imagine I never saw some people. It makes you feel better. But +about them battles. Ye know Grant 'd never won the battle of Lookout +Mountain if it hadn't been for me—"</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" cried Thomas, in a tone of pleasant surprise.</p> + +<p>"Nope. I was the only man he would let look out."</p> + +<p>Thomas laughed effusively and gently tapped Bill on the back. "Capital!" +he exclaimed. "You must tell me some more later on. And you've got to +come to town with me some time, Mr. Jones. But"—and for a moment he +turned his brilliant smile on Millie and Mrs. Jones—"I've been +thinking ever since supper of that great idea of yours about turning +this place into a hotel for the broken-hearted. Really, I've given much +serious thought to it, as I was telling your wife just before you and +Miss Buckley joined us. I am so interested in you all that I hate to act +like a damper, but I have very grave doubts about it being a paying +proposition. And then I fear none of you have taken into consideration +the vast amount of work, preparation, and alteration the scheme will +entail. Now, as you are doing this to—er—well, to improve the +financial yield of the establishment—you have flattered me by deeming +me worthy of your confidence, Mrs. Jones, so perhaps I need not hesitate +over words—it seems to me that we might find some other and easier way +of accomplishing the desired object—"</p> + +<p>"Hello, Lem! Come an' set down," called Bill, calmly interrupting the +above flow of words and addressing a tall, rather impressive and +distinguished-looking man of about forty who had come up the veranda +steps.</p> + +<p>"How's it goin' Lem?" Bill asked. He turned his eyes on Thomas. "Lem's +runnin' fer superior judge o' Washoe County at the fall election."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones and Millie greeted Townsend cordially and the girl placed a +chair for him while he turned to shake hands with Thomas, who had +recovered his slightly shattered poise and risen gracefully. Townsend +shook hands genially, but there was a lurking frown in Raymond Thomas's +eyes—more than a suggestion that he was annoyed at the interruption, +and, for reasons of his own, resented the presence of another person on +the veranda. His dazzling smile was at work, however.</p> + +<p>"It is a pleasure to meet the future legal light of Washoe County!" he +said.</p> + +<p>"That's right—better make yourself solid with him now," said Bill, +throwing away the remains of the cigar and bringing out his tobacco and +papers. There was something in his voice that somehow did not bring a +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Why, daddy!" cried Millie. "I don't think that's funny at all!"</p> + +<p>Bill merely glanced at her and went on rolling his cigarette. Thomas had +given Bill a keen, puzzled look; but no one could ever tell from +Lightnin's expression whether or not any special meaning lay back of +his words.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones created a diversion. Eagerly she imparted Bill's great idea +to Townsend and their intention of carrying it out at once. Millie +joined in and asked him if he would help. He declared himself at their +immediate disposal.</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad you are going to do it, mother!" he said. "In my +judgment, it is an excellent solution of your problem. You will recall +that I suggested this—"</p> + +<p>"But I beat you to it, Lem!" Bill cut in quickly. "Forethought and +execution is the whole carnage!"</p> + +<p>Raymond Thomas had been listening closely. If there was disapproval and +annoyance at the turn things were taking, it did not show in his face.</p> + +<p>"But are you sure this venture will pay these good friends of ours, Mr. +Townsend?" he asked, in a tone of grave doubt. "Those divorce +people—they are mostly women, you know—are generally on short rations, +though they have been used to having a lot of money to spend. I'm afraid +they'll demand comforts and luxuries that will run expenses into big +figures, and they won't want to pay enough to make a reasonable margin +of profit."</p> + +<p>"I am certain it will pay splendidly!" replied Townsend. "Look at the +Reno hotels! Oh yes, I strongly advise our friends to tackle it!"</p> + +<p>Thomas frowned slightly. "Perhaps you are right, Mr. Townsend. I presume +you have investigated the matter. But there is another point to +consider. I don't think—well, personally, I do not think it is +altogether a good plan to—to bring women of that sort into contact with +women like Mrs. Jones and Miss Mildred."</p> + +<p>He turned to Millie, his expression one of delicate concern and appeal.</p> + +<p>"It's fine of you to speak like that, Mr. Thomas," she said, flushing +slightly, "but mother and I have talked over all that. We do not mind. +And, besides, I don't think it right for us to feel that way about it. +I'm sure most of those women are nice—and maybe they need just the +sympathy and care we can give them."</p> + +<p>Lemuel Townsend, on hearing Thomas's statement, had sat bolt upright. +"Sir," he said, in tones of personal injury, adjusting his glasses and +eying Thomas from head to foot, "I think that a rather broad and +sweeping statement for you to make. Miss Mildred is perfectly correct +in her surmise. I must remind you that I am a Nevada attorney. I have +known, in my life, many of these young women, and I have found them most +estimable!"</p> + +<p>"Ye like 'em, don't you, Lem?" remarked Bill, chuckling.</p> + +<p>Townsend flushed; he looked appealingly at Mrs. Jones and Millie, his +judicial manner gone. It must be confessed that Millie suppressed +something resembling a giggle.</p> + +<p>"You old fogies up here in the mountains have the wrong idea!" Townsend +said, turning to Bill. "Why should two people be hitched together when +they are pulling in different directions? That doesn't get them any +place." He rose and reached for his hat on the veranda rail. "Well, I +must be off. I'll get to work at once, Mrs. Jones. The Reno papers shall +have your ad. to-morrow, and I'll get busy on some other things at +once."</p> + +<p>The two women rose, profuse in their thanks, which he smilingly waved +aside. With a nod to Bill, and a rather formal bow to Thomas, he went +down the steps.</p> + +<p>Thomas resumed his seat and his dazzling smile; there was nothing in his +manner to show that he had been thinking quickly. He crossed his legs +easily and drew out another cigar.</p> + +<p>"Have you ever thought of selling the place, Mrs. Jones?" he asked, +suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Why—why, no! Can't say as we have!" she answered, evidently surprised. +"An' I don't know as we could if we wanted to. Ain't much call for a +place like this, Mr. Thomas!"</p> + +<p>"But you can't always tell about these things, my dear lady," said +Thomas, addressing himself exclusively to Mrs. Jones. "It might not be +so hard to find a purchaser, and at a good price, too."</p> + +<p>"I—I don't think Bill would like to sell," she replied, doubtfully. +"Would you, Bill?"</p> + +<p>Her husband made no reply. He sat gazing straight ahead, his eyes half +shut as usual.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Mr. Jones is indifferent on the subject," Thomas resumed. "Now +I am sure that if he felt that you and Miss Mildred were well +provided—"</p> + +<p>"Say, you're kinder full of ideas yourself, ain't you?" Bill +interrupted, unexpectedly turning and bringing his thin, unshaven face +close to the other man's, quite unwonted force and anger in his manner.</p> + +<p>"Daddy!" Millie cried, while his wife stared at him.</p> + +<p>The anger left his face and the old, shrewd, humorous light crept back +into his eyes.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe in more 'n one idea at a time," he said, grinning. +"No—I guess mother an' me an' Millie 'll try out that little +busted-heart notion o' mine first, afore we tackles any other notions. +Guess I'll turn in, mother—had a kinder tall day. Look sorter all in +yourself. Better come along. Tirin' business, havin' ideas. If Mr. +Thomas 'ain't been entertained ernough, maybe Millie 'll stay down an' +keep the show goin'." And he got up slowly, stuck his hands in his +pockets, and ambled into the house.</p> + +<p>"I think we'd better go in, too, mother," said Millie, rising. "I know +you're just fagged out, and it's late, anyway. You won't mind if we +leave you to finish your cigar, Mr. Thomas, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all! Not at all!" Thomas exclaimed, with his smile. "A thousand +pardons for keeping you up so late—it was thoughtless of me!"</p> + +<p>He sprang to the screen door, held it open for them, and called a cheery +"Good-night!" as they disappeared up the stairs. Then he sat down again +and thoughtfully finished his cigar. He appeared to have a lot to think +about, to figure out. When finally he went up to his own room a light +burned there for an hour longer.</p> + +<p>In the morning Bill Jones was up and about unwontedly early. He got +himself some breakfast, then went to the little desk where the few +boarders habitually left the letters they had written the night before +for the outgoing mail, which he took to the post-office. He found some +half-dozen letters on the desk this morning, and he examined the +addresses deliberately. One in particular seemed to interest him +immensely. It was in a handwriting he had seen before and recognized as +that of Raymond Thomas. He put a finger to his cheek and gazed up at the +ceiling—which is the same as saying that Bill Jones was making a +careful mental note of the name and address on that letter. It was +addressed to one Everett Hammone, the Golden Gate Land Company, San +Francisco. It was quite obvious that Bill Jones had a strong desire to +know the contents of that letter; but he dropped it carelessly among the +rest, bundled them up with a string and stuffed them in his pocket as he +strolled out of the house on his daily journey.</p> + +<p>Out on the trail a bit, his ambling feet came to a pause. He took out +his tobacco and papers and rolled a cigarette. Lighting it, he turned +around and gazed up the mountain, his eyes blinking in the morning +sunlight as they rested on the dot that was John Marvin's cabin. For a +moment it seemed as if Bill had it in mind to change his direction and +go up the mountain.</p> + +<p>"I sure would like to have er talk with John," he mused. "Sure would. +'Ain't had a talk with him for some time. But I guess as John is pretty +put to it with that there timber proposition—things must be gittin' +some excited up there! Maybe I'll go up to-morrer."</p> + +<p>And having characteristically decided to do it to-morrow, Bill continued +his morning stroll toward the post-office.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>For reasons obvious and otherwise, Bill Jones did not carry out his +intention of visiting John Marvin's cabin "to-morrow." In spite of +himself, Bill naturally was drawn into the vortex of work and +preparation necessary to turning his home into the Calivada Hotel. The +period of change was a nightmare to Bill, the only leaven in his misery +being the astonishing fact that he actually evolved quite a number of +ideas—ideas which Mrs. Jones, Millie, and Lem Townsend not only O.K.'d, +but put into instant execution—and found exceedingly workable. He made +many attempts to disappear from the premises, but his wife, or Millie, +or Lem always had an eye on him and managed to frustrate his hasty +sorties or more subtle schemes to take French leave. This went on day +after day, and now Bill had endured nearly six weeks of more or less +pleasantly enforced captivity.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the mysterious "excitement" up the mountain about +which Bill had mused that morning on the trail had come to a head, and +John Marvin's little cabin seemed to be the center of it.</p> + +<p>It was shortly after sundown one evening that a big, red-headed +lumberjack, obviously a Swede, put his head in the door of the cabin and +glanced quickly around the one room. Seeing that there was no one +inside, he entered, closing the door behind him. Going to the window, he +looked out through the thick grove of pines and cedars, but evidently +could see no one. He was breathing hard, as if from running, and he sank +into a chair.</p> + +<p>His rest was short-lived. There was a rap at the door, which was +instantly pushed open, and a lanky, sinewy man in sombrero and +riding-breeches, with two revolvers at the belt, strode in. The Swede, +on his feet in an instant, recognized the intruder as Nevin Blodgett, +sheriff of Washoe County.</p> + +<p>"What you want?" the lumberjack asked, in his heavy voice.</p> + +<p>The sheriff did not answer at once, but took a quick survey of the +cabin's contents, his eyes lighting up as they rested upon the unwashed +dishes on the table, telling of a recent meal. There was a +self-satisfied swagger about the sheriff as he walked up to the Swede.</p> + +<p>"You're John Marvin, ain't you?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," replied the Swede, with a heavy frown.</p> + +<p>The sheriff looked puzzled for a moment; then it seemed to dawn on him +that it was just possible that a big, red-headed Swede was not likely to +be John Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Well!" he snapped. "Then I guess you're working for him, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>The lumberjack shook his head and went close to Blodgett, emphasizing +his words, "Who I work for bane my business!" There was no fear in his +manner as he stood looking into his interrogator's face with a grin that +boded ill for any one looking for trouble.</p> + +<p>Blodgett backed away, his eyes following the breadth of the Swede's +husky shoulders and the line of his powerful arms.</p> + +<p>"None of that!" he said. "You're with the gang that's been chopping down +that timber out there. You know well enough that Marvin's stealing that +timber, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Stealing?"</p> + +<p>"Yes! He's stealing it from the Pacific Railroad Company, and I'm here +to arrest him for it!"</p> + +<p>"Humph!" The Swede shrugged his shoulders and wheeled around, gazing +anxiously out of the window, where the path through the forest was +visible.</p> + +<p>"You know where he is, don't you?" Blodgett asked.</p> + +<p>"He gone away."</p> + +<p>"Where?" Blodgett stamped his spurred boot.</p> + +<p>"I doan' know."</p> + +<p>"When did he go?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe—yesterday."</p> + +<p>"When's he coming back?"</p> + +<p>"I doan' think he coomin' back." The Swede deliberately put a kettle on +the stove and whistled indifferently.</p> + +<p>Blodgett was evidently torn between a desire to maintain his dignity and +authority as sheriff and a rather healthy reluctance to have any trouble +with the great, hulking Swede.</p> + +<p>"It's going to be hard for you if you're lying—"</p> + +<p>He got no farther. The Swede stepped up to him with blazing eyes.</p> + +<p>"You call me liar?" he yelled. "I throw you out the door!"</p> + +<p>Blodgett backed quickly away—very quickly. His hand sought the latch +behind him. "If you threaten me, the next thing you know you'll find +yourself in jail!" he cried, shaking his fist.</p> + +<p>The Swede's only answer was an ugly grin. Blodgett opened the door, +slamming it after him as he went away.</p> + +<p>The big lumberjack stood quiet for several minutes, listening to the +sounds of retreat beaten by the hoofs of Blodgett's horse. Assured that +the sheriff was safely out of the way, he crept to the window, thrust +his head over the sill, and gave a low whistle.</p> + +<p>There was a stir in the soap-plant outside and Marvin emerged, hurried +around to the door, and entered the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Good work!" he exclaimed, laughing and clapping the grinning Swede on +the back. "You got rid of him very well, Oscar! Now I'll go on with my +supper!"</p> + +<p>He took off his coat and went over to the stove, where he began to shake +the damper to let out the ashes. Oscar came and stood beside him.</p> + +<p>"He tell me—"</p> + +<p>"I know what he told you," Marvin interrupted, continuing to shake the +ashes.</p> + +<p>"Do that land belong to the railroad?" There was a slight note of alarm +in the Swede's voice.</p> + +<p>"It does now, Oscar," Marvin replied, throwing some paper and wood into +the stove and lighting it; "but I sold the timber a long time before the +railroad got the property, and I'm trying to save the timber for the man +who bought it from me."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" The Swede turned toward the door, as if to go. "Bane they arrest +you for that?"</p> + +<p>"Not unless they find me!" Marvin chuckled.</p> + +<p>"An' me an' the boys—can they arrest oos?"</p> + +<p>"No, Oscar," Marvin laughingly reassured him. "You fellows are working +for me and you are not supposed to know anything about my affairs."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" The Swede gave a satisfied nod of his head. "I see—you know that +from—from your books." He jerked his thumb toward a table in the corner +on which some law-books stood.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Marvin, looking into the coffee-pot. "Anyhow, you'll be gone +in the morning. The job's done, thanks to you and the boys."</p> + +<p>The lumberjack stood for a moment, nodding his red head; then he turned +slowly and went out.</p> + +<p>Marvin put the coffee-pot on the stove, watched it a minute, and then +sank thoughtfully into the shabby but comfortable arm-chair at the end +of his reading-table—which also served as a dining-table. He sat there +for several minutes—until the coffee, boiling over on the stove, +brought him out of his reverie and to his feet. At the same moment he +caught the sound of remote but high words coming from that part of his +land where the recently cut timber was stacked.</p> + +<p>"I tell you he bane gone away!" he heard, in Oscar's heavy, threatening +voice.</p> + +<p>Hurriedly pushing the coffee-pot on to the back of the stove, he sprang +to the door, but before he could reach it it was thrust in against him +and he was thrown back into the middle of the room, where he stood, +perforce, facing a tall, athletic-looking man in motor togs. The man's +strong, intellectual face, undoubtedly pleasant and agreeable +ordinarily, was now clouded with anger, his jaw set and grim.</p> + +<p>At sight of him, however, Marvin's fists unclenched and he smiled +amiably, despite the other's attitude.</p> + +<p>"Why, hello, Mr. Harper!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand. "You're +just the man I've been looking for! But you seem a bit upset. What's the +trouble?"</p> + +<p>Ignoring the outstretched hand, Harper threw off his duster and tossed +it, with his gloves, on the table.</p> + +<p>"Just a minute, young man," he said, with a grim tightening of his jaw +and his keen eyes boring into Marvin's. "Just a minute. I came here to +have a look for myself and to see precisely where I stand." He turned +and carefully closed the door.</p> + +<p>Marvin went to the stove and calmly poured himself a cup of coffee. +"Well," he remarked, with a laugh, "won't you have a chair and some +coffee first—you can shoot just as easily sitting down."</p> + +<p>Harper, his hand at his belt, glared at him.</p> + +<p>"You don't think I mean business, do you?" he said, grimly. "Or perhaps +you think you have beaten me to it, eh? Now what sort of man are you and +what nice little game is this you are playing? Here I buy a grove of +timber from you, and while my back is turned you sell the property, +timber and all, to the railroad! I want an explanation and I want it +now!"</p> + +<p>"You have the facts a bit mixed up," Marvin replied, still smiling and +nodding toward the chair, at the same time placing the coffee on the +table. "Sit down and we'll talk it over—and I think you'll decide not +to shoot!"</p> + +<p>Harper, however, was adamant.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Marvin. "In the first place, when I sold you the +timber you said you were going to cut it at once—"</p> + +<p>"Correct—correct! But something came up and I could not attend to +it—and I don't see how that exculpates you in the least!"</p> + +<p>"It doesn't," replied Marvin, adding, as he took up his coffee, "if you +won't join me, I'll have to go it alone, as this is the first I've had +since morning. Well, when I sold you that timber I never thought I would +sell any of this property. My mother loved every inch of it. It was our +dream that when I received my diploma and established a practice we +would make a home here; but she was taken sick—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember your telling me about her being in the hospital." +Harper's voice softened a bit.</p> + +<p>Marvin was silent a moment. "I took her to San Francisco. She died +there."</p> + +<p>Harper fumbled with the buckle of his belt. His heart went out to the +younger man; yet he felt that right was on his side. He picked up a +picture of Mrs. Marvin that stood in a small frame on the table. "I'm +deeply sorry," he said, softly. "I did not know."</p> + +<p>"There is no need to apologize," Marvin answered, quietly. "You have a +perfect right to demand an explanation about that timber." With a last +swallow of coffee, he put down his cup and stood squarely facing Harper, +and his own expression was grim as he continued:</p> + +<p>"When we got to San Francisco—mother and I—a lawyer in whose office I +had been a student came to the hospital and got into her good graces. He +had taken a great interest in me and I would have taken an oath as to +his integrity. But when I came up here to sell you the timber—and +mother and I needed the money desperately at the time—this man took +advantage of my absence to persuade mother to deed him fifty acres, +nearly the whole of the property! It was to be a pleasant surprise for +me when I returned! Instead of cash, he gave her a batch of stock in the +Golden Gate Land Company, stock of which I have been unable to dispose. +And the next day he resold the property to the Pacific Railroad Company +for three or four times the price represented by the stock he gave +mother. I found that out later, of course. Well, after mother's death I +hurried up here, only to discover that you had not cut the timber I sold +you <i>before</i> the property was sold. I got busy at once and have been +staying on here until the gang out there finished cutting it and piling +it on what is left to me of the property. Your timber is ready for you, +Mr. Harper, any time you are ready to haul it away."</p> + +<p>It was Harper's turn to put out his hand. "I'm mighty sorry I +misunderstood you, Marvin!" he exclaimed, as the latter returned the +clasp. "But look here! Can't you do anything about this fellow, this +lawyer? What's the rascal's name?"</p> + +<p>"Raymond Thomas. He's up in these parts quite frequently of late. Made +himself solid with some dear friends of mine, I'm sorry to say, and I'm +worried about it. I can't help believing that he's up to some new game, +though I can't just see what it is. He's a remarkably smooth customer. +It's very hard to pin anything on him. I'm going to make him disgorge my +property if I can, but I shall have a difficult legal fight on my +hands."</p> + +<p>Harper nodded understandingly. "I see, I see—covered himself cleverly. +I don't know the gentleman, but I'll be only too glad to do anything to +help you, Marvin." He took a turn about the room, while Marvin leaned +against the table. "I'll have the timber hauled away at once. I didn't +have it cut, myself, because—well, I've had a lot of trouble myself. +Had a strike at the mill, and—oh, hang it all! It's my wife, Marvin! +She's packed up in a hurry and left me!"</p> + +<p>He flung himself into the chair and stared ruefully, comically, at the +younger man, who, not knowing what to say, said nothing.</p> + +<p>"I didn't mind the strike so much, nor this timber mix-up!" Harper +rushed on, with the air of a man who must tell some one or explode. "It +was my wife, young man! It's her being so unreasonable that makes me +sore. I bought her a present when I was East and had it shipped to the +office. It happened to arrive about the time Mrs. Harper was to come to +the office in the machine to take me home, and she walked in just as I +was showing it to my stenographer. Of course my wife thought I bought it +for Miss Robbins, and—well, what's the use of talking about it?"</p> + +<p>With a gesture of dismissal for the subject, he stood up and took out a +wallet.</p> + +<p>"How much do I owe you?" he asked. "I figured it would cost about eight +hundred dollars to do that job out there—"</p> + +<p>Marvin put up a deprecatory hand. "I can't take it now, Mr. Harper," he +interrupted. "You haven't got that timber yet, and—"</p> + +<p>"The railroad will have some job on its hands to get it away from me!" +said Harper. "And unless they do I owe you eight hundred dollars—do you +understand?"</p> + +<p>A faint noise outside broke into their conversation. With a warning +gesture, Marvin tiptoed to the door and put his ear against it. Harper, +thinking that it might be a railroad employee who had come to eavesdrop +in order to report their plans, stood with his jaw set, his hand on the +revolver at his belt. With a quick movement Marvin jerked open the door.</p> + +<p>Instead of a railroad employee, or the sheriff, it was only Lightnin' +Bill Jones who stood there, leaning idly against the doorframe, his +hands in his pockets. He ambled silently into the middle of the room, +his half-shut eyes blinking in the sudden light.</p> + +<p>"I guess I must 'a' been out there some time, come to think of it," he +remarked, meditatively, and addressing himself to the ceiling, quite as +if he were alone. Then he turned carelessly to Marvin.</p> + +<p>"I knocked, too—but I guess maybe you wasn't expectin' me."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>With a laugh, Marvin shut the door. "It's all right," he said, winking +at Harper. Smiling, he went up to Bill and swung him around to face him.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Lightnin'!" he exclaimed. "I'm mighty glad to see you. What do +you mean by staying away from me all this time? And you were so quiet +and mysterious outside there that we thought some one was spying on us!"</p> + +<p>"I was a spy once—with Buffalo Bill," said Lightnin', conversationally. +He stared interestedly at Harper. "Friend of yours, John?"</p> + +<p>"This is Lightnin' Bill Jones, Mr. Harper. This is the gentleman I sold +that timber to, Bill." The two men acknowledged the introduction.</p> + +<p>"Have you had any supper, Bill?" Marvin asked, resuming operations at +the stove. "If not, you'd better stop and have it with me."</p> + +<p>Bill shook his head with an air of importance. "No; can't stop. Got to +be home at the hotel at supper-time to see that everythin's goin' right. +What time is it now?"</p> + +<p>"Seven o'clock."</p> + +<p>Bill shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, meditated, and announced: +"Well, maybe they can get along without me. I got everythin' +sys-sys-matized."</p> + +<p>Marvin glanced at him quickly. "Bill, I'm afraid you've been having a +drink or two?"</p> + +<p>"Nope. Nope!" Bill repeated, with the debonair innocence of a +mischievous and prevaricating school-boy. "I was just sayin' good-by to +the boys out there." He signified with a jerk of his head that the +lumberjacks were responsible if he seemed in any way elated. "You see, +they're breakin' up camp—an' I didn't want to hurt their feelin's, as +they're all friends o' mine."</p> + +<p>Harper, who had resumed his seat in the chair, glanced at Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Does our friend Bill know—what we were talking about?"</p> + +<p>"Everything!" said Marvin, readily. "Rest easy, Mr. Harper—you'll never +find a better friend, nor a more trustworthy one, than Lightnin'. But, +surely, you have heard of his hotel, haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not."</p> + +<p>"Then I guess you're the only man what 'ain't!" said Bill, emphatically, +and gazing at the ceiling and thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was +the subject of the conversation.</p> + +<p>Rapidly Marvin sketched the conception and success of the Calivada +Hotel. "It was a real idea—"</p> + +<p>"It was my idea," put in Bill, conversationally.</p> + +<p>"It certainly was, Bill!" Marvin went on. "And the new hotel is a big +success! You see, the state line runs right through the middle of the +house—through the center of the lobby, in fact! There are two separate +desks, one on the California side and one on the Nevada side. Women +began to arrive, and they all wanted rooms on the Nevada side—and they +wanted them for six months!"</p> + +<p>Harper roared with laughter. "The Reno divorce brigade!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Bill fairly beamed at the attention his affairs were drawing. He sat +down on the corner of the table and grinned at Harper, while Marvin went +on:</p> + +<p>"Exactly! Everybody knows what a woman goes to Reno for, but at Bill's +hotel she can get a room on the Nevada side and still make her friends +believe that she is at a California resort!"</p> + +<p>Again Harper laughed. "A corking good business idea!" he said. "And so +it was your idea, Mr. Jones? I congratulate you! I suppose you have been +out West here a long time?"</p> + +<p>"Sure—came out in the gold excitement," replied Bill, calmly.</p> + +<p>Harper stole an amused glance at Marvin. "Why, the gold excitement was +away back in forty-nine!"</p> + +<p>"Well, they was still excited when I got here!" Bill gazed up at the +ceiling, his half-shut eyes hiding their twinkle.</p> + +<p>"It's too bad you didn't happen to be one of the lucky ones," Harper +consoled him, arising from his chair.</p> + +<p>"Lucky?" Bill scratched his head under his ragged slouch-hat. "Say, I +located more claims than any man what ever came out here! I been a civil +engineer."</p> + +<p>The table was not a sufficient throne for Bill, so he slipped down from +it and went close to Harper, peering up at him.</p> + +<p>"You ought to be a rich man, Mr. Jones!"</p> + +<p>"Always cheated out of my share." Bill shook his head sadly. "Crooked +partners was the reason."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you do anything to them?"</p> + +<p>"I shot some, put all the others in the penitentiary—all but one."</p> + +<p>"What happened to him?"</p> + +<p>"He died before I got him."</p> + +<p>"Died of fright, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so."</p> + +<p>Harper took his hat from the table, clapped Bill on the back, and said, +laughingly, "I think I'll get out before you tell me any more!"</p> + +<p>Marvin urged him to have a bite of supper, but Harper declined, +explaining, as he went to the door, that he had to be in Truckee in two +hours, and that it would take him fully that time to make it in his car. +Bill, anxious to retain his audience, added his entreaty to Marvin's. +That failing, he followed Harper to the door, searching for an excuse to +hinder his leaving.</p> + +<p>Harper paused at the door. "Well, Marvin," he said, "I'm going to send +the trucks down here to-morrow and start hauling. And you might as well +disappear from here for a while; then, if there's any kick, no one here +will know anything about it. I'll keep you posted. Are you sure you +don't want that eight hundred now?" He took out his wallet and again +tried to make Marvin take the money, but again Marvin refused.</p> + +<p>Bill had been listening to every word. Now he seemed to have hit on a +way to detain Harper and at the same time prove his own personal +importance. As Harper shook hands with Marvin, Bill took an envelop from +his pocket. Drawing a paper from it, he offered it to Harper.</p> + +<p>"If you want to get rid of some of that money," he remarked, easily, +"maybe you'd cash that check for me."</p> + +<p>Harper, examining it, saw that it was a government check. "Oh, a pension +check! So you were in the war?"</p> + +<p>"First man to enlist!"</p> + +<p>Smiling, Harper handed him the check to "indorse"—which happened to be +a new word on Bill.</p> + +<p>"Write your name on the back of it," said Harper.</p> + +<p>"I always do that," said Bill, as he complied. Then he held the check up +to the light, pointing to the signatures on its face. "See all them +names," he asked, "Secretary of the Treasury, and all of 'em?"</p> + +<p>Harper nodded wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Well, they ain't no good at all—not unless I sign it!" said Bill, +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>Harper laughed; handed Bill the money for the check, and, with a final +"Good-night!" hurried out of the door. Bill poked his head out, watching +him crank his machine and drive away in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>When the car was out of sight Bill turned back into the middle of the +room and stood watching Marvin, who had sat down and was eating his +delayed supper.</p> + +<p>"Better join me, Bill," Marvin again invited, and at the same time +noting a change in the old man's manner, now that they were alone.</p> + +<p>"No," Bill said; "I had mine with the boys outside, as I told you—but +I'll have a drink with you, John," he added, hesitatingly, knowing +Marvin's disapproval of his drinking.</p> + +<p>"I haven't anything in the house, Bill," said Marvin, as he went on +eating. "You know that."</p> + +<p>Bill edged slowly toward the table, his hand in the back pocket of his +baggy, slouchy trousers. "Yes, you have," he remarked, producing a +half-filled flask.</p> + +<p>"You mean you have," Marvin replied, trying not to smile. "And you've +had enough for to-night. Put it away, Bill, and promise me not to drink +any more to-night."</p> + +<p>"All right, John," said Bill, unconcernedly, and putting the flask back +in his pocket. "I promise—an' I 'ain't never broke a promise yet! I'll +keep this for—for emergencies. Say, Oscar told me the railroad had the +sheriff after you. You remember the last promise what I give you?"</p> + +<p>"What was that, Lightnin'?"</p> + +<p>"That if they goes to court, I'll come an' be a witness. I can swear +them trees was cut when you sold the property, an' I'll—"</p> + +<p>"No, Bill!" said Marvin, putting down his knife and fork and staring at +the old man, whose half-shut eyes had the suggestion of a flash in them. +"No; I couldn't let you swear to anything like that."</p> + +<p>"You can't help yourself—I got a right to swear to anythin' I want!" +There was an unexpected finality in Bill's usually drawling voice.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't got to prove when those trees were cut," said Marvin.</p> + +<p>"I know it," Bill responded; then, catching the smiling doubt in the +other's eyes, he added, "I was a lawyer once."</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you practise?" asked Marvin, inwardly chuckling.</p> + +<p>"Don't need no practice." And Bill resorted to his bag of tobacco and +papers, rolling himself a cigarette. By this time Marvin had finished +his meal.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Lightnin'," he said, as he cleared the table, "you seem to +have something on your mind. How are things going up at your place? +Anybody at home know that you are here?"</p> + +<p>"Not unless they're mind-readers."</p> + +<p>"I thought so. Well?"</p> + +<p>"It's a wonder you 'ain't come up to take a look yourself," Bill +countered. "You 'ain't even been up to—to see Millie," he added, +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Marvin flushed. "That's true, Bill," he said, slowly. "But I've been +mighty busy with this timber here, as you know; and, besides—well, +Millie seems to be a bit interested elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"That's just the trouble, I guess," said Bill, settling himself on the +corner of the table.</p> + +<p>Marvin looked at him quickly. "What do you mean, Bill?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>Lightnin' crossed his legs, took a final puff of his cigarette, and let +it drop from his fingers.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there ain't nothin' much to that, John!" he replied. "Nothin' to +worry about. But it's what lays back o' that."</p> + +<p>"For the Lord's sake stop talking in riddles, Lightnin'!" Marvin +exclaimed. "What lies back of what?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Bill, looking up shrewdly, "this here Thomas has shown his +hand—an' we gotter admit, John, that he plays a mighty smooth an' slick +game! He wants to buy our place, waterfall an' all."</p> + +<p>"So that's it!" Marvin knew that Thomas had been buying up property in +the section, and he knew from experience what sort of treatment the +sellers were likely to get. That old Bill and his family should now be +involved filled him with concern and anger.</p> + +<p>"But surely you're not going to sell, Bill!"</p> + +<p>Lightnin' looked up, then down. "The property belongs to mother, John; +an' this here Thomas person sure knows how to go after what he wants! +He made himself solid with mother an' Millie some time ago, as you know. +They think he's Santa Claus, or somethin'. Why, he's got mother an' +Millie all het up so's they don't know whether they're standin' on their +head or feet! Mother's kinder simple about some things, John—but Millie +oughter have more sense! He's been tellin' them that this here hotel +idea won't pay for long, an' that he's willin' to buy the place at once +for a good price. He tells 'em as how they can enjoy themselves an' live +comfortable on the proceeds—an' I can have a nice, easy old age! He +'ain't said much to me, o' course—I don't give him a chance to find me +around, much. But he's got the womenfolk all fed up, eatin' out o' his +yaller gloves, an' crazy to sell. An'—an' mother an' Millie is kinder +sore at me 'cause I ain't takin' much interest in the proposition. Say, +what was the name o' that feller what acted as agent for the railroad +an' bought your property from Thomas when he done you out of it?"</p> + +<p>"Hammond, Everett Hammond," said Marvin. "Go on, Bill—I'm listening!"</p> + +<p>"Hammond, eh? To—be—sure. Well, Mister Everett Hammond is up at the +hotel now, John, with Thomas—Hammond come up in a hurry, an' they got a +deed to the property all ready fer mother an' me to sign. Mother's crazy +to sign, but I ain't—not yet. An' it seems they gotter have my name on +it, to make sure."</p> + +<p>"What—you mean to say it has gone that far!" exclaimed Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Sure thing," said Bill, rolling another cigarette. "An' say, I happen +to think them two—Hammond an' Thomas—has been in cahoots fer some +time—got an idea they is actually partners."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"I was a detective once," said Bill, with a sudden return to his usual +manner, as he lighted the cigarette.</p> + +<p>Marvin made an impatient gesture. "Hang it! This is really too bad, +Bill! Look here, I'll see if I can do anything! I'm going to come up to +the hotel to-morrow as soon as I can get away from here! You're not +going to sign that deed, are you, Lightnin'?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Bill, slowly, a little nervously; "no—but mother an' +Millie is kinder hot on my trail fer to make me do it. Them two fellers +has sure got 'em goin', John! Well, I guess as they'll all be in bed by +the time I gets back now, so I'll be gettin' along. You'll be up +to-morrow, John?"</p> + +<p>"I'll come—don't worry, Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Better go now, Bill; +you've got a long walk ahead of you, you know."</p> + +<p>He dropped into his chair and reached thoughtfully for one of his +law-books. Bill opened the door; then turned back for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Studyin' them books?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Trying to," Marvin remarked, turning a page.</p> + +<p>"That's right—that's how I got <i>my</i> start!" said Bill, as he went out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>The following morning, rising at dawn, Mrs. Jones again tried to awaken +her husband to a full sense of his shortcomings anent his foolish +reluctance to sign the deed to the property. Bill, however, merely +turned on the pillow, gave her a brief smile, and dropped quickly into a +gentle snore. After several more attempts to awaken him and impress on +him the fact that his absence the day before had kept Thomas and Hammond +on a day longer when they had important business calling them to the +city, she gave up in despair and went below to look after breakfast, +taking with her the packet of letters that should have been in the hands +of the guests the afternoon previous.</p> + +<p>The morning was a busy one for Mrs. Jones and Millie. Bill, coming down +unexpectedly, escaped them, calling through the door, on his way out, +that he was going for the mail. When noon came and Bill did not turn up, +Mrs. Jones's anxiety reached fever pitch, and she sought Millie in the +hope that she could offer some solution of the problem of forcing the +deed through Bill's unwilling hands.</p> + +<p>At breakfast, Thomas and Hammond again had painted to her and Millie +golden pictures of the ease and even luxury that would be theirs as a +result of the sale of the property. Trembling with anticipation, Mrs. +Jones had then and there put her name to the deed which disposed of her +last bit of land; and she was determined that, no matter what it cost +her in seeming coldness and harshness toward him, Bill should be made to +place his name directly under hers. She made up her mind that he should +be brought to terms as soon as he got back; hence her extreme annoyance +as the morning went by without his showing up.</p> + +<p>As she went about the house, looking for Millie, her determination took +on a hard and bitter aspect which was only softened when she caught the +sound of Raymond Thomas's voice. He was speaking softly to Millie in the +lobby. Mrs. Jones belonged to a generation not so long past when +eavesdropping was not considered a wholly unworthy occupation if it +tended to place the culprit in a position to know the inner secrets of +those bound by the tie of relationship. For some time, so cleverly did +he manage her, Mrs. Jones had felt a motherly tenderness for Thomas +springing up within her, and she hoped and dreamed that her affection +would have a chance to express itself. That Thomas was in love with +Millie she had fully decided on. It was for this reason that the very +sight of John Marvin, whom she knew to be a poor young man with no +particular prospects, filled her with displeasure. Then, too, she did +not approve of her husband's friendship with Marvin, having a strong +suspicion that Marvin was influencing Bill against Thomas, and an +intuition that Bill, in his unworldliness, would stand back of Marvin's +love for Millie.</p> + +<p>And so it was that the sight of Millie smiling up at Thomas as he looked +earnestly down into the girl's brown eyes set Mrs. Jones's heart beating +hopefully—and sent her behind a curtain to listen to what was being +said.</p> + +<p>Thomas had just come in from the veranda, where he had begged to be +excused from accompanying two prospective widows on a walk to see the +waterfall at the edge of the place. He was smiling with affected +indifference when he met Mildred, who had just come down one of the +stairways, of which there were two, one leading to the Nevada side of +the house and the other to the California side. "It's a shame to miss a +stroll with them!" belying his words with a sneering toss of the head +and shrug of the shoulders.</p> + +<p>Millie's brow was drawn thoughtfully into wrinkles and there was a +wistful pucker to her mouth.</p> + +<p>At once he was all attention. "What is the matter, Millie?" he asked, a +note bordering on tenderness in his voice.</p> + +<p>"It's daddy again. He did not get back until midnight, and he was off +again this morning before mother or I could prevent him. I just heard +the boarders complaining about the mail service. It's all so hard on +mother, and yet"—she hesitated, her mind reverting to her +foster-father's kindness to her through all the years of her babyhood +and girlhood—"and yet," she went on, "he's really so good and kind at +heart, he really would feel dreadfully if he understood what he puts us +through." She stood by the newel-post, her eyes pleading for advice.</p> + +<p>Thomas took her hand and looked at it thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>For a moment Millie let it lie in his; then her lids dropped and she +blushed, withdrawing her hand and walking slowly toward one of the +desks, of which there were also two, one on each side of the hall.</p> + +<p>Thomas followed her, bending down and looking into her face. "I would +not let his absence bother you. I'm going up-stairs to pack my grips. As +soon as I finish I'll go after him," he said, soothingly, as, one hand +in pocket, he let the other flip a pack of cards on the table.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you've been too kind already," Millie protested, again meeting his +eyes and turning away, her lips quivering.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm not so kind as you think!" He laughed, an honest humor rising +to infrequent expression. "I've got to see Lightnin' myself before I go. +He hasn't signed the deed yet, and—"</p> + +<p>"I really can't see what he's got to do with it!" Millie interrupted. +"The place is mother's. Oh, well"—she sighed and shook her head in +despair—"I suppose to be safe his signature must be obtained. I do hope +he'll turn up before you leave. It's too bad—"</p> + +<p>"Well, if he doesn't, maybe you and Mrs. Jones can make him see the +light. I'll leave the papers with you, and when he signs them you can +send for me and I'll be up and—"</p> + +<p>"You don't know how much I appreciate all you've done for us. Now don't +say it's nothing." Millie turned and put her hand on his arm, her eyes +resting intently on his.</p> + +<p>He bent over her for a minute, then straightened up as he heard a slight +movement in the portière, a gleam of wisdom illuminating his face. He +smiled with a nonchalant disregard of his former intention and backed +away from the girl.</p> + +<p>Millie's color mounted her forehead. Shyly she withdrew her hand from +his arm and fumbled with the bunch of keys about her neck. After an +awkward silence she continued:</p> + +<p>"You've been so good to us. When mother and I've been in such distress +that we did not know where to turn and mother was nearly frantic, you +come forward and in no time arrange everything so that mother and daddy +are going to be better off than they ever dreamed of. For years, you +know, mother and I have worried about her and daddy's old age. Piece by +piece we've sold the land and the timber. Even if this place does pay it +will only be running expenses, with nothing saved up, as you said. And +then the Nevada divorce laws might change. Oh! You've been so kind," she +breathed, in deep sincerity.</p> + +<p>"Now don't make me ashamed," Thomas coaxed in his soothing way, backing +slowly toward the stairs on the California side. "What I've done is just +the simplest thing in the world. I grew to be very fond of you when you +were in my office, Millie, and I'm glad to be of what service I can."</p> + +<p>As he was half-way up the stairs, Mrs. Jones emerged from behind the +portière. He stopped and bent in a nattering bow, a twinkle in his eye. +"Why, good morning, Mrs. Jones!" he called down.</p> + +<p>"Oh, excuse me!" Mrs. Jones, a guilty conscience bringing his courtly +sarcasm, which would otherwise have escaped her gullible nature, into +notice, stepped back, turning to the kitchen, whence she had come when +she stopped to listen. But Millie followed her, and, with arm around her +waist, drew her into the room and seated her near the table.</p> + +<p>"You're not going into that hot kitchen again to-day," remonstrated +Millie, planting a daughterly kiss on her cheek. "You've been out there +working like a slave for three mortal hours."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones hid her hands awkwardly under her apron and reddened as she +glanced up at Thomas, who had come back from above-stairs.</p> + +<p>"I don't look presentable," she murmured, fidgeting in the chair.</p> + +<p>"Come now, you mustn't mind me," said Thomas, Millie adding her word to +his: "Please stay there just for a few minutes, mother. You look ready +to drop."</p> + +<p>"She's always tellin' me that." Mrs. Jones showed her pleasure in +Millie's concern by beaming knowingly from one to the other, an act +which sent Millie to the desk, where she pretended to look at the +register.</p> + +<p>Thomas smiled. "Millie's right," he responded. "You do work a great deal +too hard; but it won't be long now before you can say good-by to hard +work for the rest of your life."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Thomas!" Mrs. Jones arose, forgetting the red, hardened hands +she had been endeavoring to hide behind the blue and white checked +apron, and hastened to Thomas, holding them toward him in a gesture half +of gratitude, half of pleading. "I can scarcely realize that all this is +going to come true and we owe it all to you. I only wish I could tell +you how grateful I am."</p> + +<p>Thomas was quite determined to escape further enthusiasm, either on +Millie's or on Mrs. Jones's part. His game nearly played, he wished to +withdraw gracefully and without detriment to a certain lurking decency +which had not quite been swept away. Thwarting Mrs. Jones's attempt to +wring his hand in gratitude, he took two light bounds up the stairs, +stopping to laugh back: "Well, I'm going to get out for fear you'll +spoil me with a thankfulness I don't deserve. Hang on to her, Millie." +He directed a gleam toward the young girl as she went up to her mother. +"Make her take a rest."</p> + +<p>"Oh dear! Do you think I've driven him away?" There was genuine concern +in Mrs. Jones's voice as she sank back into the chair and gazed +anxiously after Thomas.</p> + +<p>"No, you haven't." Millie smoothed the brown hair which was fast +streaking with gray from her brow, damp with excitement. "He is going +up-stairs to pack. He's arranged everything about selling the place, and +there's nothing more for him to stay—"</p> + +<p>"You're here, ain't you?" Mrs. Jones folded her arms stiffly across her +chest and assumed a rigid position in her chair as she questioned Millie +with eyes suddenly grown fierce with the look of an angry hen when she +thinks her brood has been disturbed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother!" The girl pursed her lips into a pouting smile as she +leaned over the back of the chair, an affectionate arm on Mrs. Jones's +shoulder. "Please get that foolish idea out of your head. You know—"</p> + +<p>"Know nothin'." Mrs. Jones's head jerked vehemently while she insisted: +"Every letter you wrote home all the time you was workin' in his office +showed that he cared for you."</p> + +<p>"I never wrote anything of the sort!" Millie drew a surprised breath as +her mouth was drawn into a tiny O of expostulation. "Never!" she +reiterated, with a slight stamp of her foot, as she went to the +California desk and became absorbed in the register.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I could read between the lines! I ain't that stupid. If he isn't +in love with you, why is he plannin' for us to come and live in San +Francisco? Oh, won't it be grand!" Mrs. Jones, carried away by the +recollection of a long-ago visit to the city, and by a dream of what a +permanent life there would be, resumed her own hearty enthusiasm. "I +want to live in the city real bad, but I'm just skeered to death I won't +know how to dress. I want to get a lot o' pretty things 'n' be like the +women I saw when I was at the Palace. Do ye think Bill 'll think I'm +getting crazy?"</p> + +<p>An indulgent smile from Millie met her uneasy but smiling gaze, and she +went on: "I know I've talked about the city ever since I can remember, +but now that it's in sight I'm awful afraid I'll be out o' place."</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll not," answered Millie, going behind the counter to look at +the letter-rack, almost empty. "I'm going to see that you have just as +nice things as any of the women stopping here."</p> + +<p>There was a silence as both of the women smiled in contented +anticipation. Mrs. Jones was the first to speak, a sudden doubt +expressing itself in an anxious frown and a narrowing of the eyes. "But +there's Bill," she said, with a start. "I'm so afraid of the way he'll +act!"</p> + +<p>"Daddy 'll be all right, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones composed herself and began planning. "When his pension comes, +you must take him to town and buy him some new clothes. Them others we +got before didn't fit a bit good."</p> + +<p>Millie turned quickly at the mention of her father's pension, +remembering that it was time for it to arrive. She reminded her mother +of this fact.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones's gaiety had brief life after Millie's remark. "He ain't back +with the mail! I'll bet—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother!" Millie, deeply concerned, came from behind the desk and +went up to the older woman, questioning, "You don't suppose his pension +has come?"</p> + +<p>"I think it's gone!" Mrs. Jones bowed emphatically in a rising voice and +hurried to the desk on the Nevada side, where she took a cursory but +none the less exhaustive look at the mail indexes. "I found him hanging +around this desk this morning, and when I come in he beat it, sayin', +before I could stop him, that he was goin' after the mail. I wonder—" +She stopped and gave a deep groan of acquiescence. "Huh! Huh!" She had +opened up the top of the desk to find a half-filled flask. "There!" she +exclaimed, holding it to the light. "He was waiting for a chance to get +this when I shooed him away!"</p> + +<p>Millie put her arm around her and drew her into the middle of the room, +trying to soothe her. "Anyway, don't let's blame him for anything until +we're sure. He may come home perfectly all right. You know he loves the +woods and the lake and the autumn coloring which is so wonderful now. He +always lingers like this. Please go up-stairs and have a good rest." +Millie tried to lead her mother toward the stairs, but Mrs. Jones gently +shook the girl's arm from about her waist and went toward the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" Millie asked, standing still, a puzzled frown +giving place to an understanding laugh as Mrs. Jones hesitated and +looked at the floor, answering in a manner half ashamed: "Why—well—I +thought—" she stammered, "he might come home soon, an' he's used to +findin' somethin' good kept warm—though he don't deserve it!"</p> + +<p>She hesitated, her kindly, better nature shining in her eyes, battling +for expression. "Yes—please set a place for him, Millie!" And Mrs. +Jones hastily disappeared into the kitchen to avoid the girl's rippling +laugh of gentle amusement. Smiling to herself, Millie crossed the lobby +and went into the dining-room.</p> + +<p>The moment she had left the lobby the street door of the hotel was +pushed open cautiously and an inquiring head thrust itself in. The head +was that of Bill Jones. Evidently satisfied that the coast was clear, +Bill came slowly into the lobby. Looking warily up at the stairs on +either side, and toward the dining-room and kitchen doors, he eased +himself softly over to the Nevada desk, raised the top and fumbled +expectantly inside.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>As Bill reached the desk and lifted the top, another gray-haired old +man, possibly the same age as Lightnin', though larger and huskier in +build, stole in through the street door and stood there doubtfully, +puffing a cigar. He looked about fearfully, evidently ready to decamp at +an instant's notice; but his glance, traveling back to the figure at the +desk, bespoke a childlike trustfulness in Bill Jones. This gentleman's +clothes were as disreputable as might be, as was his battered +slouch-hat. His face was very red and very unshaven, and his expression +was a comical mixture of uncertainty as to his welcome on the premises +and maudlin kindliness toward the world at large. He rejoiced in the +name of "Zeb," and was a down-and-out prospector, a relic of the past. +His only reason for existence these days seemed to be that he was a +crony and devout satellite of Bill's—to the great aggravation of Mrs. +Jones. There was a legend in the district that Zeb and Bill had spent +many years together in the old days, up and down the trails. There +seemed to be considerable truth in the story. Anyway, no efforts of Mrs. +Jones's or of anybody else's could make Bill forget his pal. Zeb was +always sure of a meal, or a drink and a cigar, provided Lightnin' could +find a way of producing those necessities of a broken-down prospector's +life.</p> + +<p>Bill felt around in the desk for a minute, while Zeb watched, fearfully, +hopefully; then Lightnin' turned around, disappointment in his face. But +before he could break the sad news regarding the strange disappearance +of a half-filled flask, Zeb held up a warning finger and began to back +through the door. His ear, ever keen for the swish of Mrs. Jones's +skirts, reported danger.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Zeb?" Bill asked. "Aw, come back. What ye 'fraid +of?" With a disgusted motion he beckoned Zeb into the room again.</p> + +<p>But Zeb, answering the warning that had never failed him, stayed close +to the door, whispering back to Bill, "Where's your old woman?"</p> + +<p>"That's all right. Come on in. She ain't here now." Bill, determined in +his search, lifted the lid a second time and began to take out the +contents of the drawer.</p> + +<p>Zeb, taking heart, tiptoed up to him and, looking over his shoulder, +murmured, contemptuously, "I don't believe you've got a drop."</p> + +<p>"I'll show ye!" Looking intently under the lid, Bill's voice was half +smothered. It stopped short when the kitchen door flew open and Mrs. +Jones burst with emphatic and quick tread into the room.</p> + +<p>She did not pay heed to Bill at once. Zeb received the full force of her +mood. "Clear out now!" she called, in no gentle tone, as she swept up to +him—an unnecessary action, as Zeb, catching one glance of the irate +woman, made double-quick time in getting out of the door and down the +steps of the veranda.</p> + +<p>Zeb disposed of, Mrs. Jones turned her attention to her errant husband. +Both arms akimbo, she stood still in the middle of the floor and +concentrated her glare upon him.</p> + +<p>"Bill Jones," she asked, in a loud, rasping tone, "where have you been?"</p> + +<p>Bill had put down the lid at the first hint of her entrance. While she +was addressing Zeb he had quietly slipped behind the desk and busied +himself with the mail which he had drawn from the back pocket of his +trousers. Whistling softly to himself, he sorted the letters, placing +them in their proper pigeonholes.</p> + +<p>He did not answer Mrs. Jones at once, but went on whistling. After a +second in which he decided that a soft answer might draw the sting from +her wrath, he stood still and, without looking around, said, gently, +"Hello, mother." Without waiting for a reply, he went on sorting the +mail.</p> + +<p>The fire in Mrs. Jones's eye flamed brighter. Nothing exasperated her as +did Bill's refusal to take her tempers seriously. It was not easy to do +all of the fighting—one reason why Bill usually succeeded in carrying +his idleness with a high hand. But this time she was not going to be +ignored. The conference with Hammond and Thomas, the knowledge that he +had been looking for his flask—that he was looking for it more for +Zeb's sake than his own, this time, made no difference—as well as +complaints by the guests because of Bill's tardiness with the mail, had +exhausted her patience and whetted her into bringing Bill to quick +order.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what time it is?" She took a step closer to Bill, her +voice retaining its hard ring.</p> + +<p>Bill paid no attention to the question, but went on whistling and +sorting the mail.</p> + +<p>"It's after two o'clock!" She stamped her foot and glared at him.</p> + +<p>Her glare fell on unseeing eyes, her tones on unheeding ears, for the +uneven tenor of Bill's whistle kept up and the spasmodic sorting of the +mail went on.</p> + +<p>"Let's see," he said, softly, to himself, "Mrs. Taft's letter—she's in +Number Four, ain't she?" he addressed his wife. Receiving no answer +himself this time, he kept on with his soliloquy, changing the letter to +its proper place. "There! that's right. This one," he said, holding the +envelop to the light and studying it, "is for Mr. Thomas." He hesitated +and looked at it more closely. Placing the other letters on the desk, he +came from behind it and went toward Mrs. Jones.</p> + +<p>Noting that Mrs. Jones was interested in the letter and that she had +made a quick move toward him, he changed his mind and sauntered to the +other side of the room, still scrutinizing the letter in his hand. As he +paused, he placed the envelop close to his eyes and read, "Raymond +Thomas Es-<i>Q.</i>"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones, her arms folded across her adamant breast, narrowed her eyes +into a quizzical stare. Satisfied that her estimate of Bill's condition +was correct, she hastened to verify it. Going close to him, she +demanded, "Bill, have you been drinkin'?"</p> + +<p>For once in his life Bill could prove his innocence. He was quick to +avail himself of the opportunity, and, much to her surprise, he turned +and blew his blameless breath at her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones relaxed, exclaiming, in tones of relief, "Thank the Lord!"</p> + +<p>"What's He got to do with it?" Bill asked, quickly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones smiled. For the time being her manner was mollified. She +followed him to the desk behind which he had returned to the mail-rack. +"You know," she explained, "it's 'way past dinner-time, and if you won't +work, the least you can do is to be on time for your meals."</p> + +<p>"I been workin'," Bill chirped, as he placed the last letter in its box +and went toward the dining-room door.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones placed herself in the middle of the room and in such a way +that Bill could not reach his goal without passing her. "What work have +you been doin'?" The sarcasm in the glance which pierced Bill's shifting +gaze did not pierce his good humor. He continued to chirp. "I got the +mail."</p> + +<p>"The mail?" There was contempt in his wife's question and in the answer +she gave to it. "The mail came at ten o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I got it, didn't I?" Bill registered another cheerful quip.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Mrs. Jones's mind recurred to the day of the month. Her +contempt gave place to anxiety and she stepped close to her husband and +looked into his face again. "Bill, was there a letter for you?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>Bill did not answer her with words. Instead he looked away from her and +shook his head slowly.</p> + +<p>"Bill Jones," his wife persisted, her tones reverting to their former +clear coldness, "didn't your pension come to-day?"</p> + +<p>"To-day?" Bill smiled a self-congratulatory smile for the word which +gave him the loophole of escape. Had his wife omitted that one word he +would have, for his honor's sake, been forced to admit that he had it. +For it was a part of his peculiar code that under no circumstances was +"mother" ever to be lied to. Prevarications, yes, but downright, +indisputable lies, no. And that with vigorous emphasis. But now she had +mentioned the day. The pension had not come to-day. It had reposed in +his pocket since yesterday, where, true to his promise to John Marvin, +it should remain until he had made up his mind to hand it over to his +family. So he felt the coins in his pocket and looked up at her with a +half-guilty grin, drawing out his words one by one, in halting tones. +"Not—to—day."</p> + +<p>"Well, when it does come," she said, pleasantly, "Millie's going to go +to Truckee with you and buy you some clothes. You gotta have some new +ones for when we goes to the city."</p> + +<p>It was on the tip of Bill's tongue to reaffirm, as he had countless +times, that he was never going to the city as long as he lived; but he +had begun to realize in the last few days that tact must enter into his +negotiations with his dissatisfied spouse. So he responded, mildly, "I +got clothes enough."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones made an impatient gesture and tossed her head in dismay. "I +don't know what's got into you, Bill Jones. When you came courtin' me +you had good clothes."</p> + +<p>"This is the same suit." Bill's jest might have brought further nagging +upon his shoulders, but Millie's entrance from the dining-room turned +Mrs. Jones's attention to her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy, you're back!" Millie went quickly to her foster-father and +attempted to put her arms about his neck.</p> + +<p>He drew away from her, asking, quickly, "What of it?"</p> + +<p>"Are you all right?" Her tones were anxious and her gaze not less so. +Whereupon Bill proved his sobriety just as he had proved it to her +mother.</p> + +<p>"Now are you satisfied?" he asked, as she smiled at him.</p> + +<p>Kissing him, Millie reminded him gently that it was past dinner-time and +that he had better go into the dining-room, where something hot awaited +him.</p> + +<p>"Please come now, daddy," she added. "The girls want to get their work +done."</p> + +<p>Bill hesitated. He glanced surreptitiously over at the Nevada desk, +where, to the best of his knowledge, he had deposited a half-filled +flask the night previous. His wife's eye, however, was on him. Suddenly +she stepped up to him and took him firmly by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Bill Jones," she said, "you're comin' right inside now an' eat! +Whatever else is on your mind can wait—an' it might be a waste o' time, +anyway!"</p> + +<p>Finding himself propelled toward the dining-room, Lightnin' cast an +appealing, whimsical glance at Millie, but she covertly shook her head +to indicate that even she could not gainsay Mrs. Jones just then.</p> + +<p>Left alone, Millie busied herself at the desk with some accounts which +she wanted to finish before the arrival of a fresh contingent of guests, +due that afternoon. She put down her pencil after a few minutes of work, +however, and leaned her elbows on the desk, her chin in her hands +thoughtfully. She had a well-defined suspicion as to where Lightnin' had +been the night previous, and—well, Millie was curious about it.</p> + +<p>Her reflections were interrupted by the entrance of Lemuel Townsend. +There was an air of importance about him. He was frock-coated and +altogether spick and span.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Millie!" he said, walking up to the desk and shaking hands with +her. "I've been trying to get around here all week, but I'm mighty +pressed for time these days, you know! How is everything? You're all +filled up, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Nevada is full," Millie answered, smiling; "it always is, but the +California side is often empty. Oh, it's great fun—I call it the Hotel +Lopside! Sometimes I'm sorry that we're giving it up."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Then you've really decided to put through the idea of selling the +place!"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Mother made up her mind this morning, and I more than approve it, +all things considered. Daddy hasn't—hasn't quite agreed, though, but +it's for his own good. I don't quite understand daddy's objections. I +wanted to talk to him this morning about it, but I didn't get a chance. +There's been something mysterious in his manner lately."</p> + +<p>"Something mysterious—about Lightnin'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Millie, thoughtfully. "Mother hasn't noticed it, of course, +being so busy and worried—and outwardly daddy is his usual easy-going, +amiable self. But I have a feeling that he has—or thinks he +has—something up his sleeve. Daddy can't hide things from me, you know! +Another thing, he doesn't seem to like Mr. Thomas at all—is downright +rude to him at times. I can't understand it, for it isn't like daddy!"</p> + +<p>Townsend frowned in a puzzled way. "Perhaps you're taking some of dear +old Lightnin's notions too seriously, Millie," he remarked. "Though I +must say that I have a great deal of faith in Bill. I've been a little +out of touch with the situation lately," he went on, judicially, "but +from what you and mother have told me about the proposed sale, and from +the one or two talks I have had with Mr. Thomas, I am inclined to agree +with you and mother that this sale is an excellent idea. So far as I can +judge, it is a sound investment and all for the best."</p> + +<p>"Of course it is!" said Millie. "But now—how about yourself? How is the +campaign going, Mr. Townsend?"</p> + +<p>"Splendidly! But it's rather trying, as I have to do most of the +campaigning myself—even the odd jobs!"</p> + +<p>He looked down at a bundle of large, printed placards which he carried +under his arm. Withdrawing one, he held it up for her inspection. Millie +read, "Vote for Lemuel Townsend for Superior Judge of the Second +Judicial District."</p> + +<p>"Would you mind if I tacked up some of these in the lobby?" he asked, +joining in her laugh.</p> + +<p>"Not at all!" Millie exclaimed. "I've a hammer and tacks right here in +the desk. Let me help you—and I do so hope you'll win!"</p> + +<p>Chatting, they proceeded to embellish the lobby with Lem Townsend's name +and ambition. Their operations were brought to a pause by the arrival of +the expected new guests.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>As the motor-stage drew up to the door, Millie ran out on the veranda to +deliver a few commissions to the driver to execute when he got back to +town. She noted that Sheriff Blodgett was a passenger, and that he +jumped down and preceded the guests into the lobby.</p> + +<p>The first of the new arrivals to step out of the stage and enter the +hotel was a chic little woman of about twenty-four, with big brown eyes +and auburn hair, dressed in a bright blue outing-flannel coat and skirt +and a tiny red hat from which hung a heavy veil. It was obvious that she +was suffering from great embarrassment, as she walked quickly about the +lobby, going from one register to the other, while a maid followed her +with an armful of bundles. The woman looked helplessly from wall to wall +and desk to desk. The presence of Blodgett and Townsend seemed to add to +her embarrassment, a condition still further aggravated by the +appearance of a third man, Everett Hammond, who chanced to come +strolling down from up-stairs at the moment. She fluttered up to Millie +as the girl came in from the veranda.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to register?" Millie asked.</p> + +<p>"How do you do," was the reply, uttered in a timid treble. "I am Mrs. +Harper. I understand—" Her head turned from side to side as she +hesitated. She clasped her hands and gazed pleadingly at Millie. "I've +been told—" Again she hesitated nervously, tears in her eyes. She +noticed Blodgett and Hammond gazing at her. In desperation, her blushes +showing under the heavy veil, she whispered, quaveringly, "Could I speak +to you privately?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Millie, hiding her amusement. "Just step into this +room," and she led the little woman away.</p> + +<p>As they left the room, followed by the faithful maid, another guest +entered, an attractive woman of thirty. She was highly colored as to +hair and complexion, and she had about her an air far removed from the +chic, haughty member of the millionaire divorce colony that centered +about the Reno hotels. In type she was not unlike Mrs. Harper, except +that she did not show any special evidence of timidity. On the contrary, +she seemed perfectly at home. But she came in with the aid of a crutch +and leaning on the arm of the stage-driver. Her eyes took a calm +inventory of the lobby—including Townsend, on whom she smiled +coquettishly as she sighed with relief and sank into a chair.</p> + +<p>Townsend was leaning against the California desk, and he had been +watching Blodgett and Hammond, who, conversing in low tones, had +strolled out to the veranda. He was surprised to note that the pair had +met before and seemed to know each other quite well. His attention, +however, was now drawn to the attractive new guest. Her smile was not +without effect. She turned to the driver.</p> + +<p>"I'm all right now, thank you," she drawled, though her voice was soft +and pleasant. "Just drop my bag here." Fumbling in her purse for change +that did not seem to be there, she directed a glance toward Townsend and +smiled again. "Will you change five dollars for me?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Townsend drew out his wallet and examined its contents, but put it back +again disappointedly. "I'm afraid I can't," he said, with obvious +regret.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said the attractive woman, with a frown, "pay the driver, +please."</p> + +<p>Townsend gave a slight start of chagrin, feeling that his standing as a +candidate for a judgeship was suffering by her lack of discernment. +Then, as the truth of the situation dawned on him, he suppressed a +chuckle. Without a word, he handed some change to the driver.</p> + +<p>"Charge it to my account," she ordered, settling herself comfortably in +the chair, extending one foot which was bound in a heavy bandage about +the ankle and clad in a soft slipper.</p> + +<p>Townsend, still smiling, began: "Well—er—"</p> + +<p>"I'm Mrs. Davis," she interrupted, ignoring his embarrassment. "Mrs. +Margaret Davis." She turned her wide blue eyes full upon him as she +switched in her chair, the movement bringing a twinge of pain to her +face.</p> + +<p>Townsend left the desk and came toward her. "I'm very glad to meet you." +He extended an affable hand. "I'm Lemuel Townsend, and I—"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davis did not offer him her hand at once, but gave him an +inquisitive glance. "Will you show me to my room?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know where it is," he said, laughing. By this time his ruffled +dignity was assuaged by the twinkle in Mrs. Davis's eye and the deep +dimple in her chin.</p> + +<p>"Why, weren't you expecting me?" she asked, in astonishment, her mind as +yet refusing to grasp the situation.</p> + +<p>"No, I wasn't." He was bending over her, a courtly flattery in his gaze.</p> + +<p>"But I wrote you!" She turned clear about on her chair, forgetting for +the moment the pain in her foot, her eyes and mouth wide open with +surprise at the thought that she could be thus forgotten.</p> + +<p>"No, you didn't write me. You see, I'm only a guest, just as you are."</p> + +<p>Here they both laughed, while Townsend placed a chair close to hers and +sat down beside her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davis prolonged her giggle and bent her head, her eyes seeking his +under her heavily beaded lashes. "And I said—Oh!" She put her two hands +to her mouth and sidled, "I took you for the clerk."</p> + +<p>He nodded indulgently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, and I made you pay the driver! I couldn't allow that. Just as soon +as somebody comes I'll return it. I hope you'll forgive me." By this +time her manner was as friendly as Townsend's feminine-loving soul could +wish. She sidled her chair a little closer to his, still holding him +with her eyes, wide as the innocent stare of a baby.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it happened," said Townsend.</p> + +<p>"Will you allow me to introduce myself properly?"</p> + +<p>She nodded, and he got up and went to the desk, returning with one of +his campaign cards and handing it to her. "Permit me," he said, "my +card." As she took it from him he explained, "I'm candidate for judge at +the next election."</p> + +<p>Immediately Mrs. Davis's interest was aroused to fever pitch. With a +knowing look she leaned forward, placing a hand on his arm, while she +slowly and attentively dwelt upon the words on the card. "Oh, really?" +she drawled. "Where will you be judge?"</p> + +<p>"If I'm elected—in Reno."</p> + +<p>"Will you try divorce cases?" the question was snapped out.</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm awfully glad to meet you!" she gushed, shaking his arm.</p> + +<p>"The pleasure is mutual, believe me," he responded, placing his hand on +top of hers. As she withdrew hers with a giggle, he went on, unabashed, +"Do you intend remaining here long?"</p> + +<p>"I'm in for six months." She sighed like a hurt baby.</p> + +<p>He was all sympathy as he leaned toward her and apologized: "Oh, I'm +very sorry for you, Mrs. Davis—If—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my case doesn't call for sympathy. Congratulations! +Congratulations!" she emphasized with a long-drawn-out inflection.</p> + +<p>"Oh!!!" he shook his head wisely, adding, laughingly, "It's that way?"</p> + +<p>A twinge from the invalid ankle concentrated Mrs. Davis's full attention +as she lifted her foot, adjusting it against the crutch, thinking to +stop the pain. When it had subsided she smiled up at Townsend again, +pointed to it and said, with an ingénue turn of the head, "I'd probably +never have been able to get a divorce if it had not been for this."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean that your husband was brute enough to—" Townsend was +shocked at the thought, but was not allowed to deliver himself of his +full sympathy. Mrs. Davis was just getting into the lines of her part +and she was quick to catch her cues.</p> + +<p>"Oh, heavens, no!" she broke in upon his condolences. "This was an +accident. It's a sprain, and it is quite serious, as I'm a dancer." She +beamed up at him and wriggled in the chair, continuing her explanation. +"It's probably all for the best. Of course it'll break into my +engagements. I'm in vaudeville, you know. I've wanted a divorce for +years, but I'm always booked solid and I never stay in one place long +enough to get one. When this happened I saw my chance to get a good long +rest, and my freedom in the bargain." Her eyes begged his for +understanding and received it.</p> + +<p>While she had been talking Townsend had been drinking in every word she +said. Her variety of attractiveness was a new one to him. It appealed to +his small-town idea of being a gay blade. He had often cast longing eyes +at the Eastern wives sojourning in Reno for the six months necessary to +establish a residence and therefore their right to a quick freedom which +brought with it no restrictions in the matter of remarrying. The +majority of these prospective divorcées were of a larger world and +reckoned in figures of which Lemuel Townsend did not know the simplest +rules. The only notice he had received for his ambitions being a smile +to his face and a snicker at his back. But here was some one who not +only was taking notice of him, but was actually meeting his advances +half-way. Besides, she was pretty, and he could never withstand a pretty +woman. As she finished the first lap of her story he exclaimed, "That +certainly is a scheme!"</p> + +<p>"It's nice of you to listen to it all," she murmured, apologetically, +moving her idle crutch up and down as if writing her mood in invisible +letters on the floor.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you told it to me. Do you know—" and he sidled in his chair, +while a sugar-laden approval beamed at her in a steady flow from over +the top of his glasses, "from the minute I saw you enter the door I was +worried about you—I was afraid—Well, it was a great relief to find +that you had two good—" he halted in hopeless confusion, as his eyes +sought her ankle. He took his handkerchief from his pocket and blew his +nose furiously, hoping to hide the real reason for a blush that seemed +to have come to stay, having settled in a deep crimson even from the +nape of his neck to the top of a head whose sparse hair refused to hide +his embarrassment.</p> + +<p>But Margaret Davis, seeing no reason for shyness, just smiled graciously +upon him and hastened to standardize her reputation. "Any one who has +seen me dance can inform you about—well—about—<i>them</i>," she said +seriously, adding by way of flavor to her remark another languishing +droop of her eyelids. There was a moment of coy silence for the two of +them. Then Mrs. Davis asked, "Are you stopping here for pleasure or are +you doing time?"</p> + +<p>"I'm a bachelor."</p> + +<p>"How nice!" she replied, in honeyed accents, as she leaned toward him +and put a soft hand on his arm. Undoubtedly in Lem Townsend she saw the +possibility of an easy divorce trial. Besides, Townsend was by no means +without personal attractions. Mrs. Davis gazed at him, her languishing +smile concealing the feminine appraisal in her eyes. She decided to +cultivate the possibility, and was about to say something in furtherance +of her object when she was startled by a gentle voice coming from +directly behind her and inquiring, pleasantly, "Rheumatism?"</p> + +<p>Bill Jones had entered the lobby unobserved by the pair and was leaning +over the desk idly, looking at his new guest with kindly interest. +Townsend introduced Bill, and Mrs. Davis, with Lem's assistance, rose +and took up a pen.</p> + +<p>"No," she said; "I have not acquired rheumatism as yet, Mr. Jones. I'll +register—you're reserving a room for me."</p> + +<p>"How long you here for?" Bill asked.</p> + +<p>"The usual," she sighed, and rolled her eyes toward Townsend.</p> + +<p>"Eh?" Bill grinned and walked slowly from behind the desk.</p> + +<p>"Six months," she drawled, wearily.</p> + +<p>Politely staying her hand and taking the pen from her, Bill pointed to +the other desk. "This is the six months' side—over here," he said, +sauntering to the back of the Nevada desk.</p> + +<p>When the lady was at last settled in her room, and Townsend had +left—having made an arrangement to dine with Mrs. Davis that +evening—Bill found himself strangely alone for the moment. Instantly he +seized on the opportunity to make a thorough investigation into the +mysterious disappearance of a half-filled flask. After turning the +Nevada desk inside out, at last he was convinced that the disappearance +was a fact and not a matter of imagination. "Guess mother has +seequesterated it," he remarked, to himself. "Not that I'm hankerin' +after it so much myself, but I told Zeb I had it, an' when he finds that +I 'ain't, the moral effect on Zeb will sure be bad."</p> + +<p>As Bill, rolling a cigarette, meditated on this, Mrs. Harper, followed +by her maid and still casting about like a frightened bird in search of +cover, tiptoed into the lobby, went uncertainly to the California desk +and took up a pen.</p> + +<p>Wisdom twitching at the corners of his mouth, Bill was beside her at +once.</p> + +<p>"Is either o' you ladies gettin' a divorce?" he inquired, in a helpful +tone, his question including the indignant maid. "'Cause, if you are," +he explained, "I just wanted to let you know that you are flockin' round +the wrong desk."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Harper fluttered some more. "Oh, I—er—but—where—"</p> + +<p>"This way, my dears," Bill said, in a gentle, fatherly tone, as he led +them to the Nevada desk.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Harper signed her name. As Bill read it he looked up at her with +sudden interest. He put a detaining hand on her arm before she could +flutter away, and at the same time, turning to the maid, he directed her +to have a chair for a moment—at the other side of the lobby, out of +earshot.</p> + +<p>When the maid had complied Bill looked down at the register. "Mrs. +Harper, Truckee," he repeated. Then, glancing up at the surprised and +startled little woman, he asked, "Does your husband happen to drive a +green automobile, ma'am?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Harper stared at him with the big, frightened eyes of a child. +"Why—er—yes. But—why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"I met him last night," said Bill. "He's a fast driver, ain't he? Gets +to Truckee in two hours!"</p> + +<p>The color rose to the little woman's face. "I don't see—"</p> + +<p>"He's a mighty fine feller!" Bill went on, calmly. "Got a pile o' money, +too, an' I bet he's some generous with it—specially to them what he +loves. People is always makin' fool mistakes. Say, you ain't really +goin' to git a divorce, are you?"</p> + +<p>Now the astonished little woman's eyes filled with angry tears. "Oh!" +she gasped. "Oh! How dare you speak to me like this! It's none of your +business!"</p> + +<p>"Sure it is," said Lightnin', his voice kindly, confidential. "I know +all about it. He didn't git that present for his stenographer."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" she snapped.</p> + +<p>"I heard him tellin' all about it to Marvin, the boy what sold him that +timber up yonder. I knocked," Bill explained, whimsically, "but they +didn't seem to hear, an' I was kinder forced to listen in from the +outside. Your husband was all het up an' near committin' suicide 'cause +you thought he done what he didn't. He told Marvin he bought that +present for you when he was in Noo York. He was just a-showin' it to his +office lady when you walked in."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"No, it ain't. It's truth. There's some things I don't go wrong on, an' +this is one, Mrs. Harper. Your husband's a mighty fine feller an'—"</p> + +<p>With a stamp of her foot, the little woman flung away from the desk +and, followed by the faithful maid, hurried up-stairs, where—and +perhaps Bill suspected this—she buried her head in a pillow and cried +and cried.</p> + +<p>Bill stood at the desk with his head cocked on one side, idly tapping +his ear with a pen. He heard the door of Mrs. Harper's room slam and he +grinned amiably.</p> + +<p>"Eatin' her heart out for him," he mused. "Just eatin' her heart out, +but too spunky to back down!"</p> + +<p>He gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling for a few minutes; then slowly he +reached into the drawer and took out a telegram blank. His eyes twinkled +as he wrote a brief message. He folded up the blank, stuffed it into his +pocket, and was turning away from the desk with the intention of seeking +the telegraph-office, when Hammond and Sheriff Blodgett came strolling +back into the lobby.</p> + +<p>"Oh, so you're actually here, are you?" exclaimed Hammond, glaring at +Bill. "Have you signed that deed yet?"</p> + +<p>Hammond, direct, bulldozing, totally lacking in Thomas's smooth +diplomacy, had lost all patience with Bill Jones. That morning he had +decided that the only way to handle Bill was to ride over him +rough-shod. "Have you signed that deed?" he repeated, loudly.</p> + +<p>"Deed?" remarked Lightnin', carelessly. "Oh, I'd kinder forgot about +that little matter. Nope. 'Ain't had time, old top—nope!" Ignoring the +glares of the two men, he started to amble toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Look here," Hammond called after him, "is Mr. Thomas in?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," replied Bill, pausing directly in front of Hammond and +gazing up at him with a calm, shrewd light in his half-shut eyes. "He +seems to stick around pretty close."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Hammond, with a heavy frown, "just be good enough to step +up and tell him that Sheriff Blodgett and I would like to see him!"</p> + +<p>"Step up yourself," said old Bill, quietly, without shifting either his +gaze or his position. "You ain't crippled, be you? An' I don't think as +your friend Thomas'll fall off'n his chair with surprise if you drop in +on him unexpected."</p> + +<p>Without waiting for a reply, Bill turned away and ambled out of the +lobby. Hammond swore; then strode angrily up-stairs, followed by +Blodgett.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>A few minutes after Lightnin' disappeared down the trail, headed for the +local telegraph-office, John Marvin approached the hotel from the +opposite direction. He paused when some distance away and viewed the +place. It was his first visit in many weeks, and naturally his first +since the great transformation. It could be surmised, however, that this +visit was not one of idle curiosity; neither was his pause due to a mere +desire to observe the various changes recently made. He watched the +establishment closely for a minute; then came on slowly, keeping a sharp +eye on his surroundings. As he reached the steps Millie came out on the +veranda. She was engaged in what, these days, had become one of the +chief occupations of nearly every one in the Hotel Calivada—searching +for Lightnin' Bill Jones, whose persistent faculty of being absent when +most wanted was fast assuming the dimensions of a public aggravation.</p> + +<p>"Why, hello, stranger!" Millie exclaimed, with a welcoming smile. "I +thought you had forgotten all about us! You haven't been here for ever +so long!"</p> + +<p>Marvin came up the steps and seized both her hands, which she let him +hold for a moment.</p> + +<p>"I haven't forgotten <i>you</i>, Millie," he said, gently, smiling down into +her brown eyes. "But—well, you know I went away last time with an idea +that you didn't care to see me."</p> + +<p>"Silly boy!" Her tone was gaily impersonal, but her red lips puckered +into a pretty pout as she walked to a chair in the corner of the veranda +and sat down.</p> + +<p>"I thought that maybe you had returned to Mr. Thomas's office," he +remarked, following her and standing beside her chair.</p> + +<p>"No; I'm not going back, not now," said Millie, thoughtfully. She did +not look up at him, but fixed her gaze on her hands, folded in her lap. +"What a tremendous student you were in his office! I never saw any one +work so hard as you did."</p> + +<p>"Except when you were in the room—then I was looking at you, most of +the time!" Marvin bent over her, but she gave no sign that she read his +attitude.</p> + +<p>"If you'd been looking at me, I'd have seen you." She smiled and raised +her eyes. "You've not given up the study of law, have you?" There was +concern in the lift of her brow.</p> + +<p>"Oh no! But I'm not going back into Mr. Thomas's office. Why did you +leave him, Millie? Was there any trouble?"</p> + +<p>"Trouble? Of course not! How could any one have trouble with Mr. +Thomas?" Surprise and annoyance stood in her eyes.</p> + +<p>Marvin did not reply at once, but drew up another chair and sat down +facing her. He leaned forward, his eyes searching hers as he questioned, +"You like Mr. Thomas—like him very much, don't you, Millie?"</p> + +<p>"I more than like him!" An angry color suffused her cheeks as she looked +Marvin up and down. "I adore him!" she added. "You've no idea how fine +he is!"</p> + +<p>Marvin started at this—naturally. The situation was going to be more +difficult than he had anticipated. Could it be that Millie was really in +love with Raymond Thomas? Or had he merely convinced her that his +business motives were all that they should be? Perhaps it was both! +Anyway, it was obvious that the girl had Thomas up on some sort of +pedestal; she was in a spunky mood, and Marvin saw that he was going to +have his hands full trying to convince her that the feet on the pedestal +were made of clay. Marvin flushed himself; he did not relish his +position; he shrank from seemingly disparaging another man behind his +back, especially to a girl. If there had been only himself to consider, +he would not have spoken at all. Neither was it altogether for Millie's +sake. She was young, capable, quick-witted; she would see through Thomas +of her own accord, soon enough—if she were not actually in love with +him! But Marvin was thinking of the old people, of hard-working, simple +Mrs. Jones, and of amiable, careless Bill. Millie was the young, strong +member of the Jones household, and it was Millie who must be convinced +and won over, if possible. Thus ran Marvin's thoughts—but quite +honestly he admitted to himself that his love for the girl might be +coloring his logic and his motives just a little.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to tell you something I know about Thomas—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know!" Millie interrupted, quickly. "He sold some property for +your mother, isn't that it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; he sold it to the railroad—for a big price."</p> + +<p>"I know—he told me all about it. He's a splendid business man! Why, +that's exactly what he is doing for us! Hasn't daddy told you about it?" +She glanced at him quickly, but he gave no sign of having heard this +wonderful news. "I should think you'd like to see Mr. Thomas. He's +up-stairs packing, now. He's leaving this evening. He came all the way +from San Francisco just to help me—to help us all!"</p> + +<p>"To help you?" Marvin asked.</p> + +<p>Millie clasped her hands over her knees and went on, enthusiastically: +"Why, this hotel idea has turned out splendidly, you know. But a week or +two ago, Mr. Thomas wrote to mother, saying that he had heard that the +railroad company had got wind of our success and contemplated putting up +a rival hotel just back of us. Mother was nearly crazy at the news, and +I wrote to Mr. Thomas, asking him his advice. He telegraphed that he +would be right out to see us! Wasn't that just like him?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly," said Marvin, dryly. "And I presume that when Mr. Thomas +arrived he suggested that you let him persuade the railroad to buy this +place and erect the new hotel here, instead of next door!"</p> + +<p>"Why, John—aren't you clever!" Millie exclaimed. "How did you guess it? +That is exactly what he suggested, and now it's all arranged! And +they're going to pay enough to make mother and daddy comfortable for the +rest of their lives!"</p> + +<p>With a hopeless gesture, Marvin got to his feet and took a pace or two +up and down the veranda. The girl watched him, puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Are they going to pay cash?" Marvin asked, pausing in front of her.</p> + +<p>"It's much better than cash! It's shares of stock that pay ten per cent. +a year! It seems almost too good to be true."</p> + +<p>"It does—it certainly does!" came from Marvin.</p> + +<p>The girl had risen, glowing with enthusiasm. Quite naturally she put her +hand on his arm and looked up at him happily, intimately, naïvely +seeking his approval.</p> + +<p>In the midst of his perplexity Marvin's heart gave a bound. That naïve +touch on his arm and the intimate light in the brown eyes told him that, +in one respect at least, all was not lost—not yet! He was about to take +her hands and break into a rush of words when the girl suddenly turned +her attention from him, remarking, eagerly: "Here comes daddy. We were +afraid he'd deserted again!"</p> + +<p>Marvin swung around. Much as he wanted to see Lightnin' to-day, he +wished, just then, that Bill could have seen fit to delay his appearance +a few minutes longer. Bill Jones, however, came serenely up the steps +and stood with his hands in his pockets, shrewdly and humorously +inspecting the pair.</p> + +<p>"Sorry to interrupt the billin' an' cooin'," he remarked. "But say, +John, ain't you takin' some chances round here? Did you know that +Blodgett's here? I seen him go up-stairs when I went out."</p> + +<p>Millie had flushed and turned away at her foster-father's first words, +but now she looked curiously from one to the other.</p> + +<p>"What on earth do you mean, daddy?" she questioned.</p> + +<p>"He's just <i>helping me</i>, Millie," said Marvin, grinning at Bill. "Thanks +for the tip, Lightnin', but I wanted to see you particularly to-day, so +I—"</p> + +<p>He stopped abruptly, for Bill had raised a warning hand.</p> + +<p>Marvin recognized a familiar voice talking in the lobby. Glancing in, +he saw Raymond Thomas standing in the center of the room, holding Mrs. +Jones in conversation. Hammond and Blodgett had just come down the +stairs and were joining the other two.</p> + +<p>"Better beat it, John!" Lightnin' whispered.</p> + +<p>But Marvin stood there. He was thinking quickly. He had caught a word or +two of what Thomas was saying, and he gathered that matters were coming +to a climax. Suddenly his expression cleared and he grinned.</p> + +<p>"Never mind about that, Lightnin'," he said, mechanically opening the +door for Millie, who, seeing that they were ignoring her, tripped in +with a petulant toss of her head. "I think I have a little scheme that +will fool our friend Blodgett. But first—Bill, promise me that you +won't sign that deed without consulting me!"</p> + +<p>"All right," said Lightnin', slowly. "I promise. But you better be +careful, John, an'—"</p> + +<p>"Come on!" Marvin interrupted, leading the way himself. "I've a great +desire to be in on these proceedings!"</p> + +<p>Seeing that the young man was not to be stopped, Bill said no more as he +slid through the door and ambled after him into the lobby.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + +<p>"I think it is only fair to tell you, Mrs. Jones," Thomas was saying, a +delicate, apologetic note creeping into his voice as he caught sight of +Millie, "that this Marvin is not a proper person for your daughter to +see. I fully believed that he was a fine young man myself once, and you +cannot imagine my surprise when I discovered that he is the head of a +gang of thieves who are going all over this part of the country, +stealing timber."</p> + +<p>"Mercy me!" cried Mrs. Jones. "A thief, no less!" Then, seeing Marvin +unexpectedly present in person, she glared at him. "Somethin' always +warned me against you, John Marvin! Oh, Millie, Millie! How many times +have I told you you was makin' a terrible mistake lettin' him annoy +you!"</p> + +<p>Millie was evidently too astonished and puzzled to say anything. +Meanwhile, Thomas had flushed deeply on finding himself confronted by +the man he was in the act of damning. Instinctively he took a step back. +Blodgett made a quick move toward Marvin, but Hammond seized his arm and +stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minute, Blodgett," he whispered. "You can nab him later—he +can't very well get away from us now. I want to have a word, first—I'm +going to show this young cub just where he stands!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, though the sheriff's move did not escape him, Marvin, a grim +smile on his face, was gazing steadily at Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Thomas," he said, quietly. "I'm interested! What else were you +going to say to Mrs. Jones?"</p> + +<p>Indifferently he strolled over beside Lightnin', who was in front of the +California desk, his hands in his pockets, his half-shut eyes roving +from one to another of the group. To look at him, one would not imagine +that Bill Jones had any special interest in the proceedings. He drew out +his bag of tobacco and papers and idly rolled a cigarette.</p> + +<p>Thomas, having regained his poise again, turned to Mrs. Jones with his +dazzling smile. "I'm really very glad that the young man chanced to +present himself at this moment, Mrs. Jones, because—"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Thomas!" Hammond interrupted, suddenly thrusting +himself forward and waving the other aside. "But we have something much +more important on hand. Let's get to it! I can't monkey around here any +longer.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Jones," he went on, "I've been trying to get you all together +before I left, but you seem such busy people that it is as if I wouldn't +have this opportunity. I wanted to tell you that the company for which I +am acting has just wired me to close the transaction, and so I am ready +to take over the property at once!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones, bewildered by his briskness and the swift sequence of +events, stared at him, then transferred a gaze no less confounded to +Thomas. "You mean," she questioned, "that—that you want us to leave at +once?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no! That's not necessary. But now that you have put your signature +to the deed, the transfer will be made at once and we'll take over the +management, allowing you to remain on until you have made your +arrangements for the future."</p> + +<p>With a sharp nod to her and an insolent sneer directed at Bill, Hammond +swung on his heel and busied himself with a portfolio of papers he had +dropped on the Nevada desk.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you can have no objections to these arrangements, Mrs. Jones," +said Thomas, his voice as smooth as glass, though there was a slight +quiver of his eyelids as he avoided Marvin's steady gaze and caught a +strange gleam that emanated from Bill's puckered-up eyes.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones had forgotten all about Bill and his part in the signing of +the deed. But a multitude of thoughts were running through her mind, +confused as it was. All that she could think of now was the simplest +answer to Thomas's question. She stepped up to him and put a hand of +confidence on his arm.</p> + +<p>"Certainly I do not mind," she said. "I'm delighted and relieved that it +is all settled!" Turning to Hammond, she added: "I want to leave the +whole matter in Mr. Thomas's hands. I'll do just as he advises."</p> + +<p>"All right, Hammond," said Thomas, deliberately turning his back on old +Bill. "We shall deliver the deed to you at once, and you can take charge +of the place immediately. I presume you will want to have—"</p> + +<p>"Hold on there, young feller!" Lightnin's usual lackadaisical monotone +was raised to a degree which bespoke a greater interest than his +careless attitude indicated. He stepped forward and stood in front of +Thomas, looking up at him with his shrewd gaze. When he felt that the +man was ready to give him sufficient attention, Bill returned to his +customary drawl.</p> + +<p>"We ain't goin' to sell this place, my boy," he said. "Not until I +consult my lawyer!"</p> + +<p>His words brought his wife to his side instantly, her eyes blazing. +"Bill Jones," she cried, "you just be quiet! What in the world's the +matter with you—tryin' to throw away a chance to be nice and +comfortable the rest o' your life! Are you crazy?"</p> + +<p>"Nope. I'm the only one that ain't—'cept John, here."</p> + +<p>Bill's steady, quiet grin exasperated Hammond and Thomas to white heat, +but they were too near their goal to miss it by a step. They knew that +under ordinary conditions Bill, in spite of his many shortcomings, held +first place in Mrs. Jones's affections, and that any show of harshness +toward him on their part might rally her unexpectedly to his support. So +they smothered their rage. Hammond leaned an elbow on the desk and +nonchalantly twirled his watch-chain, his mouth drawn into an ugly +sneer. Thomas continued his air of deference toward Mrs. Jones, leaning +over her with an appealing smile. Reacting to it, she took Bill by the +arm and shook it roughly.</p> + +<p>"You just got to listen to reason, Bill!" she said, transfixing him with +angry eyes. "I set my heart on sellin' the place an' goin' to the city, +as you oughter know by now. An', besides, it's 'most all fixed up, +anyways—all but you signin' that deed. You got to do it, Bill!"</p> + +<p>"You're all het up, mother," replied Bill, gazing at her with kindly +eyes. "Ease up a bit! Nope. I ain't goin' to sign no deed for them two +scamps—leastways not until I consult my lawyer!" And Bill pushed back +his battered slouch-hat and stuck his thumbs in his faded vest.</p> + +<p>"Scamps—!"</p> + +<p>But before Mrs. Jones could complete her sentence Marvin stepped forward +and put a friendly arm over Bill's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Bill's right, Mrs. Jones," he said, gently, though there was a fighting +light in his eyes as he met those of Thomas. "Lightnin' has no need to +apologize for anything he may say about these two men. This sale is a +nice little scheme of theirs. They are trying to rob you."</p> + +<p>Millie, who had been listening to it all, amazed and abashed, now stared +at Marvin defiantly. "How dare you say that?" she blazed. "What right +have you to interfere?" She rallied to Mrs. Jones's side and placed an +affectionate arm around her waist.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones was crying by this time. She wiped her eyes on her apron and +looked at Marvin. "So it's you who's been puttin' Bill up to this!" she +exclaimed. "I might have known—it's right in line with what we just +heard about you! Well, he don't need none o' your advice—you just leave +Bill alone!"</p> + +<p>Marvin held out a deprecating hand. "But, Mrs. Jones, you don't +understand—"</p> + +<p>Blodgett, at a sign from Hammond, strode up to Marvin and put a hand on +his shoulder. Marvin shook him off.</p> + +<p>"Don't interrupt me now!" he said. "I've something more important to—"</p> + +<p>"I'll show you how important it is!" said Blodgett, jingling a pair of +handcuffs in front of Marvin. "I got a warrant for your arrest for +stealin' timber! Put out your hands!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones and Millie stood by, bewildered, while Thomas, with +supercilious satisfaction in his smile, sank into a chair and crossed +his legs with an air. Hammond laughed coarsely.</p> + +<p>Bill, his arm drawn through Marvin's, looked on, his enigmatic grin +between his half-closed eyes and half-open mouth betokening an +unswerving confidence in the ultimate.</p> + +<p>"I can't be bothered with you now," said Marvin, addressing Blodgett. +"Bill needs—"</p> + +<p>"None o' your lip!" Blodgett grabbed him roughly and attempted to place +a handcuff on one of his wrists, but Marvin flung him off and the +sheriff went sprawling. Marvin stepped back a pace or two as Blodgett +got up and came at him again, bawling, "Now you're worse off than +ever—resisting an officer of the law!"</p> + +<p>Marvin, however, did not seem to be worried. He faced Blodgett with an +amused smile and pointed to the floor, where an uncovered space left +between two rugs indicated the now famous state line.</p> + +<p>"Law?" Marvin echoed. "Why, Blodgett, old boy, don't you know any more +about law than to try to serve me with a Nevada warrant when I'm in the +state of California?"</p> + +<p>"By jiminy, he's right!" cried Lightnin', clapping Marvin on the back. +"You got 'em where—where the rugs is short, John. Guess I didn't build +this house on the state line for nothin'!"</p> + +<p>Blodgett started back with a howl of disgust, while Thomas and Hammond +looked at each other, making no effort to hide their chagrin. Millie had +given an exclamation—an exclamation that sounded very much like one of +relief, when she saw the sudden turn of the tables; but if it was an +expression of her inner and secret feelings, she quickly smothered it. +Mrs. Jones glared at Marvin with keen disgust and disappointment.</p> + +<p>Lightnin', grinning, evidently was enjoying the scene hugely. Cocking +his old hat over one ear, he struck a pose of comic nonchalance against +the California desk and looked across the lobby at the furious Hammond.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Hammond, old top!" he called, airily. "How's everythin' in +Nevada? Come on over to California, an'—an' have a glass o' water!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + +<p>The unexpected dénouement between Marvin and Sheriff Blodgett brought +consternation to those who had contrived toward his apprehension. +Everett Hammond, in consultation with Thomas, would have taken the young +man by force—for Hammond was a strapping six feet two or thereabouts, +and Marvin was but a stripling in strength. But Thomas, cool and +controlled, and always an advocate of keeping within the letter of the +law, counseled him against any such hot-headed procedure, explaining +that it might militate against them in a court where outside operators +in land or mining stocks were not looked upon with any too friendly a +spirit. Mrs. Jones and Millie, astounded and uncomfortable in a +situation far afield from their uneventful lives, were too perplexed to +speak, contenting themselves with staring at Marvin in unbridled +disgust. Millie felt something of compassion for his predicament, but +the thought that any one she knew should be accused of theft filled her +with horror. Besides, it was he who was preventing her foster-father +from signing the deed which would place them all in easy circumstances +as against the difficulties of the present. Whatever of pity she had +quickly disappeared. With one long look of disdain toward Marvin, she +led Mrs. Jones up-stairs.</p> + +<p>Blodgett, after his first surprise, was overcome with rage at the +knowledge that a whippersnapper such as he considered Marvin should have +placed him in such a ludicrous position. He, too, like Hammond, would +have liked to have tried force, but he knew that Marvin stood well among +the lumbermen in Washoe County and his attempt at re-election was too +close at hand to permit of his taking any chances when those to gain by +them were strangers without a voice in the politics of the section.</p> + +<p>With a covert eye he watched Marvin, who stood a few feet from the line +and smiled down at Bill, the latter grinning up at him, warming to the +affectionate arm placed about his shoulder. As the two women went up the +stairs, Marvin watched them, a half-shadow in his eyes as he caught +Millie's disdainful glance. Giving Bill a good-by pat, Marvin, hat in +hand, made a sweeping bow which took in Hammond, Thomas, and Blodgett.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, gentlemen," he laughed ironically. Sidling with his back +to the California desk, he reached the door, where he waved his hand at +his astonished persecutors and slid out upon the veranda and down the +steps, where he wandered off in the twilight.</p> + +<p>Blodgett walked to the door and looked after him. "Guess I'll stick +'round a bit," he grumbled to Thomas, who had followed him to the door +and was gazing after Marvin.</p> + +<p>Hammond remained where he was, leaning up against the desk, watching +Thomas and Blodgett with surly eyes. "You two are a nice pair of +mollycoddles," he sneered, "letting him make a get-away like that. If +either of you had any gumption you'd have knocked him over the line."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" drawled the sheriff. "'N' be arrested for assault. My +jurisdiction stops on this side of the line." He was silent, while he +took a piece of tobacco from his pocket and cut off a bite. After a +minute he grunted: "Humph! He'ain't gone yet. I'm goin' to stay here +'til to-morrow mornin'. By that time he'll be home, for he 'ain't got no +place else to go. Then I'll nab him good 'n' quick."</p> + +<p>All this time Bill had stood in the middle of the floor, listening to +all that was said, saying never a word himself. Now he went slowly to +one side of the room, took a chair that stood against the California +wall and placed it in front of the table, close to the dividing line. +Blodgett, thinking there was reason for his act, so deliberate was it, +took a chair from its place near the Nevada wall and placed it parallel +with Bill's, seating himself in it.</p> + +<p>The two men contemplated each other in silence. Thomas and Hammond stood +in short consultation, and then the latter went to his room on the +California side of the hotel, Thomas sauntering to a rocking-chair on +the veranda. He lighted a cigar and sat looking out over the lake, where +the moon was rising over the rim of the bordering Sierras.</p> + +<p>There was scrutiny in the eye with which Blodgett viewed Bill. There was +distrust in the steady look which thrust itself between Bill's half-open +lids and struck straight in the center of Blodgett's pupil. The latter +opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, as steps were heard on the +veranda and Rodney Harper entered the lobby.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where I can find John Marvin?" he asked of the two men +whose backs he faced. Both immediately turned in their chairs, the +sheriff alert for any news he might obtain of the habits and customs of +the man he was pursuing. Bill, when he saw who it was, arose and slowly +went toward him, holding out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Hello, old chap! I got your telegram, also one from Marvin. Where +is he?" Harper grasped Bill's hand and gave it a hearty shake, glancing +anxiously about the lobby.</p> + +<p>Bill ignored the last question, keeping a slanting eye on Blodgett. +"Your wife's up-stairs," he whispered, with a nod toward the Nevada +up-stairs hallway.</p> + +<p>"Where?" Harper turned in the direction of Bill's nod.</p> + +<p>"In Nevada," Bill drawled, with a slow grin.</p> + +<p>Harper shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Bill, continuing with his +subject, "What's the number of her room?"</p> + +<p>"You'd better go slow." Bill thrust his hands in his pockets, assuming +an air of counselor. "I told her I thought you'd be here."</p> + +<p>"What did she say?" Harper was at the register and going quickly down +the list. He came to his wife's name, letting his finger run across the +page until he came to the number of her room; then he swept past Bill +and had his foot on the first step when Bill stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Ye'll spoil it all, if ye ain't careful." The old man drew the younger +one's head close to his mouth, speaking in low tones.</p> + +<p>"What makes you say that? In your telegram you made me believe +everything was all right," Harper said, as he leaned against the +newel-post.</p> + +<p>"So 'twill be if you listen to some one that knows summat 'bout women. +If you chase chickens they run like wild-fire 'n' ye can't catch 'em +unless you get 'em in a corner. But if you holds out your hand with a +little feed, by 'n' by they eat right out of it."</p> + +<p>Harper laughed. "That's what you think, is it?"</p> + +<p>"I know," Bill chuckled. "You oughter heard what she said to me." Bill +loved to think that he knew something the other fellow would like to +know. Even his sympathy with Harper and his desire to see all well +between him and his wife could not contain him when it came to holding +out in a matter of mere curiosity. "I was goin' to tell you, but I'd +better not," he added, with a wise look. "'Twan't very encouragin'," he +added.</p> + +<p>Harper walked away from the stairway, his arm through Bill's. "Don't you +think you'd better tell me?" There was real concern in Harper's voice +and Bill knew it was the expression of the anxiety in his heart. Too, +Bill knew that it required tact to approach Mrs. Harper in her present +hysterical mood.</p> + +<p>So he answered, with a brusk shake of his head, "Nope."</p> + +<p>"Well, of all the damned-fool things!" Harper stood still, letting go of +Bill's arm.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't call her that," Bill remonstrated, moving away from Harper +with a quick look of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Who's calling her that?" Harper paced up and down, a scowl on his face. +"I mean the whole situation. It's such a silly mistake. And yet she +won't believe it."</p> + +<p>"Same here." There was a warm sense of comradeship in the same sad cause +in the air with which Bill made his last remark. It brought Harper to a +standstill. With a smile he listened to the old man's explanation. +"Folks don't believe nothin' I tell 'em. Women never do believe you when +you tell 'em the truth, but tell 'em a lie 'n' they swallows it hook 'n' +bait. Why don't you write her a letter? Ef she knows yer here 'n' ain't +too anxious ye got a good chance."</p> + +<p>"I believe I'll do that. It sounds like a good scheme. Give her a chance +to think things over instead of running in on her all of a sudden. Have +you got a room?" Harper went to the Nevada desk and took up the pen to +register, but Bill interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"Come on over here," Bill nodded to the California desk, following his +own gesture to a place back of the counter. "We always got plenty of +room on this side."</p> + +<p>"Where's the bar?"</p> + +<p>At this question put by Harper, Bill's head struck an interesting and +inquisitive attitude. "Down to the saloon," he said.</p> + +<p>But he was doomed to disappointment. "Never mind, then," was Harper's +disheartening reply.</p> + +<p>Bill's interest slackened, but was quickly revived as Harper, in the +middle of scribbling a note to his wife, looked up long enough to add, +"I've got a flask in my bag."</p> + +<p>It did not take Bill long to get from behind the desk. That bag was a +friend. He had promised Marvin that he would not spend his pension, and +Mrs. Jones had carefully removed the flask from its corner in the Nevada +desk. "I'll show you right up," he exclaimed, making an undue and +unaccustomed haste toward the stairs, bag in hand.</p> + +<p>At the top of the stairs he stood, waiting for Harper to seal the +envelop.</p> + +<p>Harper came up the stairs, two at a time, and handed the letter to Bill, +offering to take the bag from Bill as he did so. But Bill shook his hand +loose. "I'd better take the bag to the room for you first. Ye must be +pretty tired." There was a hidden implication in the monotone in which +the last speech was delivered.</p> + +<p>Rodney Harper was too possessed of his own affairs to feel it, and with +an impatient gesture he stooped to take his bag from Bill, pleading, +"Please, old man, won't you deliver the letter?"</p> + +<p>But Bill, attuned to a rare occasion, had quickly evaded Harper's +outstretched hand and was down the hallway with the bag. He opened the +door of Harper's room and went in first, depositing the bag on the +floor. Then he went up to the frowning guest, caught hold of his arm, +and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Marvin's here, but I didn't want them folks down-stairs to know it. +They come to git him fer cuttin' down your timber, but he jumped over +the California line. He'll be back by 'n' by, I'm thinkin'."</p> + +<p>Harper was interested in the news and asked Bill to let him know when +Marvin was about again, but he was not interested enough to make him +forget what was his present paramount concern. He gave a desperate +glance toward the letter in Bill's hand.</p> + +<p>But Bill had no intention of leaving until his own possessive intention +was fulfilled. He backed away from the bed where he had placed the bag, +slowly retreating until he came to the door, which Harper had left open +for Bill's exit. When he reached the sill he grasped the knob with one +hand, half closing it, while he stood in front of it on the inside. The +anxiety in Harper's contracted brow met the slow grin that wrinkled +about Bill's eyes and mouth. A question started from Harper's tongue.</p> + +<p>Bill forestalled it. "I'm sorry," he said, slowly and gently, but with a +wise twinkle in his blue eyes, "thet there ain't no bar. Mother she +doesn't like drink." He paused a moment to see what effect his words +were having. As he saw his intention was slowly penetrating through +Harper's absorption in his own affairs, Bill made his final coup. "She +lifted my flask from the desk, or I could be askin' you to have a swig."</p> + +<p>Harper threw back his head and laughed. "So that's it!" he exclaimed, +hurriedly opening his bag and extracting the flask. "Well, I tell you +what I'll do. If you'll beat it in quick time with that note I'll treat +you to the whole darned flask."</p> + +<p>Bill needed no second bidding. With flask secure in his back pocket he +lost no time in descending the California stairs and mounting the flight +to the Nevada half of the hotel and leaving the letter with Mrs. Harper. +On the way back to the lobby he slightly diminished the contents of the +flask.</p> + +<p>He entered the lobby with a smile whose target was the whole world and +threw himself whole-heartedly into the pleasure of tormenting Blodgett. +He knew that Blodgett was furious at the manner of Marvin's escape as +much as at the fact itself. So he dropped into the chair next to the +sheriff, drawling, "You goin' over to Truckee to get a California +warrant?"</p> + +<p>Blodgett gave Bill a mean look, sneering, as he sniffed at the air, +"Say, you're collecting something, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't get nothin' from you," Bill answered, shortly. Which answer +was not without its point, Blodgett's reputation as one of the closest +men in Washoe County not being unknown to Bill.</p> + +<p>"Don't get sore. I wished I was in your place," said Blodgett, as he +fidgeted about in his chair and looked through the doorway.</p> + +<p>Thomas, who had been on the veranda all this time, came indoors just as +Blodgett finished his remark.</p> + +<p>Bill caught it quickly, his smile flashing into a gleam of humor toward +Thomas.</p> + +<p>"In my place?" asked Bill, with a twinkle. With a nod toward Thomas, he +added, "You're like that other fellow."</p> + +<p>Thomas flushed, but ignored the innuendo. Taking a paper from his +pocket, he looked through it. At the California desk he stopped to sign +his name at the end of it. Then he called to Bill, "Did you tell your +wife we were waiting for her?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't. I've been up visiting my friend Harper. He's a big +millionaire. Havin' trouble with his wife. Patched it up. Told him to +write her a note 'n' I brought it to her. He gimme this fer the idea." +Bill produced the flask from his pocket and extended it toward Blodgett, +but when it was half-way on its journey he jerked it back, just as Mrs. +Harper emerged from between the portières of the Nevada upper hallway.</p> + +<p>Clad in a fluffy, silken négligée, she tiptoed half-way down the stairs +before she saw Thomas, who had left the desk and was standing in the +doorway with his face toward the moonlit lake. She gave a smothered cry +and was about to turn back. Bill held up a warning finger toward +Blodgett, who quickly obeyed the injunction to look straight ahead.</p> + +<p>Arising from his seat, the old man made a friendly motion toward the +frightened little creature on the stairs and she came down to where he +stood in the middle of the floor, casting bewildered glances to right +and left and trembling as he whispered in her ear:</p> + +<p>"He's in Number Four. Hurry now, before any one catches on."</p> + +<p>"Do they all know he's my husband?" she flittered as she sped lightly up +the California stairs.</p> + +<p>"I won't say nothin' about it." Bill could not resist a wink, which met +with a toss of Mrs. Harper's pretty head as she glided between the +portières toward her husband's room.</p> + +<p>Bill went back to his chair again. Everett Hammond came into the room +from the porch outside. Laying his hat on the California desk, he went +around behind the counter and turned the pages of the register.</p> + +<p>Bill did not sit down, but wandered over to the desk where Hammond stood +and gazed at him through half-open eyes. "Oh, you runnin' the place +now?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>Hammond did not answer him at once, but kept on running over the names +on the list. But there was a compelling force in the mild gaze of the +old man which made Hammond stop to reckon with him. "Yes," he said, +bruskly, while he frowned at Bill. "I've just settled everything with +your wife. All that's needed now is for you to sign that deed."</p> + +<p>There was no answer forthcoming from Bill. Instead, he slowly took the +flask from his pocket and held it in front of him. "I'll take a drink +with you," he said, with a slow smile.</p> + +<p>Hammond did not glance up, but answered, with a half-smile, "I'm sorry, +but I, haven't got anything."</p> + +<p>"I have," said Bill, shuffling toward him with the flask.</p> + +<p>Blodgett twisted about in his chair and called, "You look and act as if +you'd had enough."</p> + +<p>Bill left the desk and seated himself beside Blodgett again. "I don't +want it for myself," he said, putting the spurned flask back in his +pocket; "it's just for social—ability. I don't drink."</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me that," scoffed the sheriff. "You're a booze-fighter."</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't," Bill answered, quickly.</p> + +<p>Then seeing a chance for romance, he added, "I'm an Indian-fighter."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" Blodgett drew out his answer in an accent that spoke of +disbelief.</p> + +<p>"You bet it's so. Did you ever know Buffalo Bill?" Bill leaned forward +so he could see what impression he was making upon the sheriff.</p> + +<p>Out of the corner of his eyes Blodgett was watching Bill. "Yes, I knew +him well," said the sheriff, gruffly.</p> + +<p>Bill leaned closer to Blodgett and looked squarely into his eyes, which +showed the same doubt as his own. "I learned him all he knew about +killing Indians. Did he ever tell you about the duel I fought with +Settin' Bull?"</p> + +<p>"Settin' Bull?" The sheriff sat up straight and let his glance travel +the length of Bill's body and back again to the old man's eyes, which +were not quivering a lash.</p> + +<p>"He was standin' when I shot him," grinned Bill. "I never took advantage +of nobody, not even an Indian."</p> + +<p>The sheriff relaxed contemptuously into his chair again. "You've got a +bee in your bonnet, 'ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"What do you know 'bout bees?" Bill started to roll a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"Not much. Do you?" was Blodgett's reply as he looked straight ahead.</p> + +<p>Bill slowly rolled the weed, put it in his mouth, and chewed on the end +of it. Then he made slow answer, halting between sentences, his eyes +slanting toward Blodgett to gather the effect of his words:</p> + +<p>"I know all about 'em. I used to be in the bee business. Drove a swarm +of bees across the plains in the dead of winter once. And never lost a +bee. Got stung twice."</p> + +<p>The sheriff jumped to his feet and directed a scornful glance Bill's way +as he straightened his coat about his shoulders, twisted his belt, and +started for the door, taking his chair and putting it in its place +against the wall on his way. "I got enough. I'm going outside."</p> + +<p>Hammond, who had been busy going over the register all this while, now +came from behind the desk and walked toward Bill. "Now look here, Mr. +Jones—"</p> + +<p>"Won't do no good fer you to talk," Bill interrupted him, but did not +even glance up, remaining seated in the middle of the lobby. "I ain't +goin' to sign nothin'—understand that," he said, not ungently.</p> + +<p>Hammond planted himself squarely in front of Bill, setting his doubled +fists on his hips. "Well, if you don't," he snarled in a loud voice, +"you'll find yourself without a home. You understand that—if you're not +too drunk." He delivered the last remark with a sneer that was almost a +bark.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I'm drunk?" Bill went close to Hammond, his head thrown +back the better to look into his opponent's shifting eyes.</p> + +<p>But Hammond made him no answer, for just then Mrs. Jones, dressed in an +evening gown of the latest cut, appeared on the stairs leading from the +California side and walked self-consciously down on the arm of Thomas.</p> + +<p>At first Bill did not recognize her. He thought it was some one of the +boarders, who often wore evening dress for dinner. He hurried toward the +Nevada desk, asking, as his eyes began at Mrs. Jones's feet incased in +shining silver slippers and wandered slowly up the folds of handsome +yellow brocade to the wide expanse of bare neck and shoulder, "Do you +want your key?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones blushed, and the tears sprang to her eyes, as she wrapped the +lace scarf flung over her shoulders closer across her bosom. Turning +toward Bill, she did not answer him, but took up the pen and pointed to +the paper which Hammond had placed on the desk, ready for them both to +sign.</p> + +<p>By this time Bill's glance had reached her face. For a moment he stared +in astonishment. Then he gave a gasp and stood back, his arms limp at +his sides. "Mother, 'tain't you?" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's me," Mrs. Jones replied, angrily, as she gulped to keep back +the tears which were forcing themselves to the surface, part in timidity +and part in rage at her spouse, who she thought was making fun of her.</p> + +<p>Bill straightened himself and, with a droll nod of his head, replied to +Hammond, "You're right, I'm drunk."</p> + +<p>Thomas stifled the smile that rose to his lips in spite of himself. He +was standing on the other side of Mrs. Jones. Now he came around and +stood in front of Bill. "Don't you approve, Lightnin'?" he asked, +pleasantly. "She's dressed in the height of fashion."</p> + +<p>"Looks higher 'n that to me," Bill drawled, as his eyes twinkled at the +eight inches of bare ankle between Mrs. Jones's skirt edge and her +silver pumps.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones, with an insulted toss of her head, dropped the pen with +which she had signed the paper and hurried across the lobby to the +dining-room door. She was crying, but Bill did not see her tears. His +eyes were still fastened upon her ankles. "The mosquitoes 'll give you +hell in that this summer," he called out as she slammed the door behind +her.</p> + +<p>Thomas shrugged his shoulders and smiled indulgently. He had made up his +mind to leave matters entirely in Hammond's hands now; so he went up the +California stairs, calling out to Bill, "You'll get yourself disliked +around here, if you don't look out."</p> + +<p>"So'll you," Bill called back as he shambled to the same stairway.</p> + +<p>But he got no farther than the first step. Hammond laid a detaining hand +on his arm, pulling him around in front of him. "See here, Jones," he +said, harshly, "I've taken over the management of this place and I don't +propose to stand any more nonsense from you, and unless you do as your +wife tells you to, sign this deed, I'll kick you out."</p> + +<p>Bill pulled himself loose from Hammond and stood facing him, a defiant +grin antagonizing Hammond to greater fury. "No, you won't!" Bill +laughed, never flinching in the half-open eyes with which he held +Hammond's eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's the reason I won't?" Hammond asked, making a threatening move.</p> + +<p>Still Bill remained unmoved. "'Cause you talk too much about it."</p> + +<p>Hammond stood and looked in fury at Bill. But he knew that any harsh +treatment on his part might spoil the whole game, which he now felt to +be near an end, which meant victory for his plans, so he smothered his +desire to lay hands on the old man, and with sudden impulse, born of a +desire to end the discussion, he hurried up-stairs to his room, calling +back, "You'll see whether I will or not."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + +<p>When Bill was once more alone he meandered slowly to the Nevada desk and +leaned against it, looking abstractedly toward the veranda. Outside, the +moon was shining in long shafts of silver light through the branches of +the tall cedars. Beyond the lake lay, itself a moon of silver on the +floor of the valley. He could hear the hoot of a hundred billy owls. +Unthinkingly he went to the door and stood there, sniffing at the +fragrance of the pines. Then he went back to the desk again.</p> + +<p>As Mrs. Jones had closed the dining-room door behind her, he had seen +that she was crying. Her tears had acted like a knife on his obstinacy. +If there was one method of bringing Bill to a realization of his +shortcomings, it was the knowledge that he had brought his wife to +tears. No matter what the occasion, through the years of his many +omissions, he had never failed to awaken to a sense of duty at the +slightest hint of a sob on her part. And now remorse was gnawing heavily +at his heart. He knew that she was sorely tried by his laziness. He knew +that ever since she had come from the city she had longed for some of +the luxuries which she had tasted for the first and only time in those +few brief days when Thomas had given her a bit of every woman's +paradise. And as he looked out he wondered in his slow, but none the +less logical, way what it mattered, after all, if the place did go, just +so long as mother was happy. To be sure, the place was worth much more +than Hammond was willing to pay them. But it was enough for their humble +needs. From the door beyond he could hear the sound of her sobs. He went +half-way across the room. "Yes," he reasoned with himself, "after all, +the property is hers. I gave her my part of it to do as she pleased +with." And a sudden resolve to do her will possessed him.</p> + +<p>But as he reached the middle of the lobby he heard some one on tiptoe +behind him. He turned to see Marvin, crouched down by the desk, so that +any one coming from up-stairs could not see him.</p> + +<p>"'Sh!" Bill put up a warning hand. "Blodgett's outside there some +place."</p> + +<p>"He's snoring in his buggy," Marvin whispered back, with a half-smile. +"Bill," he added, quickly, "I've been outside and I've heard every word +they've been saying to you. I haven't time to tell you all I want to +just now. Promise me again that you won't sign that deed until you've +talked further with me about it."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"PROMISE ME YOU WON'T SIGN THE DEED." ... BILL HESITATED</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Bill hesitated. "Well, mother wants to awful bad," he answered, slowly.</p> + +<p>From the dining-room voices could be heard. "Ye'd better get out," said +Bill.</p> + +<p>"Not until you promise," persisted Marvin.</p> + +<p>Bill wavered an instant. He wanted mother to be happy, and yet, another +day did not make so much difference—especially when Marvin was in +danger. The door in back of him swung open. Leaning quickly down to +Marvin, as the latter crept toward the outer door, he whispered: "All +right. I promise."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones walked into the room with a swagger, half of indignation, +half of sorrow. She was still wiping the tears from her eyes. The deed +and the pen were in her hand.</p> + +<p>Bill went to her, placing an affectionate hand on her bare arm. "Mother, +ain't you cold?" He could not resist another tilt at her unusual +costume.</p> + +<p>"No." She stamped her foot at him, withdrawing her arm from his hand. +"I'm hot all over at you, insulting me before those gentlemen." Hurrying +to the California desk, she buried her head on her crossed arms and +began to cry. "Makin' fun of me," she sobbed, "because I try to look +presentable for once in my life."</p> + +<p>Following her to the desk, Bill patted her gently on the back. "It's +gettin' late, mother," he coaxed. "You're tired and you've been working +hard. You're all tuckered out. Now you go up-stairs and put on some +clothes and go to bed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones shook him from her and went to the other desk, where she +stood facing him, her face red and swollen from her tears. "Oh!" she +wrung her hands as she looked at him with blazing eyes. "You ought to be +ashamed of yourself with the gentlemen here to buy the place and you +around the office drinking liquor."</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't." Bill answered her outburst mildly, backing away from her +lest she should discover the flask in his back pocket.</p> + +<p>He was too late. Her eye, accustomed to just such investigations, had +detected the lines of the flask as it protruded from his back pocket. +Taking hold of him, she put her hand in his pocket and produced the +flask, holding it, half empty, to the light.</p> + +<p>"That belongs to Mr. Harper," was Bill's ready excuse, given in the +monotone which invariably masked a world of guilt. Seeing the doubt in +his wife's eye, he added, "You can go up-stairs and ask him, if you +don't believe it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones did not reply to his last remark. Instead of which she went +back to the California desk, where she set down the flask, taking up the +deed and holding it out to him. "Now, Bill," she said, in a coaxing +voice, "I want you to put your name to this paper." She smiled kindly +upon him for the first time in many hours.</p> + +<p>Bill wavered before her smile. It was difficult for him to withstand it, +especially as he knew how sorely he had tried her. But a promise was a +promise with Bill, and his one pride was that he had kept intact through +all the years of his digressions this one principle—he never broke his +word. He had told Marvin he would not sign the deed without consulting +him further, so he turned his eyes from his wife's face and answered, in +a low voice, "I can't, mother."</p> + +<p>"What's the reason you can't?" Mrs. Jones planted herself in front of +him, determined that he should not evade her this time.</p> + +<p>"Because I promised my lawyer I wouldn't," he answered, his head turned +away from her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones took him by the arm and swung him into line with her gaze. +"Now see here, Bill," she snapped, "I've been working my fingers to the +bone and I'm entitled to a rest and you sha'n't stop my having it. Mr. +Thomas is going to take Millie and me to the city to live. If you sign +that you can come with us. If you don't you've got to look out for +yourself for a while."</p> + +<p>Bill had not paid much heed to Hammond's threat delivered a few minutes +back. But now something in his wife's tone brought it, recurrent, to his +mind. He wondered if, after all, there was some truth behind it.</p> + +<p>Pausing to gather his points together, Bill nodded toward the stairs. +"Mother, that fellow, Hammond, said he'd throw me out. Do you want me to +get out? Is that what you mean?"</p> + +<p>It was not what Mrs. Jones had meant at all. But the events of the day +had strained her nerves to breaking-point. Since daylight Thomas and +Hammond had been after her to force Bill to do as she wished him to. To +their suggestions that she teach him a lesson by leaving him for a while +she had turned a deaf ear. But now they came surging back and, in answer +to her call for a method of persuasion, clamored for recognition. Before +she had time to stifle them they had their way. "I mean just that, +Bill." There was silence as she thrust the words from her mouth. Bill +stood still, gazing steadily at her.</p> + +<p>She lowered her lids.</p> + +<p>Then he came closer and looked up under her eyes, in the hope that he +would find a relenting gleam there. But she turned away from him.</p> + +<p>"All right, mother—I'll go."</p> + +<p>Without another word he turned and walked toward the door. Mrs. Jones +took a quick step forward, then paused. "Where'll you go?" she asked, +half in surprise, half in defiance, for she had not believed that he +would accept her challenge.</p> + +<p>"Oh, 'most anywhere," he said, gaily, forcing a whistle, though his lips +quivered. "I'll be all right, mother."</p> + +<p>His wife stepped forward again, extending a staying hand, but her +resentment had her in its grip. Her hand fell back to her side.</p> + +<p>"Well," she called out to him as suddenly she turned from him and +hurried up the stairs, "I mean every word I've said! It's one thing or +the other! Either you make up your mind to sign this," and she tapped +the paper in her hand, "or I'm through with you!" Without a backward +glance—fearing, perhaps, that she might weaken—she disappeared along +the upper hallway.</p> + +<p>Bill took his hand from the door and came slowly back into the room. He +strolled to the California desk, pushed back his old hat, and stood +there with his hands in his pockets, thoughtfully. Of a sudden his +absent eyes lighted on the flask resting on the desk, where Mrs. Jones +had put it down. Bill stroked his stubbled chin and gazed at the flask. +It seemed to suggest an idea to him. Satisfying himself that there was +no one around at the moment, he strolled to the door, poked his head +out, and gave a peculiar whistle; then he walked back to the desk and +leaned against it, waiting.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Zeb's unkempt visage silently framed itself in the +softly opened door. Lightnin' jerked his head as a sign to enter. +Stealthily, with many a wary glance to right and left, his disreputable +partner of the past eased himself across the lobby and stood before +Bill, childlike, trustful inquiry in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's the idee, Lightnin'?" he rumbled, puffing at the frayed remains +of a cigar.</p> + +<p>With a gesture of calm triumph Bill pointed to the flask on the desk.</p> + +<p>"I said I had it, Zeb," he remarked, in the tone one uses when +confronting and confounding a skeptic with ocular proof, "an' there it +is!"</p> + +<p>"Why, so it be!" said Zeb, reaching out for the prize.</p> + +<p>But Lightnin' stopped him. "Hold on a minute, partner. The evidence +ain't to be absorbed just yet. In fact, brother, we better keep it +intact for future use, 'cause you're goin' on a long journey, Zeb. You +an' me is goin' to hit the trail again, old-timer!"</p> + +<p>"Gosh! You mean it, Lightnin'?" Zeb showed almost human delight and +anticipation. "But for why? You had a row with your old woman?"</p> + +<p>"Nope," Bill replied. "Can't call it that, exactly. You needn't worry +them brains o' yours about why we're goin', Zeb. It's just that I got a +notion to teach some people 'round here a lesson, an'—an' maybe I can +bring poor mother to her senses," he added, gently.</p> + +<p>"When we goin'?" Zeb questioned, his eyes on the flask.</p> + +<p>"Right away—this here minute, in fact," said Bill.</p> + +<p>Zeb looked at him dazedly. "Just as we is? Where 're we hittin' fer?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't telling that just yet," said Bill, slowly. "Where we are goin' +is a secret."</p> + +<p>"Oh," Zeb answered, with a nod of wisdom. "I—see. You ain't tellin' 'em +you be goin'—not even your old woman, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Them brains o' yours is pickin' up a bit, ain't they, Zeb?" Bill +commented, with encouraging approval. "Well, you hit it, all right! +Nope, we ain't tellin' nobody. We're goin' to kinder disappear +completely for a pretty good space. Mother ain't to be able to locate me +a-tall. There's some others as 'll likely find out, but I ain't worryin' +about them—they want to get rid o' me, an' they ain't likely to exhaust +themselves any tryin' to find me. I got a object, Zeb. It ain't none o' +your business what that object is—by which I merely mean to say, +old-timer, that you wouldn't have no particular interest in it. Come +on—let's get out now, afore they begins to gather 'round me again!"</p> + +<p>Picking up the flask and sliding it into his coat pocket, Lightnin' +walked away toward the door. Nodding wisely, Zeb followed, eyes +hopefully on the pleasant bulge in his old partner's coat.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + +<p>"Well!" Millie, appearing with a tray of late supper to take up-stairs +to one of the guests' rooms along about ten o'clock that evening, almost +ran into Marvin, who had returned to the hotel in the hope of seeing +Bill and giving him the full reason for his not being a party to the +sale of the place. The lights in the lobby were turned low and he had +managed to evade the sheriff, who was sitting in his buck-board outside, +waiting for Lemuel Townsend, who was to return to Reno with him.</p> + +<p>Millie's exclamation, because of her surprise in seeing Marvin again, +escaped her in pleasant tones, but her memory asserted itself and the +smile rapidly faded from her face and she gave a haughty toss of her +head, saying, as he stepped in front of her when she started for the +stairs, "Will you please let me pass?"</p> + +<p>But Marvin had wanted to see her quite as much as he did Bill, the +impression she had given him of her liking for Thomas having cut deeper +than the events of the earlier part of the day had given him time to +realize. Ignoring her request, he removed his hat and said, as he +searched her eyes for some play of the old light that had often +gladdened his heart in the days when they were together in Thomas's +office in San Francisco, "I suppose you are surprised to find me here +still?"</p> + +<p>Millie swayed toward the Nevada desk, depositing her tray upon it. She +faced him, her eyes flashing, her cheeks flushed. Her first impulse was +not to answer him. She could not understand his interference in the +matter of the deed. Neither did she believe one word he had uttered +against Hammond and Thomas. On the contrary, Thomas's apparent interest +in her and her mother and his constant flattery and attentions had +attained their end. She believed in him implicitly and therefore had +given credence to every word he had said against Marvin. Nevertheless, +the charge that he was not honest could not quite overcome the +quickening of her interest which had manifested itself lately in a heart +that ran far ahead of itself at his approach.</p> + +<p>After a silence in which she stared at him steadily, his eyes answering +hers with an unflinching candor mixed with a vague wistfulness, she +answered him. "I don't think anything you could do would surprise me, +after all that has happened to-day and all that I've been told about +you."</p> + +<p>"Millie!" Marvin awkwardly rolled his hat in his hands, while his speech +faltered. "I've been waiting around here now for two hours in the hope +that I could explain to you why I wanted to stop that sale. And I cannot +bear to have you believe that I am a thief and—"</p> + +<p>Millie was touched by his attitude. Her hand left her hip and started +toward his arm in friendly contact. But again returned the whole picture +of the afternoon's events and she coolly turned from him and went to +take up her tray again.</p> + +<p>"Will you please let me pass?" she asked a second time, as he tried to +prevail upon her by taking the tray from her and setting it down again. +"I wish to have nothing to say to you. I do not believe your excuses. +Mr. Thomas is the best friend I have in the world. I won't listen to a +word against him, and I am sure he is too fine a gentleman to say +anything about any one unless he were sure that it was true." As she +came to the last words she swallowed to keep back the tears, for +although they were uttered in perfect faith, her words burned into her +own heart with as much bitterness as they were directed toward Marvin.</p> + +<p>He was too filled with his mission and too sure that Millie's interest +in him was gone to notice the catch in her voice or to attribute it to +any sense of affection for him, had he noticed it. He took her hands in +his and shook them gently in an endeavor to get her to look into his +eyes again. "Millie, please listen to me! I know what I'm talking about +when I say that Mrs. Jones is being cheated and robbed—"</p> + +<p>She broke away from him, and stood glaring at him, as she stamped her +foot. "Don't you dare to say another word about Raymond Thomas to me! +Anyway, it is none of your business if he is cheating us!"</p> + +<p>"Millie, Millie." Marvin's voice was full of pleading as he persisted, +going close to her again and shaking his head sadly. "Why do you allow +yourself to be taken in this way? Don't you know that the only reason I +am concerned is because I care—Oh, well." He turned away with a sigh +and went over to the Nevada desk and took up the tray. "I won't say any +more. Will you let me carry the tray up-stairs for you? I'll go then, +and you won't be bothered with me any more."</p> + +<p>The glare in her eyes melted and she made a gesture as if she would +call him to her side again. But she could not forget so easily, and she +said, without turning to look at him, in tones less sharp, "Why didn't +you tell me before that you suspected him?"</p> + +<p>"How could I? You told me how much you thought of Raymond Thomas. I +hadn't realized that before—" He put the tray down and came to her side +once more.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say," Millie was again angered, "that I told you I loved +Mr. Thomas?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I understood," Marvin replied.</p> + +<p>The two stood there, Millie glancing at him in contempt, while his whole +heart went out to her from his eyes.</p> + +<p>He was the first to break the silence. Almost touching her hand with +his, he said, softly, "You mean you don't love him?"</p> + +<p>Millie snatched her hand away and went back to the desk. "You're always +wrong! I told you he was my best friend and he is. I never said I loved +him."</p> + +<p>If Marvin had not been attracted by the arabesque of the faded +rose-garlanded rug at that moment, he would have found some solace in +the lowered lids and half-smile which Millie vouchsafed him. But he did +not see it. Slowly he followed her back to the desk, this time standing +aside as she made her way toward the stairs. "Well, say it now—I +mean"—he hesitated, embarrassed, then went on—"I mean—say you don't +care for him. And then if you'll only give me time I'll find out what +their game is."</p> + +<p>Millie stood at the newel-post, steadying the tray against it. Looking +down at him, the hard gleam returned to her eyes as she replied, +emphatically: "Oh, I don't want you to find out anything about it! I +know you're mistaken and you're not going to prevent mother's selling +the place, because it's already sold. As soon as daddy's name is signed +to it we get the money."</p> + +<p>"Well, you sha'n't have that, Millie." Marvin swung his hat against the +post without looking up at her. Through the window he traced the +moonbeams as they filtered through the pines outside. Above the hoot of +an owl the swish of the lake came in to them. They both stood there, +gazing out to where so few weeks ago they had walked in the happiness of +an unconscious awakening.</p> + +<p>It was within Millie's heart to relax as she saw him sigh. From above +just then came the sound of Mrs. Jones's voice. It brought back her +concern for the tired woman above-stairs. With it returned her anger at +Marvin. "You're trying to prevent this sale just to hurt Mr. Thomas in +my eyes!" she snapped.</p> + +<p>He turned and met her with the question, "Thomas told you that, didn't +he?"</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>"Just the same, Millie," and here Marvin mounted the step and stood +close to her as he looked squarely in her eyes, "I'll never let Bill +sign that deed. Some day you'll thank me for it."</p> + +<p>This was more than her patience could stand. In her anger she almost +dropped the tray, but she managed to hold it taut against the balustrade +as she frowned at him and stamped her foot.</p> + +<p>"Thank you?" she asked, in no gentle voice. "I shall always hate and +despise you for it. Always! I hope I shall never see you again, and if I +do I shall never notice you—nor speak to you the longest day I live!" +Exhausted with her temper, she turned to mount the stairs, when she +looked out toward the veranda and saw a figure slowly and stealthily +coming up the steps. She recognized it at once and shrieked out, just as +the sheriff entered the door, "John, look out!"</p> + +<p>But Marvin had been watching her, and the fear in her eyes as she saw +Blodgett had been warning enough for him. He gave three quick skips to +the other side of the lobby, making mock obeisance toward her, laughter +in his voice because of her betrayal of her solicitude in spite of all +that she had said.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Miss Buckley," he called as he went up the California stairs +to the hall above, just as the sheriff had reached out for him, "thank +you, Miss Buckley! I shall be grateful to you—always!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + + +<p>Bill's disappearance brought quick changes to the little hotel at +Calivada. His ready acceptance of Mrs. Jones's alternative was a +complete surprise, and it was several days before she and Millie +realized that he had taken her at her word. Even then they thought he +had gone off on one of his temporary jaunts in the hills. When the days +grew into a fortnight and he did not return they instituted a search +among the near-by villages and mining-camps. Everett Hammond and Raymond +Thomas were solicitous aids in the inquiry, not for the two women they +were defrauding, nor because they felt any concern for Bill's welfare. +Rather was their full attention turned toward securing a deed which the +Pacific Railroad would consider law-proof. Had the property been +entirely within the state of Nevada, Bill's signature would not have +been imperative, but the California laws regarding the sale of property +were evadable by numerous small technicalities, and shrewd counsel +demanded that bona-fide deeds must appear as freewill transfers from +both the husband and wife. It was for this reason that Bill's +disappearance was a matter of deep satisfaction to both Hammond and +Thomas. They had begun to despair of his putting his name to the deed. +Now, should he not return within six months, they evolved a new scheme +and one which would be law-proof if it could be carried through.</p> + +<p>If Mrs. Jones could be persuaded into a divorce, and the decree obtained +with full rights to the property, the deed would be legal without Bill's +name. It was for this reason that Hammond and Thomas put themselves at +Mrs. Jones's service and did everything in their power to discover +Bill's whereabouts. It was several weeks before they traced him to +Sacramento and from there to the veterans' home at Yountville. By this +time Mrs. Jones was quite beside herself, for, in spite of Bill's +shiftlessness, which was quite enough to wear away the patience of the +average woman, she felt a deep affection for the generous-hearted, +whimsical old creature and his companionship through fifteen years, and +at a time when her father's death had left her desolate had relieved the +monotony of a life which had had little else but hard work. Millie, too, +missed her foster-father, whose frequent sallies kept humor alive when +work and poverty pressed hard. In reverent and grateful memory she held +the thought of his care for her when she had been left a waif by her own +father's death. And so, together, Millie and Mrs. Jones pressed Thomas +for news of Bill.</p> + +<p>He knew that if they learned his whereabouts they would not rest until +they had brought him home again. Mrs. Jones's persistent melancholy +since Bill's departure told Thomas that in order to get Bill back, the +deed itself would be abrogated by her, should that be one of his +conditions of return. Therefore both he and Hammond determined that they +would not let the two women know of Bill's whereabouts. Instead, they +said they had traced him as far as Placerville, known to old-timers as +the Hangtown of the gold days, and that from there he had taken the +trail up over the Georgetown Divide, where he said he was going to find +work in the mines. Search throughout the entire district, Hammond and +Thomas informed her, had failed to locate him, and they assured her and +Millie that inquiry should be kept up until he was found.</p> + +<p>Winter came, bringing with it no news from Bill, and Mrs. Jones settled +into a melancholy resignation wherein she seldom smiled and where she +spent most of her time in the rocking-chair by the front window, gazing +down the path up which Bill had usually zigzagged his recalcitrant way. +Thomas was quick to recognize her symptoms and he resolved upon his +master-stroke.</p> + +<p>One day toward the end of March when a heavy storm had blown up from the +lake and the entire forest was torn and twisted by a wind in high and +angry mood, Mrs. Jones sat crying in front of the window, wondering +where Bill was and beset with the fear that some place beyond the ridge +in that vast ocean of mountain billows Bill might be homeless and cold +and without food. A sudden gust shook the hillside, bringing down a +grizzled pine that had stood close to the house. The crash of its +falling resounded down the slope and Mrs. Jones, keyed to high pitch by +her vigil of three months, was brought to a sudden burst of despair just +as Thomas, who had come to Calivada to superintend the wiring of the +house which was now to be put on modern basis, came down the stairs. It +was his chance and he took it.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Jones!" There was a surcharge of pity in his voice as he glided +across the room and stood over her chair, placing a gentle hand upon +her shoulder. "I hate to see you upset. We've done everything in our +power to find Mr. Jones and we will leave no stone unturned until we +succeed. In the mean time you must think of yourself and Millie."</p> + +<p>"It was thinking of myself and Millie that drove him out of his home." +Mrs. Jones buried her head on her hand and leaned against the +window-sill. The wind, with renewed shock, beat the sleet against the +window-pane. "He may be out this minute wandering the hills with no +place to go," she sobbed, "and he ain't young no more, neither.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I thought all along," she went on, "that by selling the +place I could take care of him in his old age, and now he ain't here and +the place can't be sold."</p> + +<p>"The place can be sold, Mrs. Jones, and you will then have enough money +to institute a real search for Mr. Jones." Thomas's emphasis of the +possibility of a sale without Bill's signature relaxed Mrs. Jones's mood +and she sat up straight in her chair, lifting questioning eyes toward +him.</p> + +<p>"There is a way." He answered her unspoken inquiry with calm +deliberation, while he scrutinized her for the least sign of +encouragement or of antagonism as his plan unfolded. "It is a difficult +way and one which you may balk at pursuing, but it will justify itself +in the end."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what is it, Mr. Thomas?" Mrs. Jones's brown eyes widened and hope +returned to them as she smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her gingham +apron and folded her arms across her waist, rocking expectantly back and +forth. "I'd do 'most anything if I thought it'd bring Bill back," she +exclaimed, raising her voice to an enthusiastic pitch.</p> + +<p>Thomas brought an arm-chair from the center-table and sat down beside +her. Clasping his hands, he leaned forward, "You can get a divorce, +and—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I could never do that!" Mrs. Jones protested and stopped rocking as +she lifted up her hands in horror. "He 'ain't never done anything; and +besides—"</p> + +<p>"That's not the question." Thomas was quick to interrupt her flow of +excuses. "I know he has done nothing, Mrs. Jones. But as things stand at +present you have neither Bill nor the money for the place. You can't +give a clear title to the place while you are married to Mr. Jones +unless it bears his signature. You have not the money to find him. A +divorce will straighten all this out. You can sell the place for enough +money to find Bill. You can remarry him and you will both have a +comfortable old age."</p> + +<p>"Oh!!!" Mrs. Jones drew the word out with a long inflection of surprise, +and she shook her head in the wisdom of a new light. "I see what ye +mean." After a moment's abstraction in which she pondered Thomas's +suggestion, she continued, "Some way or 'nuther it don't seem straight +by Bill."</p> + +<p>"It's the only way I see to settle matters. But I sha'n't try to +persuade you against your will, Mrs. Jones." Thomas brought to bear on +the situation his finest modulations, both in voice and manner, as he +sat nonchalantly in his chair, one knee cocked over the other and his +foot swinging listlessly back and forth, portraying a personal +indifference which Mrs. Jones's simple mind could not penetrate.</p> + +<p>"It does seem a good way," she mused aloud, adding, in little spurts, +"but I guess—maybe—Well—I think I'll talk it over with Millie."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones did talk it over with Millie. Also, she had several prolonged +interviews with Thomas on the subject, and three days later she put her +name to the petition which asked for a divorce from Bill Jones without +so much as giving the document a thorough reading. Whatever Thomas +proposed was to her, by the very fact of its being his idea, a thing +worthy to be done. Millie, being of the same turn of mind, aided her in +accepting his decision. And it was only when the first publication of +summons appeared in the Reno papers that her heart sank at the words +which characterized Bill as a drunkard and a man who was cruel to his +wife—lies which Thomas justified as necessary to strengthen the one +truthful ground for the divorce—that of failure to provide. Even that +Mrs. Jones felt was beside the truth, for although Bill had never +exerted himself needlessly, he had performed the chores, gone after the +mail, made beds, and, by his gift to her on their marriage day of his +three hundred and twenty acres, which were far the better portion of the +property, he had made some slight concession to his responsibilities. +Bill's digressions had been those of omission rather than those of +commission, and Mrs. Jones's misgivings were frequent during the three +months that followed.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Thomas and Hammond were quick to inaugurate a new +regime at the hotel. Mrs. Jones and Millie remained on in the capacity +of guests, while a clerk and a housekeeper were brought from the city to +take over the management. Modern improvements and equipment soon turned +it into a hostelry that verged on the fashionable. With the early spring +freshet augmenting the waterfall and the stream into a cataract whose +potential horse-power did not escape Everett Hammond, he made a hurried +trip from San Francisco with an official of the Pacific Railroad and +succeeded in persuading the company to advance a comfortable sum of +money for an option on the Jones property. Mrs. Jones and Millie, +fretting under the suspense and without funds, were given a small amount +to tide them over until the sale should be consummated, when they were +to receive a large block of certificates in the Golden Gate Land +Company.</p> + +<p>All would have been well with Thomas, who saw life spreading before him +in a panorama of ease and elegance, had it not been for two +people—Lemuel Townsend and John Marvin. Lemuel Townsend had been placed +by the November elections on the list of Superior Court judges, where he +immediately came into his own as presiding judge in the majority of +divorce cases in Reno. Thomas, unable to withstand the rôle of popular +and irresistible Beau Brummell among the prospective divorcées at the +hotel, had run against Townsend's displeasure two days before the +election, when he had dared to play interloper in Lemuel Townsend's +attentions to Mrs. Margaret Davis. With Townsend, it had been love at +first sight. With Mrs. Davis it was something less, her only idea at +that time being a quick snatch at freedom and a hurried trip back to +Broadway, where she hoped to sign up for the summer circuit. Lem +Townsend did well enough to pass the time, and it was her own diversion +rather than any feeling for him which bade her accept his attentions. +Thomas on frequent trips had scattered his flatteries between Millie and +the various divorcées. Mrs. Davis came in for her full share and several +times there had been clashes between the two men, Thomas invariably +stepping aside, but only after verbal skirmishes with Townsend.</p> + +<p>Marvin had not been seen in the neighborhood since a few days after Bill +Jones had disappeared. He had returned to his cabin, after having +established himself in an office in San Francisco with the intention of +taking Bill back with him. During the days spent on the trails in search +of the old man he had successfully evaded Sheriff Blodgett and had gone +back to his office, where he had received a forwarded letter from Bill +at the veterans' home at Yountville. He had taken one trip to the home +with the purpose of persuading Bill to return with him to the city. But +when he saw how comfortable Bill was there in the hillside country, +surrounded by the old veterans who vied with one another in recounting +their past prowess, he decided to let him alone until such time as he +could effect a reconciliation between Bill and Mrs. Jones.</p> + +<p>This, he trusted, would be at the termination of the case brought +against him by the Pacific Railroad to recover the timber which he had +sold to Rodney Harper previous to the sale of his timber-land to the +Golden Gate Land Company by Mrs. Marvin. Then, too, he hoped the way +would be made straight for him and Millie, although he had half lost +hope under his realization of Thomas's superior eligibility.</p> + +<p>These things, known to the latter, destroyed his composure and made the +lapse between the filing of Mrs. Jones's divorce suit and the +termination of its three months' summons by publication, required by +law, a period of anxiety. He knew that if Marvin were vindicated before +Mrs. Jones could secure her divorce his whole framework would collapse, +as Millie and Mrs. Jones, straightforward as they were, would brook no +hint of dishonesty on his part. Once discovered as unworthy of trust, +their confidence in him would be broken and Marvin would be restored to +full standing, not only in Millie's affections, but in Mrs. Jones's +approval.</p> + +<p>In the latter part of March he took a hurried trip to Reno, where, in +conference with Blodgett, who had never been able to forgive Marvin's +evasion of arrest, maneuvers to have the two suits tried at the same +time sent him back to San Francisco rejoicing in the anticipation that +his days of discomfort would soon be over and he could return to his +own world again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + +<p>Mid-April came with its arabesquan days of sunlight and shadow and its +fragile broidery of new leaf and timid blossom. It was as if its coming +had stirred anew the life in Reno's divorce colony. All winter the +courts had been dull, most of the men and women seeking divorces +arriving in the early fall and biding their time of six months by +hibernating through the long, cold season. But now there was a renewed +activity in divorce circles. The court calendars were full and there was +a steady stream of gaily clad applicants making their way in and out of +the Washoe County court-house, going in with nervous, hasty, anxious +tread and coming out with a gait which spoke of a new freedom and a +smile that bespoke life as once again worth living.</p> + +<p>It was one morning just after the flux of spring divorces had begun that +Sheriff Blodgett stood looking over the calendar in Judge Lemuel +Townsend's court-room. He scowled as he read the words announcing that +the first case was that of the Railroad Company versus John Marvin. He +patted the warrant which still occupied the waiting list in his pocket. +Placing a chair close to the court-room door, he waited for the crowd to +begin to file in. He knew that he could not arrest a man in the +court-room, but he intended to keep his eye on the corridor, and to that +end had propped one of the doors open with a chair so that he could see +clear to the swinging doors that led in from the street. If Marvin put +in an appearance, he intended to arrest him at once. The thought gave +him satisfaction and he sat twirling his long, drooping mustache with +one hand and fondling the handcuffs in his coat pocket with the other. +Revenge at last would play its part to-day, for, even if Marvin failed +to appear and therefore balked him again, the railroad company would get +judgment, anyway.</p> + +<p>It was at this point in his reverie that Thomas entered the court-room, +greeting the sheriff with a genial, "Oh, hello there, Blodgett! I guess +our day's come."</p> + +<p>With a patronizing pat on Blodgett's shoulder, Thomas passed and went to +the clerk, where he procured a list of the day's cases. He, too, nodded +in satisfaction, as he saw that the Pacific Railroad case, in which he +was attorney, was to come up first. Running his finger down the line, he +stopped at another close to the end, smiled again, and turned to the +sheriff.</p> + +<p>"The Marvin case is first," he observed.</p> + +<p>The sheriff nodded and a frown slowly puckered his brow. He walked +slowly up to Thomas, who stood at the clerk's desk just within the +railing. He hesitated, clearing his throat, and found the courage to +ask, with a slight timidity in his voice and manner, "You ain't a-goin' +to bring up the old story of my serving the warrant at Calivada, are +you?"</p> + +<p>Thomas laughed. "No," he replied; "I don't think I'll have to go into +that. But I will ask you about the time you went to Marvin's camp."</p> + +<p>Blodgett heaved his shoulders in relief, and, with hands in his pockets, +went back to his station at the door. "That's all right!" He exhaled a +full breath once again.</p> + +<p>Thomas turned the leaves of the calendar, looked ahead for a day or two, +without noticing much that he saw, then turned the leaves back again to +the day's list. He went to the court-room window and looked out upon the +valley that ran from Reno up toward the foothills. He sniffed the keen, +cool air that was blown up to him. He stood contemplating the rushing +waters of the Truckee River below. After several minutes' thought he +faced Blodgett again.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to ask you what time you were at Marvin's camp, for I want to +show he was taking down the timber," he announced.</p> + +<p>"I didn't get out where the timber was," the sheriff replied.</p> + +<p>"But you know he had a gang of lumbermen there?" In Thomas's tone and in +the gleam on his cold, blue eyes the sheriff caught the message of +persuasion.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sure." He nodded with the air of a man who understood what was +wanted of him.</p> + +<p>"And they drove you off by force?"</p> + +<p>Blodgett nodded again.</p> + +<p>"And you remember the date?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I won't fergit it." There was emphasis in Blodgett's answer and +he arose impatiently from his chair and stood, his arms akimbo, peering +down the corridor. "Do you think Marvin'll be here to-day?" This time he +was interlocutor. "I got a notion he won't," he added, fathering his +disappointment by admitting the possibility of frustration in the one +desire that had held him ever since Marvin had foiled him by the +technicality of the state boundary-line. He was bound, however, that +there should be no opportunity for escape this time.</p> + +<p>"I don't care whether he turns up or not," Thomas answered, going to the +lawyers' table, opening his brief-case, and setting them out before him +as he swung gracefully into a chair. "The case is a cinch," he +emphasized, with a grin that found reflection in Blodgett's eyes.</p> + +<p>With a warning to the clerk to keep an eye on things until he should +return, Blodgett left the court-room and swaggered up the corridor, +stopping at the door of the other rooms and taking a frowning survey of +the occupants, hoping that Marvin had entered one of them by mistake. If +John Marvin was in Reno he was not going to escape arrest this day. With +this comforting conclusion in mind, he took up his stand just outside of +the court-house door at the top of the steps.</p> + +<p>In the mean time Everett Hammond, escorting Mrs. Jones and Millie +Buckley, entered Judge Townsend's court-room and were greeted effusively +by Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Oh, good morning!" He bowed low over Mrs. Jones's hand, which he held +in his. "I'm glad to see you." Staring at Millie, who looked very +fetching in a trim blue serge tailor suit, he beamed. "How fine you look +this morning; quite irresistible, I assure you!"</p> + +<p>Millie blushed and looked with frightened glance from the judge's bench +to the lawyers' table, and from there to the witness-stand and back +toward the door, for all the world as if she were contemplating a rapid +escape. She took a deep breath. "I don't feel irresistible," she said. +"I feel just as if I wanted to cry and run away." She pouted at Thomas, +with entreaty in her pretty eyes.</p> + +<p>Thomas laughed, put his hand on her arm in deprecation, and shrugged her +fears away. "Oh, the trial won't amount to anything, little lady. What +do you say to that, Mrs. Jones?"</p> + +<p>The older woman's brown eyes were staring straight ahead, as if she saw +a real horror and was without power to controvert it. "All I can say," +she replied, in a high-pitched, high-strung voice, "is that I'm here." +She waited for a moment, casting furtive glances at Hammond and Thomas, +who stood one on each side of her. Having found the courage to assert +herself, she burst out, "And I wish I wasn't!"</p> + +<p>"Now, now, Mrs. Jones!" There was banter in Hammond's voice, but there +was concern in the wise direction of his eyes toward Thomas. "You're a +mighty brave woman and I know you're going through with this, for it +means that you'll be in a much better position to find your husband and +look out for your old age after you get the money for the place."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones made no response, but cast anxious eyes about the room, and +she folded her hands in resignation across her ample waist-line.</p> + +<p>"It's like going to the dentist. The worst part is making up your mind +to it." Thomas leaned over Mrs. Jones and smiled his most engaging +smile. He received no answer to it, so he turned to Millie, who stood at +the other side of him.</p> + +<p>Before he could speak, the girl rid herself of the question that had +been ever present in her mind now for six months, and one which she had +never failed to ask him every time she saw him or wrote to him.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard anything of daddy?"</p> + +<p>Thomas's smile disappeared. He left the little group of four in the +middle of the space inside of the rails and sat down again at the table, +annoyance in the slump with which he threw himself into his chair. "No, +we haven't been able to locate him." He would have been sullen had he +dared, but his game was too nearly played and he did not wish to foozle +at the last, so he controlled his mood and forced a smile as he thought +of a method of getting away from his client's importunity for awhile.</p> + +<p>"It must be distasteful for you two women to remain in here any longer +than possible," he said, rising from his chair again and pointing to a +door at one side of the court-room. "Lennon," he called to the clerk, +"my clients can wait in there, can't they?"</p> + +<p>The clerk acquiescing, he and Hammond courteously escorted Mrs. Jones +and Millie to the door and showed them into a small room which had been +fitted up for hysterical women overcome with the proceeding in their +cases, or for those who, like Mrs. Jones and Millie, wished to avoid the +embarrassment of a long wait in the court-room.</p> + +<p>As the two women went through the door, Thomas turned to Hammond and +advised, in a low voice: "You better go, too, Hammond. Keep them +cheered up."</p> + +<p>With bad grace in his shrug and in his eyes, he followed Thomas's +suggestion, first murmuring in his partner's ear: "I'll be damn glad +when this day is over. All I've been doing this last week is to keep +these darned women from backing out."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + + +<p>By this time the court-room was filling up with its usual motley crowd +of interested parties and spectators. There were the seekers after +freedom, a heterogeneous collection of them, in all sorts and conditions +of clothes, of all ages and of all kinds of faces and figures. There +were the women from the millionaire colonies of the East, chic, sleek, +and composed. They retired into a far corner with their attorneys, +conferring in low tones, or else sitting, apparently unperturbed, while +waiting for their cases to be called. There were always the adventuress +types, chic, too, but made up with an eye to future conquest, their +skirts always tighter or wider or shorter or longer than the style +decreed, their hair a little more so-so, their lips redder, their cheeks +rosier, and their faces whiter than their more conservative sisters of a +narrower way. There were tired women from far states not allowing +divorces for cruelty or desertion. They sat, in nondescript clothes, +most of them, with eyes heavy-lidded, as if they were too weary to care +much what happened to them. There were gay young creatures, dancers and +small-time vaudeville actresses, who refused to take life seriously and +who availed themselves of a dull season to make themselves free for +another venture. There was a sprinkling of men, one of them a lumber +magnate from an Eastern state, another a noted cabaret entertainer. They +sat around, restlessly out of place, but at the same time taking an +interest in those about them.</p> + +<p>Supplementing these were the spectators. Among them were tourists who +came to Reno for the express purpose of attending the divorce trials. +Inquisitive folk, regular residents of the town, dropped in to pass an +hour's time and to gather gossip for the afternoon tea-table. +Club-women, anxious to find food for reform, took up their seats close +to the railing, determined that no word of the testimony or proceedings +should escape them. And there were the usual hangers-on, old men and +women with nothing to do, who found entertainment in listening to the +human dramas unfolded from the witness-stand.</p> + +<p>Raymond Thomas, before taking his seat at the lawyers' table, took a +comprehensive view of his audience. Lifting the skirt of his frock-coat, +he sat down, viewing the world and himself complacently. He heard the +court-room door swing to, and, looking up, he saw the sheriff coming +toward him with Mrs. Margaret Davis by his side.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davis's six months' residence in Nevada had been established and +she had come over from Calivada, where she had become quite one of the +Jones family, to get her decree. She had expected to meet Mrs. Jones at +the Riverside Hotel, but she had been late and had hurried over, her +effort flushing her cheeks even beyond the heavy coat of peach-bloom +with which she hid the natural roses of her cheeks. She had been +scurrying like a chicken around the corridors when she had caught sight +of Sheriff Blodgett and importuned him to see her safely to a seat in +the court-room.</p> + +<p>As soon as she saw Thomas she dismissed the sheriff summarily, while +Thomas arose and went forward, opening the swinging gates that admitted +the lawyers and witnesses behind the railing. Their greeting was +effusive, and Thomas held Mrs. Davis's hand for a moment. She blushed +vigorously and simpered:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Thomas, my case comes up to-day, and I'm just worried sick +about it. Do you think I could see Lem—" she stopped, hung her head, +and looked coquettishly up at Thomas as she bit her lip, correcting +herself, "I mean Judge Townsend?"</p> + +<p>Thomas looked around to see if any one were listening. "I'm afraid you +can't see him just now," he replied, leading her to a chair just under +the judge's desk, which was set upon a high platform. "Is there anything +I can do?" he asked, in his smooth, bland voice.</p> + +<p>"I don't know." Mrs. Davis whined and twisted in her chair. "My lawyer's +sick. I telephoned his doctor, who was just as mean as could be and said +he couldn't come to court to-day. If I could only tell the judge—" She +gave Thomas a look laden with understanding.</p> + +<p>"There shouldn't be any trouble about that," laughed Thomas, dropping +easily into the chair beside her. "You can explain the circumstances to +the judge when your case is called, and—"</p> + +<p>"But I don't want it postponed! A court-room scares me just half to +death. I'll die if I have to put it off and go through screwing up my +courage again. I just will!" She nodded her head emphatically until the +bright blue plumes that fell from the back of her enormous picture-hat +threatened Thomas's eyes.</p> + +<p>He moved away from them, offering, after a moment's thought: "Well, I'll +be very glad to represent you if you care to have me. There's nothing to +your case, anyhow. The judge is a friend of yours, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davis hesitated and rolled her baby-blue eyes at him from under her +heavily beaded lashes as she giggled. "Oh yes—he's a friend," and then, +thinking better of her confidence, she ended, with a sigh, "that is, I +know him—slightly."</p> + +<p>Thomas smiled to himself, reassuring her. "Then don't give it a thought. +Just leave everything to me."</p> + +<p>A grateful hand was laid upon his arm and she looked up at him with +fervid admiration. "You are so smart and so kind, Mr. Thomas. You've +taken such a load off my mind. If anything went wrong after waiting all +these months I'd just die—that's all there is about it."</p> + +<p>At this moment the door of the judge's chambers opened and Lemuel +Townsend appeared, clad in a Prince Albert suit and beaming on Mrs. +Davis, who arose and walked well into the middle of the floor so that +she should not escape his immediate attention.</p> + +<p>This was a moment of great satisfaction for Thomas, who looked about the +court-room, scrutinizing every man in it, his face brightening as he saw +that John Marvin had not put in an appearance. When the sheriff had +finished opening court he arose from his place at the lawyers' table, +for he knew that the case of the railroad against John Marvin was the +first upon the day's calendar. He pulled his revers together with a +pompous gesture and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could do so +Judge Townsend called to the clerk, whose desk was at one side of the +bench, and suggested in low tones:</p> + +<p>"I think this first case can go over—"</p> + +<p>Thomas caught the words and disappointment drove the self-satisfaction +from his face. He ventured to address the court: "If it please your +Honor, this is an action for the wrongful taking of timber, and I've +come a long way and I would like to get home—"</p> + +<p>Townsend had not been listening to a word, his attention being +concentrated on the tip of an upstanding feather on Mrs. Davis's hat, +which could barely be seen over the top of his desk. "Eh? What's that?" +he asked, sharply, not too pleased to be interrupted in his endeavor to +catch further sight of Mrs. Davis.</p> + +<p>Marvin not having put in an appearance, Thomas's hopes of winning the +case for the railroad by default were high. He did not think Marvin +would appear, but every delay might be fatal and it took an effort on +his part to appear unperturbed. However, he managed to answer in urbane +tones, "I was saying, your Honor, that—"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes." Townsend bent his head and looked down with severe eyes over +the top of his glasses. "Just a moment, please," he added, as Thomas +would have finished his plea. Turning to the clerk, he ordered, "Let me +see the list."</p> + +<p>The list was handed to him and he ran down it, finally remarking to the +clerk, "I think I will dispose of these short cases first." Half rising +in his chair, he looked over the top of his desk to where Mrs. Davis was +twisting and turning in her chair in an effort to get a look at him.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Davis," he called in gentle tones, "are you ready?"</p> + +<p>She hurriedly precipitated herself into the middle of the space in front +of the platform. "Why, yes," she answered, looking about as if she did +not know where to turn and gathering her sealskin cape about her.</p> + +<p>"I'll take your case at two o'clock," the judge said to Thomas, who +shrugged his shoulders, but did not sit down as Townsend had expected +him to do.</p> + +<p>As the clerk called the case, "Davis <i>versus</i> Davis," Thomas moved close +to the bench, exclaiming, "If it please your Honor—"</p> + +<p>He was interrupted by a glower from Townsend, who said, "This case is +Davis <i>versus</i> Davis, Mr. Thomas," his eyes wrinkling into a broad smile +as he again turned his attention to Mrs. Davis, who stood, bewildered, +not knowing whether to laugh or cry.</p> + +<p>"I am quite aware that it is the Davis case, your Honor," Thomas +answered, not without a note of triumph in his voice and demeanor. "I am +the attorney for Mrs. Davis."</p> + +<p>Thomas's announcement shocked Townsend into dropping a document he held +in his hand. It fell on the desk and was blown by the strong east wind +that came in from the window clear across the room. "<i>You</i> are?" he +asked, with a mouth fallen half open from surprise and annoyance, his +spectacles tilting to the end of his nose.</p> + +<p>Thomas did not answer at once, but flushed, turning, for the sake of a +few moments in which to think, toward the clerk, who was scrambling +after the paper. His glance on its way back to the judge met that of +Blodgett, which had both a warning and an "I-told-you-so" quality in it.</p> + +<p>"Well?" The judge's question was drawn into a length which further +embarrassed Thomas. Being a young man of poise, however, he straightened +the revers of his coat and settled them with a shake upon his shoulder, +replying, graciously, "Mrs. Davis has appointed me in the place of Mr. +Adams."</p> + +<p>Townsend continued to stare most ungraciously at the young man in front +of him, but Thomas, unabashed, went on: "Your Honor, I believe, is +familiar with the complaint and has gone over the depositions submitted +by the plaintiff. As the defendant has neither entered a denial, put in +an appearance, nor been represented in court, I move that the plaintiff +be granted an absolute separation from the defendant."</p> + +<p>Swift shafts of indignation bolted from Townsend's eyes back and forth +between Thomas and Margaret Davis. He saw that consternation was plainly +written on the latter's baby face and that tears were gathering in her +big blue eyes now pleadingly uplifted to his. His jaw relaxed and a +smile played at the corners of his mouth. But Thomas' complacency at the +softening in the judge's attitude was too much, and Townsend snapped +out, "The motion is denied."</p> + +<p>From her chair directly in front of the judge's desk Margaret Davis +immediately jumped up, her eyes opening into large, round, moist orbs +which threatened to grow moister as she asked, in a voice that fear had +robbed of its ingenuousness, "Does that mean I can't get a divorce?"</p> + +<p>Thomas was about to reassure her, when he was again interrupted by the +judge, whose voice flattened as he looked away from her, afraid to trust +the melting effect of her coy glances. "It means that the motion of your +counsel is unusual and that I have good and sufficient reasons for +denying it," he said, with emphasis.</p> + +<p>Margaret put her handkerchief to her eyes to stem the threatening tide, +while Thomas hastened to forestall the avalanche by informing her, as he +placed a comforting hand on her arm, that he would be able, at least, to +try the case.</p> + +<p>Had Lem Townsend been able to prevent the latter, he would have done so, +but he was too young as a jurist to allow criticism of his knowledge of +points of law, and he reluctantly gave consent to the trial of the case.</p> + +<p>It was with a beating heart and a jaw set against the impending quiver +of a not too slender frame that she held up her hand for the oath and +took her place upon the stand, looking about with a terror that was new +born in eyes heretofore ungiven to everything but treacle. Her lips +trembled an almost inaudible reply to the clerk's question.</p> + +<p>She was still standing, and Thomas, noticing this, motioned her to be +seated, beginning at the same time her examination.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Davis, where do you live?" he asked. His own tones were of no +certain quality, for the firm pressure of Townsend's white lips and his +obvious intention of steering clear of any attempt at honeyed coercion +on Margaret Davis's part were not encouraging.</p> + +<p>In vain she cast her eyes about in an effort to inveigle the sympathy of +Lem Townsend. He stared straight ahead at the paper in front of him, +although he saw not a word. Her answer to Thomas's question came with a +gasp. "New York." Then realizing that her case was lost and her entire +six months' sojourn at Calivada was as nothing unless she immediately +corrected her mistake, she gasped a second time as she drew the folds of +her blue-velvet cape about her. "Oh no! I don't mean that at all. I live +here—I live here in Nevada and I've lived here long enough to get a +divorce. The judge—" and here she stopped for breath, making another +attempt to corral his stubborn favor—"his Honor—" she jerked, with a +quick breath, "can tell—you that."</p> + +<p>But the judge did not smile and his eyes remained rigid in their sockets +as they glared at the paper in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Just answer the questions, please, Mrs. Davis," Thomas cautioned her +pleasantly, although as a witness she was disconcerting.</p> + +<p>"Well," she drawled, fidgeting in her chair, "that's not easy when +you're sworn to tell the truth."</p> + +<p>A titter ran through the court-room and was brought to an abrupt end by +the sheriff's gavel.</p> + +<p>Thomas resumed his examination. "You are the wife of Gerald Davis, are +you not?"</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>"And when and where were you married to him?"</p> + +<p>"Seven years ago, October fifth—in Peoria." She glanced about at the +sea of smiling faces, again seeking sympathy from the judge.</p> + +<p>Again he was adamant.</p> + +<p>"You were living in Peoria?"</p> + +<p>The insinuation that anything less than a metropolis should be her +abiding-place was more than she could bear and in turbulent leaps, +broken by her gasps for breath, she blurted, her lips quivering and her +eyes filling with tears: "I should—say—not! My husband and I were +playing there. We were partners doing a dancing act—"</p> + +<p>Thomas tried to interrupt her and succeeded with half a question. "When +did your husband first show signs of not loving you and—"</p> + +<p>He got no farther, for she went on, determined to get over the +disagreeable business of being truthful. "He stopped loving me about a +year before we were married."</p> + +<p>This time a storm of laughter surged through the court-room and it took +several taps of Blodgett's gavel to regain quiet. Undaunted, she +finished her story. "It's really hard to explain why we were married. +You see"—she hesitated and resumed jerkily—"we were in Peoria—and we +were partners—and—and—it rained all week—Well, somehow it seemed a +good idea at the time."</p> + +<p>At this point it became necessary for Townsend, in order to maintain the +dignity of the bench, to caution the spectators that if there were any +more such outbursts of joy he would have the court-room cleared.</p> + +<p>Thomas still maintained his control, although cold perspiration was +wilting his highly polished collar. "But after you were married he was +cruel to you, was he not?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I should say he was!" The answer was accompanied by an emphatic nod of +the head and again she flew onward, over his head, determined that she +should tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.</p> + +<p>"Why," she opened her left hand and enumerated the said Gerald Davis's +shortcomings by pressing its fingers with the thumb and forefinger of +her right hand, "he put his name on the bill in larger type than mine. +He tried to strike me once—but he was a poor judge of distance. +And—and—" she stopped. This time her appeal was directed to Thomas.</p> + +<p>"He deserted you, did he not?" Thomas eagerly took up the thread, hoping +to unravel the snarl she had worked with it.</p> + +<p>"Well, we parted—"</p> + +<p>"After he deserted you?"</p> + +<p>Before Mrs. Davis could answer the last question, Townsend straightened +the spectacles on his nose and entered the case. Slowly welling within +him was a jealousy now overwhelming. His political ambitions alone had +stood in the way of his descending from the bench and throwing Thomas +out of the court-room. It was only by remaining silent that he had +curbed his temper. Now it broke away from him, and he turned, +thundering, "So far, Mr. Thomas, the witness has not testified that her +husband deserted her!"</p> + +<p>"Oh—" Margaret Davis turned squarely in her chair, pursing her carmine +lips into an irresistible moue. "Of course he deserted me! We were +playing in Chicago, and I went West and he stayed there and—"</p> + +<p>"That looks to me, madam, as if you deserted him. So far, your testimony +has not brought out anything to substantiate your complaint."</p> + +<p>Tears unrestrained burst forth at this moment. The thought that not only +had she lost all chance of securing her freedom, but that Lemuel +Townsend, whose attentions had helped to while away a six months which +would otherwise have been dull to one accustomed to a barrage of suitors +at the stage door, was more than she could bear. Pointing to Thomas, she +sobbed into a purple silk handkerchief that smelled not faintly of +patchouli. "That's because he told me to do nothing but answer his +questions, and then he asked me all the wrong things—" Her emotion, out +of bounds, spent itself in a cataract of tears. Unable to go on, she sat +there, trying to stem the tears with a handkerchief inadequate for their +volume.</p> + +<p>Thomas tried to save his case. "Your Honor—I—"</p> + +<p>He hesitated, Margaret Davis coming to his rescue. "Oh, I don't mean to +blame you," she said to him, addressing the last of her remark to the +judge. "He doesn't know anything about my case!"</p> + +<p>What Lemuel Townsend would have liked to do at that moment was to have +taken her in his arms and reassure her, as old fools are apt to do with +naïve young creatures. But her apparent friendliness with Thomas and her +deceitfulness in employing him for her attorney was more than he could +condone. He would not relax his stern exterior, although his interior +was softening. "Then, why," he asked, in measured tones, "is he +appearing for you if he does not understand your case?"</p> + +<p>Recognizing the opportunity for explanation, Margaret wiped her eyes, +sniffed, and, went on: "My lawyer's sick, you see. And I wanted to tell +you all about it, but Mr. Thomas explained that I couldn't see you. And +he said he'd do everything for me, and you'd give me a divorce without +any trouble at all."</p> + +<p>Thomas whitened and turned to the table, where he fingered his +brief-case nervously. He could not brave the glare which he knew +Townsend was directing at him, nor the tirade he feared would follow.</p> + +<p>"When did he tell you all that?" the judge asked, his nostrils quivering +with rage, his voice strained to a tenor.</p> + +<p>"Just now." Margaret grew happily voluble and she nodded her head back +and forth like a child of six as she ogled the judge. "When I came into +court he was here and I told him the trouble I was in. It's the only +time I've seen him since you asked me not to."</p> + +<p>Townsend was so relieved that he did not hear the last of her remark and +the noisy delight of the spectators also escaped him. He was bent upon +one purpose, that of chastising Thomas. "Why didn't you tell me this +before?" he asked Margaret, in tender tones, forgetting, in his ardor, +that there was such a thing as a court-room. He leaned far over the desk +and beamed upon her. "There, there, don't let it upset you." He offered +her a glass of water.</p> + +<p>As she took it, Thomas stepped up to the bench again and tried to +palliate the judge's wounded sensibilities. "If your Honor please, I +was simply acting from a friendly standpoint and I thought—"</p> + +<p>"No matter what your motives were, sir, you presumed when you told the +plaintiff what the court's rulings would be." He turned abruptly from +Thomas and leaned graciously toward the plaintiff. "Now, Mrs. Davis," he +resumed, "let me question you. Why did you leave your husband in +Chicago?"</p> + +<p>Reassured, Margaret bridled coyly and answered, lifting her lids to the +judge: "Because he didn't show up for a performance and I had to go on +alone—and afterward the manager told him the act was better without +him. And he sulked and stayed away from the theater all the rest of the +week and on our next jump he refused to go with me." Her last words +dwindled into a plaintive whine.</p> + +<p>"And you were obliged to go without him?" Lem Townsend subtly gave a +slight nod of his head which Margaret caught and interpreted into a +vigorous acquiescence with her own curly blond head.</p> + +<p>"Did you try to have him go with you?" Again the hint and again +Margaret scored her point.</p> + +<p>"Of course I did!" she responded. "I mean, yes—your Honor. But he said +he'd show me how long I could go it on my own; but I showed <i>him</i>, for +I've never seen him since. I only heard from him once and that was when +I sent him money."</p> + +<p>"Have you tried to see him?" Lem Townsend asked the last question +grudgingly, but he felt that his own honor in the case was in danger of +impeachment, and he was sure that his slight nod would be followed as it +had before. He was right.</p> + +<p>"Of course I did. Mr. Blackmore—he was our manager—gave me his sworn +statement."</p> + +<p>Townsend for the first time really saw the paper in front of him. He +read it carefully, answering in tones of quick delight. "Yes, here it is +and a deposition dated Chicago stating that Davis left you without +warning and refused to dance with you again."</p> + +<p>"Yes, your Honor," she cooed.</p> + +<p>There was silence while Townsend scrutinized the papers in front of him. +Margaret sat with her eyes anxiously fastened on him. With a nod of +satisfaction he shoved the papers aside and, smiling down at her, +announced in kindly tones, "Your decree is granted."</p> + +<p>"Your Honor!" She arose from her chair and sat down in it again, a +copious flow of tears making it impossible for her to leave the stand.</p> + +<p>Townsend reached for the glass of water and held it toward her once +again. "Please, please, Mrs. Davis," he endeavored to calm her, but his +compassion only served to bring on another storm. "I'm <i>so</i> emotional," +she sobbed, "I can't stop it!"</p> + +<p>Townsend looked about helplessly. A sudden awakening to his own +prerogative solved the dilemma. "Mr. Sheriff, announce a recess," he +ordered. And leaving the bench, he went to Mrs. Davis and guided her +into his chambers.</p> + +<p>The crowd filed out of the court-room, while Thomas, weak with shame and +disappointment, took his seat at the table again, impatiently toying +with a paper-knife that had fallen from his pin-seal brief-case.</p> + +<p>Blodgett went to him and leaned over with the intention of reassuring +him, when there was a disturbance at the window which opened from a +balcony a few feet above the street. Both of the men turned just in time +to see John Marvin climb through the window and pull his suit-case in +after him.</p> + +<p>The sheriff stepped forward, hesitating as he realized his powers were +negative in a court-room.</p> + +<p>"Here, what you doing?" the clerk called out, getting up from his desk.</p> + +<p>The sheriff glared and handled the manacles in his pocket with an +intemperate disgust.</p> + +<p>Marvin looked at him and laughed, answering the clerk. "I've got +business in this court. I'm John Marvin and I'm appearing in the case +the Pacific Railroad has brought against me." He did not deign to glance +at Thomas, who had arisen, facing him, white from the blow to his hope +of obtaining a judgment by default.</p> + +<p>Marvin went calmly to the other end of the attorneys' table and opened +up his shabby brown-canvas brief-case. He whistled to himself softly as +he did so and glanced at Thomas, whose pallid mouth was drawn into a +dogged sneer.</p> + +<p>Blodgett went back to his seat just within the swinging gates that gave +entrance behind the railing and sat glaring at Marvin. Quiet reigned in +the court; then a faint shuffle of feet was heard beyond the door.</p> + +<p>As Blodgett looked around, the door of the court-room opened gently and +Bill Jones, clad in a Civil War veteran's uniform, faded from the sun, +its brass buttons tarnished, and wearing his soldier's black soft hat +with its gold cord cocked jauntily over one eye, sauntered down the +aisle, holding out his hand to Marvin, who had jumped from his seat and +bounded around the table to greet him.</p> + +<p>"Hello, John!" Lightnin' drawled, grinning. "How's tricks? You look +kinder legal this morning?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + + +<p>As Bill made his way through the swinging gates, Blodgett put out a +detaining arm, asking, with a scowl, "Here, what do <i>you</i> want?"</p> + +<p>"Been arrestin' any one in California lately?" Bill slid past Blodgett, +ignoring his attempt to stop him, the old twinkle in his eye as he +touched what he knew to be the sheriff's sensitive spot.</p> + +<p>"Well, Lightnin'," Marvin exclaimed, "how did you get here and what in +the world have you come for?"</p> + +<p>"Yer case ain't over yet, is it?"</p> + +<p>Marvin shook his head, repeating his first question.</p> + +<p>Bill did not reply at once. Not wanting Marvin to know that he and Zeb +had been nearly two weeks getting there, and that they had come in much +the same way they had gone, riding when they could get a lift on a train +or a wagon, walking when they could not, he pretended to forget the +young man's questions, asking one himself instead, "What time your case +comin' up?"</p> + +<p>"Two o'clock."</p> + +<p>The sheriff sauntered up to them. Bill knew the purpose of his approach +was to catch the drift of their conversation, so he turned abruptly, +his hands in his back pockets, and grinned at Blodgett. Nodding toward +Marvin, he drawled, "I'm a witness for him. I got to testify how you +served a warrant on him."</p> + +<p>The sheriff glared and slouched over to his chair, throwing himself into +it as he pulled his black sombrero down over his eyes.</p> + +<p>Marvin, his arm about Bill's shoulders, leaned over him, guiding him +gently to the attorneys' table. "Well, Lightnin'," he questioned, in an +indulgent voice, "how did you happen to show up here?"</p> + +<p>"I promised you, didn't I?"</p> + +<p>"But that was a long time ago. I supposed you'd forgotten all about it."</p> + +<p>Bill glanced quickly at him and smiled. "I ain't never forgotten nothin' +since I was four years old."</p> + +<p>Marvin, happy to see the old Lightnin' behind the boast, smiled, asking +him, "How did you know the trial was to-day?"</p> + +<p>"That's easy," Bill replied, as he sat against the edge of the table, +steadying himself with his hands. "I seen it in a Reno paper at the +Home."</p> + +<p>"But I told you the time I came to see you that you needn't bother +about coming. I wouldn't have had you come all this long way for the +world if I had known it." There was concern in Marvin's voice as he +slowly dropped into a chair in front of Bill.</p> + +<p>"That's why I didn't say nothin'."</p> + +<p>"Where did the money come from?"</p> + +<p>"I saved my pension." Bill glanced slyly at him. Catching his +questioning eye, he stopped and looked through the window into the +distance.</p> + +<p>"You told me you sent your pension money to your wife!"</p> + +<p>"I did—some of it. I sent mother six dollars, but I didn't get no +answer." The laughter went from Bill and he leaned over, looking toward +the far hills, strange, unreal purple against the clear, cold blue of +the April sky.</p> + +<p>Marvin watched him, asking, "Did you tell her you were in the Soldiers' +Home?"</p> + +<p>"No." Bill's voice was devoid of inflection.</p> + +<p>"Then she probably didn't know where you were."</p> + +<p>"Where else could I be?" His lips were puckered into a whistle, although +they were quivering and no tune came. It was always this way when he +thought of mother, so he straightened himself and stood by Marvin's +chair, forcing a smile to his lips and jerking out, "And six dollars is +six dollars."</p> + +<p>The court-room was filling again, five minutes having elapsed since +recess was declared. A side door opened and Townsend came into court. +Blodgett stood up, pounded the desk with his gavel and announced the +opening of the session. Bill and Marvin, rising to order, started and +looked at each other as Thomas entered the room just behind the judge. +Following him was Everett Hammond, who, when he saw Bill and Marvin +together at the attorneys' table, began vigorous and anxious whispering +in Thomas's ear as he took his place next to him on the other side of +the table.</p> + +<p>Margaret Davis entered from the judge's chambers. She was accompanied by +Mrs. Jones and Millie.</p> + +<p>Bill did not see them. His eyes were fastened on Hammond and Thomas in +close conference.</p> + +<p>But suddenly, as he turned to take in the rest of the people in the +room, his eyes alighted on his wife. He arose and wandered toward her, +exclaiming, as she came to meet him, "Why, mother, what are you doing +here?" He stared at her and held out his hand.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones was so surprised to see him that she could not speak and +stood still, her hands in the air half-way between her waist and +shoulder.</p> + +<p>Millie was the first to answer him. "Oh, daddy—" She was going to put +her arms around him, when Blodgett rapped upon the table for order.</p> + +<p>Tears sprang to Mrs. Jones's eyes and Margaret Davis arose and led her +to a chair next to hers and just at the foot of the platform, from which +Townsend smiled happily upon them.</p> + +<p>"Come along, Mr. Clerk!" There was cheer in Townsend's voice as he +directed another saccharine shaft toward Margaret. "I've got an +important engagement and I want to get through. Call the next case."</p> + +<p>Bill, his eyes still on his wife, walked slowly to the table and sat +down just behind Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Jones <i>versus</i> Jones," read the clerk, standing at one side of the +platform and unfolding the document he held in his hand.</p> + +<p>Bill did not hear him. He was gazing at Mrs. Jones, an old tenderness +in his eyes, a bitter longing in his heart. Drifting, living only for +the hour, as was his nature, but one scar had remained unobliterated +upon his memory, one hope alone flickered in the lonely sanctuary of a +soul that had known no conflicts. His affection for his wife had been +something deeper than emotion, something lighter than passion. It had +been the lasting quantity in a life of fleeting concepts, and his six +months at the Home had subdued it into a dull ache which found relief +only when a faint optimism brought vague dreams of a remote reunion.</p> + +<p>Her presence in court puzzled him. He felt that it must have something +to do with the sale of the place, or, perhaps, with Marvin's case. And +yet he was sure she knew nothing of the transaction between Mrs. Marvin +and Thomas, or between Rodney Harper and Marvin. Whatever it was, it had +brought a ray of expectancy to Bill, and he jumped as he was brought out +of his reverie by Marvin's perplexed whisper: "Jones <i>versus</i> Jones. By +Jove, Lightnin', I believe that's you!"</p> + +<p>"Me?" Bill glanced around as if he were half awake and leaned far +forward in his chair, putting his hand to his ear and straining to catch +every word as the clerk read the complaint:</p> + +<p>"To the people of the State of Nevada, Mary Jones, Plaintiff <i>versus</i> +William Jones, Defendant. A civil action wherein the said plaintiff +deposes and says she was lawfully married to the said defendant on the +14th day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, in the state of +Nevada. The said plaintiff prays this court for a permanent annulment of +her marriage vows, the defendant, William Jones, having disregarded and +broken all obligations of the marriage contract, thereby causing the +plaintiff great suffering and mental agony and the said Mary Jones +claims a final separation and divorce from the said William Jones on the +grounds of failure to provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable +cruelty. Subscribed and sworn to me on the fifth day of April, nineteen +hundred and seventeen. Alexander Bradshaw, Notary: Raymond Thomas, +Attorney for the plaintiff."</p> + +<p>When the clerk had finished Bill sent a beseeching glance toward his +wife. Each word of the document had entered far into a mind little given +to taking account. One by one he had tolled off the record against him, +placing the accusations in two files—the true and the false. That his +wife had cause for anger against him he now, for the first time, fully +realized. But he was bewildered, and when Bill was bewildered it was his +habit to seek enlightenment.</p> + +<p>After a moment, in which Mrs. Jones darted swift glances from beneath a +brow bowed with regret, he turned to Marvin, who had arisen and was +standing back of his chair, bending over him, and asked, simply, "Is +that all about me?"</p> + +<p>Blodgett tapped his sheriff's gavel.</p> + +<p>Townsend caught Bill's question and asked, "What did you say?"</p> + +<p>Marvin, knowing that Bill was inadequate to the test placed upon him, +came quickly to the rescue. Standing in front of the judge, he +explained: "Your Honor, Mr. Jones is the unconscious defendant in this +case. It just happened that he came to court to-day to be a witness in +another case. He has had no previous knowledge of this action."</p> + +<p>Before he could go farther Raymond Thomas, upon whom the entire +situation was reacting in swift, powerful threats to his cause, arose, +his face drawn with the agony of frustration, his voice high pitched +from the effort to subdue the feelings fast getting beyond his control. +"The defendant's whereabouts were unknown to us, your Honor, and the +court allowed us to serve notice by publication."</p> + +<p>"Publication in what?" Marvin demanded, as he darted contempt at Thomas.</p> + +<p>Townsend answered him. "Proper service was given, if the defendant could +not be located." To Bill he addressed the next question, "Is that what +you asked about?"</p> + +<p>Still confused, and not yet quite getting the trend of the whole matter, +he asked, in his quiet, disinterested way, "Who, me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the judge. "You made some remark after the complaint was +read."</p> + +<p>"I wasn't sure I'd got it straight," Bill said, looking ahead of him, +mouth half open.</p> + +<p>"You mean the grounds on which the action is based?" the judge +persisted.</p> + +<p>There was a pause, in which Bill looked first at Thomas, whose lids +drooped under the old man's scrutiny, and then at his wife, who hung her +head. "I guess so," he jerked, drumming his fingers softly on the table.</p> + +<p>Townsend ordered the clerk to repeat that part of the complaint wherein +the grounds for the suit were mentioned. The clerk repeated, "Failure to +provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable cruelty."</p> + +<p>Bill listened attentively. As the clerk sat down, Bill looked up at the +judge, asking, "Is that all?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3> LIGHTNIN', IN HIS FADED G. A. R. UNIFORM ... LISTENED +ATTENTIVELY</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"Don't you think it's enough?" There was admonition in his manner, but +there was a certain gentleness in his voice and a smile of sympathy +lurked at the corners of his mouth. It was difficult for Lemuel +Townsend, who knew the lovable side of the careless old man, but he was +determined to maintain the dignity and the integrity of the law, and he +knew that he must remain unbiased, no matter how strong his feeling was +that here there had been sad tampering with truth and the finer essences +of happiness.</p> + +<p>His severity did not touch Bill. His sense of humor, always close to the +surface, asserted itself. A gleam that was half derision, half +amusement, lighted his eyes as he grinned up at the judge. "Sounded as +if there was more the first time."</p> + +<p>Marvin again stood before the judge. He knew that Bill had no one to +defend him and he had not felt the necessity of offering himself. He +just took it for granted that Bill would turn to him in the dilemma and +so he took the case in his hands. "I am counsel for the defendant, your +Honor," he said, "and he is entering a general denial."</p> + +<p>"Are you counsel for the defense?" Townsend's astonishment was evident +in his long-drawn inflection. He had not heard of Marvin's admission to +the bar. Neither had he seen the young man about lately, and the whole +situation puzzled him.</p> + +<p>Before Marvin could answer him, Bill was out of his seat, replying for +him, "Yes, sir, he is my lawyer."</p> + +<p>It was not the judge's way to admit himself baffled. Turning to Thomas, +he instructed him to call his witnesses.</p> + +<p>Marvin took a seat in front of Bill at the attorneys' table, while Bill +on the edge of his chair leaned forward expectantly, his eyes fastened +not on Thomas, but upon his wife, who sat with her head bowed and her +eyes staring into her lap.</p> + +<p>Thomas beckoned to Mrs. Jones, calling her name.</p> + +<p>As she arose, Hammond, who sat next to Thomas on the other side of the +table from Marvin and Bill, and who had appeared indifferent and bored +so far in the proceedings, jumped to his feet, dismay written on every +feature, and hastened to whisper in his partner's ear: "Are you crazy? +The most dangerous thing you can do, now that old Jones is in court, is +to call her to the stand."</p> + +<p>Thomas in his vaunted shrewdness had overlooked this possibility, but +now that Hammond mentioned it to him he saw what disastrous +complications Mrs. Jones's presence on the witness-stand might lead to. +Nodding in answer to Hammond's counsel, he again turned to Mrs. Jones, +saying, "I don't think it will be necessary for you to testify at all, +Mrs. Jones." As she sat down, he smiled at Millie, addressing her, "Miss +Buckley, will you take the stand, please?"</p> + +<p>Millie had not expected to be called, and as she arose at his summons +her face flushed with embarrassment. She stood still momentarily and her +eyes met Marvin's for the first time since he had appeared in court. +With an angry flash they quickly sought the witness-chair, and, although +trembling at the ordeal before her, she made an effort to trip lightly +to the stand. As she took her place and was sworn in by the clerk her +replies were scarcely audible. Casting frightened glances up through her +long lashes at Thomas, she was reassured by a smile. After the +preliminary examination as to her adoption by Bill and Mrs. Jones and +her residence with them since she was three years old, he began upon the +intimate questions which he hoped would weave a web of incriminating +evidence against Bill, evidence which would redound to his justification +in the part he had played in bringing about the divorce.</p> + +<p>"Miss Buckley," he asked, pulling nervously at his cuffs and bringing +them down two or three inches below his sleeves, "Mrs. Jones has toiled +early and late to provide for the family ever since you can remember, +has she not?"</p> + +<p>Millie nodded, gazing anxiously at Bill, who, far forward on his chair, +was drinking in every word she said. There was a pitiful accusation +behind the sadness in the eyes with which he returned her gaze.</p> + +<p>As Thomas continued she, like her mother, concentrated her attention on +her hands folded tight in her lap.</p> + +<p>"Why did you leave home three years ago, Miss Buckley?"</p> + +<p>"To earn my living, of course," was the reply, in low, reluctant tones.</p> + +<p>"What did you do with your wages?"</p> + +<p>Millie hesitated. After taking out barely enough to live on in meager +fashion she had sent most of the remainder home, not because either Mrs. +Jones or Bill had asked for help, but because she knew how difficult was +their living during the long winter months when their only source of +income was Bill's pension and the few mountain people who dropped in +when passing back and forth and remain overnight and for a meal or so. +Had she known that she was to be called as a witness she might even have +refused to accompany Mrs. Jones to court, for Bill's derelictions could +never outweigh the knowledge that it was he who had saved her from an +orphanage. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but even this did not +keep back her tears at the thought that her answer might be the betrayal +of the old man who had been a father to her through all the years.</p> + +<p>Thomas saw her disinclination and understood the condition of mind which +prompted it. He knew he must call his persuasive powers to his aid, so +he went very close to the witness-stand, and, leaning over her, spoke +in his softest tones.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to have to ask these questions, Miss Buckley, because I know +how you dread to testify in this case, but it is unavoidable. Will you +answer my question? You sent the greater part of your wages home, did +you not?" He spoke as if he, too, were distressed.</p> + +<p>Millie, falling into the trap, sighed, "Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And you really left home to earn money in order to help support the +Jones family, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>Again, overcome by the complications of the situation in which she found +herself, she was unable to answer except with a reluctant nod.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see Mrs. Jones's husband drunk?"</p> + +<p>As Thomas asked this question he looked toward Bill. Millie did not +answer. The tears gathered in her eyes and she wiped them away, burying +her face in the handkerchief she held in one of her hands.</p> + +<p>Thomas insisted. "You have seen him in that condition hundreds of +times, have you not?"</p> + +<p>There was a malicious note in his voice this time, as well as in the +look he directed at the old man at the table.</p> + +<p>Millie caught it, and a slight antagonism crept into her voice as she +straightened in her chair, answering, in surprise, "Why, I never +counted."</p> + +<p>Thomas was deriving a long-desired satisfaction in his prodding of Bill, +and it threatened his shrewder self-control. "But he was in the habit of +coming home drunk, wasn't he?" There was real glee in the question, but +it escaped Millie this time. With a beseeching glance at Thomas, and one +which pleaded for forgiveness toward Bill, she said, slowly, +"Sometimes."</p> + +<p>"And because of the poverty brought about by those bad habits you were +obliged to leave—"</p> + +<p>Here Millie broke in. Forgetting her embarrassment and the crowded +court-room in the realization that words were being put into her mouth, +words which fell far short of the truth, she burst out, indignantly: +"Why, I never said any such thing! I went away to work because there was +no opportunity in Calivada to earn any money, and I thought as long as I +was going at all I might just as well go to San Francisco where I could +make a salary large enough to take care of myself and to help Mr. and +Mrs. Jones, who have been very good to me."</p> + +<p>Thomas saw that he had overstepped himself and he groped in his mind for +new questions, until a scowl from Hammond reminded him that it might be +better to stop rather than to bring out evidence which might turn +against them and in favor of Bill. So he dismissed Millie from the +stand.</p> + +<p>She stood up while Thomas took his place next to Hammond at the table. +But Marvin, after a few whispered words with Bill, took Thomas's place +by the witness-chair, holding up a detaining hand and calling, "Miss +Buckley!"</p> + +<p>Millie glared at him, blushed deeply, and walked off the stand. She had +not been able to forgive him for his advice to Bill and still held him +responsible for Bill's leaving home, as she had felt that if Bill had +not been prejudiced against Thomas and Hammond the place would have been +sold and they would have all been living together in comfort.</p> + +<p>But she did not get very far. As she left the platform Townsend motioned +her to return and, submerging his personal friendship for her beneath +his judicial duties he exclaimed, severely:</p> + +<p>"One moment, Miss Buckley. The counsel for the defense has asked you a +question."</p> + +<p>Millie turned her back on Marvin as she dropped into the chair again. A +smile played on Marvin's lips, but it was a rueful one. To come thus +face to face with her in a situation where he was compelled to be her +antagonist in order to see that justice was done to his old friend was +not a happy ordeal for him.</p> + +<p>Townsend knew what was going on between the young people and he felt +keenly for them, but it was a part of him to hold to his duty always and +not to his own personal biases. His severity did not relax even when +Millie pouted: "I don't want to answer <i>his</i> questions! Must I?"</p> + +<p>The people in the court-room, interested and amused at the unusual +dénouement, went into a peal of laughter which received swift check from +the sheriff's gavel. She flushed violently and obeyed Judge Townsend's +admonishment that she must answer all of Marvin's questions.</p> + +<p>Marvin's first inquiry did not tend to make things any easier for her.</p> + +<p>"Who employed you as a stenographer?" he asked. His back was turned to +Thomas, but he could feel the latter shifting in his chair.</p> + +<p>Finding no mercy in Townsend's manner, she succumbed to the inevitable, +snapping, with a toss of her head, "Mr. Thomas!"</p> + +<p>"<i>This</i> Mr. Thomas?" Marvin asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Millie. There had been nothing in her heart but deepest +misery and shame at having to testify against Bill during her +examination by Thomas. Now she was fired by a resentment against Marvin, +Bill being forced out of the equation. Her answers came in a swift +defiance that bespoke a determination to make it as difficult for him as +possible. Marvin, seeing at once that she and Mrs. Jones were still +plastic in the hands of Thomas and Hammond, was tempted into battle.</p> + +<p>"Did Mr. Thomas," he asked, "give you this position because you told him +you wanted to be of financial assistance to the Jones family?"</p> + +<p>Millie opened her mouth to reply, but Thomas was on his feet at once, +objecting to the question.</p> + +<p>Facing the judge, Marvin ignored Thomas, saying, "I am quite willing to +withdraw it if it is found objectionable, your Honor."</p> + +<p>Thomas stepped quickly to Marvin's side. He was a few inches the taller +and he glared down at Marvin, who stared back, his jaw set in the +resolution to stand firm against the man he knew to be a fraud.</p> + +<p>That he was standing on thin ice Thomas knew, and he knew also that +bluff was the only feasible strategy to employ against the unforeseen +crisis wrought by Bill's sudden and unexpected arrival. "Don't flatter +yourself that I mind any question you might ask," he emphasized, "only +this one has no bearing on the case."</p> + +<p>At this, Townsend sustained the objection. Marvin, resorting to a legal +trick, changed the form of the question, for he was bound to prove his +point. "Well, Miss Buckley," he asked, "Mr. Thomas has taken an interest +in your affairs and given you advice?"</p> + +<p>The insinuation was more than Millie could bear calmly. She turned +quickly, meeting his eyes in anger as she flashed a significant smile +toward Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thomas has been more than kind to me always. He has given me advice +when I had no one else to turn to."</p> + +<p>"And you have always followed his advice?"</p> + +<p>Following his key, Millie replied, "Always, implicitly, in spite of what +<i>others</i>—" and she paused long enough to send a pointed shaft Marvin's +way—"have said against him."</p> + +<p>Marvin grinned and continued, "Miss Buckley, you have never known Mr. +Jones to be cruel or even unkind to his wife, have you?"</p> + +<p>An objection from Thomas was overruled, the judge contending that +cruelty was one of the grounds in the complaint. As he had forgotten how +the question read, he asked the stenographer to repeat it. Millie +answered in the negative and Marvin prodded her further, "You have never +seen him unkind to any one or anything, have you?"</p> + +<p>Gentleness had always been such an ever-present quality in Bill's +treatment of Millie that she forgot her anger for the moment and +hastened to reply, as she smiled sweetly at Bill, "Daddy has always been +most kind to me and every one else."</p> + +<p>This was an opportunity to lead her into an admission which might +immediately quash all of the grounds of the complaint. Marvin saw it at +once and took advantage of it. "Now, Miss Buckley," he argued, "the +complaint asks for a divorce on the grounds of drunkenness, failure to +provide and cruelty. In all honesty you know that not one of these is +the real reason that Mrs. Jones has asked for a divorce, don't you?"</p> + +<p>Unused to the ways of the law and its peculiar methods of arriving at +conclusions, Millie was perplexed. The only excuse in her mind for the +divorce had been that it would bring about the sale of the property and +that Mrs. Jones would thereby have sufficient money with which to find +Bill, which would mean happiness for the three of them. Had Thomas not +intervened with an objection which the judge sustained, she would have +given her answer, but as it was she remained silent.</p> + +<p>Marvin, determined to prove Bill Jones's simple sweetness, so that he +would at least be understood by the world, went to his purpose again.</p> + +<p>"Miss Buckley, you know that Mr. Jones loved his wife, loved her +devotedly, don't you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Townsend beamed in judicial humor upon Marvin and laughed. "How can she +know that? That's not an astute question for a lawyer to ask, and I +don't sanction such methods."</p> + +<p>The question, however, had brought back a certain softness in Millie's +attitude. Forgetting for the moment her dislike of Marvin, she smiled, +but to regret it and to efface the smile with a frown.</p> + +<p>His examination of Millie had been difficult for Marvin. Into his mind +had crowded old memories—happy walks along the cliff in San Francisco, +afternoons in Golden Gate Park, and days in the office when he had dared +to hope that some day she might learn to care. His heart leaped at the +thought of moonlight strolls in the mountain woods and along the shores +of the lake. Those were days when she had interested herself in his +plans and it all came back to him with desperate force as her +unintentional smile awakened a poignant longing within him. A whirlwind +of reminiscent emotion caught him in its teeth.</p> + +<p>"If it please your Honor," he said, his eyes shining, "there is one +thing that a woman does know, and that is whether a man loves her or +not! She may believe a man to be a contemptible liar. She may say that +she will hate and despise him always, but somehow down in her heart, if +he really loves her, she knows it!"</p> + +<p>Forgetting that there was such a place as a court-room, or that he was +defending a divorce suit against Bill Jones, all he saw was the scorn in +the eyes of the girl he loved. All he felt was that he was fighting +single-handed against overwhelming odds for his own happiness. He leaned +close to the witness-chair and looked into the girl's eyes, and she, +seeing in his eyes the thing that she had tried to forget through all +the long and sorrowful months, turned away from him, lest she should +betray the longing that lurked in her own heart. But Marvin's fervid +plea flamed higher and higher and he went on:</p> + +<p>"If a woman is a man's ideal—if he would gladly lay down his life for +her—she knows it and no matter what she says about him or what anybody +else says about him the knowledge that he cares more for her than for +anything else in the entire universe must count for something, and I +contend, your Honor—"</p> + +<p>He got no farther. The whole court-room was in roars of laughter and the +sheriff's gavel was knocking loudly on his table. Millie, unable to bear +the situation any longer, was sobbing aloud. Townsend arose quickly and, +leaning over his desk, shook a warning finger at Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Hold on there!" he called, half in humor and half in anger. "Are you +trying a divorce case or are you making love?"</p> + +<p>The laughter in the court-room began again, but subsided, for there was +something in the situation that struck deep into the hearts of the +spectators and they knew that, grotesque as it might appear, shattered +romance was stalking before them.</p> + +<p>Marvin, himself once again, lowered his voice and pleaded, +apologetically: "I beg your pardon, your Honor. I did not mean to go so +far." Smiling sadly at Millie, he added, "That is all, Miss Buckley."</p> + +<p>"I should say it is quite enough!" satirized the judge. "I think we had +better get back to business."</p> + +<p>Without looking at Marvin, Millie left the stand and took her seat +beside her mother. Thomas called Everett Hammond as the next witness.</p> + +<p>Hammond, although outwardly nonchalant, was inwardly ill at ease. +Marvin's appearance in court followed so closely by Bill's arrival was a +contact that puzzled him. Millie's hesitancy as a witness was another +feature which he felt was not altogether in favor of the cause of the +Golden Gate Land Company. During her testimony he had kept close watch +of her mother, who several times wept audibly, burying her face in her +handkerchief. He knew that he and Thomas were playing a close game and +that the slightest contradiction in his testimony might set Mrs. Jones +to thinking in the wrong direction; especially with Bill Jones in the +court-room, his eyes divided between the witness-stand and his wife. He +assumed an air of bravado as he took the stand, glaring down at Marvin, +who was seated not far from him and who was smiling blandly upon him.</p> + +<p>Preliminaries over, Thomas launched into Hammond's direct examination. +"How long have you known Mr. and Mrs. Jones?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I met them first," Hammond answered, pausing to think, "about seven +months ago."</p> + +<p>"Kindly tell the court how you happened to meet them."</p> + +<p>Hammond, looking at the judge, answered: "I was asked to consider the +purchase of a piece of property belonging to Mrs. Jones. I had some +other business near by and stopped off at the Joneses' place."</p> + +<p>"What was the other business?" was Thomas's next question. He glanced at +Marvin, who met his look with straightforward, unswerving eyes, which +turned Thomas's attention to his witness.</p> + +<p>"The Pacific Railroad," said Hammond, scowling at Marvin, "was being +robbed of timber in that locality and they sent me with the sheriff," he +nodded toward Blodgett, who flushed at the memory of that embarrassing +incident, "to arrest the thief."</p> + +<p>"Who was the thief?" There was triumph in Thomas's voice as he asked the +question.</p> + +<p>"His name is John Marvin."</p> + +<p>"Since that time, you have had dealings with Mrs. Jones, have you not?"</p> + +<p>"I have, and I have always found her to be an honest and splendid +woman." Hammond smiled over at her.</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Jones was a source of trouble and great embarrassment to her, +wasn't he?"</p> + +<p>This time Hammond made Bill the goal of his insulting focus. "Yes, sir, +he was! He was shiftless and drinking, cruel and untruthful." With a +malicious sneer he added, "Why, to my knowledge, he's the biggest liar +in the county!"</p> + +<p>All this time, without a word, Bill had been sitting on the edge of his +chair, accepting the testimony against him in the same indifferent +manner in which he met most of life's difficulties. Hammond's last +remark proved to be the first telling blow at his equanimity. It was too +much! This Hammond person had called him, Bill Jones, a liar! In +Lightnin's code, shrunken and old though he was, there could be but one +answer. Calmly and quietly Bill stood up and began to draw his faded +blue coat from his bent old shoulders.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + + +<p>Every eye in the court-room was on Bill. There was even a cheer, which +the judge, half out of his chair, failed to reprove. Townsend knew that +Bill was sore tried and had been brought to the point where his temper +was not an impulse, but a last resort. His personal sympathies were with +Lightnin's fistic intent. However, the order of his court must be +observed and he signed to Blodgett, who raised his gavel. Before it was +necessary to bring it down upon the table Marvin was quickly on his +feet. He put a restraining hand on Bill's arm and with the other hand +drew the coat back into its place on the bent shoulders.</p> + +<p>In amused contempt, Thomas continued his examination.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see Mr. Jones drunk?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I never saw him any other way." Hammond laughed lightly.</p> + +<p>"And you saw him abuse his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"You heard him tell lies?"</p> + +<p>"I did indeed. Why, he broke the law by harboring a fugitive from +justice in his house."</p> + +<p>Thomas, having brought skilfully to the attention of the court the +numerous charges that he hoped would result in securing Mrs. Jones a +divorce, dismissed Hammond from the stand.</p> + +<p>His experience as a witness had not been a joyous one to Hammond, and he +prepared to take quick action on his dismissal, but Marvin had other +intentions.</p> + +<p>Standing between Hammond and his way of escape, Marvin exclaimed: "I am +not through with the witness, Mr. Thomas! I also have some questions to +ask him." With a scowl Hammond threw himself back into the chair.</p> + +<p>"You say, Mr. Hammond, that you had business dealings with Mrs. Jones? +Do you mind telling the court what that business was?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all," said Hammond, defiantly. "I purchased three hundred and +twenty-nine acres of land, including buildings, from Mrs. Jones for some +clients of mine."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you consult Mr. Jones?" asked Marvin.</p> + +<p>"Because Mrs. Jones was the sole owner," sneered Hammond.</p> + +<p>Marvin looked him in the eye and said, slowly:</p> + +<p>"You had seen the records?"</p> + +<p>Hammond grunted in acquiescence and Marvin went on, each question +bringing his victim nearer to an outburst of temper, which he hoped +would lead to the self-contradictions he was sparring for.</p> + +<p>"Now you testified that you first met Mr. and Mrs. Jones about seven +months ago. Do you remember the exact date?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't recall the exact date. Perhaps you can," he emphasized, +with a contemptuous twist of his black mustache. "It was the day I +brought the sheriff there with a warrant for your arrest."</p> + +<p>Marvin, undaunted by this attempt to slander him, took occasion to give +a thrust at Blodgett, who had been glaring at him all through the case. +"Possibly the sheriff will remember the date," he said, with a smile, +while Blodgett squirmed in his chair. "And you also met Mr. Thomas on +that same day, did you not?"</p> + +<p>Hammond made no reply. It was his desire to make the court think that he +and Thomas had never known each other previous to this transaction. He +directed an imploring and searching squint toward Thomas. Receiving no +help and seeing trouble in the gray pallor that had spread over Thomas's +face, he floundered on, "Yes, I think that was the day I met Raymond +Thomas—and Miss Buckley was there, too."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you had never met Miss Buckley or Mr. Thomas before? In +his office in San Francisco, for instance?"</p> + +<p>Hammond hesitated. He had been in Thomas's office several times while +Millie was employed there, and, though he had not met her, it was more +than likely that she had seen him. The moment was dangerous.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't think I had ever met them before," he said, slowly.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Marvin, nodding his head complacently and going closer +to the witness-stand.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hammond," he went on, "you have told the court that Mr. Jones was a +lawbreaker."</p> + +<p>Hammond fairly jumped to this question. "Yes," he flared. "You were a +fugitive from justice and Jones was harboring you in his house."</p> + +<p>Marvin smiled. "Didn't you just testify that Mrs. Jones was the sole +owner of that house? That being so, how could Mr. Jones harbor a +fugitive in his house, if he didn't own a house?"</p> + +<p>Caught in his own net, Hammond twisted angrily in his chair, reddening +as the spectators laughed and the sheriff pounded for order.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't suppose he could," he blurted.</p> + +<p>"Then you will withdraw the statement that he broke the law?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I withdraw it," Hammond drawled.</p> + +<p>Bill got up smiling from his chair and went over to Marvin, patting him +proudly on the shoulder; but a look from the judge and a snarl from +Blodgett sent him back again.</p> + +<p>Marvin continued. "Now, up to the time you met Mr. Jones you did not +know anything about him, did you?"</p> + +<p>Hammond shrugged, drawing his mouth into an angry curve. "Of course not, +but it didn't take me long to find out about him."</p> + +<p>Marvin gave the arm of the witness-chair two angry thumps. "I agree with +you there, Mr. Hammond," he said. "Eight hours after you first saw Mr. +Jones he was driven from his house and you have never set eyes on him +since. Yet you have testified that he is a drunkard, a loafer, a liar, +and a lawbreaker!"</p> + +<p>Hammond, startled at the swiftness with which Marvin had turned his +testimony to profit, shrugged himself into a straight position. "Well, +it didn't take me one hour to see what Jones was," he said.</p> + +<p>Marvin nodded with half-closed eyes at Hammond and smiled reassuringly +at Bill. "You also said he was cruel to his wife?"</p> + +<p>Hammond nodded.</p> + +<p>"In what way?"</p> + +<p>Hammond hesitated, moving uneasily from side to side. "Well," he +snarled, "his manner was insulting. He criticized the dress she was +wearing before the other guests."</p> + +<p>This amused the court-room, which in turn had to be quieted. "And do you +think the claim of intolerable cruelty is substantiated by a husband's +criticizing his wife's dress?" asked Marvin, smiling.</p> + +<p>Thomas arose at once. "I object to that question," he said, his lips +twitching and his face livid from disappointment and fear of what was +coming next.</p> + +<p>"I should think you would!" Marvin said, laughing.</p> + +<p>The objection sustained, he went at his witness again. "You testified +that Mr. Jones was a drunkard and that you had never seen him sober?"</p> + +<p>"I never have," emphasized Hammond, insolently.</p> + +<p>Going to the table, Marvin took Bill by the arm, assisted him to his +feet and guided him into the middle of the court-room until he stood +before the witness-stand. Then he asked of Hammond, motioning with his +head toward Bill, "Is he drunk now?"</p> + +<p>Bill stood quietly, a quizzical smile half closing his eyes, half +opening his mouth.</p> + +<p>Hammond, infuriated, swallowed in order to control himself, and then +blurted with a disgusted shrug of his shoulders, "I don't know."</p> + +<p>Having fulfilled Marvin's intention, Bill took his seat again and the +cross-examination was resumed.</p> + +<p>"If you don't know whether he is drunk or not now, how did you know the +other time when you saw him?"</p> + +<p>Hammond gazed fiercely into space, replying, finally, "Oh, it was plain +enough then!"</p> + +<p>Seeing that Hammond was ruffled and that he was also confused, Marvin +felt that the time was now right to bring forth by a few swift, +well-put questions the full purpose of Hammond and Thomas in bringing +about the divorce between Bill and Mrs. Jones.</p> + +<p>"It was not possible for you to get a good title to the property unless +Mr. Jones signed the deed?" he asked.</p> + +<p>At once Thomas was on his feet, objecting.</p> + +<p>On Marvin's explanation that the complaint charged intoxication and that +his question had a direct bearing on that point, the judge overruled the +objection and Thomas took his seat again.</p> + +<p>Not discerning the trap that Marvin had set for him, Hammond turned to +the judge and said, in more even tones: "I don't mind answering in the +least. The property belonged entirely to Mrs. Jones, but the husband's +signature was wanted on the deed."</p> + +<p>"And he refused to sign it?" Marvin's question came back.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Hammond sneered, "after you told him not to."</p> + +<p>Marvin once more challenged Hammond's soul with the searchlight of his +own straightforward eye. "Was he drunk then?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Hammond paused, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, I think he was."</p> + +<p>"I am not asking you what you think," Marvin remarked. "You said under +oath that you never saw him sober. Was he drunk when he refused to sign +that deed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he was!" Hammond reiterated, quickly.</p> + +<p>"And you tried to induce him to sign such an important document as that +when he was drunk?" Marvin asked the question in a slow, concise tone +and looked up at the judge to gather the impression made by Hammond's +evident duplicity.</p> + +<p>The deep water into which Hammond had walked was making itself felt and +he tried to wade toward shore.</p> + +<p>"I never tried to get him to sign! He didn't sign it!" he snapped.</p> + +<p>"No, he wasn't drunk enough for that! He wasn't drunk at all. He was as +sober as he is at this moment!"</p> + +<p>"You mean to call me a liar?" Hammond, his red neck swelling over the +top of his collar, and his small, close-together black eyes flashing +angrily, got up and made a threatening move toward his questioner.</p> + +<p>Marvin, although much smaller, did not flinch. "No, I mean to <i>prove</i> +it," he answered.</p> + +<p>Judge Townsend made a quieting gesture to Hammond, who sat down in the +witness-chair again as Marvin went on with his rapid-fire.</p> + +<p>"Now you called Mr. Jones a liar, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was Hammond's gruff reply. "And everybody who knows him says the +same thing!"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Marvin, with a shake of his head. "So you testified that he +was a liar because you heard others say so?"</p> + +<p>"No," jerked Hammond, "he lied to me."</p> + +<p>"What did he tell you that was untrue?"</p> + +<p>"Everything," said Hammond.</p> + +<p>"Can you repeat one lie that Mr. Jones told you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he told me so many," was the impatient reply, "I can't recall them. +Oh yes," after a pause, "he said he drove a swarm of bees across the +plains in the dead of winter."</p> + +<p>Bill, who was facing him, and who had not taken his eyes from him, burst +into a loud laugh, the whole court-room, even to the judge, following +suit, while Marvin raised his voice above the uproar to ask, "Now, how +do you know that is a lie?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I know the thing is impossible!" Hammond said, contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"It's all nonsense," sneered Hammond, with an angry gesture.</p> + +<p>"That is precisely what it is, Mr. Hammond, and that is just what Mr. +Jones meant it to be! What else did he say?"</p> + +<p>"What's the difference?" asked Hammond. "You admit it's all nonsense."</p> + +<p>"Not all, Mr. Hammond." Marvin raised his voice and he looked +searchingly at the judge. "He said at least one thing that was not +nonsense. He said to his wife, 'Mother, these two men are trying to rob +you.' Do you remember that, Mr. Hammond? You were all there. Do you +remember that he said you and Mr. Thomas were trying to rob Mrs. Jones?"</p> + +<p>In order to make his question more impressive, Marvin nodded at Hammond +and pointed to Mr. Thomas, and then directed a glance toward Mrs. Jones. +Her hands were still folded in her lap and her head bent toward them.</p> + +<p>Everett Hammond, his face purple with rage, shouted at Marvin, "I don't +propose to sit here and be insulted by a criminal like you!"</p> + +<p>Thomas, too, had risen and come forward. Standing on the other side of +Marvin and looking down upon him, he exclaimed, with quivering, blue +lips: "This is insufferable, your Honor! This gentleman has come here to +give disinterested testimony, as a favor, and he is subjected to the +insults—"</p> + +<p>Judge Townsend interrupted him calmly: "I think the defense has brought +out quite clearly that this witness's testimony is not disinterested. +This divorce has got to be obtained to give him a deed to the Jones +property, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>Thomas grew conciliatory, endeavoring to impress upon the judge that the +property sale had nothing to do, at all, with the testimony of Hammond.</p> + +<p>"Well, I wouldn't call him exactly disinterested," responded Townsend, +with a wise glance.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, your Honor, I protest against this man's insulting +manner," Thomas shouted. "How it is possible for such a person, a person +who even now ought to be serving a jail sentence, to be admitted to the +bar, I can't see!" He backed to his chair and sat down, taking up a +book and slamming it back on the table.</p> + +<p>Until now Marvin had been complete master of the situation, but Thomas's +last words drove the blood from his face and he grew troubled as he +looked up at the judge and then away and out through the window into +space. There had been something on his mind, but he had been able to +keep it in the background because of Bill's predicament. And now it came +to the surface again.</p> + +<p>Townsend studied Marvin intently for several moments and then he asked, +quietly, "You are an attorney in good standing, are you not?"</p> + +<p>At the judge's question, Thomas got up and looked down upon Marvin, in +insolent inquiry.</p> + +<p>Marvin did not answer at once; then he walked over to the judge's bench +and with his head bowed said, "No, your Honor, I am not."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that you are not a member of the bar?" There was +surprise and injured dignity and at the same time a strong savor of pity +in Lem Townsend's voice.</p> + +<p>Thomas and Hammond exchanged smiles of triumph, the former advancing to +a place by Marvin's side in front of the judge.</p> + +<p>The horror in Millie's face told Marvin that her last shred of +consideration for him had been torn away.</p> + +<p>Bill alone held faith, smiling encouragement at the lad who had been his +only friend when his hour was at its worst.</p> + +<p>With eyes on the ground, slowly, and in low voice, Marvin explained, +"No, I have never been admitted to the bar, your Honor. But Mr. Jones +had taken a long journey from the Soldiers' Home, on his own account and +at his own expense, to testify in my case. When, without warning, this +action for divorce was called, I knew it was a conspiracy." The +injustice accorded Bill drew Marvin from himself again. Pointing at +Hammond and Thomas, he raised his voice. "I knew that these two +conspirators—"</p> + +<p>Thomas interrupted him by jumping from his seat and making a menace with +his right arm.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Mr. Thomas," Townsend commanded. "I will attend to this. You +are making a very serious charge, Mr. Marvin, and if you believe you can +substantiate it you will find the courts open to you. In the mean time +you must be aware that you had no right whatever to undertake the trial +of this case under the guise of being an attorney. You are guilty of a +reprehensible act, and if I did not believe there were mitigating +circumstances I would punish you most severely for contempt of court." +He ordered the stenographer to strike out all of the cross-examination.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thomas," he asked, "have you finished with your witness?"</p> + +<p>"If the cross-examination is to be stricken out, I will not take up the +court's time with any redirect testimony. We have had enough," Thomas +said.</p> + +<p>Hammond got up and shook himself as if he were rid of a heavy burden; +but as he walked from the stand Marvin made one more plea. "One moment, +please, your Honor," he asked. "Before the witness is excused—"</p> + +<p>Townsend interrupted him. "You have no standing in this court, young +man. If you wish to remain, you may take a seat on the visitors' bench," +and he pointed to a vacant seat just outside of the railing.</p> + +<p>If there was one person in the court-room who was pleased at that +moment, it was Blodgett. He arose, caressing his mustache, and opened +the gate.</p> + +<p>"This way," he called out, giving an overbearing wave of his hand.</p> + +<p>As he came to the gate, Marvin stopped. He was thinking hard. It did not +seem right that Bill should be left alone to fight his way with those +two keen schemers. He knew that Lem Townsend would look after Lightnin' +in so far as he could justifiably do so, but the figure of the lonely +old man, smiling complacently in the midst of his trouble, touched +Marvin deeply, and he delved into his mind in an effort to find a way to +help him.</p> + +<p>Then, unexpectedly, Lightnin' solved the problem. Getting to his feet, +he stood quietly before the bench, looking up at Townsend with an odd +excitement in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Your Honor," he asked, in his usual drawl, "a defendant has the right +to plead his own case, ain't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has," Townsend replied, with a nod.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Bill, "I guess I'll plead this case myself!"</p> + +<p>Marvin hesitated. He had thought of this himself, of course, but had +dismissed the idea, not feeling quite sure as to the advisability of it. +Now, however, the deed was done. Quickly he put an arm over Bill's +shoulder and led him beside the witness-stand, where Hammond still sat. +Bill looked up at Townsend and smiled.</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Judge," he remarked, with his humorous twinkle. "I was +a lawyer once!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + + +<p>The court-room fairly seethed with interest. The crowd was smiling, +amused; but, under the surface smile, every face reflected a strong +sympathy for the quaint old figure standing there, about to fight his +own battle. As Bill turned to conduct his case, Blodgett took Marvin by +the arm.</p> + +<p>"You come out here!" he commanded, roughly.</p> + +<p>Marvin pulled his arm free and appealed to the judge.</p> + +<p>"I am a witness for the defense, your Honor," he said.</p> + +<p>"Then you may remain where you are," replied Townsend, with a nod. He +looked at Lightnin'. "Examine your witness," he directed.</p> + +<p>For a moment Lightnin' stood in front of the frowning man in the chair +and silently inspected him with humorous interest, from the top of his +sleek, pomaded head to the gleaming toes of his immaculate boots.</p> + +<p>"Looks kinder all polished up, don't he?" Bill remarked.</p> + +<p>The noise of the general laughter and the pounding of the sheriff's +gavel seemed to distract Townsend's attention; anyway, he uttered no +objection when Marvin slipped from his place among the witnesses and +dropped into his former chair directly behind Bill. Looking up at +Townsend, Lightnin' resumed:</p> + +<p>"The things Marvin asked him were all right, your Honor," he said. Then, +with a terse but rather humorous shrug, he addressed Hammond, "Answer +'em!"</p> + +<p>"You mean the testimony he has already given will stand?" asked the +judge.</p> + +<p>"I got a right to ask 'em again, 'ain't I?" questioned Bill.</p> + +<p>Townsend nodded. Hammond could much better stand the young and impatient +manner of John Marvin than he could the wise humor of Bill. He grew red +and shifted in his chair angrily, asking the judge:</p> + +<p>"Do I have to go all over that, your Honor?"</p> + +<p>"Would your replies be the same?" Townsend's eyes as well as his +question begged Hammond for the answer and he was not comfortable. But +there was nothing else for him to do, and after a moment's hesitation, +in which he lowered his lids to avoid the judge's scrutiny, he replied:</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>The cross-examination reinstated, Hammond for the fourth time started to +leave the stand. Bill held up his hand and snapped in a determined tone, +but with a smile playing among the wrinkles of his face:</p> + +<p>"Hold on! I got some more for you!"</p> + +<p>His victim threw himself back into the chair with a shrug and a sneer as +he gave his head an irate shake.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hammond," Bill went on, "when you went after Mr. Marvin with the +sheriff, what was the charge against him?"</p> + +<p>Hammond answered, with a ready enthusiasm, "Trespassing on the property +of the Pacific Railroad Company."</p> + +<p>Bill nodded his head and said:</p> + +<p>"Uh, ha."</p> + +<p>He assumed an air of wisdom and raised his voice to the pitch that it +seldom knew, but to have the floor again after so many months was having +its effect upon him and he was taking the task in the same way and with +the same glee as if it were the opportunity for telling a good story.</p> + +<p>"If he was on their property," he began—then he seemed to forget what +it was he was going to ask. He turned to Marvin in whispered conference. +The unusual character of his procedure did not affect Lemuel Townsend, +who was anxious to give the old man his full chance.</p> + +<p>His way evidently made clearer by Marvin's advice, Bill sauntered slowly +back to Hammond.</p> + +<p>"If he was on the railroad's property, what did you have to do with it?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's easy enough!" said Hammond, nonchalantly crossing one leg +over the other. "I went at the request of the president of the road."</p> + +<p>Bill grinned. "You sold the railroad the land he was trespassing on, +didn't you?"</p> + +<p>Thomas broke in with an endeavor to show that the question was +irrelevant, but Townsend, knowing Bill's natural acumen, felt that the +question did have some real connection with the case.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thomas," he said, "you and your witness have been accused of +conspiracy. If I were you, I would allow him to answer Mr. Jones."</p> + +<p>Thomas knew that he was sparring for his life and he didn't intend to +let the question get by if he could help it, so he tried another +subterfuge.</p> + +<p>"Your Honor," he deplored, his voice hoarse with anger, "I don't propose +to defend the witness and myself from such a ridiculous charge at this +time. We are not on trial. This is a divorce action." He glared at +Marvin, pulling his cuffs angrily, in a way that he had, down over his +wrists.</p> + +<p>But the judge's opinion was unchanged. "If there is any conspiracy about +this action, the court wants to know it. Answer the question."</p> + +<p>With an insulting drawl, Hammond did as he was bid.</p> + +<p>"I purchased the property for the railroad, acting as their agent."</p> + +<p>"Who did you buy it from?" Bill snapped.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thomas."</p> + +<p>"When did you buy it?" asked Bill.</p> + +<p>"About ten months ago."</p> + +<p>Bill's shoulders straightened at Hammond's reply and he drew himself +together with a quick shrug, taking a swift step forward and peering +into Hammond's face.</p> + +<p>"That was three months before you bought mother's place?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," jerked Hammond, sulkily.</p> + +<p>"Then, why did you say you had never met him until you met him at the +hotel?"</p> + +<p>Hammond started, alarm in the quick glance that traveled from Bill to +Raymond Thomas. He realized he had overstepped himself. Thinking the +better plan would be to brave it out, he bellowed:</p> + +<p>"Because I never did!"</p> + +<p>Bill smiled at him and said, in his slow, gentle monotone:</p> + +<p>"You bought all that land of him and never saw him about it?" He looked +up at the judge and laughed. "And he called <i>me</i> a liar!"</p> + +<p>Hammond got up, but Bill detained him. "Don't go away," he admonished, +with a jaunty toss of his head. "We got some more for you, 'ain't we?" +and he looked at Marvin, who smiled in approval. "I've got a good one +for him!" Bill went on.</p> + +<p>"You know the railroad company leased the waterfall on mother's place +and put a power-plant there?"</p> + +<p>"I believe they have," said Hammond, impatiently.</p> + +<p>"And you know that the railroad pays you more for that lease in a month +than you agreed to give mother in a year?"</p> + +<p>It was a surprise to Hammond, and evidently to Marvin, too, that Bill +should know anything of the details of either the lease of the railroad +company or of what payment had been promised to Mrs. Jones. A great +light flashed on Marvin—obviously Bill Jones had not been altogether +wasting his time during his prolonged disappearance! Hammond, beginning +to suspect that Bill knew more than he had been given credit for, +decided that ignorance was the best stand to take.</p> + +<p>"How should I know the petty details of the railroad's lease?" he said.</p> + +<p>"How should <i>you</i> know?" echoed Bill, his voice raised, unwontedly clear +and ringing. "Didn't the railroad lease the waterfall from a bum concern +called the Golden Gate Land Company? Didn't you, actin' for the Golden +Gate Company, put through the deal? Don't you know that the Golden Gate +Land Company is controlled by yourself and Raymond Thomas—ain't you and +Thomas the whole works o' that—"</p> + +<p>Thomas was on his feet with an objection, but the judge had no +opportunity to overrule it, for Bill had something to say and he was +going to say it. He lifted his voice above that of Thomas, calling out +and waving his arms violently in an excitement he had never known +before.</p> + +<p>"And all your stocks in the name of rummies?"</p> + +<p>His eyes twinkled as Marvin came up to him and whispered. Again waving +his arms, Bill shouted:</p> + +<p>"Dummies, I mean—dummies!"</p> + +<p>Thomas had been tried to the point of despair. There was a lump in his +throat as he beseeched the judge:</p> + +<p>"I protest against this!"</p> + +<p>The judge interrupted him. "I am beginning to believe in this plot +story."</p> + +<p>"Then let him go on," was Bill's agreeable reply.</p> + +<p>Hammond jumped up out of his chair and descended from the witness-stand.</p> + +<p>"Your Honor," he said, in an angry tone, "I absolutely refuse to submit +to this any longer—to stand here and be made to look like a criminal!"</p> + +<p>Bill could not withstand the chance for another quip and he smiled at +his antagonist. "Well, you look natural," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Do you expect me to stand for this?" Hammond stormed.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, if you want to," said Bill, restored to his old nonchalance. +"I'm through with you," and he turned his back on Hammond and went over +to Marvin.</p> + +<p>Thomas, keyed to a high pitch, knew that something must be done at once, +for he saw that not only the Jones case was crumbling, but he sensed +trouble ahead in his afternoon's venture, so he resorted to Everett +Hammond's tactics of placing the matter in an absurd light.</p> + +<p>"All this ridiculous testimony," he argued, "has no possible connection +with the case in point, but I propose to prove that all the accusations +against the witness and myself are not only groundless but absolutely +malicious, and I shall do this at the first opportunity."</p> + +<p>Unable to stand the situation any longer, he went back and took his +seat.</p> + +<p>Marvin had sat quiet all through this controversy. Now he forgot the +judge's admonition as to his place in the case. He got up, stating to +the judge:</p> + +<p>"Your Honor, Mr. Thomas will have that opportunity at two o'clock this +afternoon, when the Pacific Railroad's action against me comes before +the court. At that time I will submit documentary proof that these men +control the Golden Gate Land Company and have been buying up all the +land wanted by the Pacific Railroad. I will submit to the court twenty +cases where the Golden Gate Land Company has swindled innocent farmers +out of their property and paid them with worthless stock. I will prove +to the court—"</p> + +<p>"Just a moment, Mr. Marvin," Townsend stopped him. "It will be most +interesting for you to prove your statements at two o'clock; but in the +mean time I must warn you again that you are not a party to this divorce +action and have no standing as an attorney in this court."</p> + +<p>Marvin bowed to the ruling and retired quietly to his seat. He stared +calmly at Thomas, seeming to have no fear that he had prematurely +revealed his own case and that his opponents might have an opportunity +to take advantage of his statements.</p> + +<p>"If the defense wishes you for a witness, Mr. Marvin," said Townsend, +"you may be sworn."</p> + +<p>Bill was on his feet again and, turning to the judge, said: "I don't +need no witness! I didn't know nothing about it at all until I got here, +but I've been thinking it over ever since and I have made up my mind +that mother's right. If mother can prove them things they read," and he +nodded toward the clerk, "she could get a divorce, couldn't she?"</p> + +<p>Townsend replied in the affirmative. Bill smiled sadly and, glancing at +Mrs. Jones, who was crying as if her heart would break, he went on, +"Well, I can prove them for her."</p> + +<p>"You can prove them?" Townsend asked, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," said Bill, with a flash of humor. "I used to be a judge."</p> + +<p>He stood still in the middle of the floor and looked into space for a +moment. He was a dejected figure as the humor that was his habit left +him and he stood there deserted by all but Marvin. But it was not his +way to remain an object of pity, either to himself or to anybody else, +and with a slight shrug he straightened and looked the judge in the eye. +Placing his hand in front of him, he tolled off the first count on the +thumb of his right hand.</p> + +<p>"Now, first it said," he began didactically, "that I got drunk," and he +paused and thought about it, adding, with a nod, "Well, I can prove +that! And then it said I was cruel to mother." He took a step forward +and bent his shoulders a bit, as if he would look under the brim of his +wife's hat and search her soul for the answer to his plea. "Well, I +can—no, I can't prove that, 'cause it ain't true, judge, an' I don't +believe mother ever said it."</p> + +<p>A dramatic hush fell in the court-room. It was suddenly, pathetically +clear to Marvin and to many others that, despite his unexpected +knowledge on other counts, Bill did not fathom the real reason behind +his wife's action for divorce. Plainly he thought she really wanted a +divorce, and, in Lightnin's sensitive code, if mother wanted it she +should have it.</p> + +<p>"An' then it said that I failed to provide," he went on, while the +court-room breathed softly, feeling the tug at the old man's +heartstrings. "Well, that what's on my mind, judge. I have failed. I +never thought anything about it before, and I don't see any chance of +providing, now that I do think about it. Mother an' Millie could get +along better without me. So you see, mother should get a divorce, +judge—" and here Bill for the first time in his life broke down. Tears +came into his eyes and he swallowed to keep them back. He hesitated and, +with a last brave effort, he dashed in to complete his testimony against +himself.</p> + +<p>"I'm all right, judge. I can go back to the Home and stay there +until"—he hesitated—"until—" and turning quickly away, "that's all, +judge."</p> + +<p>Before he could get to his seat Mrs. Jones had jumped up from hers and +was standing before the judge's desk, wiping the tears from her eyes and +sobbing loudly.</p> + +<p>"No, please, judge, don't give me a divorce! I don't want one, judge! I +can take care of Bill in our old age. They were just telling me lies, +judge, and I was a fool not to have seen through it!"</p> + +<p>Tears were in Townsend's eyes; also, Margaret Davis was sniffing +audibly, and the spectators in the court-room were deeply touched. +Thomas and Hammond gave one glance at each other and groaned, while Mrs. +Jones rushed to Bill and held one of his hands in both of hers, +pleading:</p> + +<p>"Bill, I have done you a wrong—a great wrong, and I cannot blame you if +you never look at me again, but I didn't mean to, Bill, I didn't mean +to! And if you will forgive me and take me back I will try all my life +to make up for it! Will you?"</p> + +<p>Bill took her hands in his and patted them. His eyes were moist, and +they blinked for a moment; then a slow, happy grin spread over his +stubbled face.</p> + +<p>"That's all right, mother," he said, easily. "Say, did you ever get the +six dollars I sent you?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + + +<p>Late that afternoon John Marvin and Bill Jones came out of the Reno +court-house together and sauntered down the street. There was a gleam of +triumph in Marvin's eyes and a deep satisfaction in his manner. +Lightnin's grin was equally expressive.</p> + +<p>"You better come right back to Calivada with me, John!" he urged.</p> + +<p>The triumph left Marvin's eyes and was replaced by a troubled +expression.</p> + +<p>"No, Bill," he said, quietly, "I don't think it is time for me to go +there yet. Mother and Millie may still feel that my part in the whole +scheme was not as kindly as it might have been, so I'll just drive over +to my cabin and maybe later, perhaps to-morrow morning, come over and +join you for a visit of an hour or two. It's a long time, old chap," he +said, as he patted Bill on the shoulder, "since you have been home, and +I think it is about time you were running along."</p> + +<p>Bill knew what was deterring him. Tactfully he said nothing, but smiled. +They walked along in silence for a block or two, until in a jeweler's +window Bill saw something that appealed to his imagination. He put his +hand in his pocket and withdrew it before it touched bottom, realizing +that his last dime had gone for a cup of coffee for himself and Zeb at a +lunch-counter early that morning. Zeb was waiting for him at the G. A. +R. Hall up the street a ways, but he had a duty to perform and it +seemed to him that that duty could best be done by the help of the +object in the jeweler's window.</p> + +<p>"John, will you lend me two dollars?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"At your old tricks, Lightnin'? You bet I can lend you two dollars! You +sure that's all you want?" Marvin laughed, taking the money from his +pocket.</p> + +<p>"Plenty," was Bill's brief reply, pocketing the two dollars. They walked +to the corner of the street, where they said good-by to each other.</p> + +<p>When Bill was satisfied that Marvin's back was well turned he sauntered +into the jewelry-shop and up to the counter, where he purchased a +sterling-silver ring, washed in gold, with a bright, shining piece of +glass set in it.</p> + +<p>The clerk in the store smiled at the old man as he pocketed the +monstrosity and went happily out of the store.</p> + +<p>How to get to Calivada from Reno had not entered his mind. It was a good +seventy-five miles, but he knew that some way or other he would get +home that night. With his mind made up to that issue, he wandered up the +street and joined Zeb, who had been waiting for him all afternoon. The +two old men, arm in arm, stood on the street corner and looked about. +And just then Rodney Harper and his wife, who were interested spectators +in the court-room during the afternoon trial, turned the corner in their +machine and stopped to say a good word to Bill.</p> + +<p>"What you going to do, Lightnin'?" asked Harper, while his wife beamed +at the two odd old souls.</p> + +<p>"What <i>you</i> going to do?" was Bill's evasive answer.</p> + +<p>"Why, we are motoring back to Calivada, where we have a room at the +hotel," said Mrs. Harper.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I guess," said Bill, putting his foot on the step of the +automobile, "that's just what me and Zeb is goin' to do."</p> + +<p>The Harpers laughed and looked at each other. They were both agreed. +Bill and Zeb climbed in and made a strange couple on the back seat of +the car as it whirled through the streets of Reno and on up into the +hills.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the hotel at Calivada, true to its nature, was the +scene of a new sensation.</p> + +<p>After court that afternoon Margaret Davis and Judge Townsend, leaving +Mrs. Jones and Millie to take the train home, went their own way. About +eight o'clock that evening they arrived at the hotel, going to the desk +where the sleek and dapper new clerk awaited them and came forward to +welcome them. "Hello, Mrs. Davis!" he said, extending his hand.</p> + +<p>"Good evening," Margaret replied, giggling and looking coyly back at the +judge. "Will you give me my key, Mr. Peters?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Sure," he said, taking the key from the rack and handing it to her with +a smirk.</p> + +<p>"I didn't expect you back to-night." He smiled.</p> + +<p>"Well, I wasn't expecting it myself." The annoyance evidenced by the +frown on Lemuel Townsend's face immediately changed her tone. With a +"Thank you" she turned to go, but the clerk had other plans.</p> + +<p>"This has been a wonderful day, Mrs. Davis," he said, as he cast +languishing glances at her. Townsend was not at all pleased with the +attention Peters was showing her and he turned, asking, unctuously, "See +here, have you got a suite?"</p> + +<p>Peters stepped back and looked in surprise from one to the other.</p> + +<p>"Got what?"</p> + +<p>"Got a—?" repeated Townsend, but his question was broken into by +Margaret, who exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Peters, we would like to see Miss Buckley and Mrs. Jones."</p> + +<p>"All right," he said; "I will go up and tell them you are here," and he +disappeared up the Nevada stairs.</p> + +<p>"But, young man," Townsend was insisting as he put his foot on the first +stair, "I want to get a—" he reiterated, but Margaret again placed a +restraining hand on his arm. "Wait until he comes down," she simpered.</p> + +<p>As the clerk disappeared behind the portières at the top of the stairs, +Townsend turned to Margaret, putting his arm about her waist. "What's +the matter, dear? Don't you want the clerk to know we are married?" he +asked, in injured tones.</p> + +<p>"I didn't want you to tell him right before me."</p> + +<p>He looked into her eyes. "You are not ashamed of it, are you?"</p> + +<p>"No," she drawled, in her usual giggle, "but it is embarrassing to leave +here this morning to get rid of number one and come back this evening +with number two." Townsend started, removing his arm from her waist. +Putting it back, she pouted, "You are not angry, are you, dear?"</p> + +<p>Indulgently, but not enthusiastically, he answered, "It is a little +jarring to be referred to as number two."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't mean that!" she exclaimed, leaning coquettishly on his +shoulder. "But I can't bear to have every one staring at us."</p> + +<p>"But this isn't a secret marriage, Maggie," said the judge.</p> + +<p>At this Margaret drew herself away from him, horror in her opened mouth +and widening eyes. "Oh, don't say that!" she protested. "My name is +Margaret," adding, sweetly, "I don't mind if they find out about it +after we are gone, dear, but let's try to keep them from finding it out +to-night."</p> + +<p>"All right, my darling, just as you say," and he drew her to him again. +Peters reappeared at the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Jones will be down in a minute," he announced, and was going to +say more, but the sight of Margaret locked close in Lemuel Townsend's +dignified arms permitted him no further expression than a prolonged and +astonished "Oh!" which wrought a quick parting of the loving couple, +while Margaret, blushing furiously, hastened to explain: "Judge Townsend +is my husband, Mr. Peters. We were married this afternoon."</p> + +<p>Peters had been having much of his own way since Mrs. Jones and Millie +had retired from the actual management of the hotel, and his authority +ran away with him at times, thrusting him into situations in which his +assumption brought him quick rebuke. This was one of them. Obsequiously +and with an easy laugh he extended a congratulatory hand to Townsend, +while he remarked, "Quick work, eh, judge?"</p> + +<p>Townsend stood back and withered Peters with a glance that did its full +duty from head to foot.</p> + +<p>Margaret, kind-hearted, and seeing Peters's embarrassment, hastened to +be friendly. "We don't want you to say a word about it to anybody!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can keep a secret. My congratulations. I hope this one turns out +better than the other one did," Peters effused.</p> + +<p>Margaret sighed. The judge shuddered. It was the fourth time since they +were married that he had been reminded that he was number two.</p> + +<p>"If you don't mind," he ordered, severely, "we won't discuss that +question."</p> + +<p>Margaret, anxious to prevent further repartee on the subject, went +up-stairs, calling back, "When Mrs. Jones comes down, will you tell her +I will be back in five minutes?"</p> + +<p>When she had disappeared Townsend ordered Peters to get up a special +supper for four, suggesting that the champagne he had brought with him, +and which was in the basket on the floor, be put on ice. Peters +disappeared to do his duty, but Townsend followed close behind him, +desirous of directing the spreading of a good wedding supper for Mrs. +Townsend, Mrs. Jones, and Millie.</p> + +<p>He had been gone but a few minutes when Mrs. Jones came down the stairs. +She looked around, expecting to find Margaret Davis awaiting her. Not +seeing her, she returned to the floor above, when Mr. and Mrs. Harper +came bursting in.</p> + +<p>"How do you do? Don't you remember us?" Harper called out, as he held +forth a welcoming hand.</p> + +<p>"Surely!" cried Mrs. Jones. She came quickly down the stairs and shook +hands with Harper, kissing his pretty wife.</p> + +<p>"We just brought your husband and a friend of his over from Reno," said +Harper.</p> + +<p>"Oh, where are they?" Mrs. Jones asked, excitedly. She had been waiting +all afternoon for Bill and was beginning to fear lest he had decided not +to return home.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bill's out there telling his experiences as a lawyer," Harper +laughed, and Mrs. Jones joined him, happy to know that Bill was back, +the same lovable old boaster as before.</p> + +<p>Margaret Townsend, hearing the voices, hurried to join the group, +throwing her arms wildly around Mrs. Jones's neck and giggling like a +school-girl.</p> + +<p>"Who do you think drove me over?" she asked Mrs. Jones, answering +herself. "Judge Townsend."</p> + +<p>"My, but that was romantic!" exclaimed Mrs. Jones.</p> + +<p>"Why, what do you know about it?" Margaret simpered, putting Mrs. Jones +from her and looking into her eyes.</p> + +<p>The dining-room door opened and Townsend burst in, going to his wife and +exercising his new proprietorship by putting his arm about her. She drew +away, blushing, and hastened to introduce the Harpers.</p> + +<p>Townsend acknowledged the introduction; then he turned to Mrs. Jones. +"I'm very glad to see you under more pleasant circumstances, mother," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Lem!" she answered, tears gathering in her eyes. "Oh, what a +mean fool I was! But, Lem, I 'ain't heard a word yet about how that fine +young man made out—I'm just dyin' to know if John Marvin won his case!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you really haven't heard?" exclaimed Margaret. "I should say he +certainly did win his case, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Thomas and Hammond were lucky to keep out of jail," said Townsend. +"They gave up this place without a murmur."</p> + +<p>"What?" Mrs. Jones gasped.</p> + +<p>"Surely you know that the place is yours again?" Harper asked, while +they all nodded eager confirmation.</p> + +<p>"Ours again?" Mrs. Jones repeated, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely, my dear!" Margaret hastened to explain. "And the judge and +I were married this afternoon!" Irrespective of Mrs. Jones's bewildered +gasp, Margaret rushed on: "And, mother, you are to get all the money the +railroad pays for the waterfall, and it's an awful lot! The Golden Gate +Land Company is a fake concern! To keep out of jail, where they belong, +those two sharpers are making restitution at once to Mr. Marvin and to +everybody else they can! And now you're going to have supper with us, +mother! Mr. and Mrs. Harper are going to join us—and you, too, Millie +dear," she added, turning to the girl, who had joined the group and +stood there listening, her cheeks flushed with a conflict of emotions.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Millie gasped. "Oh—then what—"</p> + +<p>What Millie was going to say was lost in a general chorus of delighted +exclamations.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lem," cried Mrs. Jones, "won't you let me do the cooking? I'm just +dyin' to get back into that kitchen again!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I know what your cooking is like, mother," replied Townsend, +smiling; "and if you really want to go out there and cook that supper, I +say it would be a crime to stop you!"</p> + +<p>"Let's all help!" exclaimed little Mrs. Harper, who looked as if she +would not have the faintest idea what to do in a kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Fine!" echoed her amused husband. "Come on, folks!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones led the way, and they all went out through the dining-room +and into the kitchen, bent on making a home of the place for the first +time since the new regime went into effect.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + + +<p>The dapper Peters was left alone at his desk, but not for long. In a +few minutes the street door opened and Bill Jones, with a certain air +about him—one might even say with a certain flourish in his +manner—sauntered in. He ambled up to the desk.</p> + +<p>"Who might you be?" he asked, casually, his half-shut eyes making an +inventory of Peters.</p> + +<p>"I'm the manager!" Peters snapped.</p> + +<p>"No, you ain't," said Bill, grinning.</p> + +<p>"What's the reason I ain't?" inquired Peters.</p> + +<p>"Because you're fired," said Bill, calmly, turning his back and putting +his hands in his pockets. He gazed slowly around from floor to ceiling, +and then at the walls. Peters came from behind the desk and stood close +to him.</p> + +<p>"Say, Mrs. Jones pulled something like that on me," he said, "but I +ain't taking no orders from you people! I take my orders from Mr. +Hammond!"</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" asked Bill, nonchalantly. Drawing a letter from his +pocket, he handed it to the clerk. "Well, here they are!" he said.</p> + +<p>Peters opened the letter and read it.</p> + +<p>"Well, if I'm fired," he sighed, "I suppose I can go back to my old +job."</p> + +<p>A stealthy foot on the floor made Bill turn around to greet Zeb, who had +put his head in the door.</p> + +<p>"Got a segar for me, Bill?" Zeb whispered.</p> + +<p>Bill went over to the drawer in the California desk, where he knew there +was a box of cigars. He took one, extending it to Zeb. But the latter, +looking toward the dining-room, saw Millie coming, and in spite of the +fact that he wanted that cigar as desperately as he had ever wanted +anything, force of habit sent him scuttling out of the room as he warned +Bill, hoarsely, "Look out!"</p> + +<p>Bill called him back. "What you 'fraid of? It's only Millie."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Zeb, intrepid enough to grab the cigar, but not brave +enough to stay, "I'll see you to-morrow, when the women-folks is +working. It's safer then."</p> + +<p>Millie rushed over and took Bill in her arms, kissing him again and +again, while Bill, unused to such demonstration, tried to disengage +himself.</p> + +<p>"Did you just get here, daddy?" she asked, gazing fondly at him.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was his reply, as he sat down in the chair in front of the +table.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen mother?" she asked, standing very close to him.</p> + +<p>Bill, remembering the old days when his return home meant a searching +examination as to soberness, grinned, and then he breathed deeply toward +her. "I 'ain't had a drink in a month," he informed her.</p> + +<p>She laughed and was silent for a moment. Looking down at the floor, she +asked, "Did you come alone, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered, slowly scrutinizing her. "Why didn't you speak to +John before you left the court to-day?" he asked, after a moment in +which he gazed at her intently.</p> + +<p>Tears came into her eyes and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I +just couldn't, daddy, that was all."</p> + +<p>Bill placed a reassuring hand on her hair.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's all right. I fixed it for you," he said, slowly. Millie +stepped back aghast, blushing violently. "You did <i>what</i>?"</p> + +<p>But Bill was unabashed. "I got him to promise he would come over here +and see you." Bill had done no such thing, but the one flaw to a perfect +happiness for him was the thought that John Marvin and Millie might not +make up.</p> + +<p>"You asked him to come over and see me?" Millie asked, in dismay.</p> + +<p>"No," said Bill, with a quiet grin; "I just told him you were crazy to +see him. You would have lost him if it hadn't been for me. Every girl in +Reno is crazy about John, but I got him so he's willing to marry you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy, I don't know what I am going to do with you!" Millie was +almost in tears and leaned dejectedly on a shoulder indifferent through +habit and not will.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you asked John Marvin to marry me?" she pouted.</p> + +<p>"Sure I did," said Bill, untouched by any thought of having done what +was not right. "It was a tough job after the way you treated him," he +admonished, dropping into the chair and tipping it back while he clasped +his hands behind his head and whistled. "I told him," he went on, "that +you had made a fool of yourself, but that most women did that now and +then, and not to mind it. After he's been married awhile he'll get used +to it. I asked him, if you would own up that you were wrong like mother +did, would he give you another chance?" Bill looked up at her, adding, +complacently, "'Ain't I done a good piece of business?"</p> + +<p>Millie gave one shriek and ran up the stairs. Bill, unmoved by any sense +of his own iniquity, followed her to the foot of the staircase, calling +after her, "Now, if you beg his pardon when he comes—"</p> + +<p>She stopped at the top step and looked back. "Beg his pardon!" she +exclaimed, defiantly. "I don't even intend to <i>see</i> him when he comes!"</p> + +<p>Bill held out one hand toward her in a deprecating gesture.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come along down-stairs again." Taking a little square box from his +pocket, he opened it and held it up to view, saying, "If you don't see +him, what is he going to do with this?"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her anger +as she came slowly back down the stairs. Bill showed her his prize in +its nest of bright purple velvet. "He got it for you. He sent me out to +buy it while he was in court!"</p> + +<p>Mildred looked at the thing, and with one long "Oh!" of disgust she +turned and went through the door into the dining-room.</p> + +<p>Alone once more, Bill walked slowly, going to the desk and looking at +the register. Then he went back of the desk, examining familiar +objects. Suddenly his eyes rested on the electric-light switchboard. He +played with the lights for several seconds, turning them out finally. +With a start he grunted, "Now I broke 'em." Pushing the button again, +the lights came on, revealing Mrs. Jones, who had tiptoed in from the +dining-room when Millie told her Bill was there. When he saw her he came +out from behind the desk and she hurried toward him with outstretched +arms.</p> + +<p>"Are you all right, Bill?" she asked, tenderly. And Bill, smiling, +leaned over her and breathed so that she could see that he was all +right. But she had been through so much lately and where Bill was +concerned there was more tenderness than humor in her attitude.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you all tired out, dear?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Bill grinned sheepishly. It was a long time since his wife had shown +such affection for him. "No," was his quick reply.</p> + +<p>But her conscience bade her make sure that he was comfortable. She drew +a big arm-chair from the corner and placed it in the center of the +room, taking a pillow from the sofa and putting it on the back of the +chair. Gently she sat Bill down in it.</p> + +<p>He didn't know what to make of it all and he looked up at her, asking, +with a chuckle:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, mother, you sick?"</p> + +<p>She laughed. "No, Bill, I ain't sick. I'm just thinkin'."</p> + +<p>Bill looked straight ahead of him.</p> + +<p>She took her rocking-chair and placed it next to him. Clasping one of +his hands, she leaned forward.</p> + +<p>"You've forgiven me, 'ain't you, Bill?"</p> + +<p>"Yep," chirped Bill, without so much as a glance.</p> + +<p>Her attempt to make love to Bill was not meeting with the success she +had hoped, but she was bound to make up to him for all the sorrow of the +last few months, and so she did not notice his apparent indifference.</p> + +<p>"Just think," she exclaimed, enthusiastically, "the place is ours +again!"</p> + +<p>"You mean it's yours again," said Bill, slowly.</p> + +<p>"No," She shook her head emphatically. "<i>Ours</i>, after this, Bill."</p> + +<p>"All right," Bill replied, again not moving.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones, seeing that her attempts to be affectionate were falling +upon unfertile ground, dropped his hand.</p> + +<p>"How did Mr. Marvin manage to get it away from them?" she asked.</p> + +<p>For the first time Bill took interest.</p> + +<p>"I fixed it," he said, sitting up straight in his chair. "Do you want me +to tell you how much money you get out of the waterfall?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Bill. But please say <i>we</i> get it."</p> + +<p>"You mean I get half of it?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones nodded.</p> + +<p>"And you're going to keep it for me?" he went on.</p> + +<p>She smiled at him and nodded again.</p> + +<p>"How did you know about my getting the place back?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Lem Townsend told me," she informed him. "Did you know that he and Mrs. +Davis were married to-day?"</p> + +<p>Bill didn't know it, but he didn't intend that his wife should know +this. Playing up to form, he smiled indulgently upon her as he stated, +glibly, "Yes, I fixed it!"</p> + +<p>They smiled wisely upon each other and Mrs. Jones once again took her +husband's hand.</p> + +<p>"We won't have any more divorce people here, will we, Bill?"</p> + +<p>"Then you will have to close up," was his answer.</p> + +<p>"I want to close up, Bill." Her voice was full of deep tenderness. "I +want to have a home again."</p> + +<p>"All right," Bill said, getting up from the chair. Display of affection +always embarrassed him. His attitude amused and at the same time hurt +Mrs. Jones, so she changed her subject to one that she felt might +interest him.</p> + +<p>"We are all going to have some supper soon, Bill. I have been cooking +it," she said.</p> + +<p>Bill patted her tenderly on the hand. "Mother, I found out one thing +when I was at the Home. I found that you were a good cook."</p> + +<p>She smiled happily, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Bill +looked at her a moment in surprise; then he laughed.</p> + +<p>A shadow crossed her face and she gazed into his eyes. "You don't mind +my doing that, do you, Bill?" she asked.</p> + +<p>There was a pause for a moment. Bill shifted awkwardly from side to side +as he stood up.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess I don't," he said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jones walked toward the dining-room, pausing half-way across the +room.</p> + +<p>"Bill," she said, glancing down at the floor, "would you kiss me?"</p> + +<p>Bill gaped at her in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, slowly walking to her. Mrs. Jones saw his hesitation, +and, realizing the humor of the situation, laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind, Bill! You can kiss me later."</p> + +<p>"Now, mother, I was going to." He grinned and followed her to the door, +but she was through it before he could reach her. He stood still and was +about to reopen the door when Marvin burst in, out of breath, but a new +radiance in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why, John," Bill remarked, "I thought you were going over to the +cabin!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I was," said Marvin. "But I heard about Lem and Mrs. Davis being +married, and I knew that everybody would be over there having a good +time. I didn't mean to be out of it. Where's your wife?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's all right. She's cooking supper," Bill replied.</p> + +<p>Marvin hesitated a moment. He went to a window and looked out; then he +came back, putting his arm through Bill's.</p> + +<p>"Is Millie—?"</p> + +<p>He could get no farther, for Bill interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, she's waiting for you. She's afraid you're not going to forgive +her."</p> + +<p>"Well, I think I can convince her of my forgiveness," said Marvin.</p> + +<p>Delving into his pocket Bill brought forth the ring.</p> + +<p>"When you see her just give her this," he said.</p> + +<p>Marvin smiled. "Now I know why you borrowed that two dollars this +afternoon!"</p> + +<p>"Sure! You can find her. She's around some place. After you give it to +her come in to the party."</p> + +<p>"What party?"</p> + +<p>Bill nodded toward the dining-room door. "Lem and his wife are giving a +party and we want you to come. But you can't come until you get Millie," +said Bill.</p> + +<p>Marvin turned and walked toward the stairs, wondering where Millie was. +His thought brought his wish, for she parted the curtains and came +slowly down. She stopped when she saw him, but there was a look in his +eyes that she could not mistake and her heart was beating as it had not +done for many months, ever since she and Marvin had walked on the shores +of Lake Tahoe many months ago.</p> + +<p>"Daddy has told you what I should say to you, hasn't he?" she asked, +coming slowly down the stairs. Marvin went half-way up.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, I have made a fool of myself and I am ashamed of myself and I beg +you to forgive me!"</p> + +<p>Pausing on the stairs, she lowered her eyes, coloring deeply. Marvin +could not help laughing, and there was a dimple of amusement in Millie's +cheek. He put an arm around her and led her down into the lobby.</p> + +<p>"I could tell you something better than that to say," he stated, seeing +that her eyes were at last answering his, "you might say, for example, +'John, dearest, I know that you love me always,' because that is +something a woman must know!"</p> + +<p>They both laughed delightedly at this repetition of the words he had +used in the court-room.</p> + +<p>"And I suppose I should say"—but here Millie turned her head +away—"please marry me!"</p> + +<p>"Exactly!" Marvin cried. "And my answer is, Yes, Millie—if you will +have me!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly he remembered the horrible ring Bill had bought. He took it +from his pocket, saying, with mock tenderness, "Millie, I want to show +you something, and—"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>... HE TOOK IT FROM HIS POCKET, SAYING, "MILLIE, I WANT +TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING"</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>"I have seen it!" she interrupted, laughing softly, glancing down at the +object in its gaudy setting.</p> + +<p>"Well, we mustn't disappoint Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Put it on your +finger, dear, for the old fellow's sake and let him see it. It will show +him that his efforts were not in vain—no ring could be more beautiful +in thought than this one!"</p> + +<p>"You're right, John!" she said, with shining eyes, as she slipped the +thing on her finger and raised her face for a kiss.</p> + +<p>At that psychological moment Bill stuck his head in the door. He +withdrew, of course, but only to return in an instant with the whole +party at his heels.</p> + +<p>Bill was leading his wife by the hand. Gesturing toward Marvin and +Millie, his shrewd old eyes fairly snapping with whimsical happiness, +Lightnin' exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Mother—look! I fixed that!"</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="BOOTH_TARKINGTONS_NOVELS" id="BOOTH_TARKINGTONS_NOVELS"></a>BOOTH TARKINGTON'S NOVELS</h2> + + +<h3><i>SEVENTEEN.</i><br /> Illustrated by Arthur William Brown.</h3> + +<p>No one but the creator of Penrod could have portrayed the immortal young +people of this story. Its humor is irresistible and reminiscent of the +time when the reader was Seventeen.</p> + +<h3><i>PENROD.</i><br /> Illustrated by Gordon Grant.</h3> + +<p>This is a picture of a boy's heart, full of the lovable, humorous, +tragic things which are locked secrets to most older folks. It is a +finished, exquisite work.</p> + +<h3><i>PENROD AND SAM.</i><br /> Illustrated by Worth Brehm.</h3> + +<p>Like "Penrod" and "Seventeen," this book contains some remarkable phases +of real boyhood and some of the best stories of juvenile prankishness +that have ever been written.</p> + +<h3><i>THE TURMOIL.</i><br /> Illustrated by C. E. Chambers.</h3> + +<p>Bibbs Sheridan is a dreamy, imaginative youth, who revolts against his +father's plans for him to be a servitor of big business. The love of a +fine girl turns Bibbs' life from failure to success.</p> + +<h3><i>THE GENTLEMAN FROM INDIANA.</i><br /> Frontispiece.</h3> + +<p>A story of love and politics,—more especially a picture of a country +editor's life in Indiana, but the charm of the book lies in the love +interest.</p> + +<h3><i>THE FLIRT.</i><br /> Illustrated by Clarence F. Underwood.</h3> + +<p>The "Flirt," the younger of two sisters, breaks one girl's engagement, +drives one man to suicide, causes the murder of another, leads another +to lose his fortune, and in the end marries a stupid and unpromising +suitor, leaving the really worthy one to marry her sister.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_NOVELS_OF_MARY_ROBERTS_RINEHART" id="THE_NOVELS_OF_MARY_ROBERTS_RINEHART"></a>THE NOVELS OF MARY ROBERTS RINEHART</h2> + + +<h3><i>DANGEROUS DAYS.</i></h3> + +<p>A brilliant story of married life. A romance of fine purpose and +stirring appeal.</p> + +<h3><i>THE AMAZING INTERLUDE.</i><br /> Illustrations by The Kinneys.</h3> + +<p>The story of a great love which cannot be pictured—an +interlude—amazing, romantic.</p> + +<h3><i>LOVE STORIES.</i></h3> + +<p>This book is exactly what its title indicates, a collection of love +affairs—sparkling with humor, tenderness and sweetness.</p> + +<h3><i>"K."</i><br /> Illustrated.</h3> + +<p>K. LeMoyne, famous surgeon, goes to live in a little town where +beautiful Sidney Page lives. She is in training to become a nurse. The +joys and troubles of their young love are told with keen and sympathetic +appreciation.</p> + +<h3><i>THE MAN IN LOWER TEN.</i><br /> Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy.</h3> + +<p>An absorbing detective story woven around the mysterious death of the +"Man in Lower Ten."</p> + +<h3><i>WHEN A MAN MARRIES.</i><br /> Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker.</h3> + +<p>A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him, finds that his +aunt is soon to visit him. The aunt, who contributes to the family +income, knows nothing of the domestic upheaval. How the young man met +the situation is entertainingly told.</p> + +<h3><i>THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE.</i><br /> Illustrated by Lester Ralph.</h3> + +<p>The occupants of "Sunnyside" find the dead body of Arnold Armstrong on +the circular staircase. Following the murder a bank failure is +announced. Around these two events is woven a plot of absorbing +interest.</p> + +<h3><i>THE STREET OF SEVEN STARS.</i><br /> (Photoplay Edition.)</h3> + +<p>Harmony Wells, studying in Vienna to be a great violinist, suddenly +realizes that her money is almost gone. She meets a young ambitious +doctor who offers her chivalry and sympathy, and together with +world-worn Dr. Anna and Jimmie, the waif, they share their love and +slender means.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORIES_OF_RARE_CHARM_BY_GENE_STRATTON-PORTER" id="STORIES_OF_RARE_CHARM_BY_GENE_STRATTON-PORTER"></a>STORIES OF RARE CHARM BY GENE STRATTON-PORTER</h2> + + +<h3><i>MICHAEL O'HALLORAN.</i><br /> Illustrated by Frances Rogers.</h3> + +<p>Michael is a quick-witted little Irish newsboy, living in Northern +Indiana. He adopts a deserted little girl, a cripple. He also assumes +the responsibility of leading the entire rural community upward and +onward.</p> + +<h3><i>LADDIE.</i><br /> Illustrated by Herman Pfeifer.</h3> + +<p>This is a bright, cheery tale with the scenes laid in Indiana. The Story +is told by Little Sister, the youngest member of a large family, but it +is concerned not so much with childish doings as with the love affairs +of older members of the family. Chief among them is that of Laddie and +the Princess, an English girl who has come to live in the neighborhood +and about whose family there hangs a mystery.</p> + +<h3><i>THE HARVESTER.</i><br /> Illustrated by W. L. Jacobs.</h3> + +<p>"The Harvester," is a man of the woods and fields, and if the book had +nothing in it but the splendid figure of this man it would be notable. +But when the Girl comes to his "Medicine Woods," there begins a romance +of the rarest idyllic quality.</p> + +<h3><i>FRECKLES.</i><br /> Illustrated.</h3> + +<p>Freckles is a nameless waif when the tale opens, but the way in which he +takes hold of life; the nature friendships he forms in the great +Limberlost Swamp; the manner in which everyone who meets him succumbs to +the charm of his engaging personality; and his love-story with "The +Angel" are full of real sentiment.</p> + +<h3><i>A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST.</i><br /> Illustrated.</h3> + +<p>The story of a girl of the Michigan woods; a buoyant, loveable type of +the self-reliant American. Her philosophy is one of love and kindness +towards all things; her hope is never dimmed. And by the sheer beauty of +her soul, and the purity of her vision, she wins from barren and +unpromising surroundings those rewards of high courage.</p> + +<h3><i>AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW.</i><br /> Illustrations in colors.</h3> + +<p>The scene of this charming love story is laid in Central Indiana. The +story is one of devoted friendship, and tender self-sacrificing love. +The novel is brimful of the most beautiful word painting of nature, and +its pathos and tender sentiment will endear it to all.</p> + +<h3><i>THE SONG OF THE CARDINAL.</i><br /> Profusely illustrated.</h3> + +<p>A love ideal of the Cardinal bird and his mate, told with delicacy and +humor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ZANE_GREYS_NOVELS" id="ZANE_GREYS_NOVELS"></a>ZANE GREY'S NOVELS</h2> + + +<h3><i>THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS</i></h3> + +<p>A New York society girl buys a ranch which becomes the center of +frontier warfare. Her loyal superintendent rescues her when she is +captured by bandits. A surprising climax brings the story to a +delightful close.</p> + +<h3><i>THE RAINBOW TRAIL</i></h3> + +<p>The story of a young clergyman who becomes a wanderer in the great +western uplands—until at last love and faith awake.</p> + +<h3><i>DESERT GOLD</i></h3> + +<p>The story describes the recent uprising along the border, and ends with +the finding of the gold which two prospectors had willed to the girl who +is the story's heroine.</p> + +<h3><i>RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE</i></h3> + +<p>A picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago when Mormon +authority ruled. The prosecution of Jane Withersteen is the theme of the +story.</p> + +<h3><i>THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN</i></h3> + +<p>This is the record of a trip which the author took with Buffalo Jones, +known as the preserver of the American bison, across the Arizona desert +and of a hunt in "that wonderful country of deep canons and giant +pines."</p> + +<h3><i>THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT</i></h3> + +<p>A lovely girl, who has been reared among Mormons, learns to love a young +New Englander. The Mormon religion, however, demands that the girl shall +become the second wife of one of the Mormons—Well, that's the problem +of this great story.</p> + +<h3><i>THE SHORT STOP</i></h3> + +<p>The young hero, tiring of his factory grind, starts out to win fame and +fortune as a professional ball player. His hard knocks at the start are +followed by such success as clean sportsmanship, courage and honesty +ought to win.</p> + +<h3><i>BETTY ZANE</i></h3> + +<p>This story tells of the bravery and heroism of Betty, the beautiful +young sister of old Colonel Zane, one of the bravest pioneers.</p> + +<h3><i>THE LONE STAR RANGER</i></h3> + +<p>After killing a man in self defense, Buck Duane becomes an outlaw along +the Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a +young girl held prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down +upon himself the wrath of her captors and henceforth is hunted on one +side by honest men, on the other by outlaws.</p> + +<h3><i>THE BORDER LEGION</i></h3> + +<p>Joan Randle, in a spirit of anger, sent Jim Cleve out to a lawless +Western mining camp, to prove his mettle. Then realizing that she loved +him—she followed him out. On her way, she is captured by a bandit band, +and trouble begins when she shoots Kells, the leader—and nurses him to +health again. Here enters another romance—when Joan, disguised as an +outlaw, observes Jim, in the throes of dissipation. A gold strike, a +thrilling robbery—gambling and gun play carry you along breathlessly.</p> + +<h3><i>THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS</i><br /> By Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey</h3> + +<p>The life story of Colonel William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," as told by +his sister and Zane Grey. It begins with his boyhood in Iowa and his +first encounter with an Indian. We see "Bill" as a pony express rider, +then near Fort Sumter as Chief of the Scouts, and later engaged in the +most dangerous Indian campaigns. There is also a very interesting +account of the travels of "The Wild West" Show. No character in public +life makes a stronger appeal to the imagination of America than "Buffalo +Bill," whose daring and bravery made him famous.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + +***** This file should be named 34280-h.htm or 34280-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/8/34280/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/34280-h/images/illus1.jpg b/34280-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ded8dda --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h/images/illus1.jpg diff --git a/34280-h/images/illus2.jpg b/34280-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb89817 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h/images/illus2.jpg diff --git a/34280-h/images/illus3.jpg b/34280-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e1d79f --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h/images/illus3.jpg diff --git a/34280-h/images/illus4.jpg b/34280-h/images/illus4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..967a737 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280-h/images/illus4.jpg diff --git a/34280.txt b/34280.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48390e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +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: Lightnin' + After a Play of the Same Name by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon + +Author: Frank Bacon + +Release Date: November 11, 2010 [EBook #34280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + LIGHTNIN' + + BY FRANK BACON + + + After the Play of the Same Name by + WINCHELL SMITH and FRANK BACON + + With Illustrations from + PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PLAY + + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + Copyright 1920, by Harper & Brothers + Printed in the United States of America + Published February, 1920 + + +[Illustration: YOU LOOKED INTO LIGHTNIN'S SHREWDLY HUMOROUS EYES, AND +YOU SMILED--SMILED WITH HIM ] + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +YOU LOOKED INTO LIGHTNIN'S SHREWDLY HUMOROUS EYES, AND YOU +SMILED--SMILED WITH HIM + +"PROMISE ME YOU WON'T SIGN THE DEED" ... BILL HESITATED + +LIGHTNIN', IN HIS FADED G. A. R. UNIFORM ... LISTENED ATTENTIVELY + +...HE TOOK IT FROM HIS POCKET, SAYING, "MILLIE, I WANT TO SHOW YOU +SOMETHING" + + + + +LIGHTNIN' + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +"Him?" the local postmaster of Calivada would say, in reply to your +question about the quaint little old man who had just ambled away from +the desk with a bundle of letters stuffed in his pocket. "Why, that's +Lightnin' Bill Jones! We call him Lightnin' because he ain't. Nature +didn't give no speed to Bill. No, sir, far as I know, Lightnin' 'ain't +never done a day's work in his life--but there ain't none of us ever +thinks any the less of him for that! Bill's got a way with him, an' he +kin tell some mighty good yarns. Lightnin's all right!" + +And when you met Bill Jones you agreed with the postmaster. You looked +into Lightnin's twinkling, shrewdly humorous eyes and you smiled--smiled +with him. You thought of the reply he made to a stranger who protested +against his indolence. + +"Well," Bill said, with that shrewd glance of his, "I ain't keepin' +_you_ from makin' a million dollars, am I?" + +Old Bill was full of remarks like that, and sometimes those about him +were not so sure as to his lack of speed, in spite of his aimless, +easy-going habits. You never can tell from the feet alone. Those closest +to him were not sure at all; he "had them guessing." There was no doubt +that his wife, simple, earnest, hard-working woman that she was, loved +him. She mothered him and did not seem to worry much about his shiftless +ways. He was her husband, and that was enough for her. What Mrs. Jones +thought of her husband's mental acumen would be another question, +perhaps, but up to the present she had always consulted Bill's wishes +and sought his advice. Their adopted daughter, Millie, a pretty, +wholesome, brown-haired girl of nineteen, worshiped Bill. Any one who +said a word against "daddy" had Millie to deal with. The third person +Bill had guessing was John Marvin, a young man who owned a tract of land +and a cabin a few miles down the trail. Marvin had a lot on his mind, +and was studying law all alone in the cabin at nights into the bargain, +but he liked to have Bill drop in, liked to hear him talk. Bill could +tell some pretty tall yarns, but he told them so well you had to swallow +them. There was an odd, friendly, understanding bond between the +ambitious young fellow and the easy-going, humorous old man. They +confided in each other a great deal, and--well, like Mrs. Jones and +Millie, Marvin frequently found himself crediting Bill with a semblance +of mental speed. But then his mind would picture the ambling, aimless +figure of Bill Jones with its shock of disordered gray hair and +half-shut eyes, and Marvin would smile to himself and turn his thoughts +to something else. But he wondered, nevertheless. + +At the present moment, the afternoon of a late summer's day, Bill Jones +was doing a little wondering himself, though no one would have suspected +it as he ambled lazily up the trail, bound for home. Things were not +going well with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones and Millie were worrying, +and Bill knew it. Characteristically, he had evaded the issue for +several years, content to let each day take care of itself as best it +could, but now matters were reaching a crisis and circumstances were +forcing Bill to consider it. They had been selling the timber on the +land, but that did not help much; and now they were taking summer +boarders--when they could get them, for boarders were scarce. Again, +this only made more hard work for Millie and Mrs. Jones. + +It was of this Bill was thinking as he went along. He had been sent to +get the mail and to meet the morning train from San Francisco for the +purpose of enticing a few boarders to the Jones establishment if +possible. He should have been home hours ago with the mail, and there +were some odd jobs awaiting him, but he had dallied in the little local +town. This was his usual habit, for, like a good many lonely souls, Bill +was also a social one. People liked to buy Bill drinks and cigars in the +tavern and listen to his yarns. But to-day Bill was lingering +intentionally; he knew that his wife and Millie expected to take him +into consultation this afternoon in regard to the critical state of the +family affairs. Naturally Bill dreaded such a proceeding, but there was +something more than that to it to-day. His old heart, usually full of +happy-go-lucky sunshine, was harboring shadows, for he knew that he +ought to help and wanted to. But how? As he had turned slowly homeward, +Lightnin' hadn't the faintest idea. + +Then suddenly, when about a mile from the house, Bill paused in the +middle of the trail, chuckled, and then sat down on a fallen tree. He +pushed back his battered old hat, drew a bag of tobacco and a Manila +paper from his pocket, and rolled himself a cigarette. All signs and +manifestations indicated that Bill Jones was overwhelmed by an idea. He +sat puffing the cigarette and grinning to himself for a few minutes; +then he arose slowly and ambled on; but now the amble was not so +aimless. It had a suggestion of the walk of a man with a purpose, and +there was a gleam of satisfaction and humorous self-importance in his +half-shut eyes. + +Nearing the house, he observed his wife sitting on the broad veranda, +rocking to and fro, obviously on the watch for him. From force of habit, +Bill tried to make a detour with the intent of entering unseen through +the back door; but, knowing his ways, Mrs. Jones was too quick for him. +She called to him, and, with the air of one who had no intention +whatever of entering by the back door, he came up on the porch and +dropped into a chair beside her. + +"Well, mother," he said, amiably, "you look all tuckered out. Glad to +see you restin'." + +"Where you been all day?" she asked, ignoring his remark. Her tone was +none too tender, but there was a gentle gleam in her motherly, tired +eyes as they sought her husband's, sheepishly hiding behind half-closed +lids. + +"Just takin' a look at town," Bill drawled. "Just takin' a look." He +settled himself comfortably in his chair and rolled a cigarette. + +"Don't you know there's some new boarders come?" + +"Sure," said Bill, easily. "I sent 'em, didn't I? Told 'em you was the +best cook in two states, mother. Guess I ought to know." + +Millie, an apron over her neat and simple house dress, came out and drew +a chair between her foster-parents. She glanced quickly from one to the +other, and then her gentle brown eyes came to rest lovingly on old Bill. +He returned her smile. + +"What a long time you were, daddy!" she said. "I bet you stayed away +just because you knew mother and I wanted to talk to you to-day--own up, +daddy!" + +Bill grinned delightedly, despite his knowledge of the rather grave +situation the girl's smiling comment covered. "Well, Millie," he +answered, "I'm here now, ain't I? Guess we can have a little talk before +them boarders begin to yell for their supper. I kinder wish as you +didn't have to cook for 'em, mother--an' Millie waitin' on 'em. 'Tain't +fair." + +Mrs. Jones's lips twitched; the weight of a hard day was on her. + +"It ain't no use puttin' it off, Bill," she said, wearily. "We got to do +somethin'. Mr. Townsend was here this afternoon." + +"What o' that?" asked Bill. + +"Well, he's pretty shrewd, you know, an' he's thinkin' about us, Bill. +He seen how much of the timber's gone. He knows we sold another strip o' +land last month for next to nothin'--" + +"What's that to him?" Bill queried, rolling another cigarette and +apparently completely absorbed in the operation. + +"He--he's just worried about us, an' it's nice of him, Bill, him knowin' +us all these years. He--he thinks as we might move into--into one o' +them little cabins down the trail an'--" + +"Lem Townsend's all right," Bill cut in, lazily, "but we ain't goin' to +move, mother. An' it ain't nobody's business, neither--not even Lem +Townsend's. I hope you told him that." + +"Why, Bill!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed, sharply. "I told him no such thing! +An' I ain't so sure but what I ain't goin' to take his advice!" + +Bill looked at her, a hidden smile in his eyes. "It's your property, +mother," he said, quietly. + +Tears sprang into the woman's eyes and she made an impulsive gesture. + +"You mustn't think that way, Bill!" she cried. "I know you deeded the +whole place over to me when we were married--and it was all you had! I +wasn't thinkin' o' that--'ceptin' as I always think. You must say _our_ +place, Bill. It's yours an' mine an' Millie's. We'll stick together. +But we got to do _somethin'_." + +Bill glanced slyly at the girl, whose brown head was bowed thoughtfully. +"What you think, Millie?" he asked. + +"I don't know what to say," she replied, slowly. "I could go back to San +Francisco and work as I did last year. But maybe we could pull through +this winter--if only we could get boarders. I don't mind the work, +and--and I'd rather stay home here." + +Bill's eyes suddenly twinkled. "What's the matter?" he chuckled. "John +Marvin come back from the city to stay at his cabin?" + +Millie blushed. "Daddy!" she pouted. + +Mrs. Jones did not seem any too pleased at her husband's remark. "John +Marvin 'ain't got nothin' to do with it!" she exclaimed. "I don't see +what he comes foolin' around here for, anyway--Millie 'ain't got _him_ +on her mind!" + +"I should say not!" Millie echoed, though it occurred to Bill that the +softness of her brown eyes belied the petulant toss of her head. +"Perhaps, after all, it would be best for me to go back to Mr. Thomas's +office!" + +Bill turned his half-shut eyes on her quickly, but Millie did not note +the expression of genuine concern in them. He sat lost in thought. The +last winter had been the most difficult of all for them. Millie, feeling +that it was time for her being some help, had studied typewriting and +stenography and had obtained a position in the office of Raymond Thomas, +a San Francisco lawyer. Presumably on a vacation, Thomas had chanced to +spend a week at the Jones place the previous summer. Millie had told him +of her design to help the family, and Thomas had suggested that she take +the position open in his office. + +But that had been a dreary and lonely winter for Bill and his wife. +Millie's pretty face and youthful ways had been missed sorely; the girl +had come to be all in all to the old couple, and they could not bear to +see her go away again for another long winter. + +Then, too, Bill had his own reasons for feeling grave and down in the +mouth when Millie suggested her returning to work in the office of +Raymond Thomas. Bill Jones was not one to analyze, or to voice or +explain his thoughts--even to himself--unless he took a notion to, or +considered that the right moment had arrived; it was all too much +trouble, anyway. Certain thoughts were running through his mind now, +however; running a little at random, to be sure, but they were there. +His young friend, John Marvin, had worked in Thomas's office for a +time--was working there when Millie entered the office. Indeed, that was +how Marvin had met Millie and found, to his delight, that they were +neighbors up in Nevada--that she was the pretty daughter his friend Bill +Jones was always mentioning. + +But Bill was thinking now especially of the fact that Marvin had left +Raymond Thomas's office suddenly, and had told Bill precisely why he had +left. + +"Don't _you_ think it would be best for me to go back, daddy?" Millie +questioned, interrupting his random musings. "Maybe mother could manage +here, with one or two boarders and the money I shall send her. And there +will be your army pension. Mr. Thomas is coming to pay us a visit +to-morrow, you know, and I'll ask him at once for my old position. I +know it will be all right, for he's always been perfectly splendid! He +told me the position would always be open to me. You have no idea how +kind and considerate he is, daddy! Then maybe next summer--" + +"Next summer we're all goin' to be rich!" said her odd foster-father, +unexpectedly. "Yes, sir, meanin' you an' mother, Millie girl, next +summer we're goin' to be awful rich. Leastways, you an' mother is. Bein' +rich wouldn't mean nothin' to me--I'm above it!" + +"Why, daddy!" Millie exclaimed, staring at him. "How--What do you mean, +daddy?" + +Slumped away down in his chair, Bill's eyes were now all but closed +tight and he was grinning. + +"Nothin' particular," he answered, softly. "'Cept that maybe Bill Jones +ain't called Lightnin' for nothin'." + +"Bill," said his wife, "this ain't no time for to be smart! If you have +anything to say, I wish to goodness you'd say it!" + +Bill half opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Millie ain't goin' back +to that tailor-made lawyer's office," he said. + +"Daddy, please!" said Millie, flushing. + +"You mustn't make fun of Mr. Thomas when--" + +"All right, Millie," he stopped her, resting his thin hand on her brown +hair for an instant. "I wouldn't say nothin' as would hurt you. But you +won't have to go back, my dear--not unless you really want to leave us. +I got an idea, mother--that's why I was late gettin' home. Ideas take +time, 'specially when they're good ones! I got a good one what'll fix +this whole business!" + +Bill stuck his thumbs in his faded old shirt comically. Even slumped +down in his chair as he was, the suggestion of a harmless swagger was in +his manner--the easy swagger of one who, hitherto unconsidered, has +astonished the skeptics by giving birth to an idea and solving a +problem. There was something about Bill that suppressed the gentle but +none the less amused smile that was dimpling Millie's cheeks. + +"Out with it, daddy!" she demanded, restraining a desire to pull his +ear. + +"If Lem Townsend is so anxious to help us," he stated, "he can arrange +all the details for you, mother. I 'ain't got time for details--that's +what I told Grant once, when we was havin' supper before Petersburg. Got +enough to do with the idea. Lem can put the ads. in them Reno papers, +an' hire the maids for you, an' things like that." Then Bill suddenly +stopped, hugely enjoying the mystification of his two listeners. + +His wife sat up. "Bill Jones," she said, "you been drinking again down +to town, that's what I think!" + +"Go on, daddy!" Millie encouraged, putting her hand on his arm. "I feel +that you've thought of something! Tell us!" + +Ignoring his wife's accusation, Bill gave Millie a grateful glance and +resumed, in his slow drawl: + +"I got an idea--sure enough, mother an' Millie! It didn't hit me until I +was half-way home to-day, but I got it lookin' at the mornin' train what +goes on through to Reno. I've looked at a pile o' trains in my time, but +I never got no idea from 'em before. Look here, don't the state line run +plumb through the middle o' this house, so's half of it is in California +an' the other half in Nevada? Well, what's the matter with makin' this +house a hotel temporary for busted hearts what takes six months to cure? +Lots o' them rich folks from the East who goes on down to Reno to git +divorced would like to live on the lake, but they can't because they got +to live in Nevada for six months. They can live on one side o' this +house an' be in Nevada. An' at the same time they gits all the good o' +livin' in California! They'd be tickled to death an' they'd be comin' in +shoals all year, winter an' summer. An' what they pays ain't nothin' to +them--the Reno hotels is so rich off them they don't want to take in no +one what 'ain't a busted heart! You better start right away gettin' +ready, mother!" + +Mrs. Jones and Millie gasped. Bill, however, having spoken at +considerable length for him, merely reached for his eternal bag of +tobacco and paper and idly rolled himself a cigarette. + +Millie clapped her hands. "Why, mother!" she cried, "daddy's right--it +is an idea! And so simple!" + +"All big things is simple," Bill remarked, with the air of one who ought +to know. + +Mrs. Jones stared from her husband to Millie. "Oh, Bill," she said, +finally, "I really think we can do it! And now I'll tell you somethin'. +I--I was goin' to suggest this very thing some time ago, but--but I +thought you wouldn't approve of it on account o' Millie. Lem Townsend +put the notion in my head when he was talkin' about our sellin' the +timber." + +Bill looked up. "Lem thought of it, eh? Didn't think Lem had that much +sense. Anyways, I bet I thought of it first--I must 'a' been thinkin' of +it for a long time without knowin' it. Why shouldn't I approve--on +account o' Millie, mother?" + +"I--I don't know," said his wife, uncertainly. "I hear some of them +divorcers is--is--" + +"Shucks, mother," Bill stopped her. "They're human beings, ain't they? +An' them as ain't we needn't take. But they're all right. I seen a lot +o' them on the trains. Right smart lookers, most o' them! They can't +help it if their hearts gets busted, can they? Human beings is human +beings. Besides, we gotter look at it from a business point o' view--as +Lincoln said to me about the Civil War. I was a business man once an'--" + +Millie laughed, and Bill, remembering that he was in the bosom of his +family and that there were certain things he couldn't "get away with" +there, subsided. + +Evidently Mrs. Jones had been thinking hard during the past few minutes, +and now she spoke. "We'll do it, Millie!" she said. "Some o' them Reno +hotels got started overnight, just like this, an' we can do the same. +It'll be kinder queer at first, turning our home into a hotel, but maybe +we can soon make enough to--to make it a home again. Shall we try it, +Millie?" + +"Of course!" Millie exclaimed. "I think it will be great fun! You're +awful clever, daddy, to think of it!" + +Bill, who had rolled and lighted another cigarette, arose and stuck his +hands carelessly in the pockets of his worn, baggy old trousers. +"'Tain't nothin'," he remarked, swaying on his heels and toes. "Nothin' +at all! I think o' lots o' things like that, but I don't tell 'em--too +busy! Well, mother, as Lem Townsend's comin' over to-night, you better +have him fix them details. I got to go an' think some more about the +idea!" + +He moved away with elaborate unconcern and started to amble down the +veranda steps. His wife suddenly remembered several odd jobs he should +be attending to, but she did not stop him. Her mind was full of +plans--and one is naturally timid about asking a Man with a Big Idea to +perform menial tasks. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +After supper the following evening Bill slipped from the house and +ambled through the woods to the lake border, where a young moon, cradled +above the western ridge, sent its shafts of silver light across the +darkened waters. It was evident that Bill Jones wanted to be alone. He +settled down on the trunk of a fallen tree and absently rolled himself a +cigarette. When it was satisfactorily lighted he glanced down the shore. +It was deserted, but a little way back, on the woodland path, he +observed two people strolling in the dim shadows of the pines and +cedars. He knew that the girl in the white dress was Millie, and he +guessed that the man with her was John Marvin. Bill was not especially +romantic, but there was no doubt that the sight of those two together +pleased him. He knew that the pair had not seen much of each other of +late, and he wondered why. He himself had not seen John Marvin for +nearly two weeks. Though he did not indulge in romance personally, he +understood much, and he sighed deeply as he watched the dim figure of +the girl strolling along the path. His mind wandered off through a vista +of past years to the time when Millie had first come to the Tahoe region +and to the Jones family, a bit of a girl of three. Sinking into a +reverie, Bill failed to note that the pair had finally parted, Marvin +striding off up the trail in the direction of his cabin. A pull at his +ear brought him back to earth. + +"Why, daddy! What are you doing out here all alone?" + +Millie sat down beside him, putting an arm around his neck. + +"Hello!" said Bill, reaching for his bag of tobacco and papers. "Where's +John?" he asked, a humorous gleam in his eyes, as he met hers. + +Millie seemed to hesitate before answering: "He's gone back to his +place. I told him Mr. Thomas was here and he wouldn't even come in to +see him! He says he does not like it. I don't think it is any of his +business," she added, giving Bill a hug. + +"Why ain't it?" Bill asked. + +Again Millie hesitated, then said, "Mr. Thomas is just as nice as he can +be daddy, and--" + +"His yaller gloves is nice. So's his cane. Must take him an awful long +time to dress." + +Millie took her arm away and looked at him. She caught the lift of his +eyebrows and the peculiar expression of his half-open mouth and +half-shut eyes, an expression which always decorated Bill's face when he +gave vent to sentiments which Millie had come to regard as "Daddy's +intuitions." Bill always used trivial words at such moments, but that +did not minimize the effect. + +"But, daddy, it seems so hard to make you understand how good Mr. Thomas +has been to me! Mother understands. He took such pains with me. I was a +perfect greenhorn and didn't know the first thing about office work. No +matter what mistakes I made, he was just as patient as he could be. And +he says he loves this beautiful country up here! He liked to hear me +tell about our wonderful waterfall." + +Bill puffed his cigarette, an odd gleam in his eyes, perhaps of +amusement, perhaps of wisdom. Millie glanced back toward the house; then +her eyes swept the shore and finally came to rest on something barely +visible far up on the mountain--John Marvin's cabin. She sighed and +continued to gaze in the same direction. Bill stole a look at her. + +"Liked to hear about our waterfall, eh?" he remarked. "I thought so." + +Millie started. "Thought what, daddy?" she asked, her brown eyes trying +to read his face. + +"Nothin'. Nothin'," he replied, with a note of finality that she had +long learned to know as indicating the futility of further questioning. + +"Well," she said, rising, "I think you'd better come up to the house, +daddy. I suppose you left Mr. Thomas all alone there on the veranda, +didn't you? You might have stayed and entertained him until I got back." + +"Guess he entertains himself pretty well," said Bill. "Besides, mother's +with him." + +"But you ought to be there, too, daddy; you're the head of the house, +you know!" + +He gave her an amused glance as she cuddled his arm in hers and walked +him off. "All right, Millie, but I kinder keep fergettin' that part of +it." + +Coming up the veranda steps, they found Mrs. Jones sitting there with a +handsome, perfectly groomed young man of possibly twenty-seven. Raymond +Thomas looked actually too good to be true in that backwoods region. He +arose quickly, placed a chair for Millie, and then drew one beside his +own, urging Bill to occupy it. + +"Please sit right here, Mr. Jones!" he insisted, with an easy, +flattering smile. "Where did you disappear to after supper? I've been +looking all over for you. I want to hear some more of those famous +stories of yours! Tell me how to get him started, Miss Buckley," he +added, with mock appeal and turning his dazzling smile on Millie. + +"Oh, daddy just starts himself!" she answered, laughing. + +Bill dropped into the chair and crossed his legs. Gingerly he took the +cigar Thomas offered him. + +"I want to hear about some of your experiences in the Civil War," Thomas +urged. "Why, I have heard that you were in most of the big battles!" + +Bill glanced at his smiling questioner with an odd look. With great +deliberation he bit off the end of the cigar. "I was in all them battles +but two," he said, finally, holding up the cigar and subjecting it to a +minute inspection. + +"Yes?" Thomas encouraged. "Allow me to light the cigar, Mr. Jones!" + +Bill gave him a quizzical glance at this unusual attention, a glance +that apparently was quite lost on Thomas. + +"Sure. All but two," said Bill, taking a long pull at the cigar. "I was +in Washington on private business when them two was goin' on. I was +greatly disappointed." + +"I can imagine so!" exclaimed Thomas. + +"You can imagine a lot o' things, can't you?" said Bill, unexpectedly. +"I often imagine I never saw some people. It makes you feel better. But +about them battles. Ye know Grant 'd never won the battle of Lookout +Mountain if it hadn't been for me--" + +"Indeed!" cried Thomas, in a tone of pleasant surprise. + +"Nope. I was the only man he would let look out." + +Thomas laughed effusively and gently tapped Bill on the back. "Capital!" +he exclaimed. "You must tell me some more later on. And you've got to +come to town with me some time, Mr. Jones. But"--and for a moment he +turned his brilliant smile on Millie and Mrs. Jones--"I've been +thinking ever since supper of that great idea of yours about turning +this place into a hotel for the broken-hearted. Really, I've given much +serious thought to it, as I was telling your wife just before you and +Miss Buckley joined us. I am so interested in you all that I hate to act +like a damper, but I have very grave doubts about it being a paying +proposition. And then I fear none of you have taken into consideration +the vast amount of work, preparation, and alteration the scheme will +entail. Now, as you are doing this to--er--well, to improve the +financial yield of the establishment--you have flattered me by deeming +me worthy of your confidence, Mrs. Jones, so perhaps I need not hesitate +over words--it seems to me that we might find some other and easier way +of accomplishing the desired object--" + +"Hello, Lem! Come an' set down," called Bill, calmly interrupting the +above flow of words and addressing a tall, rather impressive and +distinguished-looking man of about forty who had come up the veranda +steps. + +"How's it goin' Lem?" Bill asked. He turned his eyes on Thomas. "Lem's +runnin' fer superior judge o' Washoe County at the fall election." + +Mrs. Jones and Millie greeted Townsend cordially and the girl placed a +chair for him while he turned to shake hands with Thomas, who had +recovered his slightly shattered poise and risen gracefully. Townsend +shook hands genially, but there was a lurking frown in Raymond Thomas's +eyes--more than a suggestion that he was annoyed at the interruption, +and, for reasons of his own, resented the presence of another person on +the veranda. His dazzling smile was at work, however. + +"It is a pleasure to meet the future legal light of Washoe County!" he +said. + +"That's right--better make yourself solid with him now," said Bill, +throwing away the remains of the cigar and bringing out his tobacco and +papers. There was something in his voice that somehow did not bring a +laugh. + +"Why, daddy!" cried Millie. "I don't think that's funny at all!" + +Bill merely glanced at her and went on rolling his cigarette. Thomas had +given Bill a keen, puzzled look; but no one could ever tell from +Lightnin's expression whether or not any special meaning lay back of +his words. + +Mrs. Jones created a diversion. Eagerly she imparted Bill's great idea +to Townsend and their intention of carrying it out at once. Millie +joined in and asked him if he would help. He declared himself at their +immediate disposal. + +"I'm very glad you are going to do it, mother!" he said. "In my +judgment, it is an excellent solution of your problem. You will recall +that I suggested this--" + +"But I beat you to it, Lem!" Bill cut in quickly. "Forethought and +execution is the whole carnage!" + +Raymond Thomas had been listening closely. If there was disapproval and +annoyance at the turn things were taking, it did not show in his face. + +"But are you sure this venture will pay these good friends of ours, Mr. +Townsend?" he asked, in a tone of grave doubt. "Those divorce +people--they are mostly women, you know--are generally on short rations, +though they have been used to having a lot of money to spend. I'm afraid +they'll demand comforts and luxuries that will run expenses into big +figures, and they won't want to pay enough to make a reasonable margin +of profit." + +"I am certain it will pay splendidly!" replied Townsend. "Look at the +Reno hotels! Oh yes, I strongly advise our friends to tackle it!" + +Thomas frowned slightly. "Perhaps you are right, Mr. Townsend. I presume +you have investigated the matter. But there is another point to +consider. I don't think--well, personally, I do not think it is +altogether a good plan to--to bring women of that sort into contact with +women like Mrs. Jones and Miss Mildred." + +He turned to Millie, his expression one of delicate concern and appeal. + +"It's fine of you to speak like that, Mr. Thomas," she said, flushing +slightly, "but mother and I have talked over all that. We do not mind. +And, besides, I don't think it right for us to feel that way about it. +I'm sure most of those women are nice--and maybe they need just the +sympathy and care we can give them." + +Lemuel Townsend, on hearing Thomas's statement, had sat bolt upright. +"Sir," he said, in tones of personal injury, adjusting his glasses and +eying Thomas from head to foot, "I think that a rather broad and +sweeping statement for you to make. Miss Mildred is perfectly correct +in her surmise. I must remind you that I am a Nevada attorney. I have +known, in my life, many of these young women, and I have found them most +estimable!" + +"Ye like 'em, don't you, Lem?" remarked Bill, chuckling. + +Townsend flushed; he looked appealingly at Mrs. Jones and Millie, his +judicial manner gone. It must be confessed that Millie suppressed +something resembling a giggle. + +"You old fogies up here in the mountains have the wrong idea!" Townsend +said, turning to Bill. "Why should two people be hitched together when +they are pulling in different directions? That doesn't get them any +place." He rose and reached for his hat on the veranda rail. "Well, I +must be off. I'll get to work at once, Mrs. Jones. The Reno papers shall +have your ad. to-morrow, and I'll get busy on some other things at +once." + +The two women rose, profuse in their thanks, which he smilingly waved +aside. With a nod to Bill, and a rather formal bow to Thomas, he went +down the steps. + +Thomas resumed his seat and his dazzling smile; there was nothing in his +manner to show that he had been thinking quickly. He crossed his legs +easily and drew out another cigar. + +"Have you ever thought of selling the place, Mrs. Jones?" he asked, +suddenly. + +"Why--why, no! Can't say as we have!" she answered, evidently surprised. +"An' I don't know as we could if we wanted to. Ain't much call for a +place like this, Mr. Thomas!" + +"But you can't always tell about these things, my dear lady," said +Thomas, addressing himself exclusively to Mrs. Jones. "It might not be +so hard to find a purchaser, and at a good price, too." + +"I--I don't think Bill would like to sell," she replied, doubtfully. +"Would you, Bill?" + +Her husband made no reply. He sat gazing straight ahead, his eyes half +shut as usual. + +"Perhaps Mr. Jones is indifferent on the subject," Thomas resumed. "Now +I am sure that if he felt that you and Miss Mildred were well +provided--" + +"Say, you're kinder full of ideas yourself, ain't you?" Bill +interrupted, unexpectedly turning and bringing his thin, unshaven face +close to the other man's, quite unwonted force and anger in his manner. + +"Daddy!" Millie cried, while his wife stared at him. + +The anger left his face and the old, shrewd, humorous light crept back +into his eyes. + +"I don't believe in more 'n one idea at a time," he said, grinning. +"No--I guess mother an' me an' Millie 'll try out that little +busted-heart notion o' mine first, afore we tackles any other notions. +Guess I'll turn in, mother--had a kinder tall day. Look sorter all in +yourself. Better come along. Tirin' business, havin' ideas. If Mr. +Thomas 'ain't been entertained ernough, maybe Millie 'll stay down an' +keep the show goin'." And he got up slowly, stuck his hands in his +pockets, and ambled into the house. + +"I think we'd better go in, too, mother," said Millie, rising. "I know +you're just fagged out, and it's late, anyway. You won't mind if we +leave you to finish your cigar, Mr. Thomas, will you?" + +"Not at all! Not at all!" Thomas exclaimed, with his smile. "A thousand +pardons for keeping you up so late--it was thoughtless of me!" + +He sprang to the screen door, held it open for them, and called a cheery +"Good-night!" as they disappeared up the stairs. Then he sat down again +and thoughtfully finished his cigar. He appeared to have a lot to think +about, to figure out. When finally he went up to his own room a light +burned there for an hour longer. + +In the morning Bill Jones was up and about unwontedly early. He got +himself some breakfast, then went to the little desk where the few +boarders habitually left the letters they had written the night before +for the outgoing mail, which he took to the post-office. He found some +half-dozen letters on the desk this morning, and he examined the +addresses deliberately. One in particular seemed to interest him +immensely. It was in a handwriting he had seen before and recognized as +that of Raymond Thomas. He put a finger to his cheek and gazed up at the +ceiling--which is the same as saying that Bill Jones was making a +careful mental note of the name and address on that letter. It was +addressed to one Everett Hammone, the Golden Gate Land Company, San +Francisco. It was quite obvious that Bill Jones had a strong desire to +know the contents of that letter; but he dropped it carelessly among the +rest, bundled them up with a string and stuffed them in his pocket as he +strolled out of the house on his daily journey. + +Out on the trail a bit, his ambling feet came to a pause. He took out +his tobacco and papers and rolled a cigarette. Lighting it, he turned +around and gazed up the mountain, his eyes blinking in the morning +sunlight as they rested on the dot that was John Marvin's cabin. For a +moment it seemed as if Bill had it in mind to change his direction and +go up the mountain. + +"I sure would like to have er talk with John," he mused. "Sure would. +'Ain't had a talk with him for some time. But I guess as John is pretty +put to it with that there timber proposition--things must be gittin' +some excited up there! Maybe I'll go up to-morrer." + +And having characteristically decided to do it to-morrow, Bill continued +his morning stroll toward the post-office. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +For reasons obvious and otherwise, Bill Jones did not carry out his +intention of visiting John Marvin's cabin "to-morrow." In spite of +himself, Bill naturally was drawn into the vortex of work and +preparation necessary to turning his home into the Calivada Hotel. The +period of change was a nightmare to Bill, the only leaven in his misery +being the astonishing fact that he actually evolved quite a number of +ideas--ideas which Mrs. Jones, Millie, and Lem Townsend not only O.K.'d, +but put into instant execution--and found exceedingly workable. He made +many attempts to disappear from the premises, but his wife, or Millie, +or Lem always had an eye on him and managed to frustrate his hasty +sorties or more subtle schemes to take French leave. This went on day +after day, and now Bill had endured nearly six weeks of more or less +pleasantly enforced captivity. + +In the mean time the mysterious "excitement" up the mountain about +which Bill had mused that morning on the trail had come to a head, and +John Marvin's little cabin seemed to be the center of it. + +It was shortly after sundown one evening that a big, red-headed +lumberjack, obviously a Swede, put his head in the door of the cabin and +glanced quickly around the one room. Seeing that there was no one +inside, he entered, closing the door behind him. Going to the window, he +looked out through the thick grove of pines and cedars, but evidently +could see no one. He was breathing hard, as if from running, and he sank +into a chair. + +His rest was short-lived. There was a rap at the door, which was +instantly pushed open, and a lanky, sinewy man in sombrero and +riding-breeches, with two revolvers at the belt, strode in. The Swede, +on his feet in an instant, recognized the intruder as Nevin Blodgett, +sheriff of Washoe County. + +"What you want?" the lumberjack asked, in his heavy voice. + +The sheriff did not answer at once, but took a quick survey of the +cabin's contents, his eyes lighting up as they rested upon the unwashed +dishes on the table, telling of a recent meal. There was a +self-satisfied swagger about the sheriff as he walked up to the Swede. + +"You're John Marvin, ain't you?" he demanded. + +"No, sir," replied the Swede, with a heavy frown. + +The sheriff looked puzzled for a moment; then it seemed to dawn on him +that it was just possible that a big, red-headed Swede was not likely to +be John Marvin. + +"Well!" he snapped. "Then I guess you're working for him, ain't you?" + +The lumberjack shook his head and went close to Blodgett, emphasizing +his words, "Who I work for bane my business!" There was no fear in his +manner as he stood looking into his interrogator's face with a grin that +boded ill for any one looking for trouble. + +Blodgett backed away, his eyes following the breadth of the Swede's +husky shoulders and the line of his powerful arms. + +"None of that!" he said. "You're with the gang that's been chopping down +that timber out there. You know well enough that Marvin's stealing that +timber, don't you?" + +"Stealing?" + +"Yes! He's stealing it from the Pacific Railroad Company, and I'm here +to arrest him for it!" + +"Humph!" The Swede shrugged his shoulders and wheeled around, gazing +anxiously out of the window, where the path through the forest was +visible. + +"You know where he is, don't you?" Blodgett asked. + +"He gone away." + +"Where?" Blodgett stamped his spurred boot. + +"I doan' know." + +"When did he go?" + +"Maybe--yesterday." + +"When's he coming back?" + +"I doan' think he coomin' back." The Swede deliberately put a kettle on +the stove and whistled indifferently. + +Blodgett was evidently torn between a desire to maintain his dignity and +authority as sheriff and a rather healthy reluctance to have any trouble +with the great, hulking Swede. + +"It's going to be hard for you if you're lying--" + +He got no farther. The Swede stepped up to him with blazing eyes. + +"You call me liar?" he yelled. "I throw you out the door!" + +Blodgett backed quickly away--very quickly. His hand sought the latch +behind him. "If you threaten me, the next thing you know you'll find +yourself in jail!" he cried, shaking his fist. + +The Swede's only answer was an ugly grin. Blodgett opened the door, +slamming it after him as he went away. + +The big lumberjack stood quiet for several minutes, listening to the +sounds of retreat beaten by the hoofs of Blodgett's horse. Assured that +the sheriff was safely out of the way, he crept to the window, thrust +his head over the sill, and gave a low whistle. + +There was a stir in the soap-plant outside and Marvin emerged, hurried +around to the door, and entered the cabin. + +"Good work!" he exclaimed, laughing and clapping the grinning Swede on +the back. "You got rid of him very well, Oscar! Now I'll go on with my +supper!" + +He took off his coat and went over to the stove, where he began to shake +the damper to let out the ashes. Oscar came and stood beside him. + +"He tell me--" + +"I know what he told you," Marvin interrupted, continuing to shake the +ashes. + +"Do that land belong to the railroad?" There was a slight note of alarm +in the Swede's voice. + +"It does now, Oscar," Marvin replied, throwing some paper and wood into +the stove and lighting it; "but I sold the timber a long time before the +railroad got the property, and I'm trying to save the timber for the man +who bought it from me." + +"Oh!" The Swede turned toward the door, as if to go. "Bane they arrest +you for that?" + +"Not unless they find me!" Marvin chuckled. + +"An' me an' the boys--can they arrest oos?" + +"No, Oscar," Marvin laughingly reassured him. "You fellows are working +for me and you are not supposed to know anything about my affairs." + +"Oh!" The Swede gave a satisfied nod of his head. "I see--you know that +from--from your books." He jerked his thumb toward a table in the corner +on which some law-books stood. + +"Yes," said Marvin, looking into the coffee-pot. "Anyhow, you'll be gone +in the morning. The job's done, thanks to you and the boys." + +The lumberjack stood for a moment, nodding his red head; then he turned +slowly and went out. + +Marvin put the coffee-pot on the stove, watched it a minute, and then +sank thoughtfully into the shabby but comfortable arm-chair at the end +of his reading-table--which also served as a dining-table. He sat there +for several minutes--until the coffee, boiling over on the stove, +brought him out of his reverie and to his feet. At the same moment he +caught the sound of remote but high words coming from that part of his +land where the recently cut timber was stacked. + +"I tell you he bane gone away!" he heard, in Oscar's heavy, threatening +voice. + +Hurriedly pushing the coffee-pot on to the back of the stove, he sprang +to the door, but before he could reach it it was thrust in against him +and he was thrown back into the middle of the room, where he stood, +perforce, facing a tall, athletic-looking man in motor togs. The man's +strong, intellectual face, undoubtedly pleasant and agreeable +ordinarily, was now clouded with anger, his jaw set and grim. + +At sight of him, however, Marvin's fists unclenched and he smiled +amiably, despite the other's attitude. + +"Why, hello, Mr. Harper!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand. "You're +just the man I've been looking for! But you seem a bit upset. What's the +trouble?" + +Ignoring the outstretched hand, Harper threw off his duster and tossed +it, with his gloves, on the table. + +"Just a minute, young man," he said, with a grim tightening of his jaw +and his keen eyes boring into Marvin's. "Just a minute. I came here to +have a look for myself and to see precisely where I stand." He turned +and carefully closed the door. + +Marvin went to the stove and calmly poured himself a cup of coffee. +"Well," he remarked, with a laugh, "won't you have a chair and some +coffee first--you can shoot just as easily sitting down." + +Harper, his hand at his belt, glared at him. + +"You don't think I mean business, do you?" he said, grimly. "Or perhaps +you think you have beaten me to it, eh? Now what sort of man are you and +what nice little game is this you are playing? Here I buy a grove of +timber from you, and while my back is turned you sell the property, +timber and all, to the railroad! I want an explanation and I want it +now!" + +"You have the facts a bit mixed up," Marvin replied, still smiling and +nodding toward the chair, at the same time placing the coffee on the +table. "Sit down and we'll talk it over--and I think you'll decide not +to shoot!" + +Harper, however, was adamant. + +"All right," said Marvin. "In the first place, when I sold you the +timber you said you were going to cut it at once--" + +"Correct--correct! But something came up and I could not attend to +it--and I don't see how that exculpates you in the least!" + +"It doesn't," replied Marvin, adding, as he took up his coffee, "if you +won't join me, I'll have to go it alone, as this is the first I've had +since morning. Well, when I sold you that timber I never thought I would +sell any of this property. My mother loved every inch of it. It was our +dream that when I received my diploma and established a practice we +would make a home here; but she was taken sick--" + +"Yes, I remember your telling me about her being in the hospital." +Harper's voice softened a bit. + +Marvin was silent a moment. "I took her to San Francisco. She died +there." + +Harper fumbled with the buckle of his belt. His heart went out to the +younger man; yet he felt that right was on his side. He picked up a +picture of Mrs. Marvin that stood in a small frame on the table. "I'm +deeply sorry," he said, softly. "I did not know." + +"There is no need to apologize," Marvin answered, quietly. "You have a +perfect right to demand an explanation about that timber." With a last +swallow of coffee, he put down his cup and stood squarely facing Harper, +and his own expression was grim as he continued: + +"When we got to San Francisco--mother and I--a lawyer in whose office I +had been a student came to the hospital and got into her good graces. He +had taken a great interest in me and I would have taken an oath as to +his integrity. But when I came up here to sell you the timber--and +mother and I needed the money desperately at the time--this man took +advantage of my absence to persuade mother to deed him fifty acres, +nearly the whole of the property! It was to be a pleasant surprise for +me when I returned! Instead of cash, he gave her a batch of stock in the +Golden Gate Land Company, stock of which I have been unable to dispose. +And the next day he resold the property to the Pacific Railroad Company +for three or four times the price represented by the stock he gave +mother. I found that out later, of course. Well, after mother's death I +hurried up here, only to discover that you had not cut the timber I sold +you _before_ the property was sold. I got busy at once and have been +staying on here until the gang out there finished cutting it and piling +it on what is left to me of the property. Your timber is ready for you, +Mr. Harper, any time you are ready to haul it away." + +It was Harper's turn to put out his hand. "I'm mighty sorry I +misunderstood you, Marvin!" he exclaimed, as the latter returned the +clasp. "But look here! Can't you do anything about this fellow, this +lawyer? What's the rascal's name?" + +"Raymond Thomas. He's up in these parts quite frequently of late. Made +himself solid with some dear friends of mine, I'm sorry to say, and I'm +worried about it. I can't help believing that he's up to some new game, +though I can't just see what it is. He's a remarkably smooth customer. +It's very hard to pin anything on him. I'm going to make him disgorge my +property if I can, but I shall have a difficult legal fight on my +hands." + +Harper nodded understandingly. "I see, I see--covered himself cleverly. +I don't know the gentleman, but I'll be only too glad to do anything to +help you, Marvin." He took a turn about the room, while Marvin leaned +against the table. "I'll have the timber hauled away at once. I didn't +have it cut, myself, because--well, I've had a lot of trouble myself. +Had a strike at the mill, and--oh, hang it all! It's my wife, Marvin! +She's packed up in a hurry and left me!" + +He flung himself into the chair and stared ruefully, comically, at the +younger man, who, not knowing what to say, said nothing. + +"I didn't mind the strike so much, nor this timber mix-up!" Harper +rushed on, with the air of a man who must tell some one or explode. "It +was my wife, young man! It's her being so unreasonable that makes me +sore. I bought her a present when I was East and had it shipped to the +office. It happened to arrive about the time Mrs. Harper was to come to +the office in the machine to take me home, and she walked in just as I +was showing it to my stenographer. Of course my wife thought I bought it +for Miss Robbins, and--well, what's the use of talking about it?" + +With a gesture of dismissal for the subject, he stood up and took out a +wallet. + +"How much do I owe you?" he asked. "I figured it would cost about eight +hundred dollars to do that job out there--" + +Marvin put up a deprecatory hand. "I can't take it now, Mr. Harper," he +interrupted. "You haven't got that timber yet, and--" + +"The railroad will have some job on its hands to get it away from me!" +said Harper. "And unless they do I owe you eight hundred dollars--do you +understand?" + +A faint noise outside broke into their conversation. With a warning +gesture, Marvin tiptoed to the door and put his ear against it. Harper, +thinking that it might be a railroad employee who had come to eavesdrop +in order to report their plans, stood with his jaw set, his hand on the +revolver at his belt. With a quick movement Marvin jerked open the door. + +Instead of a railroad employee, or the sheriff, it was only Lightnin' +Bill Jones who stood there, leaning idly against the doorframe, his +hands in his pockets. He ambled silently into the middle of the room, +his half-shut eyes blinking in the sudden light. + +"I guess I must 'a' been out there some time, come to think of it," he +remarked, meditatively, and addressing himself to the ceiling, quite as +if he were alone. Then he turned carelessly to Marvin. + +"I knocked, too--but I guess maybe you wasn't expectin' me." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +With a laugh, Marvin shut the door. "It's all right," he said, winking +at Harper. Smiling, he went up to Bill and swung him around to face him. + +"Hello, Lightnin'!" he exclaimed. "I'm mighty glad to see you. What do +you mean by staying away from me all this time? And you were so quiet +and mysterious outside there that we thought some one was spying on us!" + +"I was a spy once--with Buffalo Bill," said Lightnin', conversationally. +He stared interestedly at Harper. "Friend of yours, John?" + +"This is Lightnin' Bill Jones, Mr. Harper. This is the gentleman I sold +that timber to, Bill." The two men acknowledged the introduction. + +"Have you had any supper, Bill?" Marvin asked, resuming operations at +the stove. "If not, you'd better stop and have it with me." + +Bill shook his head with an air of importance. "No; can't stop. Got to +be home at the hotel at supper-time to see that everythin's goin' right. +What time is it now?" + +"Seven o'clock." + +Bill shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, meditated, and announced: +"Well, maybe they can get along without me. I got everythin' +sys-sys-matized." + +Marvin glanced at him quickly. "Bill, I'm afraid you've been having a +drink or two?" + +"Nope. Nope!" Bill repeated, with the debonair innocence of a +mischievous and prevaricating school-boy. "I was just sayin' good-by to +the boys out there." He signified with a jerk of his head that the +lumberjacks were responsible if he seemed in any way elated. "You see, +they're breakin' up camp--an' I didn't want to hurt their feelin's, as +they're all friends o' mine." + +Harper, who had resumed his seat in the chair, glanced at Marvin. + +"Does our friend Bill know--what we were talking about?" + +"Everything!" said Marvin, readily. "Rest easy, Mr. Harper--you'll never +find a better friend, nor a more trustworthy one, than Lightnin'. But, +surely, you have heard of his hotel, haven't you?" + +"I'm afraid not." + +"Then I guess you're the only man what 'ain't!" said Bill, emphatically, +and gazing at the ceiling and thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was +the subject of the conversation. + +Rapidly Marvin sketched the conception and success of the Calivada +Hotel. "It was a real idea--" + +"It was my idea," put in Bill, conversationally. + +"It certainly was, Bill!" Marvin went on. "And the new hotel is a big +success! You see, the state line runs right through the middle of the +house--through the center of the lobby, in fact! There are two separate +desks, one on the California side and one on the Nevada side. Women +began to arrive, and they all wanted rooms on the Nevada side--and they +wanted them for six months!" + +Harper roared with laughter. "The Reno divorce brigade!" he exclaimed. + +Bill fairly beamed at the attention his affairs were drawing. He sat +down on the corner of the table and grinned at Harper, while Marvin went +on: + +"Exactly! Everybody knows what a woman goes to Reno for, but at Bill's +hotel she can get a room on the Nevada side and still make her friends +believe that she is at a California resort!" + +Again Harper laughed. "A corking good business idea!" he said. "And so +it was your idea, Mr. Jones? I congratulate you! I suppose you have been +out West here a long time?" + +"Sure--came out in the gold excitement," replied Bill, calmly. + +Harper stole an amused glance at Marvin. "Why, the gold excitement was +away back in forty-nine!" + +"Well, they was still excited when I got here!" Bill gazed up at the +ceiling, his half-shut eyes hiding their twinkle. + +"It's too bad you didn't happen to be one of the lucky ones," Harper +consoled him, arising from his chair. + +"Lucky?" Bill scratched his head under his ragged slouch-hat. "Say, I +located more claims than any man what ever came out here! I been a civil +engineer." + +The table was not a sufficient throne for Bill, so he slipped down from +it and went close to Harper, peering up at him. + +"You ought to be a rich man, Mr. Jones!" + +"Always cheated out of my share." Bill shook his head sadly. "Crooked +partners was the reason." + +"Couldn't you do anything to them?" + +"I shot some, put all the others in the penitentiary--all but one." + +"What happened to him?" + +"He died before I got him." + +"Died of fright, perhaps?" + +"I guess so." + +Harper took his hat from the table, clapped Bill on the back, and said, +laughingly, "I think I'll get out before you tell me any more!" + +Marvin urged him to have a bite of supper, but Harper declined, +explaining, as he went to the door, that he had to be in Truckee in two +hours, and that it would take him fully that time to make it in his car. +Bill, anxious to retain his audience, added his entreaty to Marvin's. +That failing, he followed Harper to the door, searching for an excuse to +hinder his leaving. + +Harper paused at the door. "Well, Marvin," he said, "I'm going to send +the trucks down here to-morrow and start hauling. And you might as well +disappear from here for a while; then, if there's any kick, no one here +will know anything about it. I'll keep you posted. Are you sure you +don't want that eight hundred now?" He took out his wallet and again +tried to make Marvin take the money, but again Marvin refused. + +Bill had been listening to every word. Now he seemed to have hit on a +way to detain Harper and at the same time prove his own personal +importance. As Harper shook hands with Marvin, Bill took an envelop from +his pocket. Drawing a paper from it, he offered it to Harper. + +"If you want to get rid of some of that money," he remarked, easily, +"maybe you'd cash that check for me." + +Harper, examining it, saw that it was a government check. "Oh, a pension +check! So you were in the war?" + +"First man to enlist!" + +Smiling, Harper handed him the check to "indorse"--which happened to be +a new word on Bill. + +"Write your name on the back of it," said Harper. + +"I always do that," said Bill, as he complied. Then he held the check up +to the light, pointing to the signatures on its face. "See all them +names," he asked, "Secretary of the Treasury, and all of 'em?" + +Harper nodded wonderingly. + +"Well, they ain't no good at all--not unless I sign it!" said Bill, +triumphantly. + +Harper laughed; handed Bill the money for the check, and, with a final +"Good-night!" hurried out of the door. Bill poked his head out, watching +him crank his machine and drive away in the moonlight. + +When the car was out of sight Bill turned back into the middle of the +room and stood watching Marvin, who had sat down and was eating his +delayed supper. + +"Better join me, Bill," Marvin again invited, and at the same time +noting a change in the old man's manner, now that they were alone. + +"No," Bill said; "I had mine with the boys outside, as I told you--but +I'll have a drink with you, John," he added, hesitatingly, knowing +Marvin's disapproval of his drinking. + +"I haven't anything in the house, Bill," said Marvin, as he went on +eating. "You know that." + +Bill edged slowly toward the table, his hand in the back pocket of his +baggy, slouchy trousers. "Yes, you have," he remarked, producing a +half-filled flask. + +"You mean you have," Marvin replied, trying not to smile. "And you've +had enough for to-night. Put it away, Bill, and promise me not to drink +any more to-night." + +"All right, John," said Bill, unconcernedly, and putting the flask back +in his pocket. "I promise--an' I 'ain't never broke a promise yet! I'll +keep this for--for emergencies. Say, Oscar told me the railroad had the +sheriff after you. You remember the last promise what I give you?" + +"What was that, Lightnin'?" + +"That if they goes to court, I'll come an' be a witness. I can swear +them trees was cut when you sold the property, an' I'll--" + +"No, Bill!" said Marvin, putting down his knife and fork and staring at +the old man, whose half-shut eyes had the suggestion of a flash in them. +"No; I couldn't let you swear to anything like that." + +"You can't help yourself--I got a right to swear to anythin' I want!" +There was an unexpected finality in Bill's usually drawling voice. + +"But I haven't got to prove when those trees were cut," said Marvin. + +"I know it," Bill responded; then, catching the smiling doubt in the +other's eyes, he added, "I was a lawyer once." + +"Then why don't you practise?" asked Marvin, inwardly chuckling. + +"Don't need no practice." And Bill resorted to his bag of tobacco and +papers, rolling himself a cigarette. By this time Marvin had finished +his meal. + +"Look here, Lightnin'," he said, as he cleared the table, "you seem to +have something on your mind. How are things going up at your place? +Anybody at home know that you are here?" + +"Not unless they're mind-readers." + +"I thought so. Well?" + +"It's a wonder you 'ain't come up to take a look yourself," Bill +countered. "You 'ain't even been up to--to see Millie," he added, +thoughtfully. + +Marvin flushed. "That's true, Bill," he said, slowly. "But I've been +mighty busy with this timber here, as you know; and, besides--well, +Millie seems to be a bit interested elsewhere." + +"That's just the trouble, I guess," said Bill, settling himself on the +corner of the table. + +Marvin looked at him quickly. "What do you mean, Bill?" he demanded. + +Lightnin' crossed his legs, took a final puff of his cigarette, and let +it drop from his fingers. + +"Oh, there ain't nothin' much to that, John!" he replied. "Nothin' to +worry about. But it's what lays back o' that." + +"For the Lord's sake stop talking in riddles, Lightnin'!" Marvin +exclaimed. "What lies back of what?" + +"Well," said Bill, looking up shrewdly, "this here Thomas has shown his +hand--an' we gotter admit, John, that he plays a mighty smooth an' slick +game! He wants to buy our place, waterfall an' all." + +"So that's it!" Marvin knew that Thomas had been buying up property in +the section, and he knew from experience what sort of treatment the +sellers were likely to get. That old Bill and his family should now be +involved filled him with concern and anger. + +"But surely you're not going to sell, Bill!" + +Lightnin' looked up, then down. "The property belongs to mother, John; +an' this here Thomas person sure knows how to go after what he wants! +He made himself solid with mother an' Millie some time ago, as you know. +They think he's Santa Claus, or somethin'. Why, he's got mother an' +Millie all het up so's they don't know whether they're standin' on their +head or feet! Mother's kinder simple about some things, John--but Millie +oughter have more sense! He's been tellin' them that this here hotel +idea won't pay for long, an' that he's willin' to buy the place at once +for a good price. He tells 'em as how they can enjoy themselves an' live +comfortable on the proceeds--an' I can have a nice, easy old age! He +'ain't said much to me, o' course--I don't give him a chance to find me +around, much. But he's got the womenfolk all fed up, eatin' out o' his +yaller gloves, an' crazy to sell. An'--an' mother an' Millie is kinder +sore at me 'cause I ain't takin' much interest in the proposition. Say, +what was the name o' that feller what acted as agent for the railroad +an' bought your property from Thomas when he done you out of it?" + +"Hammond, Everett Hammond," said Marvin. "Go on, Bill--I'm listening!" + +"Hammond, eh? To--be--sure. Well, Mister Everett Hammond is up at the +hotel now, John, with Thomas--Hammond come up in a hurry, an' they got a +deed to the property all ready fer mother an' me to sign. Mother's crazy +to sign, but I ain't--not yet. An' it seems they gotter have my name on +it, to make sure." + +"What--you mean to say it has gone that far!" exclaimed Marvin. + +"Sure thing," said Bill, rolling another cigarette. "An' say, I happen +to think them two--Hammond an' Thomas--has been in cahoots fer some +time--got an idea they is actually partners." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"I was a detective once," said Bill, with a sudden return to his usual +manner, as he lighted the cigarette. + +Marvin made an impatient gesture. "Hang it! This is really too bad, +Bill! Look here, I'll see if I can do anything! I'm going to come up to +the hotel to-morrow as soon as I can get away from here! You're not +going to sign that deed, are you, Lightnin'?" + +"No," replied Bill, slowly, a little nervously; "no--but mother an' +Millie is kinder hot on my trail fer to make me do it. Them two fellers +has sure got 'em goin', John! Well, I guess as they'll all be in bed by +the time I gets back now, so I'll be gettin' along. You'll be up +to-morrow, John?" + +"I'll come--don't worry, Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Better go now, Bill; +you've got a long walk ahead of you, you know." + +He dropped into his chair and reached thoughtfully for one of his +law-books. Bill opened the door; then turned back for a moment. + +"Studyin' them books?" he inquired. + +"Trying to," Marvin remarked, turning a page. + +"That's right--that's how I got _my_ start!" said Bill, as he went out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The following morning, rising at dawn, Mrs. Jones again tried to awaken +her husband to a full sense of his shortcomings anent his foolish +reluctance to sign the deed to the property. Bill, however, merely +turned on the pillow, gave her a brief smile, and dropped quickly into a +gentle snore. After several more attempts to awaken him and impress on +him the fact that his absence the day before had kept Thomas and Hammond +on a day longer when they had important business calling them to the +city, she gave up in despair and went below to look after breakfast, +taking with her the packet of letters that should have been in the hands +of the guests the afternoon previous. + +The morning was a busy one for Mrs. Jones and Millie. Bill, coming down +unexpectedly, escaped them, calling through the door, on his way out, +that he was going for the mail. When noon came and Bill did not turn up, +Mrs. Jones's anxiety reached fever pitch, and she sought Millie in the +hope that she could offer some solution of the problem of forcing the +deed through Bill's unwilling hands. + +At breakfast, Thomas and Hammond again had painted to her and Millie +golden pictures of the ease and even luxury that would be theirs as a +result of the sale of the property. Trembling with anticipation, Mrs. +Jones had then and there put her name to the deed which disposed of her +last bit of land; and she was determined that, no matter what it cost +her in seeming coldness and harshness toward him, Bill should be made to +place his name directly under hers. She made up her mind that he should +be brought to terms as soon as he got back; hence her extreme annoyance +as the morning went by without his showing up. + +As she went about the house, looking for Millie, her determination took +on a hard and bitter aspect which was only softened when she caught the +sound of Raymond Thomas's voice. He was speaking softly to Millie in the +lobby. Mrs. Jones belonged to a generation not so long past when +eavesdropping was not considered a wholly unworthy occupation if it +tended to place the culprit in a position to know the inner secrets of +those bound by the tie of relationship. For some time, so cleverly did +he manage her, Mrs. Jones had felt a motherly tenderness for Thomas +springing up within her, and she hoped and dreamed that her affection +would have a chance to express itself. That Thomas was in love with +Millie she had fully decided on. It was for this reason that the very +sight of John Marvin, whom she knew to be a poor young man with no +particular prospects, filled her with displeasure. Then, too, she did +not approve of her husband's friendship with Marvin, having a strong +suspicion that Marvin was influencing Bill against Thomas, and an +intuition that Bill, in his unworldliness, would stand back of Marvin's +love for Millie. + +And so it was that the sight of Millie smiling up at Thomas as he looked +earnestly down into the girl's brown eyes set Mrs. Jones's heart beating +hopefully--and sent her behind a curtain to listen to what was being +said. + +Thomas had just come in from the veranda, where he had begged to be +excused from accompanying two prospective widows on a walk to see the +waterfall at the edge of the place. He was smiling with affected +indifference when he met Mildred, who had just come down one of the +stairways, of which there were two, one leading to the Nevada side of +the house and the other to the California side. "It's a shame to miss a +stroll with them!" belying his words with a sneering toss of the head +and shrug of the shoulders. + +Millie's brow was drawn thoughtfully into wrinkles and there was a +wistful pucker to her mouth. + +At once he was all attention. "What is the matter, Millie?" he asked, a +note bordering on tenderness in his voice. + +"It's daddy again. He did not get back until midnight, and he was off +again this morning before mother or I could prevent him. I just heard +the boarders complaining about the mail service. It's all so hard on +mother, and yet"--she hesitated, her mind reverting to her +foster-father's kindness to her through all the years of her babyhood +and girlhood--"and yet," she went on, "he's really so good and kind at +heart, he really would feel dreadfully if he understood what he puts us +through." She stood by the newel-post, her eyes pleading for advice. + +Thomas took her hand and looked at it thoughtfully. + +For a moment Millie let it lie in his; then her lids dropped and she +blushed, withdrawing her hand and walking slowly toward one of the +desks, of which there were also two, one on each side of the hall. + +Thomas followed her, bending down and looking into her face. "I would +not let his absence bother you. I'm going up-stairs to pack my grips. As +soon as I finish I'll go after him," he said, soothingly, as, one hand +in pocket, he let the other flip a pack of cards on the table. + +"Oh, you've been too kind already," Millie protested, again meeting his +eyes and turning away, her lips quivering. + +"Oh, I'm not so kind as you think!" He laughed, an honest humor rising +to infrequent expression. "I've got to see Lightnin' myself before I go. +He hasn't signed the deed yet, and--" + +"I really can't see what he's got to do with it!" Millie interrupted. +"The place is mother's. Oh, well"--she sighed and shook her head in +despair--"I suppose to be safe his signature must be obtained. I do hope +he'll turn up before you leave. It's too bad--" + +"Well, if he doesn't, maybe you and Mrs. Jones can make him see the +light. I'll leave the papers with you, and when he signs them you can +send for me and I'll be up and--" + +"You don't know how much I appreciate all you've done for us. Now don't +say it's nothing." Millie turned and put her hand on his arm, her eyes +resting intently on his. + +He bent over her for a minute, then straightened up as he heard a slight +movement in the portiere, a gleam of wisdom illuminating his face. He +smiled with a nonchalant disregard of his former intention and backed +away from the girl. + +Millie's color mounted her forehead. Shyly she withdrew her hand from +his arm and fumbled with the bunch of keys about her neck. After an +awkward silence she continued: + +"You've been so good to us. When mother and I've been in such distress +that we did not know where to turn and mother was nearly frantic, you +come forward and in no time arrange everything so that mother and daddy +are going to be better off than they ever dreamed of. For years, you +know, mother and I have worried about her and daddy's old age. Piece by +piece we've sold the land and the timber. Even if this place does pay it +will only be running expenses, with nothing saved up, as you said. And +then the Nevada divorce laws might change. Oh! You've been so kind," she +breathed, in deep sincerity. + +"Now don't make me ashamed," Thomas coaxed in his soothing way, backing +slowly toward the stairs on the California side. "What I've done is just +the simplest thing in the world. I grew to be very fond of you when you +were in my office, Millie, and I'm glad to be of what service I can." + +As he was half-way up the stairs, Mrs. Jones emerged from behind the +portiere. He stopped and bent in a nattering bow, a twinkle in his eye. +"Why, good morning, Mrs. Jones!" he called down. + +"Oh, excuse me!" Mrs. Jones, a guilty conscience bringing his courtly +sarcasm, which would otherwise have escaped her gullible nature, into +notice, stepped back, turning to the kitchen, whence she had come when +she stopped to listen. But Millie followed her, and, with arm around her +waist, drew her into the room and seated her near the table. + +"You're not going into that hot kitchen again to-day," remonstrated +Millie, planting a daughterly kiss on her cheek. "You've been out there +working like a slave for three mortal hours." + +Mrs. Jones hid her hands awkwardly under her apron and reddened as she +glanced up at Thomas, who had come back from above-stairs. + +"I don't look presentable," she murmured, fidgeting in the chair. + +"Come now, you mustn't mind me," said Thomas, Millie adding her word to +his: "Please stay there just for a few minutes, mother. You look ready +to drop." + +"She's always tellin' me that." Mrs. Jones showed her pleasure in +Millie's concern by beaming knowingly from one to the other, an act +which sent Millie to the desk, where she pretended to look at the +register. + +Thomas smiled. "Millie's right," he responded. "You do work a great deal +too hard; but it won't be long now before you can say good-by to hard +work for the rest of your life." + +"Oh, Mr. Thomas!" Mrs. Jones arose, forgetting the red, hardened hands +she had been endeavoring to hide behind the blue and white checked +apron, and hastened to Thomas, holding them toward him in a gesture half +of gratitude, half of pleading. "I can scarcely realize that all this is +going to come true and we owe it all to you. I only wish I could tell +you how grateful I am." + +Thomas was quite determined to escape further enthusiasm, either on +Millie's or on Mrs. Jones's part. His game nearly played, he wished to +withdraw gracefully and without detriment to a certain lurking decency +which had not quite been swept away. Thwarting Mrs. Jones's attempt to +wring his hand in gratitude, he took two light bounds up the stairs, +stopping to laugh back: "Well, I'm going to get out for fear you'll +spoil me with a thankfulness I don't deserve. Hang on to her, Millie." +He directed a gleam toward the young girl as she went up to her mother. +"Make her take a rest." + +"Oh dear! Do you think I've driven him away?" There was genuine concern +in Mrs. Jones's voice as she sank back into the chair and gazed +anxiously after Thomas. + +"No, you haven't." Millie smoothed the brown hair which was fast +streaking with gray from her brow, damp with excitement. "He is going +up-stairs to pack. He's arranged everything about selling the place, and +there's nothing more for him to stay--" + +"You're here, ain't you?" Mrs. Jones folded her arms stiffly across her +chest and assumed a rigid position in her chair as she questioned Millie +with eyes suddenly grown fierce with the look of an angry hen when she +thinks her brood has been disturbed. + +"Oh, mother!" The girl pursed her lips into a pouting smile as she +leaned over the back of the chair, an affectionate arm on Mrs. Jones's +shoulder. "Please get that foolish idea out of your head. You know--" + +"Know nothin'." Mrs. Jones's head jerked vehemently while she insisted: +"Every letter you wrote home all the time you was workin' in his office +showed that he cared for you." + +"I never wrote anything of the sort!" Millie drew a surprised breath as +her mouth was drawn into a tiny O of expostulation. "Never!" she +reiterated, with a slight stamp of her foot, as she went to the +California desk and became absorbed in the register. + +"Oh, I could read between the lines! I ain't that stupid. If he isn't +in love with you, why is he plannin' for us to come and live in San +Francisco? Oh, won't it be grand!" Mrs. Jones, carried away by the +recollection of a long-ago visit to the city, and by a dream of what a +permanent life there would be, resumed her own hearty enthusiasm. "I +want to live in the city real bad, but I'm just skeered to death I won't +know how to dress. I want to get a lot o' pretty things 'n' be like the +women I saw when I was at the Palace. Do ye think Bill 'll think I'm +getting crazy?" + +An indulgent smile from Millie met her uneasy but smiling gaze, and she +went on: "I know I've talked about the city ever since I can remember, +but now that it's in sight I'm awful afraid I'll be out o' place." + +"Well, you'll not," answered Millie, going behind the counter to look at +the letter-rack, almost empty. "I'm going to see that you have just as +nice things as any of the women stopping here." + +There was a silence as both of the women smiled in contented +anticipation. Mrs. Jones was the first to speak, a sudden doubt +expressing itself in an anxious frown and a narrowing of the eyes. "But +there's Bill," she said, with a start. "I'm so afraid of the way he'll +act!" + +"Daddy 'll be all right, I'm sure." + +Mrs. Jones composed herself and began planning. "When his pension comes, +you must take him to town and buy him some new clothes. Them others we +got before didn't fit a bit good." + +Millie turned quickly at the mention of her father's pension, +remembering that it was time for it to arrive. She reminded her mother +of this fact. + +Mrs. Jones's gaiety had brief life after Millie's remark. "He ain't back +with the mail! I'll bet--" + +"Oh, mother!" Millie, deeply concerned, came from behind the desk and +went up to the older woman, questioning, "You don't suppose his pension +has come?" + +"I think it's gone!" Mrs. Jones bowed emphatically in a rising voice and +hurried to the desk on the Nevada side, where she took a cursory but +none the less exhaustive look at the mail indexes. "I found him hanging +around this desk this morning, and when I come in he beat it, sayin', +before I could stop him, that he was goin' after the mail. I wonder--" +She stopped and gave a deep groan of acquiescence. "Huh! Huh!" She had +opened up the top of the desk to find a half-filled flask. "There!" she +exclaimed, holding it to the light. "He was waiting for a chance to get +this when I shooed him away!" + +Millie put her arm around her and drew her into the middle of the room, +trying to soothe her. "Anyway, don't let's blame him for anything until +we're sure. He may come home perfectly all right. You know he loves the +woods and the lake and the autumn coloring which is so wonderful now. He +always lingers like this. Please go up-stairs and have a good rest." +Millie tried to lead her mother toward the stairs, but Mrs. Jones gently +shook the girl's arm from about her waist and went toward the kitchen. + +"Where are you going?" Millie asked, standing still, a puzzled frown +giving place to an understanding laugh as Mrs. Jones hesitated and +looked at the floor, answering in a manner half ashamed: "Why--well--I +thought--" she stammered, "he might come home soon, an' he's used to +findin' somethin' good kept warm--though he don't deserve it!" + +She hesitated, her kindly, better nature shining in her eyes, battling +for expression. "Yes--please set a place for him, Millie!" And Mrs. +Jones hastily disappeared into the kitchen to avoid the girl's rippling +laugh of gentle amusement. Smiling to herself, Millie crossed the lobby +and went into the dining-room. + +The moment she had left the lobby the street door of the hotel was +pushed open cautiously and an inquiring head thrust itself in. The head +was that of Bill Jones. Evidently satisfied that the coast was clear, +Bill came slowly into the lobby. Looking warily up at the stairs on +either side, and toward the dining-room and kitchen doors, he eased +himself softly over to the Nevada desk, raised the top and fumbled +expectantly inside. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As Bill reached the desk and lifted the top, another gray-haired old +man, possibly the same age as Lightnin', though larger and huskier in +build, stole in through the street door and stood there doubtfully, +puffing a cigar. He looked about fearfully, evidently ready to decamp at +an instant's notice; but his glance, traveling back to the figure at the +desk, bespoke a childlike trustfulness in Bill Jones. This gentleman's +clothes were as disreputable as might be, as was his battered +slouch-hat. His face was very red and very unshaven, and his expression +was a comical mixture of uncertainty as to his welcome on the premises +and maudlin kindliness toward the world at large. He rejoiced in the +name of "Zeb," and was a down-and-out prospector, a relic of the past. +His only reason for existence these days seemed to be that he was a +crony and devout satellite of Bill's--to the great aggravation of Mrs. +Jones. There was a legend in the district that Zeb and Bill had spent +many years together in the old days, up and down the trails. There +seemed to be considerable truth in the story. Anyway, no efforts of Mrs. +Jones's or of anybody else's could make Bill forget his pal. Zeb was +always sure of a meal, or a drink and a cigar, provided Lightnin' could +find a way of producing those necessities of a broken-down prospector's +life. + +Bill felt around in the desk for a minute, while Zeb watched, fearfully, +hopefully; then Lightnin' turned around, disappointment in his face. But +before he could break the sad news regarding the strange disappearance +of a half-filled flask, Zeb held up a warning finger and began to back +through the door. His ear, ever keen for the swish of Mrs. Jones's +skirts, reported danger. + +"What's the matter, Zeb?" Bill asked. "Aw, come back. What ye 'fraid +of?" With a disgusted motion he beckoned Zeb into the room again. + +But Zeb, answering the warning that had never failed him, stayed close +to the door, whispering back to Bill, "Where's your old woman?" + +"That's all right. Come on in. She ain't here now." Bill, determined in +his search, lifted the lid a second time and began to take out the +contents of the drawer. + +Zeb, taking heart, tiptoed up to him and, looking over his shoulder, +murmured, contemptuously, "I don't believe you've got a drop." + +"I'll show ye!" Looking intently under the lid, Bill's voice was half +smothered. It stopped short when the kitchen door flew open and Mrs. +Jones burst with emphatic and quick tread into the room. + +She did not pay heed to Bill at once. Zeb received the full force of her +mood. "Clear out now!" she called, in no gentle tone, as she swept up to +him--an unnecessary action, as Zeb, catching one glance of the irate +woman, made double-quick time in getting out of the door and down the +steps of the veranda. + +Zeb disposed of, Mrs. Jones turned her attention to her errant husband. +Both arms akimbo, she stood still in the middle of the floor and +concentrated her glare upon him. + +"Bill Jones," she asked, in a loud, rasping tone, "where have you been?" + +Bill had put down the lid at the first hint of her entrance. While she +was addressing Zeb he had quietly slipped behind the desk and busied +himself with the mail which he had drawn from the back pocket of his +trousers. Whistling softly to himself, he sorted the letters, placing +them in their proper pigeonholes. + +He did not answer Mrs. Jones at once, but went on whistling. After a +second in which he decided that a soft answer might draw the sting from +her wrath, he stood still and, without looking around, said, gently, +"Hello, mother." Without waiting for a reply, he went on sorting the +mail. + +The fire in Mrs. Jones's eye flamed brighter. Nothing exasperated her as +did Bill's refusal to take her tempers seriously. It was not easy to do +all of the fighting--one reason why Bill usually succeeded in carrying +his idleness with a high hand. But this time she was not going to be +ignored. The conference with Hammond and Thomas, the knowledge that he +had been looking for his flask--that he was looking for it more for +Zeb's sake than his own, this time, made no difference--as well as +complaints by the guests because of Bill's tardiness with the mail, had +exhausted her patience and whetted her into bringing Bill to quick +order. + +"Do you know what time it is?" She took a step closer to Bill, her +voice retaining its hard ring. + +Bill paid no attention to the question, but went on whistling and +sorting the mail. + +"It's after two o'clock!" She stamped her foot and glared at him. + +Her glare fell on unseeing eyes, her tones on unheeding ears, for the +uneven tenor of Bill's whistle kept up and the spasmodic sorting of the +mail went on. + +"Let's see," he said, softly, to himself, "Mrs. Taft's letter--she's in +Number Four, ain't she?" he addressed his wife. Receiving no answer +himself this time, he kept on with his soliloquy, changing the letter to +its proper place. "There! that's right. This one," he said, holding the +envelop to the light and studying it, "is for Mr. Thomas." He hesitated +and looked at it more closely. Placing the other letters on the desk, he +came from behind it and went toward Mrs. Jones. + +Noting that Mrs. Jones was interested in the letter and that she had +made a quick move toward him, he changed his mind and sauntered to the +other side of the room, still scrutinizing the letter in his hand. As he +paused, he placed the envelop close to his eyes and read, "Raymond +Thomas Es-_Q._" + +Mrs. Jones, her arms folded across her adamant breast, narrowed her eyes +into a quizzical stare. Satisfied that her estimate of Bill's condition +was correct, she hastened to verify it. Going close to him, she +demanded, "Bill, have you been drinkin'?" + +For once in his life Bill could prove his innocence. He was quick to +avail himself of the opportunity, and, much to her surprise, he turned +and blew his blameless breath at her. + +Mrs. Jones relaxed, exclaiming, in tones of relief, "Thank the Lord!" + +"What's He got to do with it?" Bill asked, quickly. + +Mrs. Jones smiled. For the time being her manner was mollified. She +followed him to the desk behind which he had returned to the mail-rack. +"You know," she explained, "it's 'way past dinner-time, and if you won't +work, the least you can do is to be on time for your meals." + +"I been workin'," Bill chirped, as he placed the last letter in its box +and went toward the dining-room door. + +Mrs. Jones placed herself in the middle of the room and in such a way +that Bill could not reach his goal without passing her. "What work have +you been doin'?" The sarcasm in the glance which pierced Bill's shifting +gaze did not pierce his good humor. He continued to chirp. "I got the +mail." + +"The mail?" There was contempt in his wife's question and in the answer +she gave to it. "The mail came at ten o'clock." + +"I got it, didn't I?" Bill registered another cheerful quip. + +Suddenly Mrs. Jones's mind recurred to the day of the month. Her +contempt gave place to anxiety and she stepped close to her husband and +looked into his face again. "Bill, was there a letter for you?" she +asked. + +Bill did not answer her with words. Instead he looked away from her and +shook his head slowly. + +"Bill Jones," his wife persisted, her tones reverting to their former +clear coldness, "didn't your pension come to-day?" + +"To-day?" Bill smiled a self-congratulatory smile for the word which +gave him the loophole of escape. Had his wife omitted that one word he +would have, for his honor's sake, been forced to admit that he had it. +For it was a part of his peculiar code that under no circumstances was +"mother" ever to be lied to. Prevarications, yes, but downright, +indisputable lies, no. And that with vigorous emphasis. But now she had +mentioned the day. The pension had not come to-day. It had reposed in +his pocket since yesterday, where, true to his promise to John Marvin, +it should remain until he had made up his mind to hand it over to his +family. So he felt the coins in his pocket and looked up at her with a +half-guilty grin, drawing out his words one by one, in halting tones. +"Not--to--day." + +"Well, when it does come," she said, pleasantly, "Millie's going to go +to Truckee with you and buy you some clothes. You gotta have some new +ones for when we goes to the city." + +It was on the tip of Bill's tongue to reaffirm, as he had countless +times, that he was never going to the city as long as he lived; but he +had begun to realize in the last few days that tact must enter into his +negotiations with his dissatisfied spouse. So he responded, mildly, "I +got clothes enough." + +Mrs. Jones made an impatient gesture and tossed her head in dismay. "I +don't know what's got into you, Bill Jones. When you came courtin' me +you had good clothes." + +"This is the same suit." Bill's jest might have brought further nagging +upon his shoulders, but Millie's entrance from the dining-room turned +Mrs. Jones's attention to her. + +"Oh, daddy, you're back!" Millie went quickly to her foster-father and +attempted to put her arms about his neck. + +He drew away from her, asking, quickly, "What of it?" + +"Are you all right?" Her tones were anxious and her gaze not less so. +Whereupon Bill proved his sobriety just as he had proved it to her +mother. + +"Now are you satisfied?" he asked, as she smiled at him. + +Kissing him, Millie reminded him gently that it was past dinner-time and +that he had better go into the dining-room, where something hot awaited +him. + +"Please come now, daddy," she added. "The girls want to get their work +done." + +Bill hesitated. He glanced surreptitiously over at the Nevada desk, +where, to the best of his knowledge, he had deposited a half-filled +flask the night previous. His wife's eye, however, was on him. Suddenly +she stepped up to him and took him firmly by the arm. + +"Bill Jones," she said, "you're comin' right inside now an' eat! +Whatever else is on your mind can wait--an' it might be a waste o' time, +anyway!" + +Finding himself propelled toward the dining-room, Lightnin' cast an +appealing, whimsical glance at Millie, but she covertly shook her head +to indicate that even she could not gainsay Mrs. Jones just then. + +Left alone, Millie busied herself at the desk with some accounts which +she wanted to finish before the arrival of a fresh contingent of guests, +due that afternoon. She put down her pencil after a few minutes of work, +however, and leaned her elbows on the desk, her chin in her hands +thoughtfully. She had a well-defined suspicion as to where Lightnin' had +been the night previous, and--well, Millie was curious about it. + +Her reflections were interrupted by the entrance of Lemuel Townsend. +There was an air of importance about him. He was frock-coated and +altogether spick and span. + +"Hello, Millie!" he said, walking up to the desk and shaking hands with +her. "I've been trying to get around here all week, but I'm mighty +pressed for time these days, you know! How is everything? You're all +filled up, I suppose?" + +"Nevada is full," Millie answered, smiling; "it always is, but the +California side is often empty. Oh, it's great fun--I call it the Hotel +Lopside! Sometimes I'm sorry that we're giving it up." + +"Oh! Then you've really decided to put through the idea of selling the +place!" + +"Yes. Mother made up her mind this morning, and I more than approve it, +all things considered. Daddy hasn't--hasn't quite agreed, though, but +it's for his own good. I don't quite understand daddy's objections. I +wanted to talk to him this morning about it, but I didn't get a chance. +There's been something mysterious in his manner lately." + +"Something mysterious--about Lightnin'?" + +"Yes," said Millie, thoughtfully. "Mother hasn't noticed it, of course, +being so busy and worried--and outwardly daddy is his usual easy-going, +amiable self. But I have a feeling that he has--or thinks he +has--something up his sleeve. Daddy can't hide things from me, you know! +Another thing, he doesn't seem to like Mr. Thomas at all--is downright +rude to him at times. I can't understand it, for it isn't like daddy!" + +Townsend frowned in a puzzled way. "Perhaps you're taking some of dear +old Lightnin's notions too seriously, Millie," he remarked. "Though I +must say that I have a great deal of faith in Bill. I've been a little +out of touch with the situation lately," he went on, judicially, "but +from what you and mother have told me about the proposed sale, and from +the one or two talks I have had with Mr. Thomas, I am inclined to agree +with you and mother that this sale is an excellent idea. So far as I can +judge, it is a sound investment and all for the best." + +"Of course it is!" said Millie. "But now--how about yourself? How is the +campaign going, Mr. Townsend?" + +"Splendidly! But it's rather trying, as I have to do most of the +campaigning myself--even the odd jobs!" + +He looked down at a bundle of large, printed placards which he carried +under his arm. Withdrawing one, he held it up for her inspection. Millie +read, "Vote for Lemuel Townsend for Superior Judge of the Second +Judicial District." + +"Would you mind if I tacked up some of these in the lobby?" he asked, +joining in her laugh. + +"Not at all!" Millie exclaimed. "I've a hammer and tacks right here in +the desk. Let me help you--and I do so hope you'll win!" + +Chatting, they proceeded to embellish the lobby with Lem Townsend's name +and ambition. Their operations were brought to a pause by the arrival of +the expected new guests. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +As the motor-stage drew up to the door, Millie ran out on the veranda to +deliver a few commissions to the driver to execute when he got back to +town. She noted that Sheriff Blodgett was a passenger, and that he +jumped down and preceded the guests into the lobby. + +The first of the new arrivals to step out of the stage and enter the +hotel was a chic little woman of about twenty-four, with big brown eyes +and auburn hair, dressed in a bright blue outing-flannel coat and skirt +and a tiny red hat from which hung a heavy veil. It was obvious that she +was suffering from great embarrassment, as she walked quickly about the +lobby, going from one register to the other, while a maid followed her +with an armful of bundles. The woman looked helplessly from wall to wall +and desk to desk. The presence of Blodgett and Townsend seemed to add to +her embarrassment, a condition still further aggravated by the +appearance of a third man, Everett Hammond, who chanced to come +strolling down from up-stairs at the moment. She fluttered up to Millie +as the girl came in from the veranda. + +"Would you like to register?" Millie asked. + +"How do you do," was the reply, uttered in a timid treble. "I am Mrs. +Harper. I understand--" Her head turned from side to side as she +hesitated. She clasped her hands and gazed pleadingly at Millie. "I've +been told--" Again she hesitated nervously, tears in her eyes. She +noticed Blodgett and Hammond gazing at her. In desperation, her blushes +showing under the heavy veil, she whispered, quaveringly, "Could I speak +to you privately?" + +"Certainly," said Millie, hiding her amusement. "Just step into this +room," and she led the little woman away. + +As they left the room, followed by the faithful maid, another guest +entered, an attractive woman of thirty. She was highly colored as to +hair and complexion, and she had about her an air far removed from the +chic, haughty member of the millionaire divorce colony that centered +about the Reno hotels. In type she was not unlike Mrs. Harper, except +that she did not show any special evidence of timidity. On the contrary, +she seemed perfectly at home. But she came in with the aid of a crutch +and leaning on the arm of the stage-driver. Her eyes took a calm +inventory of the lobby--including Townsend, on whom she smiled +coquettishly as she sighed with relief and sank into a chair. + +Townsend was leaning against the California desk, and he had been +watching Blodgett and Hammond, who, conversing in low tones, had +strolled out to the veranda. He was surprised to note that the pair had +met before and seemed to know each other quite well. His attention, +however, was now drawn to the attractive new guest. Her smile was not +without effect. She turned to the driver. + +"I'm all right now, thank you," she drawled, though her voice was soft +and pleasant. "Just drop my bag here." Fumbling in her purse for change +that did not seem to be there, she directed a glance toward Townsend and +smiled again. "Will you change five dollars for me?" she asked. + +Townsend drew out his wallet and examined its contents, but put it back +again disappointedly. "I'm afraid I can't," he said, with obvious +regret. + +"Well, then," said the attractive woman, with a frown, "pay the driver, +please." + +Townsend gave a slight start of chagrin, feeling that his standing as a +candidate for a judgeship was suffering by her lack of discernment. +Then, as the truth of the situation dawned on him, he suppressed a +chuckle. Without a word, he handed some change to the driver. + +"Charge it to my account," she ordered, settling herself comfortably in +the chair, extending one foot which was bound in a heavy bandage about +the ankle and clad in a soft slipper. + +Townsend, still smiling, began: "Well--er--" + +"I'm Mrs. Davis," she interrupted, ignoring his embarrassment. "Mrs. +Margaret Davis." She turned her wide blue eyes full upon him as she +switched in her chair, the movement bringing a twinge of pain to her +face. + +Townsend left the desk and came toward her. "I'm very glad to meet you." +He extended an affable hand. "I'm Lemuel Townsend, and I--" + +Mrs. Davis did not offer him her hand at once, but gave him an +inquisitive glance. "Will you show me to my room?" she asked. + +"I don't know where it is," he said, laughing. By this time his ruffled +dignity was assuaged by the twinkle in Mrs. Davis's eye and the deep +dimple in her chin. + +"Why, weren't you expecting me?" she asked, in astonishment, her mind as +yet refusing to grasp the situation. + +"No, I wasn't." He was bending over her, a courtly flattery in his gaze. + +"But I wrote you!" She turned clear about on her chair, forgetting for +the moment the pain in her foot, her eyes and mouth wide open with +surprise at the thought that she could be thus forgotten. + +"No, you didn't write me. You see, I'm only a guest, just as you are." + +Here they both laughed, while Townsend placed a chair close to hers and +sat down beside her. + +Mrs. Davis prolonged her giggle and bent her head, her eyes seeking his +under her heavily beaded lashes. "And I said--Oh!" She put her two hands +to her mouth and sidled, "I took you for the clerk." + +He nodded indulgently. + +"Oh, and I made you pay the driver! I couldn't allow that. Just as soon +as somebody comes I'll return it. I hope you'll forgive me." By this +time her manner was as friendly as Townsend's feminine-loving soul could +wish. She sidled her chair a little closer to his, still holding him +with her eyes, wide as the innocent stare of a baby. + +"I'm glad it happened," said Townsend. + +"Will you allow me to introduce myself properly?" + +She nodded, and he got up and went to the desk, returning with one of +his campaign cards and handing it to her. "Permit me," he said, "my +card." As she took it from him he explained, "I'm candidate for judge at +the next election." + +Immediately Mrs. Davis's interest was aroused to fever pitch. With a +knowing look she leaned forward, placing a hand on his arm, while she +slowly and attentively dwelt upon the words on the card. "Oh, really?" +she drawled. "Where will you be judge?" + +"If I'm elected--in Reno." + +"Will you try divorce cases?" the question was snapped out. + +He nodded. + +"Oh, I'm awfully glad to meet you!" she gushed, shaking his arm. + +"The pleasure is mutual, believe me," he responded, placing his hand on +top of hers. As she withdrew hers with a giggle, he went on, unabashed, +"Do you intend remaining here long?" + +"I'm in for six months." She sighed like a hurt baby. + +He was all sympathy as he leaned toward her and apologized: "Oh, I'm +very sorry for you, Mrs. Davis--If--" + +"Oh, my case doesn't call for sympathy. Congratulations! +Congratulations!" she emphasized with a long-drawn-out inflection. + +"Oh!!!" he shook his head wisely, adding, laughingly, "It's that way?" + +A twinge from the invalid ankle concentrated Mrs. Davis's full attention +as she lifted her foot, adjusting it against the crutch, thinking to +stop the pain. When it had subsided she smiled up at Townsend again, +pointed to it and said, with an ingenue turn of the head, "I'd probably +never have been able to get a divorce if it had not been for this." + +"You don't mean that your husband was brute enough to--" Townsend was +shocked at the thought, but was not allowed to deliver himself of his +full sympathy. Mrs. Davis was just getting into the lines of her part +and she was quick to catch her cues. + +"Oh, heavens, no!" she broke in upon his condolences. "This was an +accident. It's a sprain, and it is quite serious, as I'm a dancer." She +beamed up at him and wriggled in the chair, continuing her explanation. +"It's probably all for the best. Of course it'll break into my +engagements. I'm in vaudeville, you know. I've wanted a divorce for +years, but I'm always booked solid and I never stay in one place long +enough to get one. When this happened I saw my chance to get a good long +rest, and my freedom in the bargain." Her eyes begged his for +understanding and received it. + +While she had been talking Townsend had been drinking in every word she +said. Her variety of attractiveness was a new one to him. It appealed to +his small-town idea of being a gay blade. He had often cast longing eyes +at the Eastern wives sojourning in Reno for the six months necessary to +establish a residence and therefore their right to a quick freedom which +brought with it no restrictions in the matter of remarrying. The +majority of these prospective divorcees were of a larger world and +reckoned in figures of which Lemuel Townsend did not know the simplest +rules. The only notice he had received for his ambitions being a smile +to his face and a snicker at his back. But here was some one who not +only was taking notice of him, but was actually meeting his advances +half-way. Besides, she was pretty, and he could never withstand a pretty +woman. As she finished the first lap of her story he exclaimed, "That +certainly is a scheme!" + +"It's nice of you to listen to it all," she murmured, apologetically, +moving her idle crutch up and down as if writing her mood in invisible +letters on the floor. + +"I'm glad you told it to me. Do you know--" and he sidled in his chair, +while a sugar-laden approval beamed at her in a steady flow from over +the top of his glasses, "from the minute I saw you enter the door I was +worried about you--I was afraid--Well, it was a great relief to find +that you had two good--" he halted in hopeless confusion, as his eyes +sought her ankle. He took his handkerchief from his pocket and blew his +nose furiously, hoping to hide the real reason for a blush that seemed +to have come to stay, having settled in a deep crimson even from the +nape of his neck to the top of a head whose sparse hair refused to hide +his embarrassment. + +But Margaret Davis, seeing no reason for shyness, just smiled graciously +upon him and hastened to standardize her reputation. "Any one who has +seen me dance can inform you about--well--about--_them_," she said +seriously, adding by way of flavor to her remark another languishing +droop of her eyelids. There was a moment of coy silence for the two of +them. Then Mrs. Davis asked, "Are you stopping here for pleasure or are +you doing time?" + +"I'm a bachelor." + +"How nice!" she replied, in honeyed accents, as she leaned toward him +and put a soft hand on his arm. Undoubtedly in Lem Townsend she saw the +possibility of an easy divorce trial. Besides, Townsend was by no means +without personal attractions. Mrs. Davis gazed at him, her languishing +smile concealing the feminine appraisal in her eyes. She decided to +cultivate the possibility, and was about to say something in furtherance +of her object when she was startled by a gentle voice coming from +directly behind her and inquiring, pleasantly, "Rheumatism?" + +Bill Jones had entered the lobby unobserved by the pair and was leaning +over the desk idly, looking at his new guest with kindly interest. +Townsend introduced Bill, and Mrs. Davis, with Lem's assistance, rose +and took up a pen. + +"No," she said; "I have not acquired rheumatism as yet, Mr. Jones. I'll +register--you're reserving a room for me." + +"How long you here for?" Bill asked. + +"The usual," she sighed, and rolled her eyes toward Townsend. + +"Eh?" Bill grinned and walked slowly from behind the desk. + +"Six months," she drawled, wearily. + +Politely staying her hand and taking the pen from her, Bill pointed to +the other desk. "This is the six months' side--over here," he said, +sauntering to the back of the Nevada desk. + +When the lady was at last settled in her room, and Townsend had +left--having made an arrangement to dine with Mrs. Davis that +evening--Bill found himself strangely alone for the moment. Instantly he +seized on the opportunity to make a thorough investigation into the +mysterious disappearance of a half-filled flask. After turning the +Nevada desk inside out, at last he was convinced that the disappearance +was a fact and not a matter of imagination. "Guess mother has +seequesterated it," he remarked, to himself. "Not that I'm hankerin' +after it so much myself, but I told Zeb I had it, an' when he finds that +I 'ain't, the moral effect on Zeb will sure be bad." + +As Bill, rolling a cigarette, meditated on this, Mrs. Harper, followed +by her maid and still casting about like a frightened bird in search of +cover, tiptoed into the lobby, went uncertainly to the California desk +and took up a pen. + +Wisdom twitching at the corners of his mouth, Bill was beside her at +once. + +"Is either o' you ladies gettin' a divorce?" he inquired, in a helpful +tone, his question including the indignant maid. "'Cause, if you are," +he explained, "I just wanted to let you know that you are flockin' round +the wrong desk." + +Mrs. Harper fluttered some more. "Oh, I--er--but--where--" + +"This way, my dears," Bill said, in a gentle, fatherly tone, as he led +them to the Nevada desk. + +Mrs. Harper signed her name. As Bill read it he looked up at her with +sudden interest. He put a detaining hand on her arm before she could +flutter away, and at the same time, turning to the maid, he directed her +to have a chair for a moment--at the other side of the lobby, out of +earshot. + +When the maid had complied Bill looked down at the register. "Mrs. +Harper, Truckee," he repeated. Then, glancing up at the surprised and +startled little woman, he asked, "Does your husband happen to drive a +green automobile, ma'am?" + +Mrs. Harper stared at him with the big, frightened eyes of a child. +"Why--er--yes. But--why do you ask?" + +"I met him last night," said Bill. "He's a fast driver, ain't he? Gets +to Truckee in two hours!" + +The color rose to the little woman's face. "I don't see--" + +"He's a mighty fine feller!" Bill went on, calmly. "Got a pile o' money, +too, an' I bet he's some generous with it--specially to them what he +loves. People is always makin' fool mistakes. Say, you ain't really +goin' to git a divorce, are you?" + +Now the astonished little woman's eyes filled with angry tears. "Oh!" +she gasped. "Oh! How dare you speak to me like this! It's none of your +business!" + +"Sure it is," said Lightnin', his voice kindly, confidential. "I know +all about it. He didn't git that present for his stenographer." + +"How do you know?" she snapped. + +"I heard him tellin' all about it to Marvin, the boy what sold him that +timber up yonder. I knocked," Bill explained, whimsically, "but they +didn't seem to hear, an' I was kinder forced to listen in from the +outside. Your husband was all het up an' near committin' suicide 'cause +you thought he done what he didn't. He told Marvin he bought that +present for you when he was in Noo York. He was just a-showin' it to his +office lady when you walked in." + +"Nonsense!" + +"No, it ain't. It's truth. There's some things I don't go wrong on, an' +this is one, Mrs. Harper. Your husband's a mighty fine feller an'--" + +With a stamp of her foot, the little woman flung away from the desk +and, followed by the faithful maid, hurried up-stairs, where--and +perhaps Bill suspected this--she buried her head in a pillow and cried +and cried. + +Bill stood at the desk with his head cocked on one side, idly tapping +his ear with a pen. He heard the door of Mrs. Harper's room slam and he +grinned amiably. + +"Eatin' her heart out for him," he mused. "Just eatin' her heart out, +but too spunky to back down!" + +He gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling for a few minutes; then slowly he +reached into the drawer and took out a telegram blank. His eyes twinkled +as he wrote a brief message. He folded up the blank, stuffed it into his +pocket, and was turning away from the desk with the intention of seeking +the telegraph-office, when Hammond and Sheriff Blodgett came strolling +back into the lobby. + +"Oh, so you're actually here, are you?" exclaimed Hammond, glaring at +Bill. "Have you signed that deed yet?" + +Hammond, direct, bulldozing, totally lacking in Thomas's smooth +diplomacy, had lost all patience with Bill Jones. That morning he had +decided that the only way to handle Bill was to ride over him +rough-shod. "Have you signed that deed?" he repeated, loudly. + +"Deed?" remarked Lightnin', carelessly. "Oh, I'd kinder forgot about +that little matter. Nope. 'Ain't had time, old top--nope!" Ignoring the +glares of the two men, he started to amble toward the door. + +"Look here," Hammond called after him, "is Mr. Thomas in?" + +"I guess so," replied Bill, pausing directly in front of Hammond and +gazing up at him with a calm, shrewd light in his half-shut eyes. "He +seems to stick around pretty close." + +"Well," said Hammond, with a heavy frown, "just be good enough to step +up and tell him that Sheriff Blodgett and I would like to see him!" + +"Step up yourself," said old Bill, quietly, without shifting either his +gaze or his position. "You ain't crippled, be you? An' I don't think as +your friend Thomas'll fall off'n his chair with surprise if you drop in +on him unexpected." + +Without waiting for a reply, Bill turned away and ambled out of the +lobby. Hammond swore; then strode angrily up-stairs, followed by +Blodgett. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +A few minutes after Lightnin' disappeared down the trail, headed for the +local telegraph-office, John Marvin approached the hotel from the +opposite direction. He paused when some distance away and viewed the +place. It was his first visit in many weeks, and naturally his first +since the great transformation. It could be surmised, however, that this +visit was not one of idle curiosity; neither was his pause due to a mere +desire to observe the various changes recently made. He watched the +establishment closely for a minute; then came on slowly, keeping a sharp +eye on his surroundings. As he reached the steps Millie came out on the +veranda. She was engaged in what, these days, had become one of the +chief occupations of nearly every one in the Hotel Calivada--searching +for Lightnin' Bill Jones, whose persistent faculty of being absent when +most wanted was fast assuming the dimensions of a public aggravation. + +"Why, hello, stranger!" Millie exclaimed, with a welcoming smile. "I +thought you had forgotten all about us! You haven't been here for ever +so long!" + +Marvin came up the steps and seized both her hands, which she let him +hold for a moment. + +"I haven't forgotten _you_, Millie," he said, gently, smiling down into +her brown eyes. "But--well, you know I went away last time with an idea +that you didn't care to see me." + +"Silly boy!" Her tone was gaily impersonal, but her red lips puckered +into a pretty pout as she walked to a chair in the corner of the veranda +and sat down. + +"I thought that maybe you had returned to Mr. Thomas's office," he +remarked, following her and standing beside her chair. + +"No; I'm not going back, not now," said Millie, thoughtfully. She did +not look up at him, but fixed her gaze on her hands, folded in her lap. +"What a tremendous student you were in his office! I never saw any one +work so hard as you did." + +"Except when you were in the room--then I was looking at you, most of +the time!" Marvin bent over her, but she gave no sign that she read his +attitude. + +"If you'd been looking at me, I'd have seen you." She smiled and raised +her eyes. "You've not given up the study of law, have you?" There was +concern in the lift of her brow. + +"Oh no! But I'm not going back into Mr. Thomas's office. Why did you +leave him, Millie? Was there any trouble?" + +"Trouble? Of course not! How could any one have trouble with Mr. +Thomas?" Surprise and annoyance stood in her eyes. + +Marvin did not reply at once, but drew up another chair and sat down +facing her. He leaned forward, his eyes searching hers as he questioned, +"You like Mr. Thomas--like him very much, don't you, Millie?" + +"I more than like him!" An angry color suffused her cheeks as she looked +Marvin up and down. "I adore him!" she added. "You've no idea how fine +he is!" + +Marvin started at this--naturally. The situation was going to be more +difficult than he had anticipated. Could it be that Millie was really in +love with Raymond Thomas? Or had he merely convinced her that his +business motives were all that they should be? Perhaps it was both! +Anyway, it was obvious that the girl had Thomas up on some sort of +pedestal; she was in a spunky mood, and Marvin saw that he was going to +have his hands full trying to convince her that the feet on the pedestal +were made of clay. Marvin flushed himself; he did not relish his +position; he shrank from seemingly disparaging another man behind his +back, especially to a girl. If there had been only himself to consider, +he would not have spoken at all. Neither was it altogether for Millie's +sake. She was young, capable, quick-witted; she would see through Thomas +of her own accord, soon enough--if she were not actually in love with +him! But Marvin was thinking of the old people, of hard-working, simple +Mrs. Jones, and of amiable, careless Bill. Millie was the young, strong +member of the Jones household, and it was Millie who must be convinced +and won over, if possible. Thus ran Marvin's thoughts--but quite +honestly he admitted to himself that his love for the girl might be +coloring his logic and his motives just a little. + +"I'd like to tell you something I know about Thomas--" + +"Oh, I know!" Millie interrupted, quickly. "He sold some property for +your mother, isn't that it?" + +"Yes; he sold it to the railroad--for a big price." + +"I know--he told me all about it. He's a splendid business man! Why, +that's exactly what he is doing for us! Hasn't daddy told you about it?" +She glanced at him quickly, but he gave no sign of having heard this +wonderful news. "I should think you'd like to see Mr. Thomas. He's +up-stairs packing, now. He's leaving this evening. He came all the way +from San Francisco just to help me--to help us all!" + +"To help you?" Marvin asked. + +Millie clasped her hands over her knees and went on, enthusiastically: +"Why, this hotel idea has turned out splendidly, you know. But a week or +two ago, Mr. Thomas wrote to mother, saying that he had heard that the +railroad company had got wind of our success and contemplated putting up +a rival hotel just back of us. Mother was nearly crazy at the news, and +I wrote to Mr. Thomas, asking him his advice. He telegraphed that he +would be right out to see us! Wasn't that just like him?" + +"Exactly," said Marvin, dryly. "And I presume that when Mr. Thomas +arrived he suggested that you let him persuade the railroad to buy this +place and erect the new hotel here, instead of next door!" + +"Why, John--aren't you clever!" Millie exclaimed. "How did you guess it? +That is exactly what he suggested, and now it's all arranged! And +they're going to pay enough to make mother and daddy comfortable for the +rest of their lives!" + +With a hopeless gesture, Marvin got to his feet and took a pace or two +up and down the veranda. The girl watched him, puzzled. + +"Are they going to pay cash?" Marvin asked, pausing in front of her. + +"It's much better than cash! It's shares of stock that pay ten per cent. +a year! It seems almost too good to be true." + +"It does--it certainly does!" came from Marvin. + +The girl had risen, glowing with enthusiasm. Quite naturally she put her +hand on his arm and looked up at him happily, intimately, naively +seeking his approval. + +In the midst of his perplexity Marvin's heart gave a bound. That naive +touch on his arm and the intimate light in the brown eyes told him that, +in one respect at least, all was not lost--not yet! He was about to take +her hands and break into a rush of words when the girl suddenly turned +her attention from him, remarking, eagerly: "Here comes daddy. We were +afraid he'd deserted again!" + +Marvin swung around. Much as he wanted to see Lightnin' to-day, he +wished, just then, that Bill could have seen fit to delay his appearance +a few minutes longer. Bill Jones, however, came serenely up the steps +and stood with his hands in his pockets, shrewdly and humorously +inspecting the pair. + +"Sorry to interrupt the billin' an' cooin'," he remarked. "But say, +John, ain't you takin' some chances round here? Did you know that +Blodgett's here? I seen him go up-stairs when I went out." + +Millie had flushed and turned away at her foster-father's first words, +but now she looked curiously from one to the other. + +"What on earth do you mean, daddy?" she questioned. + +"He's just _helping me_, Millie," said Marvin, grinning at Bill. "Thanks +for the tip, Lightnin', but I wanted to see you particularly to-day, so +I--" + +He stopped abruptly, for Bill had raised a warning hand. + +Marvin recognized a familiar voice talking in the lobby. Glancing in, +he saw Raymond Thomas standing in the center of the room, holding Mrs. +Jones in conversation. Hammond and Blodgett had just come down the +stairs and were joining the other two. + +"Better beat it, John!" Lightnin' whispered. + +But Marvin stood there. He was thinking quickly. He had caught a word or +two of what Thomas was saying, and he gathered that matters were coming +to a climax. Suddenly his expression cleared and he grinned. + +"Never mind about that, Lightnin'," he said, mechanically opening the +door for Millie, who, seeing that they were ignoring her, tripped in +with a petulant toss of her head. "I think I have a little scheme that +will fool our friend Blodgett. But first--Bill, promise me that you +won't sign that deed without consulting me!" + +"All right," said Lightnin', slowly. "I promise. But you better be +careful, John, an'--" + +"Come on!" Marvin interrupted, leading the way himself. "I've a great +desire to be in on these proceedings!" + +Seeing that the young man was not to be stopped, Bill said no more as he +slid through the door and ambled after him into the lobby. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +"I think it is only fair to tell you, Mrs. Jones," Thomas was saying, a +delicate, apologetic note creeping into his voice as he caught sight of +Millie, "that this Marvin is not a proper person for your daughter to +see. I fully believed that he was a fine young man myself once, and you +cannot imagine my surprise when I discovered that he is the head of a +gang of thieves who are going all over this part of the country, +stealing timber." + +"Mercy me!" cried Mrs. Jones. "A thief, no less!" Then, seeing Marvin +unexpectedly present in person, she glared at him. "Somethin' always +warned me against you, John Marvin! Oh, Millie, Millie! How many times +have I told you you was makin' a terrible mistake lettin' him annoy +you!" + +Millie was evidently too astonished and puzzled to say anything. +Meanwhile, Thomas had flushed deeply on finding himself confronted by +the man he was in the act of damning. Instinctively he took a step back. +Blodgett made a quick move toward Marvin, but Hammond seized his arm and +stopped him. + +"Hold on a minute, Blodgett," he whispered. "You can nab him later--he +can't very well get away from us now. I want to have a word, first--I'm +going to show this young cub just where he stands!" + +Meanwhile, though the sheriff's move did not escape him, Marvin, a grim +smile on his face, was gazing steadily at Thomas. + +"Go on, Thomas," he said, quietly. "I'm interested! What else were you +going to say to Mrs. Jones?" + +Indifferently he strolled over beside Lightnin', who was in front of the +California desk, his hands in his pockets, his half-shut eyes roving +from one to another of the group. To look at him, one would not imagine +that Bill Jones had any special interest in the proceedings. He drew out +his bag of tobacco and papers and idly rolled a cigarette. + +Thomas, having regained his poise again, turned to Mrs. Jones with his +dazzling smile. "I'm really very glad that the young man chanced to +present himself at this moment, Mrs. Jones, because--" + +"That's all right, Thomas!" Hammond interrupted, suddenly thrusting +himself forward and waving the other aside. "But we have something much +more important on hand. Let's get to it! I can't monkey around here any +longer. + +"Mrs. Jones," he went on, "I've been trying to get you all together +before I left, but you seem such busy people that it is as if I wouldn't +have this opportunity. I wanted to tell you that the company for which I +am acting has just wired me to close the transaction, and so I am ready +to take over the property at once!" + +Mrs. Jones, bewildered by his briskness and the swift sequence of +events, stared at him, then transferred a gaze no less confounded to +Thomas. "You mean," she questioned, "that--that you want us to leave at +once?" + +"Oh no! That's not necessary. But now that you have put your signature +to the deed, the transfer will be made at once and we'll take over the +management, allowing you to remain on until you have made your +arrangements for the future." + +With a sharp nod to her and an insolent sneer directed at Bill, Hammond +swung on his heel and busied himself with a portfolio of papers he had +dropped on the Nevada desk. + +"I'm sure you can have no objections to these arrangements, Mrs. Jones," +said Thomas, his voice as smooth as glass, though there was a slight +quiver of his eyelids as he avoided Marvin's steady gaze and caught a +strange gleam that emanated from Bill's puckered-up eyes. + +Mrs. Jones had forgotten all about Bill and his part in the signing of +the deed. But a multitude of thoughts were running through her mind, +confused as it was. All that she could think of now was the simplest +answer to Thomas's question. She stepped up to him and put a hand of +confidence on his arm. + +"Certainly I do not mind," she said. "I'm delighted and relieved that it +is all settled!" Turning to Hammond, she added: "I want to leave the +whole matter in Mr. Thomas's hands. I'll do just as he advises." + +"All right, Hammond," said Thomas, deliberately turning his back on old +Bill. "We shall deliver the deed to you at once, and you can take charge +of the place immediately. I presume you will want to have--" + +"Hold on there, young feller!" Lightnin's usual lackadaisical monotone +was raised to a degree which bespoke a greater interest than his +careless attitude indicated. He stepped forward and stood in front of +Thomas, looking up at him with his shrewd gaze. When he felt that the +man was ready to give him sufficient attention, Bill returned to his +customary drawl. + +"We ain't goin' to sell this place, my boy," he said. "Not until I +consult my lawyer!" + +His words brought his wife to his side instantly, her eyes blazing. +"Bill Jones," she cried, "you just be quiet! What in the world's the +matter with you--tryin' to throw away a chance to be nice and +comfortable the rest o' your life! Are you crazy?" + +"Nope. I'm the only one that ain't--'cept John, here." + +Bill's steady, quiet grin exasperated Hammond and Thomas to white heat, +but they were too near their goal to miss it by a step. They knew that +under ordinary conditions Bill, in spite of his many shortcomings, held +first place in Mrs. Jones's affections, and that any show of harshness +toward him on their part might rally her unexpectedly to his support. So +they smothered their rage. Hammond leaned an elbow on the desk and +nonchalantly twirled his watch-chain, his mouth drawn into an ugly +sneer. Thomas continued his air of deference toward Mrs. Jones, leaning +over her with an appealing smile. Reacting to it, she took Bill by the +arm and shook it roughly. + +"You just got to listen to reason, Bill!" she said, transfixing him with +angry eyes. "I set my heart on sellin' the place an' goin' to the city, +as you oughter know by now. An', besides, it's 'most all fixed up, +anyways--all but you signin' that deed. You got to do it, Bill!" + +"You're all het up, mother," replied Bill, gazing at her with kindly +eyes. "Ease up a bit! Nope. I ain't goin' to sign no deed for them two +scamps--leastways not until I consult my lawyer!" And Bill pushed back +his battered slouch-hat and stuck his thumbs in his faded vest. + +"Scamps--!" + +But before Mrs. Jones could complete her sentence Marvin stepped forward +and put a friendly arm over Bill's shoulder. + +"Bill's right, Mrs. Jones," he said, gently, though there was a fighting +light in his eyes as he met those of Thomas. "Lightnin' has no need to +apologize for anything he may say about these two men. This sale is a +nice little scheme of theirs. They are trying to rob you." + +Millie, who had been listening to it all, amazed and abashed, now stared +at Marvin defiantly. "How dare you say that?" she blazed. "What right +have you to interfere?" She rallied to Mrs. Jones's side and placed an +affectionate arm around her waist. + +Mrs. Jones was crying by this time. She wiped her eyes on her apron and +looked at Marvin. "So it's you who's been puttin' Bill up to this!" she +exclaimed. "I might have known--it's right in line with what we just +heard about you! Well, he don't need none o' your advice--you just leave +Bill alone!" + +Marvin held out a deprecating hand. "But, Mrs. Jones, you don't +understand--" + +Blodgett, at a sign from Hammond, strode up to Marvin and put a hand on +his shoulder. Marvin shook him off. + +"Don't interrupt me now!" he said. "I've something more important to--" + +"I'll show you how important it is!" said Blodgett, jingling a pair of +handcuffs in front of Marvin. "I got a warrant for your arrest for +stealin' timber! Put out your hands!" + +Mrs. Jones and Millie stood by, bewildered, while Thomas, with +supercilious satisfaction in his smile, sank into a chair and crossed +his legs with an air. Hammond laughed coarsely. + +Bill, his arm drawn through Marvin's, looked on, his enigmatic grin +between his half-closed eyes and half-open mouth betokening an +unswerving confidence in the ultimate. + +"I can't be bothered with you now," said Marvin, addressing Blodgett. +"Bill needs--" + +"None o' your lip!" Blodgett grabbed him roughly and attempted to place +a handcuff on one of his wrists, but Marvin flung him off and the +sheriff went sprawling. Marvin stepped back a pace or two as Blodgett +got up and came at him again, bawling, "Now you're worse off than +ever--resisting an officer of the law!" + +Marvin, however, did not seem to be worried. He faced Blodgett with an +amused smile and pointed to the floor, where an uncovered space left +between two rugs indicated the now famous state line. + +"Law?" Marvin echoed. "Why, Blodgett, old boy, don't you know any more +about law than to try to serve me with a Nevada warrant when I'm in the +state of California?" + +"By jiminy, he's right!" cried Lightnin', clapping Marvin on the back. +"You got 'em where--where the rugs is short, John. Guess I didn't build +this house on the state line for nothin'!" + +Blodgett started back with a howl of disgust, while Thomas and Hammond +looked at each other, making no effort to hide their chagrin. Millie had +given an exclamation--an exclamation that sounded very much like one of +relief, when she saw the sudden turn of the tables; but if it was an +expression of her inner and secret feelings, she quickly smothered it. +Mrs. Jones glared at Marvin with keen disgust and disappointment. + +Lightnin', grinning, evidently was enjoying the scene hugely. Cocking +his old hat over one ear, he struck a pose of comic nonchalance against +the California desk and looked across the lobby at the furious Hammond. + +"Hello, Hammond, old top!" he called, airily. "How's everythin' in +Nevada? Come on over to California, an'--an' have a glass o' water!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The unexpected denouement between Marvin and Sheriff Blodgett brought +consternation to those who had contrived toward his apprehension. +Everett Hammond, in consultation with Thomas, would have taken the young +man by force--for Hammond was a strapping six feet two or thereabouts, +and Marvin was but a stripling in strength. But Thomas, cool and +controlled, and always an advocate of keeping within the letter of the +law, counseled him against any such hot-headed procedure, explaining +that it might militate against them in a court where outside operators +in land or mining stocks were not looked upon with any too friendly a +spirit. Mrs. Jones and Millie, astounded and uncomfortable in a +situation far afield from their uneventful lives, were too perplexed to +speak, contenting themselves with staring at Marvin in unbridled +disgust. Millie felt something of compassion for his predicament, but +the thought that any one she knew should be accused of theft filled her +with horror. Besides, it was he who was preventing her foster-father +from signing the deed which would place them all in easy circumstances +as against the difficulties of the present. Whatever of pity she had +quickly disappeared. With one long look of disdain toward Marvin, she +led Mrs. Jones up-stairs. + +Blodgett, after his first surprise, was overcome with rage at the +knowledge that a whippersnapper such as he considered Marvin should have +placed him in such a ludicrous position. He, too, like Hammond, would +have liked to have tried force, but he knew that Marvin stood well among +the lumbermen in Washoe County and his attempt at re-election was too +close at hand to permit of his taking any chances when those to gain by +them were strangers without a voice in the politics of the section. + +With a covert eye he watched Marvin, who stood a few feet from the line +and smiled down at Bill, the latter grinning up at him, warming to the +affectionate arm placed about his shoulder. As the two women went up the +stairs, Marvin watched them, a half-shadow in his eyes as he caught +Millie's disdainful glance. Giving Bill a good-by pat, Marvin, hat in +hand, made a sweeping bow which took in Hammond, Thomas, and Blodgett. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," he laughed ironically. Sidling with his back +to the California desk, he reached the door, where he waved his hand at +his astonished persecutors and slid out upon the veranda and down the +steps, where he wandered off in the twilight. + +Blodgett walked to the door and looked after him. "Guess I'll stick +'round a bit," he grumbled to Thomas, who had followed him to the door +and was gazing after Marvin. + +Hammond remained where he was, leaning up against the desk, watching +Thomas and Blodgett with surly eyes. "You two are a nice pair of +mollycoddles," he sneered, "letting him make a get-away like that. If +either of you had any gumption you'd have knocked him over the line." + +"Yes?" drawled the sheriff. "'N' be arrested for assault. My +jurisdiction stops on this side of the line." He was silent, while he +took a piece of tobacco from his pocket and cut off a bite. After a +minute he grunted: "Humph! He'ain't gone yet. I'm goin' to stay here +'til to-morrow mornin'. By that time he'll be home, for he 'ain't got no +place else to go. Then I'll nab him good 'n' quick." + +All this time Bill had stood in the middle of the floor, listening to +all that was said, saying never a word himself. Now he went slowly to +one side of the room, took a chair that stood against the California +wall and placed it in front of the table, close to the dividing line. +Blodgett, thinking there was reason for his act, so deliberate was it, +took a chair from its place near the Nevada wall and placed it parallel +with Bill's, seating himself in it. + +The two men contemplated each other in silence. Thomas and Hammond stood +in short consultation, and then the latter went to his room on the +California side of the hotel, Thomas sauntering to a rocking-chair on +the veranda. He lighted a cigar and sat looking out over the lake, where +the moon was rising over the rim of the bordering Sierras. + +There was scrutiny in the eye with which Blodgett viewed Bill. There was +distrust in the steady look which thrust itself between Bill's half-open +lids and struck straight in the center of Blodgett's pupil. The latter +opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, as steps were heard on the +veranda and Rodney Harper entered the lobby. + +"Do you know where I can find John Marvin?" he asked of the two men +whose backs he faced. Both immediately turned in their chairs, the +sheriff alert for any news he might obtain of the habits and customs of +the man he was pursuing. Bill, when he saw who it was, arose and slowly +went toward him, holding out his hand. + +"Oh! Hello, old chap! I got your telegram, also one from Marvin. Where +is he?" Harper grasped Bill's hand and gave it a hearty shake, glancing +anxiously about the lobby. + +Bill ignored the last question, keeping a slanting eye on Blodgett. +"Your wife's up-stairs," he whispered, with a nod toward the Nevada +up-stairs hallway. + +"Where?" Harper turned in the direction of Bill's nod. + +"In Nevada," Bill drawled, with a slow grin. + +Harper shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Bill, continuing with his +subject, "What's the number of her room?" + +"You'd better go slow." Bill thrust his hands in his pockets, assuming +an air of counselor. "I told her I thought you'd be here." + +"What did she say?" Harper was at the register and going quickly down +the list. He came to his wife's name, letting his finger run across the +page until he came to the number of her room; then he swept past Bill +and had his foot on the first step when Bill stopped him. + +"Ye'll spoil it all, if ye ain't careful." The old man drew the younger +one's head close to his mouth, speaking in low tones. + +"What makes you say that? In your telegram you made me believe +everything was all right," Harper said, as he leaned against the +newel-post. + +"So 'twill be if you listen to some one that knows summat 'bout women. +If you chase chickens they run like wild-fire 'n' ye can't catch 'em +unless you get 'em in a corner. But if you holds out your hand with a +little feed, by 'n' by they eat right out of it." + +Harper laughed. "That's what you think, is it?" + +"I know," Bill chuckled. "You oughter heard what she said to me." Bill +loved to think that he knew something the other fellow would like to +know. Even his sympathy with Harper and his desire to see all well +between him and his wife could not contain him when it came to holding +out in a matter of mere curiosity. "I was goin' to tell you, but I'd +better not," he added, with a wise look. "'Twan't very encouragin'," he +added. + +Harper walked away from the stairway, his arm through Bill's. "Don't you +think you'd better tell me?" There was real concern in Harper's voice +and Bill knew it was the expression of the anxiety in his heart. Too, +Bill knew that it required tact to approach Mrs. Harper in her present +hysterical mood. + +So he answered, with a brusk shake of his head, "Nope." + +"Well, of all the damned-fool things!" Harper stood still, letting go of +Bill's arm. + +"I wouldn't call her that," Bill remonstrated, moving away from Harper +with a quick look of astonishment. + +"Who's calling her that?" Harper paced up and down, a scowl on his face. +"I mean the whole situation. It's such a silly mistake. And yet she +won't believe it." + +"Same here." There was a warm sense of comradeship in the same sad cause +in the air with which Bill made his last remark. It brought Harper to a +standstill. With a smile he listened to the old man's explanation. +"Folks don't believe nothin' I tell 'em. Women never do believe you when +you tell 'em the truth, but tell 'em a lie 'n' they swallows it hook 'n' +bait. Why don't you write her a letter? Ef she knows yer here 'n' ain't +too anxious ye got a good chance." + +"I believe I'll do that. It sounds like a good scheme. Give her a chance +to think things over instead of running in on her all of a sudden. Have +you got a room?" Harper went to the Nevada desk and took up the pen to +register, but Bill interrupted him. + +"Come on over here," Bill nodded to the California desk, following his +own gesture to a place back of the counter. "We always got plenty of +room on this side." + +"Where's the bar?" + +At this question put by Harper, Bill's head struck an interesting and +inquisitive attitude. "Down to the saloon," he said. + +But he was doomed to disappointment. "Never mind, then," was Harper's +disheartening reply. + +Bill's interest slackened, but was quickly revived as Harper, in the +middle of scribbling a note to his wife, looked up long enough to add, +"I've got a flask in my bag." + +It did not take Bill long to get from behind the desk. That bag was a +friend. He had promised Marvin that he would not spend his pension, and +Mrs. Jones had carefully removed the flask from its corner in the Nevada +desk. "I'll show you right up," he exclaimed, making an undue and +unaccustomed haste toward the stairs, bag in hand. + +At the top of the stairs he stood, waiting for Harper to seal the +envelop. + +Harper came up the stairs, two at a time, and handed the letter to Bill, +offering to take the bag from Bill as he did so. But Bill shook his hand +loose. "I'd better take the bag to the room for you first. Ye must be +pretty tired." There was a hidden implication in the monotone in which +the last speech was delivered. + +Rodney Harper was too possessed of his own affairs to feel it, and with +an impatient gesture he stooped to take his bag from Bill, pleading, +"Please, old man, won't you deliver the letter?" + +But Bill, attuned to a rare occasion, had quickly evaded Harper's +outstretched hand and was down the hallway with the bag. He opened the +door of Harper's room and went in first, depositing the bag on the +floor. Then he went up to the frowning guest, caught hold of his arm, +and whispered: + +"Marvin's here, but I didn't want them folks down-stairs to know it. +They come to git him fer cuttin' down your timber, but he jumped over +the California line. He'll be back by 'n' by, I'm thinkin'." + +Harper was interested in the news and asked Bill to let him know when +Marvin was about again, but he was not interested enough to make him +forget what was his present paramount concern. He gave a desperate +glance toward the letter in Bill's hand. + +But Bill had no intention of leaving until his own possessive intention +was fulfilled. He backed away from the bed where he had placed the bag, +slowly retreating until he came to the door, which Harper had left open +for Bill's exit. When he reached the sill he grasped the knob with one +hand, half closing it, while he stood in front of it on the inside. The +anxiety in Harper's contracted brow met the slow grin that wrinkled +about Bill's eyes and mouth. A question started from Harper's tongue. + +Bill forestalled it. "I'm sorry," he said, slowly and gently, but with a +wise twinkle in his blue eyes, "thet there ain't no bar. Mother she +doesn't like drink." He paused a moment to see what effect his words +were having. As he saw his intention was slowly penetrating through +Harper's absorption in his own affairs, Bill made his final coup. "She +lifted my flask from the desk, or I could be askin' you to have a swig." + +Harper threw back his head and laughed. "So that's it!" he exclaimed, +hurriedly opening his bag and extracting the flask. "Well, I tell you +what I'll do. If you'll beat it in quick time with that note I'll treat +you to the whole darned flask." + +Bill needed no second bidding. With flask secure in his back pocket he +lost no time in descending the California stairs and mounting the flight +to the Nevada half of the hotel and leaving the letter with Mrs. Harper. +On the way back to the lobby he slightly diminished the contents of the +flask. + +He entered the lobby with a smile whose target was the whole world and +threw himself whole-heartedly into the pleasure of tormenting Blodgett. +He knew that Blodgett was furious at the manner of Marvin's escape as +much as at the fact itself. So he dropped into the chair next to the +sheriff, drawling, "You goin' over to Truckee to get a California +warrant?" + +Blodgett gave Bill a mean look, sneering, as he sniffed at the air, +"Say, you're collecting something, ain't you?" + +"I didn't get nothin' from you," Bill answered, shortly. Which answer +was not without its point, Blodgett's reputation as one of the closest +men in Washoe County not being unknown to Bill. + +"Don't get sore. I wished I was in your place," said Blodgett, as he +fidgeted about in his chair and looked through the doorway. + +Thomas, who had been on the veranda all this time, came indoors just as +Blodgett finished his remark. + +Bill caught it quickly, his smile flashing into a gleam of humor toward +Thomas. + +"In my place?" asked Bill, with a twinkle. With a nod toward Thomas, he +added, "You're like that other fellow." + +Thomas flushed, but ignored the innuendo. Taking a paper from his +pocket, he looked through it. At the California desk he stopped to sign +his name at the end of it. Then he called to Bill, "Did you tell your +wife we were waiting for her?" + +"No, I didn't. I've been up visiting my friend Harper. He's a big +millionaire. Havin' trouble with his wife. Patched it up. Told him to +write her a note 'n' I brought it to her. He gimme this fer the idea." +Bill produced the flask from his pocket and extended it toward Blodgett, +but when it was half-way on its journey he jerked it back, just as Mrs. +Harper emerged from between the portieres of the Nevada upper hallway. + +Clad in a fluffy, silken negligee, she tiptoed half-way down the stairs +before she saw Thomas, who had left the desk and was standing in the +doorway with his face toward the moonlit lake. She gave a smothered cry +and was about to turn back. Bill held up a warning finger toward +Blodgett, who quickly obeyed the injunction to look straight ahead. + +Arising from his seat, the old man made a friendly motion toward the +frightened little creature on the stairs and she came down to where he +stood in the middle of the floor, casting bewildered glances to right +and left and trembling as he whispered in her ear: + +"He's in Number Four. Hurry now, before any one catches on." + +"Do they all know he's my husband?" she flittered as she sped lightly up +the California stairs. + +"I won't say nothin' about it." Bill could not resist a wink, which met +with a toss of Mrs. Harper's pretty head as she glided between the +portieres toward her husband's room. + +Bill went back to his chair again. Everett Hammond came into the room +from the porch outside. Laying his hat on the California desk, he went +around behind the counter and turned the pages of the register. + +Bill did not sit down, but wandered over to the desk where Hammond stood +and gazed at him through half-open eyes. "Oh, you runnin' the place +now?" he questioned. + +Hammond did not answer him at once, but kept on running over the names +on the list. But there was a compelling force in the mild gaze of the +old man which made Hammond stop to reckon with him. "Yes," he said, +bruskly, while he frowned at Bill. "I've just settled everything with +your wife. All that's needed now is for you to sign that deed." + +There was no answer forthcoming from Bill. Instead, he slowly took the +flask from his pocket and held it in front of him. "I'll take a drink +with you," he said, with a slow smile. + +Hammond did not glance up, but answered, with a half-smile, "I'm sorry, +but I, haven't got anything." + +"I have," said Bill, shuffling toward him with the flask. + +Blodgett twisted about in his chair and called, "You look and act as if +you'd had enough." + +Bill left the desk and seated himself beside Blodgett again. "I don't +want it for myself," he said, putting the spurned flask back in his +pocket; "it's just for social--ability. I don't drink." + +"Don't tell me that," scoffed the sheriff. "You're a booze-fighter." + +"No, I ain't," Bill answered, quickly. + +Then seeing a chance for romance, he added, "I'm an Indian-fighter." + +"Is that so?" Blodgett drew out his answer in an accent that spoke of +disbelief. + +"You bet it's so. Did you ever know Buffalo Bill?" Bill leaned forward +so he could see what impression he was making upon the sheriff. + +Out of the corner of his eyes Blodgett was watching Bill. "Yes, I knew +him well," said the sheriff, gruffly. + +Bill leaned closer to Blodgett and looked squarely into his eyes, which +showed the same doubt as his own. "I learned him all he knew about +killing Indians. Did he ever tell you about the duel I fought with +Settin' Bull?" + +"Settin' Bull?" The sheriff sat up straight and let his glance travel +the length of Bill's body and back again to the old man's eyes, which +were not quivering a lash. + +"He was standin' when I shot him," grinned Bill. "I never took advantage +of nobody, not even an Indian." + +The sheriff relaxed contemptuously into his chair again. "You've got a +bee in your bonnet, 'ain't you?" + +"What do you know 'bout bees?" Bill started to roll a cigarette. + +"Not much. Do you?" was Blodgett's reply as he looked straight ahead. + +Bill slowly rolled the weed, put it in his mouth, and chewed on the end +of it. Then he made slow answer, halting between sentences, his eyes +slanting toward Blodgett to gather the effect of his words: + +"I know all about 'em. I used to be in the bee business. Drove a swarm +of bees across the plains in the dead of winter once. And never lost a +bee. Got stung twice." + +The sheriff jumped to his feet and directed a scornful glance Bill's way +as he straightened his coat about his shoulders, twisted his belt, and +started for the door, taking his chair and putting it in its place +against the wall on his way. "I got enough. I'm going outside." + +Hammond, who had been busy going over the register all this while, now +came from behind the desk and walked toward Bill. "Now look here, Mr. +Jones--" + +"Won't do no good fer you to talk," Bill interrupted him, but did not +even glance up, remaining seated in the middle of the lobby. "I ain't +goin' to sign nothin'--understand that," he said, not ungently. + +Hammond planted himself squarely in front of Bill, setting his doubled +fists on his hips. "Well, if you don't," he snarled in a loud voice, +"you'll find yourself without a home. You understand that--if you're not +too drunk." He delivered the last remark with a sneer that was almost a +bark. + +"Do you think I'm drunk?" Bill went close to Hammond, his head thrown +back the better to look into his opponent's shifting eyes. + +But Hammond made him no answer, for just then Mrs. Jones, dressed in an +evening gown of the latest cut, appeared on the stairs leading from the +California side and walked self-consciously down on the arm of Thomas. + +At first Bill did not recognize her. He thought it was some one of the +boarders, who often wore evening dress for dinner. He hurried toward the +Nevada desk, asking, as his eyes began at Mrs. Jones's feet incased in +shining silver slippers and wandered slowly up the folds of handsome +yellow brocade to the wide expanse of bare neck and shoulder, "Do you +want your key?" + +Mrs. Jones blushed, and the tears sprang to her eyes, as she wrapped the +lace scarf flung over her shoulders closer across her bosom. Turning +toward Bill, she did not answer him, but took up the pen and pointed to +the paper which Hammond had placed on the desk, ready for them both to +sign. + +By this time Bill's glance had reached her face. For a moment he stared +in astonishment. Then he gave a gasp and stood back, his arms limp at +his sides. "Mother, 'tain't you?" he gasped. + +"Yes, it's me," Mrs. Jones replied, angrily, as she gulped to keep back +the tears which were forcing themselves to the surface, part in timidity +and part in rage at her spouse, who she thought was making fun of her. + +Bill straightened himself and, with a droll nod of his head, replied to +Hammond, "You're right, I'm drunk." + +Thomas stifled the smile that rose to his lips in spite of himself. He +was standing on the other side of Mrs. Jones. Now he came around and +stood in front of Bill. "Don't you approve, Lightnin'?" he asked, +pleasantly. "She's dressed in the height of fashion." + +"Looks higher 'n that to me," Bill drawled, as his eyes twinkled at the +eight inches of bare ankle between Mrs. Jones's skirt edge and her +silver pumps. + +Mrs. Jones, with an insulted toss of her head, dropped the pen with +which she had signed the paper and hurried across the lobby to the +dining-room door. She was crying, but Bill did not see her tears. His +eyes were still fastened upon her ankles. "The mosquitoes 'll give you +hell in that this summer," he called out as she slammed the door behind +her. + +Thomas shrugged his shoulders and smiled indulgently. He had made up his +mind to leave matters entirely in Hammond's hands now; so he went up the +California stairs, calling out to Bill, "You'll get yourself disliked +around here, if you don't look out." + +"So'll you," Bill called back as he shambled to the same stairway. + +But he got no farther than the first step. Hammond laid a detaining hand +on his arm, pulling him around in front of him. "See here, Jones," he +said, harshly, "I've taken over the management of this place and I don't +propose to stand any more nonsense from you, and unless you do as your +wife tells you to, sign this deed, I'll kick you out." + +Bill pulled himself loose from Hammond and stood facing him, a defiant +grin antagonizing Hammond to greater fury. "No, you won't!" Bill +laughed, never flinching in the half-open eyes with which he held +Hammond's eyes. + +"What's the reason I won't?" Hammond asked, making a threatening move. + +Still Bill remained unmoved. "'Cause you talk too much about it." + +Hammond stood and looked in fury at Bill. But he knew that any harsh +treatment on his part might spoil the whole game, which he now felt to +be near an end, which meant victory for his plans, so he smothered his +desire to lay hands on the old man, and with sudden impulse, born of a +desire to end the discussion, he hurried up-stairs to his room, calling +back, "You'll see whether I will or not." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +When Bill was once more alone he meandered slowly to the Nevada desk and +leaned against it, looking abstractedly toward the veranda. Outside, the +moon was shining in long shafts of silver light through the branches of +the tall cedars. Beyond the lake lay, itself a moon of silver on the +floor of the valley. He could hear the hoot of a hundred billy owls. +Unthinkingly he went to the door and stood there, sniffing at the +fragrance of the pines. Then he went back to the desk again. + +As Mrs. Jones had closed the dining-room door behind her, he had seen +that she was crying. Her tears had acted like a knife on his obstinacy. +If there was one method of bringing Bill to a realization of his +shortcomings, it was the knowledge that he had brought his wife to +tears. No matter what the occasion, through the years of his many +omissions, he had never failed to awaken to a sense of duty at the +slightest hint of a sob on her part. And now remorse was gnawing heavily +at his heart. He knew that she was sorely tried by his laziness. He knew +that ever since she had come from the city she had longed for some of +the luxuries which she had tasted for the first and only time in those +few brief days when Thomas had given her a bit of every woman's +paradise. And as he looked out he wondered in his slow, but none the +less logical, way what it mattered, after all, if the place did go, just +so long as mother was happy. To be sure, the place was worth much more +than Hammond was willing to pay them. But it was enough for their humble +needs. From the door beyond he could hear the sound of her sobs. He went +half-way across the room. "Yes," he reasoned with himself, "after all, +the property is hers. I gave her my part of it to do as she pleased +with." And a sudden resolve to do her will possessed him. + +But as he reached the middle of the lobby he heard some one on tiptoe +behind him. He turned to see Marvin, crouched down by the desk, so that +any one coming from up-stairs could not see him. + +"'Sh!" Bill put up a warning hand. "Blodgett's outside there some +place." + +"He's snoring in his buggy," Marvin whispered back, with a half-smile. +"Bill," he added, quickly, "I've been outside and I've heard every word +they've been saying to you. I haven't time to tell you all I want to +just now. Promise me again that you won't sign that deed until you've +talked further with me about it." + +[Illustration: "PROMISE ME YOU WON'T SIGN THE DEED." ... BILL HESITATED] + +Bill hesitated. "Well, mother wants to awful bad," he answered, slowly. + +From the dining-room voices could be heard. "Ye'd better get out," said +Bill. + +"Not until you promise," persisted Marvin. + +Bill wavered an instant. He wanted mother to be happy, and yet, another +day did not make so much difference--especially when Marvin was in +danger. The door in back of him swung open. Leaning quickly down to +Marvin, as the latter crept toward the outer door, he whispered: "All +right. I promise." + +Mrs. Jones walked into the room with a swagger, half of indignation, +half of sorrow. She was still wiping the tears from her eyes. The deed +and the pen were in her hand. + +Bill went to her, placing an affectionate hand on her bare arm. "Mother, +ain't you cold?" He could not resist another tilt at her unusual +costume. + +"No." She stamped her foot at him, withdrawing her arm from his hand. +"I'm hot all over at you, insulting me before those gentlemen." Hurrying +to the California desk, she buried her head on her crossed arms and +began to cry. "Makin' fun of me," she sobbed, "because I try to look +presentable for once in my life." + +Following her to the desk, Bill patted her gently on the back. "It's +gettin' late, mother," he coaxed. "You're tired and you've been working +hard. You're all tuckered out. Now you go up-stairs and put on some +clothes and go to bed." + +Mrs. Jones shook him from her and went to the other desk, where she +stood facing him, her face red and swollen from her tears. "Oh!" she +wrung her hands as she looked at him with blazing eyes. "You ought to be +ashamed of yourself with the gentlemen here to buy the place and you +around the office drinking liquor." + +"No, I ain't." Bill answered her outburst mildly, backing away from her +lest she should discover the flask in his back pocket. + +He was too late. Her eye, accustomed to just such investigations, had +detected the lines of the flask as it protruded from his back pocket. +Taking hold of him, she put her hand in his pocket and produced the +flask, holding it, half empty, to the light. + +"That belongs to Mr. Harper," was Bill's ready excuse, given in the +monotone which invariably masked a world of guilt. Seeing the doubt in +his wife's eye, he added, "You can go up-stairs and ask him, if you +don't believe it." + +Mrs. Jones did not reply to his last remark. Instead of which she went +back to the California desk, where she set down the flask, taking up the +deed and holding it out to him. "Now, Bill," she said, in a coaxing +voice, "I want you to put your name to this paper." She smiled kindly +upon him for the first time in many hours. + +Bill wavered before her smile. It was difficult for him to withstand it, +especially as he knew how sorely he had tried her. But a promise was a +promise with Bill, and his one pride was that he had kept intact through +all the years of his digressions this one principle--he never broke his +word. He had told Marvin he would not sign the deed without consulting +him further, so he turned his eyes from his wife's face and answered, in +a low voice, "I can't, mother." + +"What's the reason you can't?" Mrs. Jones planted herself in front of +him, determined that he should not evade her this time. + +"Because I promised my lawyer I wouldn't," he answered, his head turned +away from her. + +Mrs. Jones took him by the arm and swung him into line with her gaze. +"Now see here, Bill," she snapped, "I've been working my fingers to the +bone and I'm entitled to a rest and you sha'n't stop my having it. Mr. +Thomas is going to take Millie and me to the city to live. If you sign +that you can come with us. If you don't you've got to look out for +yourself for a while." + +Bill had not paid much heed to Hammond's threat delivered a few minutes +back. But now something in his wife's tone brought it, recurrent, to his +mind. He wondered if, after all, there was some truth behind it. + +Pausing to gather his points together, Bill nodded toward the stairs. +"Mother, that fellow, Hammond, said he'd throw me out. Do you want me to +get out? Is that what you mean?" + +It was not what Mrs. Jones had meant at all. But the events of the day +had strained her nerves to breaking-point. Since daylight Thomas and +Hammond had been after her to force Bill to do as she wished him to. To +their suggestions that she teach him a lesson by leaving him for a while +she had turned a deaf ear. But now they came surging back and, in answer +to her call for a method of persuasion, clamored for recognition. Before +she had time to stifle them they had their way. "I mean just that, +Bill." There was silence as she thrust the words from her mouth. Bill +stood still, gazing steadily at her. + +She lowered her lids. + +Then he came closer and looked up under her eyes, in the hope that he +would find a relenting gleam there. But she turned away from him. + +"All right, mother--I'll go." + +Without another word he turned and walked toward the door. Mrs. Jones +took a quick step forward, then paused. "Where'll you go?" she asked, +half in surprise, half in defiance, for she had not believed that he +would accept her challenge. + +"Oh, 'most anywhere," he said, gaily, forcing a whistle, though his lips +quivered. "I'll be all right, mother." + +His wife stepped forward again, extending a staying hand, but her +resentment had her in its grip. Her hand fell back to her side. + +"Well," she called out to him as suddenly she turned from him and +hurried up the stairs, "I mean every word I've said! It's one thing or +the other! Either you make up your mind to sign this," and she tapped +the paper in her hand, "or I'm through with you!" Without a backward +glance--fearing, perhaps, that she might weaken--she disappeared along +the upper hallway. + +Bill took his hand from the door and came slowly back into the room. He +strolled to the California desk, pushed back his old hat, and stood +there with his hands in his pockets, thoughtfully. Of a sudden his +absent eyes lighted on the flask resting on the desk, where Mrs. Jones +had put it down. Bill stroked his stubbled chin and gazed at the flask. +It seemed to suggest an idea to him. Satisfying himself that there was +no one around at the moment, he strolled to the door, poked his head +out, and gave a peculiar whistle; then he walked back to the desk and +leaned against it, waiting. + +In a few minutes Zeb's unkempt visage silently framed itself in the +softly opened door. Lightnin' jerked his head as a sign to enter. +Stealthily, with many a wary glance to right and left, his disreputable +partner of the past eased himself across the lobby and stood before +Bill, childlike, trustful inquiry in his eyes. + +"What's the idee, Lightnin'?" he rumbled, puffing at the frayed remains +of a cigar. + +With a gesture of calm triumph Bill pointed to the flask on the desk. + +"I said I had it, Zeb," he remarked, in the tone one uses when +confronting and confounding a skeptic with ocular proof, "an' there it +is!" + +"Why, so it be!" said Zeb, reaching out for the prize. + +But Lightnin' stopped him. "Hold on a minute, partner. The evidence +ain't to be absorbed just yet. In fact, brother, we better keep it +intact for future use, 'cause you're goin' on a long journey, Zeb. You +an' me is goin' to hit the trail again, old-timer!" + +"Gosh! You mean it, Lightnin'?" Zeb showed almost human delight and +anticipation. "But for why? You had a row with your old woman?" + +"Nope," Bill replied. "Can't call it that, exactly. You needn't worry +them brains o' yours about why we're goin', Zeb. It's just that I got a +notion to teach some people 'round here a lesson, an'--an' maybe I can +bring poor mother to her senses," he added, gently. + +"When we goin'?" Zeb questioned, his eyes on the flask. + +"Right away--this here minute, in fact," said Bill. + +Zeb looked at him dazedly. "Just as we is? Where 're we hittin' fer?" + +"I ain't telling that just yet," said Bill, slowly. "Where we are goin' +is a secret." + +"Oh," Zeb answered, with a nod of wisdom. "I--see. You ain't tellin' 'em +you be goin'--not even your old woman, eh?" + +"Them brains o' yours is pickin' up a bit, ain't they, Zeb?" Bill +commented, with encouraging approval. "Well, you hit it, all right! +Nope, we ain't tellin' nobody. We're goin' to kinder disappear +completely for a pretty good space. Mother ain't to be able to locate me +a-tall. There's some others as 'll likely find out, but I ain't worryin' +about them--they want to get rid o' me, an' they ain't likely to exhaust +themselves any tryin' to find me. I got a object, Zeb. It ain't none o' +your business what that object is--by which I merely mean to say, +old-timer, that you wouldn't have no particular interest in it. Come +on--let's get out now, afore they begins to gather 'round me again!" + +Picking up the flask and sliding it into his coat pocket, Lightnin' +walked away toward the door. Nodding wisely, Zeb followed, eyes +hopefully on the pleasant bulge in his old partner's coat. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +"Well!" Millie, appearing with a tray of late supper to take up-stairs +to one of the guests' rooms along about ten o'clock that evening, almost +ran into Marvin, who had returned to the hotel in the hope of seeing +Bill and giving him the full reason for his not being a party to the +sale of the place. The lights in the lobby were turned low and he had +managed to evade the sheriff, who was sitting in his buck-board outside, +waiting for Lemuel Townsend, who was to return to Reno with him. + +Millie's exclamation, because of her surprise in seeing Marvin again, +escaped her in pleasant tones, but her memory asserted itself and the +smile rapidly faded from her face and she gave a haughty toss of her +head, saying, as he stepped in front of her when she started for the +stairs, "Will you please let me pass?" + +But Marvin had wanted to see her quite as much as he did Bill, the +impression she had given him of her liking for Thomas having cut deeper +than the events of the earlier part of the day had given him time to +realize. Ignoring her request, he removed his hat and said, as he +searched her eyes for some play of the old light that had often +gladdened his heart in the days when they were together in Thomas's +office in San Francisco, "I suppose you are surprised to find me here +still?" + +Millie swayed toward the Nevada desk, depositing her tray upon it. She +faced him, her eyes flashing, her cheeks flushed. Her first impulse was +not to answer him. She could not understand his interference in the +matter of the deed. Neither did she believe one word he had uttered +against Hammond and Thomas. On the contrary, Thomas's apparent interest +in her and her mother and his constant flattery and attentions had +attained their end. She believed in him implicitly and therefore had +given credence to every word he had said against Marvin. Nevertheless, +the charge that he was not honest could not quite overcome the +quickening of her interest which had manifested itself lately in a heart +that ran far ahead of itself at his approach. + +After a silence in which she stared at him steadily, his eyes answering +hers with an unflinching candor mixed with a vague wistfulness, she +answered him. "I don't think anything you could do would surprise me, +after all that has happened to-day and all that I've been told about +you." + +"Millie!" Marvin awkwardly rolled his hat in his hands, while his speech +faltered. "I've been waiting around here now for two hours in the hope +that I could explain to you why I wanted to stop that sale. And I cannot +bear to have you believe that I am a thief and--" + +Millie was touched by his attitude. Her hand left her hip and started +toward his arm in friendly contact. But again returned the whole picture +of the afternoon's events and she coolly turned from him and went to +take up her tray again. + +"Will you please let me pass?" she asked a second time, as he tried to +prevail upon her by taking the tray from her and setting it down again. +"I wish to have nothing to say to you. I do not believe your excuses. +Mr. Thomas is the best friend I have in the world. I won't listen to a +word against him, and I am sure he is too fine a gentleman to say +anything about any one unless he were sure that it was true." As she +came to the last words she swallowed to keep back the tears, for +although they were uttered in perfect faith, her words burned into her +own heart with as much bitterness as they were directed toward Marvin. + +He was too filled with his mission and too sure that Millie's interest +in him was gone to notice the catch in her voice or to attribute it to +any sense of affection for him, had he noticed it. He took her hands in +his and shook them gently in an endeavor to get her to look into his +eyes again. "Millie, please listen to me! I know what I'm talking about +when I say that Mrs. Jones is being cheated and robbed--" + +She broke away from him, and stood glaring at him, as she stamped her +foot. "Don't you dare to say another word about Raymond Thomas to me! +Anyway, it is none of your business if he is cheating us!" + +"Millie, Millie." Marvin's voice was full of pleading as he persisted, +going close to her again and shaking his head sadly. "Why do you allow +yourself to be taken in this way? Don't you know that the only reason I +am concerned is because I care--Oh, well." He turned away with a sigh +and went over to the Nevada desk and took up the tray. "I won't say any +more. Will you let me carry the tray up-stairs for you? I'll go then, +and you won't be bothered with me any more." + +The glare in her eyes melted and she made a gesture as if she would +call him to her side again. But she could not forget so easily, and she +said, without turning to look at him, in tones less sharp, "Why didn't +you tell me before that you suspected him?" + +"How could I? You told me how much you thought of Raymond Thomas. I +hadn't realized that before--" He put the tray down and came to her side +once more. + +"Do you mean to say," Millie was again angered, "that I told you I loved +Mr. Thomas?" + +"That's what I understood," Marvin replied. + +The two stood there, Millie glancing at him in contempt, while his whole +heart went out to her from his eyes. + +He was the first to break the silence. Almost touching her hand with +his, he said, softly, "You mean you don't love him?" + +Millie snatched her hand away and went back to the desk. "You're always +wrong! I told you he was my best friend and he is. I never said I loved +him." + +If Marvin had not been attracted by the arabesque of the faded +rose-garlanded rug at that moment, he would have found some solace in +the lowered lids and half-smile which Millie vouchsafed him. But he did +not see it. Slowly he followed her back to the desk, this time standing +aside as she made her way toward the stairs. "Well, say it now--I +mean"--he hesitated, embarrassed, then went on--"I mean--say you don't +care for him. And then if you'll only give me time I'll find out what +their game is." + +Millie stood at the newel-post, steadying the tray against it. Looking +down at him, the hard gleam returned to her eyes as she replied, +emphatically: "Oh, I don't want you to find out anything about it! I +know you're mistaken and you're not going to prevent mother's selling +the place, because it's already sold. As soon as daddy's name is signed +to it we get the money." + +"Well, you sha'n't have that, Millie." Marvin swung his hat against the +post without looking up at her. Through the window he traced the +moonbeams as they filtered through the pines outside. Above the hoot of +an owl the swish of the lake came in to them. They both stood there, +gazing out to where so few weeks ago they had walked in the happiness of +an unconscious awakening. + +It was within Millie's heart to relax as she saw him sigh. From above +just then came the sound of Mrs. Jones's voice. It brought back her +concern for the tired woman above-stairs. With it returned her anger at +Marvin. "You're trying to prevent this sale just to hurt Mr. Thomas in +my eyes!" she snapped. + +He turned and met her with the question, "Thomas told you that, didn't +he?" + +She nodded. + +"Just the same, Millie," and here Marvin mounted the step and stood +close to her as he looked squarely in her eyes, "I'll never let Bill +sign that deed. Some day you'll thank me for it." + +This was more than her patience could stand. In her anger she almost +dropped the tray, but she managed to hold it taut against the balustrade +as she frowned at him and stamped her foot. + +"Thank you?" she asked, in no gentle voice. "I shall always hate and +despise you for it. Always! I hope I shall never see you again, and if I +do I shall never notice you--nor speak to you the longest day I live!" +Exhausted with her temper, she turned to mount the stairs, when she +looked out toward the veranda and saw a figure slowly and stealthily +coming up the steps. She recognized it at once and shrieked out, just as +the sheriff entered the door, "John, look out!" + +But Marvin had been watching her, and the fear in her eyes as she saw +Blodgett had been warning enough for him. He gave three quick skips to +the other side of the lobby, making mock obeisance toward her, laughter +in his voice because of her betrayal of her solicitude in spite of all +that she had said. + +"Thank you, Miss Buckley," he called as he went up the California stairs +to the hall above, just as the sheriff had reached out for him, "thank +you, Miss Buckley! I shall be grateful to you--always!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Bill's disappearance brought quick changes to the little hotel at +Calivada. His ready acceptance of Mrs. Jones's alternative was a +complete surprise, and it was several days before she and Millie +realized that he had taken her at her word. Even then they thought he +had gone off on one of his temporary jaunts in the hills. When the days +grew into a fortnight and he did not return they instituted a search +among the near-by villages and mining-camps. Everett Hammond and Raymond +Thomas were solicitous aids in the inquiry, not for the two women they +were defrauding, nor because they felt any concern for Bill's welfare. +Rather was their full attention turned toward securing a deed which the +Pacific Railroad would consider law-proof. Had the property been +entirely within the state of Nevada, Bill's signature would not have +been imperative, but the California laws regarding the sale of property +were evadable by numerous small technicalities, and shrewd counsel +demanded that bona-fide deeds must appear as freewill transfers from +both the husband and wife. It was for this reason that Bill's +disappearance was a matter of deep satisfaction to both Hammond and +Thomas. They had begun to despair of his putting his name to the deed. +Now, should he not return within six months, they evolved a new scheme +and one which would be law-proof if it could be carried through. + +If Mrs. Jones could be persuaded into a divorce, and the decree obtained +with full rights to the property, the deed would be legal without Bill's +name. It was for this reason that Hammond and Thomas put themselves at +Mrs. Jones's service and did everything in their power to discover +Bill's whereabouts. It was several weeks before they traced him to +Sacramento and from there to the veterans' home at Yountville. By this +time Mrs. Jones was quite beside herself, for, in spite of Bill's +shiftlessness, which was quite enough to wear away the patience of the +average woman, she felt a deep affection for the generous-hearted, +whimsical old creature and his companionship through fifteen years, and +at a time when her father's death had left her desolate had relieved the +monotony of a life which had had little else but hard work. Millie, too, +missed her foster-father, whose frequent sallies kept humor alive when +work and poverty pressed hard. In reverent and grateful memory she held +the thought of his care for her when she had been left a waif by her own +father's death. And so, together, Millie and Mrs. Jones pressed Thomas +for news of Bill. + +He knew that if they learned his whereabouts they would not rest until +they had brought him home again. Mrs. Jones's persistent melancholy +since Bill's departure told Thomas that in order to get Bill back, the +deed itself would be abrogated by her, should that be one of his +conditions of return. Therefore both he and Hammond determined that they +would not let the two women know of Bill's whereabouts. Instead, they +said they had traced him as far as Placerville, known to old-timers as +the Hangtown of the gold days, and that from there he had taken the +trail up over the Georgetown Divide, where he said he was going to find +work in the mines. Search throughout the entire district, Hammond and +Thomas informed her, had failed to locate him, and they assured her and +Millie that inquiry should be kept up until he was found. + +Winter came, bringing with it no news from Bill, and Mrs. Jones settled +into a melancholy resignation wherein she seldom smiled and where she +spent most of her time in the rocking-chair by the front window, gazing +down the path up which Bill had usually zigzagged his recalcitrant way. +Thomas was quick to recognize her symptoms and he resolved upon his +master-stroke. + +One day toward the end of March when a heavy storm had blown up from the +lake and the entire forest was torn and twisted by a wind in high and +angry mood, Mrs. Jones sat crying in front of the window, wondering +where Bill was and beset with the fear that some place beyond the ridge +in that vast ocean of mountain billows Bill might be homeless and cold +and without food. A sudden gust shook the hillside, bringing down a +grizzled pine that had stood close to the house. The crash of its +falling resounded down the slope and Mrs. Jones, keyed to high pitch by +her vigil of three months, was brought to a sudden burst of despair just +as Thomas, who had come to Calivada to superintend the wiring of the +house which was now to be put on modern basis, came down the stairs. It +was his chance and he took it. + +"Mrs. Jones!" There was a surcharge of pity in his voice as he glided +across the room and stood over her chair, placing a gentle hand upon +her shoulder. "I hate to see you upset. We've done everything in our +power to find Mr. Jones and we will leave no stone unturned until we +succeed. In the mean time you must think of yourself and Millie." + +"It was thinking of myself and Millie that drove him out of his home." +Mrs. Jones buried her head on her hand and leaned against the +window-sill. The wind, with renewed shock, beat the sleet against the +window-pane. "He may be out this minute wandering the hills with no +place to go," she sobbed, "and he ain't young no more, neither. + +"Of course, I thought all along," she went on, "that by selling the +place I could take care of him in his old age, and now he ain't here and +the place can't be sold." + +"The place can be sold, Mrs. Jones, and you will then have enough money +to institute a real search for Mr. Jones." Thomas's emphasis of the +possibility of a sale without Bill's signature relaxed Mrs. Jones's mood +and she sat up straight in her chair, lifting questioning eyes toward +him. + +"There is a way." He answered her unspoken inquiry with calm +deliberation, while he scrutinized her for the least sign of +encouragement or of antagonism as his plan unfolded. "It is a difficult +way and one which you may balk at pursuing, but it will justify itself +in the end." + +"Oh, what is it, Mr. Thomas?" Mrs. Jones's brown eyes widened and hope +returned to them as she smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her gingham +apron and folded her arms across her waist, rocking expectantly back and +forth. "I'd do 'most anything if I thought it'd bring Bill back," she +exclaimed, raising her voice to an enthusiastic pitch. + +Thomas brought an arm-chair from the center-table and sat down beside +her. Clasping his hands, he leaned forward, "You can get a divorce, +and--" + +"Oh, I could never do that!" Mrs. Jones protested and stopped rocking as +she lifted up her hands in horror. "He 'ain't never done anything; and +besides--" + +"That's not the question." Thomas was quick to interrupt her flow of +excuses. "I know he has done nothing, Mrs. Jones. But as things stand at +present you have neither Bill nor the money for the place. You can't +give a clear title to the place while you are married to Mr. Jones +unless it bears his signature. You have not the money to find him. A +divorce will straighten all this out. You can sell the place for enough +money to find Bill. You can remarry him and you will both have a +comfortable old age." + +"Oh!!!" Mrs. Jones drew the word out with a long inflection of surprise, +and she shook her head in the wisdom of a new light. "I see what ye +mean." After a moment's abstraction in which she pondered Thomas's +suggestion, she continued, "Some way or 'nuther it don't seem straight +by Bill." + +"It's the only way I see to settle matters. But I sha'n't try to +persuade you against your will, Mrs. Jones." Thomas brought to bear on +the situation his finest modulations, both in voice and manner, as he +sat nonchalantly in his chair, one knee cocked over the other and his +foot swinging listlessly back and forth, portraying a personal +indifference which Mrs. Jones's simple mind could not penetrate. + +"It does seem a good way," she mused aloud, adding, in little spurts, +"but I guess--maybe--Well--I think I'll talk it over with Millie." + +Mrs. Jones did talk it over with Millie. Also, she had several prolonged +interviews with Thomas on the subject, and three days later she put her +name to the petition which asked for a divorce from Bill Jones without +so much as giving the document a thorough reading. Whatever Thomas +proposed was to her, by the very fact of its being his idea, a thing +worthy to be done. Millie, being of the same turn of mind, aided her in +accepting his decision. And it was only when the first publication of +summons appeared in the Reno papers that her heart sank at the words +which characterized Bill as a drunkard and a man who was cruel to his +wife--lies which Thomas justified as necessary to strengthen the one +truthful ground for the divorce--that of failure to provide. Even that +Mrs. Jones felt was beside the truth, for although Bill had never +exerted himself needlessly, he had performed the chores, gone after the +mail, made beds, and, by his gift to her on their marriage day of his +three hundred and twenty acres, which were far the better portion of the +property, he had made some slight concession to his responsibilities. +Bill's digressions had been those of omission rather than those of +commission, and Mrs. Jones's misgivings were frequent during the three +months that followed. + +In the mean time, Thomas and Hammond were quick to inaugurate a new +regime at the hotel. Mrs. Jones and Millie remained on in the capacity +of guests, while a clerk and a housekeeper were brought from the city to +take over the management. Modern improvements and equipment soon turned +it into a hostelry that verged on the fashionable. With the early spring +freshet augmenting the waterfall and the stream into a cataract whose +potential horse-power did not escape Everett Hammond, he made a hurried +trip from San Francisco with an official of the Pacific Railroad and +succeeded in persuading the company to advance a comfortable sum of +money for an option on the Jones property. Mrs. Jones and Millie, +fretting under the suspense and without funds, were given a small amount +to tide them over until the sale should be consummated, when they were +to receive a large block of certificates in the Golden Gate Land +Company. + +All would have been well with Thomas, who saw life spreading before him +in a panorama of ease and elegance, had it not been for two +people--Lemuel Townsend and John Marvin. Lemuel Townsend had been placed +by the November elections on the list of Superior Court judges, where he +immediately came into his own as presiding judge in the majority of +divorce cases in Reno. Thomas, unable to withstand the role of popular +and irresistible Beau Brummell among the prospective divorcees at the +hotel, had run against Townsend's displeasure two days before the +election, when he had dared to play interloper in Lemuel Townsend's +attentions to Mrs. Margaret Davis. With Townsend, it had been love at +first sight. With Mrs. Davis it was something less, her only idea at +that time being a quick snatch at freedom and a hurried trip back to +Broadway, where she hoped to sign up for the summer circuit. Lem +Townsend did well enough to pass the time, and it was her own diversion +rather than any feeling for him which bade her accept his attentions. +Thomas on frequent trips had scattered his flatteries between Millie and +the various divorcees. Mrs. Davis came in for her full share and several +times there had been clashes between the two men, Thomas invariably +stepping aside, but only after verbal skirmishes with Townsend. + +Marvin had not been seen in the neighborhood since a few days after Bill +Jones had disappeared. He had returned to his cabin, after having +established himself in an office in San Francisco with the intention of +taking Bill back with him. During the days spent on the trails in search +of the old man he had successfully evaded Sheriff Blodgett and had gone +back to his office, where he had received a forwarded letter from Bill +at the veterans' home at Yountville. He had taken one trip to the home +with the purpose of persuading Bill to return with him to the city. But +when he saw how comfortable Bill was there in the hillside country, +surrounded by the old veterans who vied with one another in recounting +their past prowess, he decided to let him alone until such time as he +could effect a reconciliation between Bill and Mrs. Jones. + +This, he trusted, would be at the termination of the case brought +against him by the Pacific Railroad to recover the timber which he had +sold to Rodney Harper previous to the sale of his timber-land to the +Golden Gate Land Company by Mrs. Marvin. Then, too, he hoped the way +would be made straight for him and Millie, although he had half lost +hope under his realization of Thomas's superior eligibility. + +These things, known to the latter, destroyed his composure and made the +lapse between the filing of Mrs. Jones's divorce suit and the +termination of its three months' summons by publication, required by +law, a period of anxiety. He knew that if Marvin were vindicated before +Mrs. Jones could secure her divorce his whole framework would collapse, +as Millie and Mrs. Jones, straightforward as they were, would brook no +hint of dishonesty on his part. Once discovered as unworthy of trust, +their confidence in him would be broken and Marvin would be restored to +full standing, not only in Millie's affections, but in Mrs. Jones's +approval. + +In the latter part of March he took a hurried trip to Reno, where, in +conference with Blodgett, who had never been able to forgive Marvin's +evasion of arrest, maneuvers to have the two suits tried at the same +time sent him back to San Francisco rejoicing in the anticipation that +his days of discomfort would soon be over and he could return to his +own world again. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Mid-April came with its arabesquan days of sunlight and shadow and its +fragile broidery of new leaf and timid blossom. It was as if its coming +had stirred anew the life in Reno's divorce colony. All winter the +courts had been dull, most of the men and women seeking divorces +arriving in the early fall and biding their time of six months by +hibernating through the long, cold season. But now there was a renewed +activity in divorce circles. The court calendars were full and there was +a steady stream of gaily clad applicants making their way in and out of +the Washoe County court-house, going in with nervous, hasty, anxious +tread and coming out with a gait which spoke of a new freedom and a +smile that bespoke life as once again worth living. + +It was one morning just after the flux of spring divorces had begun that +Sheriff Blodgett stood looking over the calendar in Judge Lemuel +Townsend's court-room. He scowled as he read the words announcing that +the first case was that of the Railroad Company versus John Marvin. He +patted the warrant which still occupied the waiting list in his pocket. +Placing a chair close to the court-room door, he waited for the crowd to +begin to file in. He knew that he could not arrest a man in the +court-room, but he intended to keep his eye on the corridor, and to that +end had propped one of the doors open with a chair so that he could see +clear to the swinging doors that led in from the street. If Marvin put +in an appearance, he intended to arrest him at once. The thought gave +him satisfaction and he sat twirling his long, drooping mustache with +one hand and fondling the handcuffs in his coat pocket with the other. +Revenge at last would play its part to-day, for, even if Marvin failed +to appear and therefore balked him again, the railroad company would get +judgment, anyway. + +It was at this point in his reverie that Thomas entered the court-room, +greeting the sheriff with a genial, "Oh, hello there, Blodgett! I guess +our day's come." + +With a patronizing pat on Blodgett's shoulder, Thomas passed and went to +the clerk, where he procured a list of the day's cases. He, too, nodded +in satisfaction, as he saw that the Pacific Railroad case, in which he +was attorney, was to come up first. Running his finger down the line, he +stopped at another close to the end, smiled again, and turned to the +sheriff. + +"The Marvin case is first," he observed. + +The sheriff nodded and a frown slowly puckered his brow. He walked +slowly up to Thomas, who stood at the clerk's desk just within the +railing. He hesitated, clearing his throat, and found the courage to +ask, with a slight timidity in his voice and manner, "You ain't a-goin' +to bring up the old story of my serving the warrant at Calivada, are +you?" + +Thomas laughed. "No," he replied; "I don't think I'll have to go into +that. But I will ask you about the time you went to Marvin's camp." + +Blodgett heaved his shoulders in relief, and, with hands in his pockets, +went back to his station at the door. "That's all right!" He exhaled a +full breath once again. + +Thomas turned the leaves of the calendar, looked ahead for a day or two, +without noticing much that he saw, then turned the leaves back again to +the day's list. He went to the court-room window and looked out upon the +valley that ran from Reno up toward the foothills. He sniffed the keen, +cool air that was blown up to him. He stood contemplating the rushing +waters of the Truckee River below. After several minutes' thought he +faced Blodgett again. + +"I'm going to ask you what time you were at Marvin's camp, for I want to +show he was taking down the timber," he announced. + +"I didn't get out where the timber was," the sheriff replied. + +"But you know he had a gang of lumbermen there?" In Thomas's tone and in +the gleam on his cold, blue eyes the sheriff caught the message of +persuasion. + +"Oh, sure." He nodded with the air of a man who understood what was +wanted of him. + +"And they drove you off by force?" + +Blodgett nodded again. + +"And you remember the date?" + +"I guess I won't fergit it." There was emphasis in Blodgett's answer and +he arose impatiently from his chair and stood, his arms akimbo, peering +down the corridor. "Do you think Marvin'll be here to-day?" This time he +was interlocutor. "I got a notion he won't," he added, fathering his +disappointment by admitting the possibility of frustration in the one +desire that had held him ever since Marvin had foiled him by the +technicality of the state boundary-line. He was bound, however, that +there should be no opportunity for escape this time. + +"I don't care whether he turns up or not," Thomas answered, going to the +lawyers' table, opening his brief-case, and setting them out before him +as he swung gracefully into a chair. "The case is a cinch," he +emphasized, with a grin that found reflection in Blodgett's eyes. + +With a warning to the clerk to keep an eye on things until he should +return, Blodgett left the court-room and swaggered up the corridor, +stopping at the door of the other rooms and taking a frowning survey of +the occupants, hoping that Marvin had entered one of them by mistake. If +John Marvin was in Reno he was not going to escape arrest this day. With +this comforting conclusion in mind, he took up his stand just outside of +the court-house door at the top of the steps. + +In the mean time Everett Hammond, escorting Mrs. Jones and Millie +Buckley, entered Judge Townsend's court-room and were greeted effusively +by Thomas. + +"Oh, good morning!" He bowed low over Mrs. Jones's hand, which he held +in his. "I'm glad to see you." Staring at Millie, who looked very +fetching in a trim blue serge tailor suit, he beamed. "How fine you look +this morning; quite irresistible, I assure you!" + +Millie blushed and looked with frightened glance from the judge's bench +to the lawyers' table, and from there to the witness-stand and back +toward the door, for all the world as if she were contemplating a rapid +escape. She took a deep breath. "I don't feel irresistible," she said. +"I feel just as if I wanted to cry and run away." She pouted at Thomas, +with entreaty in her pretty eyes. + +Thomas laughed, put his hand on her arm in deprecation, and shrugged her +fears away. "Oh, the trial won't amount to anything, little lady. What +do you say to that, Mrs. Jones?" + +The older woman's brown eyes were staring straight ahead, as if she saw +a real horror and was without power to controvert it. "All I can say," +she replied, in a high-pitched, high-strung voice, "is that I'm here." +She waited for a moment, casting furtive glances at Hammond and Thomas, +who stood one on each side of her. Having found the courage to assert +herself, she burst out, "And I wish I wasn't!" + +"Now, now, Mrs. Jones!" There was banter in Hammond's voice, but there +was concern in the wise direction of his eyes toward Thomas. "You're a +mighty brave woman and I know you're going through with this, for it +means that you'll be in a much better position to find your husband and +look out for your old age after you get the money for the place." + +Mrs. Jones made no response, but cast anxious eyes about the room, and +she folded her hands in resignation across her ample waist-line. + +"It's like going to the dentist. The worst part is making up your mind +to it." Thomas leaned over Mrs. Jones and smiled his most engaging +smile. He received no answer to it, so he turned to Millie, who stood at +the other side of him. + +Before he could speak, the girl rid herself of the question that had +been ever present in her mind now for six months, and one which she had +never failed to ask him every time she saw him or wrote to him. + +"Have you heard anything of daddy?" + +Thomas's smile disappeared. He left the little group of four in the +middle of the space inside of the rails and sat down again at the table, +annoyance in the slump with which he threw himself into his chair. "No, +we haven't been able to locate him." He would have been sullen had he +dared, but his game was too nearly played and he did not wish to foozle +at the last, so he controlled his mood and forced a smile as he thought +of a method of getting away from his client's importunity for awhile. + +"It must be distasteful for you two women to remain in here any longer +than possible," he said, rising from his chair again and pointing to a +door at one side of the court-room. "Lennon," he called to the clerk, +"my clients can wait in there, can't they?" + +The clerk acquiescing, he and Hammond courteously escorted Mrs. Jones +and Millie to the door and showed them into a small room which had been +fitted up for hysterical women overcome with the proceeding in their +cases, or for those who, like Mrs. Jones and Millie, wished to avoid the +embarrassment of a long wait in the court-room. + +As the two women went through the door, Thomas turned to Hammond and +advised, in a low voice: "You better go, too, Hammond. Keep them +cheered up." + +With bad grace in his shrug and in his eyes, he followed Thomas's +suggestion, first murmuring in his partner's ear: "I'll be damn glad +when this day is over. All I've been doing this last week is to keep +these darned women from backing out." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +By this time the court-room was filling up with its usual motley crowd +of interested parties and spectators. There were the seekers after +freedom, a heterogeneous collection of them, in all sorts and conditions +of clothes, of all ages and of all kinds of faces and figures. There +were the women from the millionaire colonies of the East, chic, sleek, +and composed. They retired into a far corner with their attorneys, +conferring in low tones, or else sitting, apparently unperturbed, while +waiting for their cases to be called. There were always the adventuress +types, chic, too, but made up with an eye to future conquest, their +skirts always tighter or wider or shorter or longer than the style +decreed, their hair a little more so-so, their lips redder, their cheeks +rosier, and their faces whiter than their more conservative sisters of a +narrower way. There were tired women from far states not allowing +divorces for cruelty or desertion. They sat, in nondescript clothes, +most of them, with eyes heavy-lidded, as if they were too weary to care +much what happened to them. There were gay young creatures, dancers and +small-time vaudeville actresses, who refused to take life seriously and +who availed themselves of a dull season to make themselves free for +another venture. There was a sprinkling of men, one of them a lumber +magnate from an Eastern state, another a noted cabaret entertainer. They +sat around, restlessly out of place, but at the same time taking an +interest in those about them. + +Supplementing these were the spectators. Among them were tourists who +came to Reno for the express purpose of attending the divorce trials. +Inquisitive folk, regular residents of the town, dropped in to pass an +hour's time and to gather gossip for the afternoon tea-table. +Club-women, anxious to find food for reform, took up their seats close +to the railing, determined that no word of the testimony or proceedings +should escape them. And there were the usual hangers-on, old men and +women with nothing to do, who found entertainment in listening to the +human dramas unfolded from the witness-stand. + +Raymond Thomas, before taking his seat at the lawyers' table, took a +comprehensive view of his audience. Lifting the skirt of his frock-coat, +he sat down, viewing the world and himself complacently. He heard the +court-room door swing to, and, looking up, he saw the sheriff coming +toward him with Mrs. Margaret Davis by his side. + +Mrs. Davis's six months' residence in Nevada had been established and +she had come over from Calivada, where she had become quite one of the +Jones family, to get her decree. She had expected to meet Mrs. Jones at +the Riverside Hotel, but she had been late and had hurried over, her +effort flushing her cheeks even beyond the heavy coat of peach-bloom +with which she hid the natural roses of her cheeks. She had been +scurrying like a chicken around the corridors when she had caught sight +of Sheriff Blodgett and importuned him to see her safely to a seat in +the court-room. + +As soon as she saw Thomas she dismissed the sheriff summarily, while +Thomas arose and went forward, opening the swinging gates that admitted +the lawyers and witnesses behind the railing. Their greeting was +effusive, and Thomas held Mrs. Davis's hand for a moment. She blushed +vigorously and simpered: + +"Oh, Mr. Thomas, my case comes up to-day, and I'm just worried sick +about it. Do you think I could see Lem--" she stopped, hung her head, +and looked coquettishly up at Thomas as she bit her lip, correcting +herself, "I mean Judge Townsend?" + +Thomas looked around to see if any one were listening. "I'm afraid you +can't see him just now," he replied, leading her to a chair just under +the judge's desk, which was set upon a high platform. "Is there anything +I can do?" he asked, in his smooth, bland voice. + +"I don't know." Mrs. Davis whined and twisted in her chair. "My lawyer's +sick. I telephoned his doctor, who was just as mean as could be and said +he couldn't come to court to-day. If I could only tell the judge--" She +gave Thomas a look laden with understanding. + +"There shouldn't be any trouble about that," laughed Thomas, dropping +easily into the chair beside her. "You can explain the circumstances to +the judge when your case is called, and--" + +"But I don't want it postponed! A court-room scares me just half to +death. I'll die if I have to put it off and go through screwing up my +courage again. I just will!" She nodded her head emphatically until the +bright blue plumes that fell from the back of her enormous picture-hat +threatened Thomas's eyes. + +He moved away from them, offering, after a moment's thought: "Well, I'll +be very glad to represent you if you care to have me. There's nothing to +your case, anyhow. The judge is a friend of yours, isn't he?" + +Mrs. Davis hesitated and rolled her baby-blue eyes at him from under her +heavily beaded lashes as she giggled. "Oh yes--he's a friend," and then, +thinking better of her confidence, she ended, with a sigh, "that is, I +know him--slightly." + +Thomas smiled to himself, reassuring her. "Then don't give it a thought. +Just leave everything to me." + +A grateful hand was laid upon his arm and she looked up at him with +fervid admiration. "You are so smart and so kind, Mr. Thomas. You've +taken such a load off my mind. If anything went wrong after waiting all +these months I'd just die--that's all there is about it." + +At this moment the door of the judge's chambers opened and Lemuel +Townsend appeared, clad in a Prince Albert suit and beaming on Mrs. +Davis, who arose and walked well into the middle of the floor so that +she should not escape his immediate attention. + +This was a moment of great satisfaction for Thomas, who looked about the +court-room, scrutinizing every man in it, his face brightening as he saw +that John Marvin had not put in an appearance. When the sheriff had +finished opening court he arose from his place at the lawyers' table, +for he knew that the case of the railroad against John Marvin was the +first upon the day's calendar. He pulled his revers together with a +pompous gesture and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could do so +Judge Townsend called to the clerk, whose desk was at one side of the +bench, and suggested in low tones: + +"I think this first case can go over--" + +Thomas caught the words and disappointment drove the self-satisfaction +from his face. He ventured to address the court: "If it please your +Honor, this is an action for the wrongful taking of timber, and I've +come a long way and I would like to get home--" + +Townsend had not been listening to a word, his attention being +concentrated on the tip of an upstanding feather on Mrs. Davis's hat, +which could barely be seen over the top of his desk. "Eh? What's that?" +he asked, sharply, not too pleased to be interrupted in his endeavor to +catch further sight of Mrs. Davis. + +Marvin not having put in an appearance, Thomas's hopes of winning the +case for the railroad by default were high. He did not think Marvin +would appear, but every delay might be fatal and it took an effort on +his part to appear unperturbed. However, he managed to answer in urbane +tones, "I was saying, your Honor, that--" + +"Oh yes." Townsend bent his head and looked down with severe eyes over +the top of his glasses. "Just a moment, please," he added, as Thomas +would have finished his plea. Turning to the clerk, he ordered, "Let me +see the list." + +The list was handed to him and he ran down it, finally remarking to the +clerk, "I think I will dispose of these short cases first." Half rising +in his chair, he looked over the top of his desk to where Mrs. Davis was +twisting and turning in her chair in an effort to get a look at him. + +"Mrs. Davis," he called in gentle tones, "are you ready?" + +She hurriedly precipitated herself into the middle of the space in front +of the platform. "Why, yes," she answered, looking about as if she did +not know where to turn and gathering her sealskin cape about her. + +"I'll take your case at two o'clock," the judge said to Thomas, who +shrugged his shoulders, but did not sit down as Townsend had expected +him to do. + +As the clerk called the case, "Davis _versus_ Davis," Thomas moved close +to the bench, exclaiming, "If it please your Honor--" + +He was interrupted by a glower from Townsend, who said, "This case is +Davis _versus_ Davis, Mr. Thomas," his eyes wrinkling into a broad smile +as he again turned his attention to Mrs. Davis, who stood, bewildered, +not knowing whether to laugh or cry. + +"I am quite aware that it is the Davis case, your Honor," Thomas +answered, not without a note of triumph in his voice and demeanor. "I am +the attorney for Mrs. Davis." + +Thomas's announcement shocked Townsend into dropping a document he held +in his hand. It fell on the desk and was blown by the strong east wind +that came in from the window clear across the room. "_You_ are?" he +asked, with a mouth fallen half open from surprise and annoyance, his +spectacles tilting to the end of his nose. + +Thomas did not answer at once, but flushed, turning, for the sake of a +few moments in which to think, toward the clerk, who was scrambling +after the paper. His glance on its way back to the judge met that of +Blodgett, which had both a warning and an "I-told-you-so" quality in it. + +"Well?" The judge's question was drawn into a length which further +embarrassed Thomas. Being a young man of poise, however, he straightened +the revers of his coat and settled them with a shake upon his shoulder, +replying, graciously, "Mrs. Davis has appointed me in the place of Mr. +Adams." + +Townsend continued to stare most ungraciously at the young man in front +of him, but Thomas, unabashed, went on: "Your Honor, I believe, is +familiar with the complaint and has gone over the depositions submitted +by the plaintiff. As the defendant has neither entered a denial, put in +an appearance, nor been represented in court, I move that the plaintiff +be granted an absolute separation from the defendant." + +Swift shafts of indignation bolted from Townsend's eyes back and forth +between Thomas and Margaret Davis. He saw that consternation was plainly +written on the latter's baby face and that tears were gathering in her +big blue eyes now pleadingly uplifted to his. His jaw relaxed and a +smile played at the corners of his mouth. But Thomas' complacency at the +softening in the judge's attitude was too much, and Townsend snapped +out, "The motion is denied." + +From her chair directly in front of the judge's desk Margaret Davis +immediately jumped up, her eyes opening into large, round, moist orbs +which threatened to grow moister as she asked, in a voice that fear had +robbed of its ingenuousness, "Does that mean I can't get a divorce?" + +Thomas was about to reassure her, when he was again interrupted by the +judge, whose voice flattened as he looked away from her, afraid to trust +the melting effect of her coy glances. "It means that the motion of your +counsel is unusual and that I have good and sufficient reasons for +denying it," he said, with emphasis. + +Margaret put her handkerchief to her eyes to stem the threatening tide, +while Thomas hastened to forestall the avalanche by informing her, as he +placed a comforting hand on her arm, that he would be able, at least, to +try the case. + +Had Lem Townsend been able to prevent the latter, he would have done so, +but he was too young as a jurist to allow criticism of his knowledge of +points of law, and he reluctantly gave consent to the trial of the case. + +It was with a beating heart and a jaw set against the impending quiver +of a not too slender frame that she held up her hand for the oath and +took her place upon the stand, looking about with a terror that was new +born in eyes heretofore ungiven to everything but treacle. Her lips +trembled an almost inaudible reply to the clerk's question. + +She was still standing, and Thomas, noticing this, motioned her to be +seated, beginning at the same time her examination. + +"Mrs. Davis, where do you live?" he asked. His own tones were of no +certain quality, for the firm pressure of Townsend's white lips and his +obvious intention of steering clear of any attempt at honeyed coercion +on Margaret Davis's part were not encouraging. + +In vain she cast her eyes about in an effort to inveigle the sympathy of +Lem Townsend. He stared straight ahead at the paper in front of him, +although he saw not a word. Her answer to Thomas's question came with a +gasp. "New York." Then realizing that her case was lost and her entire +six months' sojourn at Calivada was as nothing unless she immediately +corrected her mistake, she gasped a second time as she drew the folds of +her blue-velvet cape about her. "Oh no! I don't mean that at all. I live +here--I live here in Nevada and I've lived here long enough to get a +divorce. The judge--" and here she stopped for breath, making another +attempt to corral his stubborn favor--"his Honor--" she jerked, with a +quick breath, "can tell--you that." + +But the judge did not smile and his eyes remained rigid in their sockets +as they glared at the paper in his hand. + +"Just answer the questions, please, Mrs. Davis," Thomas cautioned her +pleasantly, although as a witness she was disconcerting. + +"Well," she drawled, fidgeting in her chair, "that's not easy when +you're sworn to tell the truth." + +A titter ran through the court-room and was brought to an abrupt end by +the sheriff's gavel. + +Thomas resumed his examination. "You are the wife of Gerald Davis, are +you not?" + +She nodded. + +"And when and where were you married to him?" + +"Seven years ago, October fifth--in Peoria." She glanced about at the +sea of smiling faces, again seeking sympathy from the judge. + +Again he was adamant. + +"You were living in Peoria?" + +The insinuation that anything less than a metropolis should be her +abiding-place was more than she could bear and in turbulent leaps, +broken by her gasps for breath, she blurted, her lips quivering and her +eyes filling with tears: "I should--say--not! My husband and I were +playing there. We were partners doing a dancing act--" + +Thomas tried to interrupt her and succeeded with half a question. "When +did your husband first show signs of not loving you and--" + +He got no farther, for she went on, determined to get over the +disagreeable business of being truthful. "He stopped loving me about a +year before we were married." + +This time a storm of laughter surged through the court-room and it took +several taps of Blodgett's gavel to regain quiet. Undaunted, she +finished her story. "It's really hard to explain why we were married. +You see"--she hesitated and resumed jerkily--"we were in Peoria--and we +were partners--and--and--it rained all week--Well, somehow it seemed a +good idea at the time." + +At this point it became necessary for Townsend, in order to maintain the +dignity of the bench, to caution the spectators that if there were any +more such outbursts of joy he would have the court-room cleared. + +Thomas still maintained his control, although cold perspiration was +wilting his highly polished collar. "But after you were married he was +cruel to you, was he not?" he asked. + +"I should say he was!" The answer was accompanied by an emphatic nod of +the head and again she flew onward, over his head, determined that she +should tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. + +"Why," she opened her left hand and enumerated the said Gerald Davis's +shortcomings by pressing its fingers with the thumb and forefinger of +her right hand, "he put his name on the bill in larger type than mine. +He tried to strike me once--but he was a poor judge of distance. +And--and--" she stopped. This time her appeal was directed to Thomas. + +"He deserted you, did he not?" Thomas eagerly took up the thread, hoping +to unravel the snarl she had worked with it. + +"Well, we parted--" + +"After he deserted you?" + +Before Mrs. Davis could answer the last question, Townsend straightened +the spectacles on his nose and entered the case. Slowly welling within +him was a jealousy now overwhelming. His political ambitions alone had +stood in the way of his descending from the bench and throwing Thomas +out of the court-room. It was only by remaining silent that he had +curbed his temper. Now it broke away from him, and he turned, +thundering, "So far, Mr. Thomas, the witness has not testified that her +husband deserted her!" + +"Oh--" Margaret Davis turned squarely in her chair, pursing her carmine +lips into an irresistible moue. "Of course he deserted me! We were +playing in Chicago, and I went West and he stayed there and--" + +"That looks to me, madam, as if you deserted him. So far, your testimony +has not brought out anything to substantiate your complaint." + +Tears unrestrained burst forth at this moment. The thought that not only +had she lost all chance of securing her freedom, but that Lemuel +Townsend, whose attentions had helped to while away a six months which +would otherwise have been dull to one accustomed to a barrage of suitors +at the stage door, was more than she could bear. Pointing to Thomas, she +sobbed into a purple silk handkerchief that smelled not faintly of +patchouli. "That's because he told me to do nothing but answer his +questions, and then he asked me all the wrong things--" Her emotion, out +of bounds, spent itself in a cataract of tears. Unable to go on, she sat +there, trying to stem the tears with a handkerchief inadequate for their +volume. + +Thomas tried to save his case. "Your Honor--I--" + +He hesitated, Margaret Davis coming to his rescue. "Oh, I don't mean to +blame you," she said to him, addressing the last of her remark to the +judge. "He doesn't know anything about my case!" + +What Lemuel Townsend would have liked to do at that moment was to have +taken her in his arms and reassure her, as old fools are apt to do with +naive young creatures. But her apparent friendliness with Thomas and her +deceitfulness in employing him for her attorney was more than he could +condone. He would not relax his stern exterior, although his interior +was softening. "Then, why," he asked, in measured tones, "is he +appearing for you if he does not understand your case?" + +Recognizing the opportunity for explanation, Margaret wiped her eyes, +sniffed, and, went on: "My lawyer's sick, you see. And I wanted to tell +you all about it, but Mr. Thomas explained that I couldn't see you. And +he said he'd do everything for me, and you'd give me a divorce without +any trouble at all." + +Thomas whitened and turned to the table, where he fingered his +brief-case nervously. He could not brave the glare which he knew +Townsend was directing at him, nor the tirade he feared would follow. + +"When did he tell you all that?" the judge asked, his nostrils quivering +with rage, his voice strained to a tenor. + +"Just now." Margaret grew happily voluble and she nodded her head back +and forth like a child of six as she ogled the judge. "When I came into +court he was here and I told him the trouble I was in. It's the only +time I've seen him since you asked me not to." + +Townsend was so relieved that he did not hear the last of her remark and +the noisy delight of the spectators also escaped him. He was bent upon +one purpose, that of chastising Thomas. "Why didn't you tell me this +before?" he asked Margaret, in tender tones, forgetting, in his ardor, +that there was such a thing as a court-room. He leaned far over the desk +and beamed upon her. "There, there, don't let it upset you." He offered +her a glass of water. + +As she took it, Thomas stepped up to the bench again and tried to +palliate the judge's wounded sensibilities. "If your Honor please, I +was simply acting from a friendly standpoint and I thought--" + +"No matter what your motives were, sir, you presumed when you told the +plaintiff what the court's rulings would be." He turned abruptly from +Thomas and leaned graciously toward the plaintiff. "Now, Mrs. Davis," he +resumed, "let me question you. Why did you leave your husband in +Chicago?" + +Reassured, Margaret bridled coyly and answered, lifting her lids to the +judge: "Because he didn't show up for a performance and I had to go on +alone--and afterward the manager told him the act was better without +him. And he sulked and stayed away from the theater all the rest of the +week and on our next jump he refused to go with me." Her last words +dwindled into a plaintive whine. + +"And you were obliged to go without him?" Lem Townsend subtly gave a +slight nod of his head which Margaret caught and interpreted into a +vigorous acquiescence with her own curly blond head. + +"Did you try to have him go with you?" Again the hint and again +Margaret scored her point. + +"Of course I did!" she responded. "I mean, yes--your Honor. But he said +he'd show me how long I could go it on my own; but I showed _him_, for +I've never seen him since. I only heard from him once and that was when +I sent him money." + +"Have you tried to see him?" Lem Townsend asked the last question +grudgingly, but he felt that his own honor in the case was in danger of +impeachment, and he was sure that his slight nod would be followed as it +had before. He was right. + +"Of course I did. Mr. Blackmore--he was our manager--gave me his sworn +statement." + +Townsend for the first time really saw the paper in front of him. He +read it carefully, answering in tones of quick delight. "Yes, here it is +and a deposition dated Chicago stating that Davis left you without +warning and refused to dance with you again." + +"Yes, your Honor," she cooed. + +There was silence while Townsend scrutinized the papers in front of him. +Margaret sat with her eyes anxiously fastened on him. With a nod of +satisfaction he shoved the papers aside and, smiling down at her, +announced in kindly tones, "Your decree is granted." + +"Your Honor!" She arose from her chair and sat down in it again, a +copious flow of tears making it impossible for her to leave the stand. + +Townsend reached for the glass of water and held it toward her once +again. "Please, please, Mrs. Davis," he endeavored to calm her, but his +compassion only served to bring on another storm. "I'm _so_ emotional," +she sobbed, "I can't stop it!" + +Townsend looked about helplessly. A sudden awakening to his own +prerogative solved the dilemma. "Mr. Sheriff, announce a recess," he +ordered. And leaving the bench, he went to Mrs. Davis and guided her +into his chambers. + +The crowd filed out of the court-room, while Thomas, weak with shame and +disappointment, took his seat at the table again, impatiently toying +with a paper-knife that had fallen from his pin-seal brief-case. + +Blodgett went to him and leaned over with the intention of reassuring +him, when there was a disturbance at the window which opened from a +balcony a few feet above the street. Both of the men turned just in time +to see John Marvin climb through the window and pull his suit-case in +after him. + +The sheriff stepped forward, hesitating as he realized his powers were +negative in a court-room. + +"Here, what you doing?" the clerk called out, getting up from his desk. + +The sheriff glared and handled the manacles in his pocket with an +intemperate disgust. + +Marvin looked at him and laughed, answering the clerk. "I've got +business in this court. I'm John Marvin and I'm appearing in the case +the Pacific Railroad has brought against me." He did not deign to glance +at Thomas, who had arisen, facing him, white from the blow to his hope +of obtaining a judgment by default. + +Marvin went calmly to the other end of the attorneys' table and opened +up his shabby brown-canvas brief-case. He whistled to himself softly as +he did so and glanced at Thomas, whose pallid mouth was drawn into a +dogged sneer. + +Blodgett went back to his seat just within the swinging gates that gave +entrance behind the railing and sat glaring at Marvin. Quiet reigned in +the court; then a faint shuffle of feet was heard beyond the door. + +As Blodgett looked around, the door of the court-room opened gently and +Bill Jones, clad in a Civil War veteran's uniform, faded from the sun, +its brass buttons tarnished, and wearing his soldier's black soft hat +with its gold cord cocked jauntily over one eye, sauntered down the +aisle, holding out his hand to Marvin, who had jumped from his seat and +bounded around the table to greet him. + +"Hello, John!" Lightnin' drawled, grinning. "How's tricks? You look +kinder legal this morning?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +As Bill made his way through the swinging gates, Blodgett put out a +detaining arm, asking, with a scowl, "Here, what do _you_ want?" + +"Been arrestin' any one in California lately?" Bill slid past Blodgett, +ignoring his attempt to stop him, the old twinkle in his eye as he +touched what he knew to be the sheriff's sensitive spot. + +"Well, Lightnin'," Marvin exclaimed, "how did you get here and what in +the world have you come for?" + +"Yer case ain't over yet, is it?" + +Marvin shook his head, repeating his first question. + +Bill did not reply at once. Not wanting Marvin to know that he and Zeb +had been nearly two weeks getting there, and that they had come in much +the same way they had gone, riding when they could get a lift on a train +or a wagon, walking when they could not, he pretended to forget the +young man's questions, asking one himself instead, "What time your case +comin' up?" + +"Two o'clock." + +The sheriff sauntered up to them. Bill knew the purpose of his approach +was to catch the drift of their conversation, so he turned abruptly, +his hands in his back pockets, and grinned at Blodgett. Nodding toward +Marvin, he drawled, "I'm a witness for him. I got to testify how you +served a warrant on him." + +The sheriff glared and slouched over to his chair, throwing himself into +it as he pulled his black sombrero down over his eyes. + +Marvin, his arm about Bill's shoulders, leaned over him, guiding him +gently to the attorneys' table. "Well, Lightnin'," he questioned, in an +indulgent voice, "how did you happen to show up here?" + +"I promised you, didn't I?" + +"But that was a long time ago. I supposed you'd forgotten all about it." + +Bill glanced quickly at him and smiled. "I ain't never forgotten nothin' +since I was four years old." + +Marvin, happy to see the old Lightnin' behind the boast, smiled, asking +him, "How did you know the trial was to-day?" + +"That's easy," Bill replied, as he sat against the edge of the table, +steadying himself with his hands. "I seen it in a Reno paper at the +Home." + +"But I told you the time I came to see you that you needn't bother +about coming. I wouldn't have had you come all this long way for the +world if I had known it." There was concern in Marvin's voice as he +slowly dropped into a chair in front of Bill. + +"That's why I didn't say nothin'." + +"Where did the money come from?" + +"I saved my pension." Bill glanced slyly at him. Catching his +questioning eye, he stopped and looked through the window into the +distance. + +"You told me you sent your pension money to your wife!" + +"I did--some of it. I sent mother six dollars, but I didn't get no +answer." The laughter went from Bill and he leaned over, looking toward +the far hills, strange, unreal purple against the clear, cold blue of +the April sky. + +Marvin watched him, asking, "Did you tell her you were in the Soldiers' +Home?" + +"No." Bill's voice was devoid of inflection. + +"Then she probably didn't know where you were." + +"Where else could I be?" His lips were puckered into a whistle, although +they were quivering and no tune came. It was always this way when he +thought of mother, so he straightened himself and stood by Marvin's +chair, forcing a smile to his lips and jerking out, "And six dollars is +six dollars." + +The court-room was filling again, five minutes having elapsed since +recess was declared. A side door opened and Townsend came into court. +Blodgett stood up, pounded the desk with his gavel and announced the +opening of the session. Bill and Marvin, rising to order, started and +looked at each other as Thomas entered the room just behind the judge. +Following him was Everett Hammond, who, when he saw Bill and Marvin +together at the attorneys' table, began vigorous and anxious whispering +in Thomas's ear as he took his place next to him on the other side of +the table. + +Margaret Davis entered from the judge's chambers. She was accompanied by +Mrs. Jones and Millie. + +Bill did not see them. His eyes were fastened on Hammond and Thomas in +close conference. + +But suddenly, as he turned to take in the rest of the people in the +room, his eyes alighted on his wife. He arose and wandered toward her, +exclaiming, as she came to meet him, "Why, mother, what are you doing +here?" He stared at her and held out his hand. + +Mrs. Jones was so surprised to see him that she could not speak and +stood still, her hands in the air half-way between her waist and +shoulder. + +Millie was the first to answer him. "Oh, daddy--" She was going to put +her arms around him, when Blodgett rapped upon the table for order. + +Tears sprang to Mrs. Jones's eyes and Margaret Davis arose and led her +to a chair next to hers and just at the foot of the platform, from which +Townsend smiled happily upon them. + +"Come along, Mr. Clerk!" There was cheer in Townsend's voice as he +directed another saccharine shaft toward Margaret. "I've got an +important engagement and I want to get through. Call the next case." + +Bill, his eyes still on his wife, walked slowly to the table and sat +down just behind Marvin. + +"Jones _versus_ Jones," read the clerk, standing at one side of the +platform and unfolding the document he held in his hand. + +Bill did not hear him. He was gazing at Mrs. Jones, an old tenderness +in his eyes, a bitter longing in his heart. Drifting, living only for +the hour, as was his nature, but one scar had remained unobliterated +upon his memory, one hope alone flickered in the lonely sanctuary of a +soul that had known no conflicts. His affection for his wife had been +something deeper than emotion, something lighter than passion. It had +been the lasting quantity in a life of fleeting concepts, and his six +months at the Home had subdued it into a dull ache which found relief +only when a faint optimism brought vague dreams of a remote reunion. + +Her presence in court puzzled him. He felt that it must have something +to do with the sale of the place, or, perhaps, with Marvin's case. And +yet he was sure she knew nothing of the transaction between Mrs. Marvin +and Thomas, or between Rodney Harper and Marvin. Whatever it was, it had +brought a ray of expectancy to Bill, and he jumped as he was brought out +of his reverie by Marvin's perplexed whisper: "Jones _versus_ Jones. By +Jove, Lightnin', I believe that's you!" + +"Me?" Bill glanced around as if he were half awake and leaned far +forward in his chair, putting his hand to his ear and straining to catch +every word as the clerk read the complaint: + +"To the people of the State of Nevada, Mary Jones, Plaintiff _versus_ +William Jones, Defendant. A civil action wherein the said plaintiff +deposes and says she was lawfully married to the said defendant on the +14th day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, in the state of +Nevada. The said plaintiff prays this court for a permanent annulment of +her marriage vows, the defendant, William Jones, having disregarded and +broken all obligations of the marriage contract, thereby causing the +plaintiff great suffering and mental agony and the said Mary Jones +claims a final separation and divorce from the said William Jones on the +grounds of failure to provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable +cruelty. Subscribed and sworn to me on the fifth day of April, nineteen +hundred and seventeen. Alexander Bradshaw, Notary: Raymond Thomas, +Attorney for the plaintiff." + +When the clerk had finished Bill sent a beseeching glance toward his +wife. Each word of the document had entered far into a mind little given +to taking account. One by one he had tolled off the record against him, +placing the accusations in two files--the true and the false. That his +wife had cause for anger against him he now, for the first time, fully +realized. But he was bewildered, and when Bill was bewildered it was his +habit to seek enlightenment. + +After a moment, in which Mrs. Jones darted swift glances from beneath a +brow bowed with regret, he turned to Marvin, who had arisen and was +standing back of his chair, bending over him, and asked, simply, "Is +that all about me?" + +Blodgett tapped his sheriff's gavel. + +Townsend caught Bill's question and asked, "What did you say?" + +Marvin, knowing that Bill was inadequate to the test placed upon him, +came quickly to the rescue. Standing in front of the judge, he +explained: "Your Honor, Mr. Jones is the unconscious defendant in this +case. It just happened that he came to court to-day to be a witness in +another case. He has had no previous knowledge of this action." + +Before he could go farther Raymond Thomas, upon whom the entire +situation was reacting in swift, powerful threats to his cause, arose, +his face drawn with the agony of frustration, his voice high pitched +from the effort to subdue the feelings fast getting beyond his control. +"The defendant's whereabouts were unknown to us, your Honor, and the +court allowed us to serve notice by publication." + +"Publication in what?" Marvin demanded, as he darted contempt at Thomas. + +Townsend answered him. "Proper service was given, if the defendant could +not be located." To Bill he addressed the next question, "Is that what +you asked about?" + +Still confused, and not yet quite getting the trend of the whole matter, +he asked, in his quiet, disinterested way, "Who, me?" + +"Yes," replied the judge. "You made some remark after the complaint was +read." + +"I wasn't sure I'd got it straight," Bill said, looking ahead of him, +mouth half open. + +"You mean the grounds on which the action is based?" the judge +persisted. + +There was a pause, in which Bill looked first at Thomas, whose lids +drooped under the old man's scrutiny, and then at his wife, who hung her +head. "I guess so," he jerked, drumming his fingers softly on the table. + +Townsend ordered the clerk to repeat that part of the complaint wherein +the grounds for the suit were mentioned. The clerk repeated, "Failure to +provide, habitual intoxication, and intolerable cruelty." + +Bill listened attentively. As the clerk sat down, Bill looked up at the +judge, asking, "Is that all?" + +[Illustration: LIGHTNIN', IN HIS FADED G. A. R. UNIFORM ... LISTENED +ATTENTIVELY] + +"Don't you think it's enough?" There was admonition in his manner, but +there was a certain gentleness in his voice and a smile of sympathy +lurked at the corners of his mouth. It was difficult for Lemuel +Townsend, who knew the lovable side of the careless old man, but he was +determined to maintain the dignity and the integrity of the law, and he +knew that he must remain unbiased, no matter how strong his feeling was +that here there had been sad tampering with truth and the finer essences +of happiness. + +His severity did not touch Bill. His sense of humor, always close to the +surface, asserted itself. A gleam that was half derision, half +amusement, lighted his eyes as he grinned up at the judge. "Sounded as +if there was more the first time." + +Marvin again stood before the judge. He knew that Bill had no one to +defend him and he had not felt the necessity of offering himself. He +just took it for granted that Bill would turn to him in the dilemma and +so he took the case in his hands. "I am counsel for the defendant, your +Honor," he said, "and he is entering a general denial." + +"Are you counsel for the defense?" Townsend's astonishment was evident +in his long-drawn inflection. He had not heard of Marvin's admission to +the bar. Neither had he seen the young man about lately, and the whole +situation puzzled him. + +Before Marvin could answer him, Bill was out of his seat, replying for +him, "Yes, sir, he is my lawyer." + +It was not the judge's way to admit himself baffled. Turning to Thomas, +he instructed him to call his witnesses. + +Marvin took a seat in front of Bill at the attorneys' table, while Bill +on the edge of his chair leaned forward expectantly, his eyes fastened +not on Thomas, but upon his wife, who sat with her head bowed and her +eyes staring into her lap. + +Thomas beckoned to Mrs. Jones, calling her name. + +As she arose, Hammond, who sat next to Thomas on the other side of the +table from Marvin and Bill, and who had appeared indifferent and bored +so far in the proceedings, jumped to his feet, dismay written on every +feature, and hastened to whisper in his partner's ear: "Are you crazy? +The most dangerous thing you can do, now that old Jones is in court, is +to call her to the stand." + +Thomas in his vaunted shrewdness had overlooked this possibility, but +now that Hammond mentioned it to him he saw what disastrous +complications Mrs. Jones's presence on the witness-stand might lead to. +Nodding in answer to Hammond's counsel, he again turned to Mrs. Jones, +saying, "I don't think it will be necessary for you to testify at all, +Mrs. Jones." As she sat down, he smiled at Millie, addressing her, "Miss +Buckley, will you take the stand, please?" + +Millie had not expected to be called, and as she arose at his summons +her face flushed with embarrassment. She stood still momentarily and her +eyes met Marvin's for the first time since he had appeared in court. +With an angry flash they quickly sought the witness-chair, and, although +trembling at the ordeal before her, she made an effort to trip lightly +to the stand. As she took her place and was sworn in by the clerk her +replies were scarcely audible. Casting frightened glances up through her +long lashes at Thomas, she was reassured by a smile. After the +preliminary examination as to her adoption by Bill and Mrs. Jones and +her residence with them since she was three years old, he began upon the +intimate questions which he hoped would weave a web of incriminating +evidence against Bill, evidence which would redound to his justification +in the part he had played in bringing about the divorce. + +"Miss Buckley," he asked, pulling nervously at his cuffs and bringing +them down two or three inches below his sleeves, "Mrs. Jones has toiled +early and late to provide for the family ever since you can remember, +has she not?" + +Millie nodded, gazing anxiously at Bill, who, far forward on his chair, +was drinking in every word she said. There was a pitiful accusation +behind the sadness in the eyes with which he returned her gaze. + +As Thomas continued she, like her mother, concentrated her attention on +her hands folded tight in her lap. + +"Why did you leave home three years ago, Miss Buckley?" + +"To earn my living, of course," was the reply, in low, reluctant tones. + +"What did you do with your wages?" + +Millie hesitated. After taking out barely enough to live on in meager +fashion she had sent most of the remainder home, not because either Mrs. +Jones or Bill had asked for help, but because she knew how difficult was +their living during the long winter months when their only source of +income was Bill's pension and the few mountain people who dropped in +when passing back and forth and remain overnight and for a meal or so. +Had she known that she was to be called as a witness she might even have +refused to accompany Mrs. Jones to court, for Bill's derelictions could +never outweigh the knowledge that it was he who had saved her from an +orphanage. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but even this did not +keep back her tears at the thought that her answer might be the betrayal +of the old man who had been a father to her through all the years. + +Thomas saw her disinclination and understood the condition of mind which +prompted it. He knew he must call his persuasive powers to his aid, so +he went very close to the witness-stand, and, leaning over her, spoke +in his softest tones. + +"I am sorry to have to ask these questions, Miss Buckley, because I know +how you dread to testify in this case, but it is unavoidable. Will you +answer my question? You sent the greater part of your wages home, did +you not?" He spoke as if he, too, were distressed. + +Millie, falling into the trap, sighed, "Yes, sir." + +"And you really left home to earn money in order to help support the +Jones family, didn't you?" + +Again, overcome by the complications of the situation in which she found +herself, she was unable to answer except with a reluctant nod. + +"Did you ever see Mrs. Jones's husband drunk?" + +As Thomas asked this question he looked toward Bill. Millie did not +answer. The tears gathered in her eyes and she wiped them away, burying +her face in the handkerchief she held in one of her hands. + +Thomas insisted. "You have seen him in that condition hundreds of +times, have you not?" + +There was a malicious note in his voice this time, as well as in the +look he directed at the old man at the table. + +Millie caught it, and a slight antagonism crept into her voice as she +straightened in her chair, answering, in surprise, "Why, I never +counted." + +Thomas was deriving a long-desired satisfaction in his prodding of Bill, +and it threatened his shrewder self-control. "But he was in the habit of +coming home drunk, wasn't he?" There was real glee in the question, but +it escaped Millie this time. With a beseeching glance at Thomas, and one +which pleaded for forgiveness toward Bill, she said, slowly, +"Sometimes." + +"And because of the poverty brought about by those bad habits you were +obliged to leave--" + +Here Millie broke in. Forgetting her embarrassment and the crowded +court-room in the realization that words were being put into her mouth, +words which fell far short of the truth, she burst out, indignantly: +"Why, I never said any such thing! I went away to work because there was +no opportunity in Calivada to earn any money, and I thought as long as I +was going at all I might just as well go to San Francisco where I could +make a salary large enough to take care of myself and to help Mr. and +Mrs. Jones, who have been very good to me." + +Thomas saw that he had overstepped himself and he groped in his mind for +new questions, until a scowl from Hammond reminded him that it might be +better to stop rather than to bring out evidence which might turn +against them and in favor of Bill. So he dismissed Millie from the +stand. + +She stood up while Thomas took his place next to Hammond at the table. +But Marvin, after a few whispered words with Bill, took Thomas's place +by the witness-chair, holding up a detaining hand and calling, "Miss +Buckley!" + +Millie glared at him, blushed deeply, and walked off the stand. She had +not been able to forgive him for his advice to Bill and still held him +responsible for Bill's leaving home, as she had felt that if Bill had +not been prejudiced against Thomas and Hammond the place would have been +sold and they would have all been living together in comfort. + +But she did not get very far. As she left the platform Townsend motioned +her to return and, submerging his personal friendship for her beneath +his judicial duties he exclaimed, severely: + +"One moment, Miss Buckley. The counsel for the defense has asked you a +question." + +Millie turned her back on Marvin as she dropped into the chair again. A +smile played on Marvin's lips, but it was a rueful one. To come thus +face to face with her in a situation where he was compelled to be her +antagonist in order to see that justice was done to his old friend was +not a happy ordeal for him. + +Townsend knew what was going on between the young people and he felt +keenly for them, but it was a part of him to hold to his duty always and +not to his own personal biases. His severity did not relax even when +Millie pouted: "I don't want to answer _his_ questions! Must I?" + +The people in the court-room, interested and amused at the unusual +denouement, went into a peal of laughter which received swift check from +the sheriff's gavel. She flushed violently and obeyed Judge Townsend's +admonishment that she must answer all of Marvin's questions. + +Marvin's first inquiry did not tend to make things any easier for her. + +"Who employed you as a stenographer?" he asked. His back was turned to +Thomas, but he could feel the latter shifting in his chair. + +Finding no mercy in Townsend's manner, she succumbed to the inevitable, +snapping, with a toss of her head, "Mr. Thomas!" + +"_This_ Mr. Thomas?" Marvin asked. + +"Yes," said Millie. There had been nothing in her heart but deepest +misery and shame at having to testify against Bill during her +examination by Thomas. Now she was fired by a resentment against Marvin, +Bill being forced out of the equation. Her answers came in a swift +defiance that bespoke a determination to make it as difficult for him as +possible. Marvin, seeing at once that she and Mrs. Jones were still +plastic in the hands of Thomas and Hammond, was tempted into battle. + +"Did Mr. Thomas," he asked, "give you this position because you told him +you wanted to be of financial assistance to the Jones family?" + +Millie opened her mouth to reply, but Thomas was on his feet at once, +objecting to the question. + +Facing the judge, Marvin ignored Thomas, saying, "I am quite willing to +withdraw it if it is found objectionable, your Honor." + +Thomas stepped quickly to Marvin's side. He was a few inches the taller +and he glared down at Marvin, who stared back, his jaw set in the +resolution to stand firm against the man he knew to be a fraud. + +That he was standing on thin ice Thomas knew, and he knew also that +bluff was the only feasible strategy to employ against the unforeseen +crisis wrought by Bill's sudden and unexpected arrival. "Don't flatter +yourself that I mind any question you might ask," he emphasized, "only +this one has no bearing on the case." + +At this, Townsend sustained the objection. Marvin, resorting to a legal +trick, changed the form of the question, for he was bound to prove his +point. "Well, Miss Buckley," he asked, "Mr. Thomas has taken an interest +in your affairs and given you advice?" + +The insinuation was more than Millie could bear calmly. She turned +quickly, meeting his eyes in anger as she flashed a significant smile +toward Thomas. + +"Mr. Thomas has been more than kind to me always. He has given me advice +when I had no one else to turn to." + +"And you have always followed his advice?" + +Following his key, Millie replied, "Always, implicitly, in spite of what +_others_--" and she paused long enough to send a pointed shaft Marvin's +way--"have said against him." + +Marvin grinned and continued, "Miss Buckley, you have never known Mr. +Jones to be cruel or even unkind to his wife, have you?" + +An objection from Thomas was overruled, the judge contending that +cruelty was one of the grounds in the complaint. As he had forgotten how +the question read, he asked the stenographer to repeat it. Millie +answered in the negative and Marvin prodded her further, "You have never +seen him unkind to any one or anything, have you?" + +Gentleness had always been such an ever-present quality in Bill's +treatment of Millie that she forgot her anger for the moment and +hastened to reply, as she smiled sweetly at Bill, "Daddy has always been +most kind to me and every one else." + +This was an opportunity to lead her into an admission which might +immediately quash all of the grounds of the complaint. Marvin saw it at +once and took advantage of it. "Now, Miss Buckley," he argued, "the +complaint asks for a divorce on the grounds of drunkenness, failure to +provide and cruelty. In all honesty you know that not one of these is +the real reason that Mrs. Jones has asked for a divorce, don't you?" + +Unused to the ways of the law and its peculiar methods of arriving at +conclusions, Millie was perplexed. The only excuse in her mind for the +divorce had been that it would bring about the sale of the property and +that Mrs. Jones would thereby have sufficient money with which to find +Bill, which would mean happiness for the three of them. Had Thomas not +intervened with an objection which the judge sustained, she would have +given her answer, but as it was she remained silent. + +Marvin, determined to prove Bill Jones's simple sweetness, so that he +would at least be understood by the world, went to his purpose again. + +"Miss Buckley, you know that Mr. Jones loved his wife, loved her +devotedly, don't you?" he asked. + +Townsend beamed in judicial humor upon Marvin and laughed. "How can she +know that? That's not an astute question for a lawyer to ask, and I +don't sanction such methods." + +The question, however, had brought back a certain softness in Millie's +attitude. Forgetting for the moment her dislike of Marvin, she smiled, +but to regret it and to efface the smile with a frown. + +His examination of Millie had been difficult for Marvin. Into his mind +had crowded old memories--happy walks along the cliff in San Francisco, +afternoons in Golden Gate Park, and days in the office when he had dared +to hope that some day she might learn to care. His heart leaped at the +thought of moonlight strolls in the mountain woods and along the shores +of the lake. Those were days when she had interested herself in his +plans and it all came back to him with desperate force as her +unintentional smile awakened a poignant longing within him. A whirlwind +of reminiscent emotion caught him in its teeth. + +"If it please your Honor," he said, his eyes shining, "there is one +thing that a woman does know, and that is whether a man loves her or +not! She may believe a man to be a contemptible liar. She may say that +she will hate and despise him always, but somehow down in her heart, if +he really loves her, she knows it!" + +Forgetting that there was such a place as a court-room, or that he was +defending a divorce suit against Bill Jones, all he saw was the scorn in +the eyes of the girl he loved. All he felt was that he was fighting +single-handed against overwhelming odds for his own happiness. He leaned +close to the witness-chair and looked into the girl's eyes, and she, +seeing in his eyes the thing that she had tried to forget through all +the long and sorrowful months, turned away from him, lest she should +betray the longing that lurked in her own heart. But Marvin's fervid +plea flamed higher and higher and he went on: + +"If a woman is a man's ideal--if he would gladly lay down his life for +her--she knows it and no matter what she says about him or what anybody +else says about him the knowledge that he cares more for her than for +anything else in the entire universe must count for something, and I +contend, your Honor--" + +He got no farther. The whole court-room was in roars of laughter and the +sheriff's gavel was knocking loudly on his table. Millie, unable to bear +the situation any longer, was sobbing aloud. Townsend arose quickly and, +leaning over his desk, shook a warning finger at Marvin. + +"Hold on there!" he called, half in humor and half in anger. "Are you +trying a divorce case or are you making love?" + +The laughter in the court-room began again, but subsided, for there was +something in the situation that struck deep into the hearts of the +spectators and they knew that, grotesque as it might appear, shattered +romance was stalking before them. + +Marvin, himself once again, lowered his voice and pleaded, +apologetically: "I beg your pardon, your Honor. I did not mean to go so +far." Smiling sadly at Millie, he added, "That is all, Miss Buckley." + +"I should say it is quite enough!" satirized the judge. "I think we had +better get back to business." + +Without looking at Marvin, Millie left the stand and took her seat +beside her mother. Thomas called Everett Hammond as the next witness. + +Hammond, although outwardly nonchalant, was inwardly ill at ease. +Marvin's appearance in court followed so closely by Bill's arrival was a +contact that puzzled him. Millie's hesitancy as a witness was another +feature which he felt was not altogether in favor of the cause of the +Golden Gate Land Company. During her testimony he had kept close watch +of her mother, who several times wept audibly, burying her face in her +handkerchief. He knew that he and Thomas were playing a close game and +that the slightest contradiction in his testimony might set Mrs. Jones +to thinking in the wrong direction; especially with Bill Jones in the +court-room, his eyes divided between the witness-stand and his wife. He +assumed an air of bravado as he took the stand, glaring down at Marvin, +who was seated not far from him and who was smiling blandly upon him. + +Preliminaries over, Thomas launched into Hammond's direct examination. +"How long have you known Mr. and Mrs. Jones?" he asked. + +"I met them first," Hammond answered, pausing to think, "about seven +months ago." + +"Kindly tell the court how you happened to meet them." + +Hammond, looking at the judge, answered: "I was asked to consider the +purchase of a piece of property belonging to Mrs. Jones. I had some +other business near by and stopped off at the Joneses' place." + +"What was the other business?" was Thomas's next question. He glanced at +Marvin, who met his look with straightforward, unswerving eyes, which +turned Thomas's attention to his witness. + +"The Pacific Railroad," said Hammond, scowling at Marvin, "was being +robbed of timber in that locality and they sent me with the sheriff," he +nodded toward Blodgett, who flushed at the memory of that embarrassing +incident, "to arrest the thief." + +"Who was the thief?" There was triumph in Thomas's voice as he asked the +question. + +"His name is John Marvin." + +"Since that time, you have had dealings with Mrs. Jones, have you not?" + +"I have, and I have always found her to be an honest and splendid +woman." Hammond smiled over at her. + +"And Mr. Jones was a source of trouble and great embarrassment to her, +wasn't he?" + +This time Hammond made Bill the goal of his insulting focus. "Yes, sir, +he was! He was shiftless and drinking, cruel and untruthful." With a +malicious sneer he added, "Why, to my knowledge, he's the biggest liar +in the county!" + +All this time, without a word, Bill had been sitting on the edge of his +chair, accepting the testimony against him in the same indifferent +manner in which he met most of life's difficulties. Hammond's last +remark proved to be the first telling blow at his equanimity. It was too +much! This Hammond person had called him, Bill Jones, a liar! In +Lightnin's code, shrunken and old though he was, there could be but one +answer. Calmly and quietly Bill stood up and began to draw his faded +blue coat from his bent old shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Every eye in the court-room was on Bill. There was even a cheer, which +the judge, half out of his chair, failed to reprove. Townsend knew that +Bill was sore tried and had been brought to the point where his temper +was not an impulse, but a last resort. His personal sympathies were with +Lightnin's fistic intent. However, the order of his court must be +observed and he signed to Blodgett, who raised his gavel. Before it was +necessary to bring it down upon the table Marvin was quickly on his +feet. He put a restraining hand on Bill's arm and with the other hand +drew the coat back into its place on the bent shoulders. + +In amused contempt, Thomas continued his examination. + +"Did you ever see Mr. Jones drunk?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir, I never saw him any other way." Hammond laughed lightly. + +"And you saw him abuse his wife?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You heard him tell lies?" + +"I did indeed. Why, he broke the law by harboring a fugitive from +justice in his house." + +Thomas, having brought skilfully to the attention of the court the +numerous charges that he hoped would result in securing Mrs. Jones a +divorce, dismissed Hammond from the stand. + +His experience as a witness had not been a joyous one to Hammond, and he +prepared to take quick action on his dismissal, but Marvin had other +intentions. + +Standing between Hammond and his way of escape, Marvin exclaimed: "I am +not through with the witness, Mr. Thomas! I also have some questions to +ask him." With a scowl Hammond threw himself back into the chair. + +"You say, Mr. Hammond, that you had business dealings with Mrs. Jones? +Do you mind telling the court what that business was?" + +"Not at all," said Hammond, defiantly. "I purchased three hundred and +twenty-nine acres of land, including buildings, from Mrs. Jones for some +clients of mine." + +"Why didn't you consult Mr. Jones?" asked Marvin. + +"Because Mrs. Jones was the sole owner," sneered Hammond. + +Marvin looked him in the eye and said, slowly: + +"You had seen the records?" + +Hammond grunted in acquiescence and Marvin went on, each question +bringing his victim nearer to an outburst of temper, which he hoped +would lead to the self-contradictions he was sparring for. + +"Now you testified that you first met Mr. and Mrs. Jones about seven +months ago. Do you remember the exact date?" + +"No, I don't recall the exact date. Perhaps you can," he emphasized, +with a contemptuous twist of his black mustache. "It was the day I +brought the sheriff there with a warrant for your arrest." + +Marvin, undaunted by this attempt to slander him, took occasion to give +a thrust at Blodgett, who had been glaring at him all through the case. +"Possibly the sheriff will remember the date," he said, with a smile, +while Blodgett squirmed in his chair. "And you also met Mr. Thomas on +that same day, did you not?" + +Hammond made no reply. It was his desire to make the court think that he +and Thomas had never known each other previous to this transaction. He +directed an imploring and searching squint toward Thomas. Receiving no +help and seeing trouble in the gray pallor that had spread over Thomas's +face, he floundered on, "Yes, I think that was the day I met Raymond +Thomas--and Miss Buckley was there, too." + +"Are you sure you had never met Miss Buckley or Mr. Thomas before? In +his office in San Francisco, for instance?" + +Hammond hesitated. He had been in Thomas's office several times while +Millie was employed there, and, though he had not met her, it was more +than likely that she had seen him. The moment was dangerous. + +"No, I don't think I had ever met them before," he said, slowly. + +"All right," said Marvin, nodding his head complacently and going closer +to the witness-stand. + +"Mr. Hammond," he went on, "you have told the court that Mr. Jones was a +lawbreaker." + +Hammond fairly jumped to this question. "Yes," he flared. "You were a +fugitive from justice and Jones was harboring you in his house." + +Marvin smiled. "Didn't you just testify that Mrs. Jones was the sole +owner of that house? That being so, how could Mr. Jones harbor a +fugitive in his house, if he didn't own a house?" + +Caught in his own net, Hammond twisted angrily in his chair, reddening +as the spectators laughed and the sheriff pounded for order. + +"Well, I don't suppose he could," he blurted. + +"Then you will withdraw the statement that he broke the law?" + +"Yes, I withdraw it," Hammond drawled. + +Bill got up smiling from his chair and went over to Marvin, patting him +proudly on the shoulder; but a look from the judge and a snarl from +Blodgett sent him back again. + +Marvin continued. "Now, up to the time you met Mr. Jones you did not +know anything about him, did you?" + +Hammond shrugged, drawing his mouth into an angry curve. "Of course not, +but it didn't take me long to find out about him." + +Marvin gave the arm of the witness-chair two angry thumps. "I agree with +you there, Mr. Hammond," he said. "Eight hours after you first saw Mr. +Jones he was driven from his house and you have never set eyes on him +since. Yet you have testified that he is a drunkard, a loafer, a liar, +and a lawbreaker!" + +Hammond, startled at the swiftness with which Marvin had turned his +testimony to profit, shrugged himself into a straight position. "Well, +it didn't take me one hour to see what Jones was," he said. + +Marvin nodded with half-closed eyes at Hammond and smiled reassuringly +at Bill. "You also said he was cruel to his wife?" + +Hammond nodded. + +"In what way?" + +Hammond hesitated, moving uneasily from side to side. "Well," he +snarled, "his manner was insulting. He criticized the dress she was +wearing before the other guests." + +This amused the court-room, which in turn had to be quieted. "And do you +think the claim of intolerable cruelty is substantiated by a husband's +criticizing his wife's dress?" asked Marvin, smiling. + +Thomas arose at once. "I object to that question," he said, his lips +twitching and his face livid from disappointment and fear of what was +coming next. + +"I should think you would!" Marvin said, laughing. + +The objection sustained, he went at his witness again. "You testified +that Mr. Jones was a drunkard and that you had never seen him sober?" + +"I never have," emphasized Hammond, insolently. + +Going to the table, Marvin took Bill by the arm, assisted him to his +feet and guided him into the middle of the court-room until he stood +before the witness-stand. Then he asked of Hammond, motioning with his +head toward Bill, "Is he drunk now?" + +Bill stood quietly, a quizzical smile half closing his eyes, half +opening his mouth. + +Hammond, infuriated, swallowed in order to control himself, and then +blurted with a disgusted shrug of his shoulders, "I don't know." + +Having fulfilled Marvin's intention, Bill took his seat again and the +cross-examination was resumed. + +"If you don't know whether he is drunk or not now, how did you know the +other time when you saw him?" + +Hammond gazed fiercely into space, replying, finally, "Oh, it was plain +enough then!" + +Seeing that Hammond was ruffled and that he was also confused, Marvin +felt that the time was now right to bring forth by a few swift, +well-put questions the full purpose of Hammond and Thomas in bringing +about the divorce between Bill and Mrs. Jones. + +"It was not possible for you to get a good title to the property unless +Mr. Jones signed the deed?" he asked. + +At once Thomas was on his feet, objecting. + +On Marvin's explanation that the complaint charged intoxication and that +his question had a direct bearing on that point, the judge overruled the +objection and Thomas took his seat again. + +Not discerning the trap that Marvin had set for him, Hammond turned to +the judge and said, in more even tones: "I don't mind answering in the +least. The property belonged entirely to Mrs. Jones, but the husband's +signature was wanted on the deed." + +"And he refused to sign it?" Marvin's question came back. + +"Yes," Hammond sneered, "after you told him not to." + +Marvin once more challenged Hammond's soul with the searchlight of his +own straightforward eye. "Was he drunk then?" he asked. + +Hammond paused, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, I think he was." + +"I am not asking you what you think," Marvin remarked. "You said under +oath that you never saw him sober. Was he drunk when he refused to sign +that deed?" + +"Yes, he was!" Hammond reiterated, quickly. + +"And you tried to induce him to sign such an important document as that +when he was drunk?" Marvin asked the question in a slow, concise tone +and looked up at the judge to gather the impression made by Hammond's +evident duplicity. + +The deep water into which Hammond had walked was making itself felt and +he tried to wade toward shore. + +"I never tried to get him to sign! He didn't sign it!" he snapped. + +"No, he wasn't drunk enough for that! He wasn't drunk at all. He was as +sober as he is at this moment!" + +"You mean to call me a liar?" Hammond, his red neck swelling over the +top of his collar, and his small, close-together black eyes flashing +angrily, got up and made a threatening move toward his questioner. + +Marvin, although much smaller, did not flinch. "No, I mean to _prove_ +it," he answered. + +Judge Townsend made a quieting gesture to Hammond, who sat down in the +witness-chair again as Marvin went on with his rapid-fire. + +"Now you called Mr. Jones a liar, didn't you?" + +"Yes," was Hammond's gruff reply. "And everybody who knows him says the +same thing!" + +"Oh," said Marvin, with a shake of his head. "So you testified that he +was a liar because you heard others say so?" + +"No," jerked Hammond, "he lied to me." + +"What did he tell you that was untrue?" + +"Everything," said Hammond. + +"Can you repeat one lie that Mr. Jones told you?" + +"Oh, he told me so many," was the impatient reply, "I can't recall them. +Oh yes," after a pause, "he said he drove a swarm of bees across the +plains in the dead of winter." + +Bill, who was facing him, and who had not taken his eyes from him, burst +into a loud laugh, the whole court-room, even to the judge, following +suit, while Marvin raised his voice above the uproar to ask, "Now, how +do you know that is a lie?" + +"Why, I know the thing is impossible!" Hammond said, contemptuously. + +"Why?" + +"It's all nonsense," sneered Hammond, with an angry gesture. + +"That is precisely what it is, Mr. Hammond, and that is just what Mr. +Jones meant it to be! What else did he say?" + +"What's the difference?" asked Hammond. "You admit it's all nonsense." + +"Not all, Mr. Hammond." Marvin raised his voice and he looked +searchingly at the judge. "He said at least one thing that was not +nonsense. He said to his wife, 'Mother, these two men are trying to rob +you.' Do you remember that, Mr. Hammond? You were all there. Do you +remember that he said you and Mr. Thomas were trying to rob Mrs. Jones?" + +In order to make his question more impressive, Marvin nodded at Hammond +and pointed to Mr. Thomas, and then directed a glance toward Mrs. Jones. +Her hands were still folded in her lap and her head bent toward them. + +Everett Hammond, his face purple with rage, shouted at Marvin, "I don't +propose to sit here and be insulted by a criminal like you!" + +Thomas, too, had risen and come forward. Standing on the other side of +Marvin and looking down upon him, he exclaimed, with quivering, blue +lips: "This is insufferable, your Honor! This gentleman has come here to +give disinterested testimony, as a favor, and he is subjected to the +insults--" + +Judge Townsend interrupted him calmly: "I think the defense has brought +out quite clearly that this witness's testimony is not disinterested. +This divorce has got to be obtained to give him a deed to the Jones +property, hasn't it?" + +Thomas grew conciliatory, endeavoring to impress upon the judge that the +property sale had nothing to do, at all, with the testimony of Hammond. + +"Well, I wouldn't call him exactly disinterested," responded Townsend, +with a wise glance. + +"Nevertheless, your Honor, I protest against this man's insulting +manner," Thomas shouted. "How it is possible for such a person, a person +who even now ought to be serving a jail sentence, to be admitted to the +bar, I can't see!" He backed to his chair and sat down, taking up a +book and slamming it back on the table. + +Until now Marvin had been complete master of the situation, but Thomas's +last words drove the blood from his face and he grew troubled as he +looked up at the judge and then away and out through the window into +space. There had been something on his mind, but he had been able to +keep it in the background because of Bill's predicament. And now it came +to the surface again. + +Townsend studied Marvin intently for several moments and then he asked, +quietly, "You are an attorney in good standing, are you not?" + +At the judge's question, Thomas got up and looked down upon Marvin, in +insolent inquiry. + +Marvin did not answer at once; then he walked over to the judge's bench +and with his head bowed said, "No, your Honor, I am not." + +"Do you mean to say that you are not a member of the bar?" There was +surprise and injured dignity and at the same time a strong savor of pity +in Lem Townsend's voice. + +Thomas and Hammond exchanged smiles of triumph, the former advancing to +a place by Marvin's side in front of the judge. + +The horror in Millie's face told Marvin that her last shred of +consideration for him had been torn away. + +Bill alone held faith, smiling encouragement at the lad who had been his +only friend when his hour was at its worst. + +With eyes on the ground, slowly, and in low voice, Marvin explained, +"No, I have never been admitted to the bar, your Honor. But Mr. Jones +had taken a long journey from the Soldiers' Home, on his own account and +at his own expense, to testify in my case. When, without warning, this +action for divorce was called, I knew it was a conspiracy." The +injustice accorded Bill drew Marvin from himself again. Pointing at +Hammond and Thomas, he raised his voice. "I knew that these two +conspirators--" + +Thomas interrupted him by jumping from his seat and making a menace with +his right arm. + +"Sit down, Mr. Thomas," Townsend commanded. "I will attend to this. You +are making a very serious charge, Mr. Marvin, and if you believe you can +substantiate it you will find the courts open to you. In the mean time +you must be aware that you had no right whatever to undertake the trial +of this case under the guise of being an attorney. You are guilty of a +reprehensible act, and if I did not believe there were mitigating +circumstances I would punish you most severely for contempt of court." +He ordered the stenographer to strike out all of the cross-examination. + +"Mr. Thomas," he asked, "have you finished with your witness?" + +"If the cross-examination is to be stricken out, I will not take up the +court's time with any redirect testimony. We have had enough," Thomas +said. + +Hammond got up and shook himself as if he were rid of a heavy burden; +but as he walked from the stand Marvin made one more plea. "One moment, +please, your Honor," he asked. "Before the witness is excused--" + +Townsend interrupted him. "You have no standing in this court, young +man. If you wish to remain, you may take a seat on the visitors' bench," +and he pointed to a vacant seat just outside of the railing. + +If there was one person in the court-room who was pleased at that +moment, it was Blodgett. He arose, caressing his mustache, and opened +the gate. + +"This way," he called out, giving an overbearing wave of his hand. + +As he came to the gate, Marvin stopped. He was thinking hard. It did not +seem right that Bill should be left alone to fight his way with those +two keen schemers. He knew that Lem Townsend would look after Lightnin' +in so far as he could justifiably do so, but the figure of the lonely +old man, smiling complacently in the midst of his trouble, touched +Marvin deeply, and he delved into his mind in an effort to find a way to +help him. + +Then, unexpectedly, Lightnin' solved the problem. Getting to his feet, +he stood quietly before the bench, looking up at Townsend with an odd +excitement in his eyes. + +"Your Honor," he asked, in his usual drawl, "a defendant has the right +to plead his own case, ain't he?" + +"Yes, he has," Townsend replied, with a nod. + +"Well," said Bill, "I guess I'll plead this case myself!" + +Marvin hesitated. He had thought of this himself, of course, but had +dismissed the idea, not feeling quite sure as to the advisability of it. +Now, however, the deed was done. Quickly he put an arm over Bill's +shoulder and led him beside the witness-stand, where Hammond still sat. +Bill looked up at Townsend and smiled. + +"It's all right, Judge," he remarked, with his humorous twinkle. "I was +a lawyer once!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +The court-room fairly seethed with interest. The crowd was smiling, +amused; but, under the surface smile, every face reflected a strong +sympathy for the quaint old figure standing there, about to fight his +own battle. As Bill turned to conduct his case, Blodgett took Marvin by +the arm. + +"You come out here!" he commanded, roughly. + +Marvin pulled his arm free and appealed to the judge. + +"I am a witness for the defense, your Honor," he said. + +"Then you may remain where you are," replied Townsend, with a nod. He +looked at Lightnin'. "Examine your witness," he directed. + +For a moment Lightnin' stood in front of the frowning man in the chair +and silently inspected him with humorous interest, from the top of his +sleek, pomaded head to the gleaming toes of his immaculate boots. + +"Looks kinder all polished up, don't he?" Bill remarked. + +The noise of the general laughter and the pounding of the sheriff's +gavel seemed to distract Townsend's attention; anyway, he uttered no +objection when Marvin slipped from his place among the witnesses and +dropped into his former chair directly behind Bill. Looking up at +Townsend, Lightnin' resumed: + +"The things Marvin asked him were all right, your Honor," he said. Then, +with a terse but rather humorous shrug, he addressed Hammond, "Answer +'em!" + +"You mean the testimony he has already given will stand?" asked the +judge. + +"I got a right to ask 'em again, 'ain't I?" questioned Bill. + +Townsend nodded. Hammond could much better stand the young and impatient +manner of John Marvin than he could the wise humor of Bill. He grew red +and shifted in his chair angrily, asking the judge: + +"Do I have to go all over that, your Honor?" + +"Would your replies be the same?" Townsend's eyes as well as his +question begged Hammond for the answer and he was not comfortable. But +there was nothing else for him to do, and after a moment's hesitation, +in which he lowered his lids to avoid the judge's scrutiny, he replied: + +"Certainly." + +The cross-examination reinstated, Hammond for the fourth time started to +leave the stand. Bill held up his hand and snapped in a determined tone, +but with a smile playing among the wrinkles of his face: + +"Hold on! I got some more for you!" + +His victim threw himself back into the chair with a shrug and a sneer as +he gave his head an irate shake. + +"Mr. Hammond," Bill went on, "when you went after Mr. Marvin with the +sheriff, what was the charge against him?" + +Hammond answered, with a ready enthusiasm, "Trespassing on the property +of the Pacific Railroad Company." + +Bill nodded his head and said: + +"Uh, ha." + +He assumed an air of wisdom and raised his voice to the pitch that it +seldom knew, but to have the floor again after so many months was having +its effect upon him and he was taking the task in the same way and with +the same glee as if it were the opportunity for telling a good story. + +"If he was on their property," he began--then he seemed to forget what +it was he was going to ask. He turned to Marvin in whispered conference. +The unusual character of his procedure did not affect Lemuel Townsend, +who was anxious to give the old man his full chance. + +His way evidently made clearer by Marvin's advice, Bill sauntered slowly +back to Hammond. + +"If he was on the railroad's property, what did you have to do with it?" +he asked. + +"Oh, that's easy enough!" said Hammond, nonchalantly crossing one leg +over the other. "I went at the request of the president of the road." + +Bill grinned. "You sold the railroad the land he was trespassing on, +didn't you?" + +Thomas broke in with an endeavor to show that the question was +irrelevant, but Townsend, knowing Bill's natural acumen, felt that the +question did have some real connection with the case. + +"Mr. Thomas," he said, "you and your witness have been accused of +conspiracy. If I were you, I would allow him to answer Mr. Jones." + +Thomas knew that he was sparring for his life and he didn't intend to +let the question get by if he could help it, so he tried another +subterfuge. + +"Your Honor," he deplored, his voice hoarse with anger, "I don't propose +to defend the witness and myself from such a ridiculous charge at this +time. We are not on trial. This is a divorce action." He glared at +Marvin, pulling his cuffs angrily, in a way that he had, down over his +wrists. + +But the judge's opinion was unchanged. "If there is any conspiracy about +this action, the court wants to know it. Answer the question." + +With an insulting drawl, Hammond did as he was bid. + +"I purchased the property for the railroad, acting as their agent." + +"Who did you buy it from?" Bill snapped. + +"Mr. Thomas." + +"When did you buy it?" asked Bill. + +"About ten months ago." + +Bill's shoulders straightened at Hammond's reply and he drew himself +together with a quick shrug, taking a swift step forward and peering +into Hammond's face. + +"That was three months before you bought mother's place?" he asked. + +"Yes," jerked Hammond, sulkily. + +"Then, why did you say you had never met him until you met him at the +hotel?" + +Hammond started, alarm in the quick glance that traveled from Bill to +Raymond Thomas. He realized he had overstepped himself. Thinking the +better plan would be to brave it out, he bellowed: + +"Because I never did!" + +Bill smiled at him and said, in his slow, gentle monotone: + +"You bought all that land of him and never saw him about it?" He looked +up at the judge and laughed. "And he called _me_ a liar!" + +Hammond got up, but Bill detained him. "Don't go away," he admonished, +with a jaunty toss of his head. "We got some more for you, 'ain't we?" +and he looked at Marvin, who smiled in approval. "I've got a good one +for him!" Bill went on. + +"You know the railroad company leased the waterfall on mother's place +and put a power-plant there?" + +"I believe they have," said Hammond, impatiently. + +"And you know that the railroad pays you more for that lease in a month +than you agreed to give mother in a year?" + +It was a surprise to Hammond, and evidently to Marvin, too, that Bill +should know anything of the details of either the lease of the railroad +company or of what payment had been promised to Mrs. Jones. A great +light flashed on Marvin--obviously Bill Jones had not been altogether +wasting his time during his prolonged disappearance! Hammond, beginning +to suspect that Bill knew more than he had been given credit for, +decided that ignorance was the best stand to take. + +"How should I know the petty details of the railroad's lease?" he said. + +"How should _you_ know?" echoed Bill, his voice raised, unwontedly clear +and ringing. "Didn't the railroad lease the waterfall from a bum concern +called the Golden Gate Land Company? Didn't you, actin' for the Golden +Gate Company, put through the deal? Don't you know that the Golden Gate +Land Company is controlled by yourself and Raymond Thomas--ain't you and +Thomas the whole works o' that--" + +Thomas was on his feet with an objection, but the judge had no +opportunity to overrule it, for Bill had something to say and he was +going to say it. He lifted his voice above that of Thomas, calling out +and waving his arms violently in an excitement he had never known +before. + +"And all your stocks in the name of rummies?" + +His eyes twinkled as Marvin came up to him and whispered. Again waving +his arms, Bill shouted: + +"Dummies, I mean--dummies!" + +Thomas had been tried to the point of despair. There was a lump in his +throat as he beseeched the judge: + +"I protest against this!" + +The judge interrupted him. "I am beginning to believe in this plot +story." + +"Then let him go on," was Bill's agreeable reply. + +Hammond jumped up out of his chair and descended from the witness-stand. + +"Your Honor," he said, in an angry tone, "I absolutely refuse to submit +to this any longer--to stand here and be made to look like a criminal!" + +Bill could not withstand the chance for another quip and he smiled at +his antagonist. "Well, you look natural," he remarked. + +"Do you expect me to stand for this?" Hammond stormed. + +"Sit down, if you want to," said Bill, restored to his old nonchalance. +"I'm through with you," and he turned his back on Hammond and went over +to Marvin. + +Thomas, keyed to a high pitch, knew that something must be done at once, +for he saw that not only the Jones case was crumbling, but he sensed +trouble ahead in his afternoon's venture, so he resorted to Everett +Hammond's tactics of placing the matter in an absurd light. + +"All this ridiculous testimony," he argued, "has no possible connection +with the case in point, but I propose to prove that all the accusations +against the witness and myself are not only groundless but absolutely +malicious, and I shall do this at the first opportunity." + +Unable to stand the situation any longer, he went back and took his +seat. + +Marvin had sat quiet all through this controversy. Now he forgot the +judge's admonition as to his place in the case. He got up, stating to +the judge: + +"Your Honor, Mr. Thomas will have that opportunity at two o'clock this +afternoon, when the Pacific Railroad's action against me comes before +the court. At that time I will submit documentary proof that these men +control the Golden Gate Land Company and have been buying up all the +land wanted by the Pacific Railroad. I will submit to the court twenty +cases where the Golden Gate Land Company has swindled innocent farmers +out of their property and paid them with worthless stock. I will prove +to the court--" + +"Just a moment, Mr. Marvin," Townsend stopped him. "It will be most +interesting for you to prove your statements at two o'clock; but in the +mean time I must warn you again that you are not a party to this divorce +action and have no standing as an attorney in this court." + +Marvin bowed to the ruling and retired quietly to his seat. He stared +calmly at Thomas, seeming to have no fear that he had prematurely +revealed his own case and that his opponents might have an opportunity +to take advantage of his statements. + +"If the defense wishes you for a witness, Mr. Marvin," said Townsend, +"you may be sworn." + +Bill was on his feet again and, turning to the judge, said: "I don't +need no witness! I didn't know nothing about it at all until I got here, +but I've been thinking it over ever since and I have made up my mind +that mother's right. If mother can prove them things they read," and he +nodded toward the clerk, "she could get a divorce, couldn't she?" + +Townsend replied in the affirmative. Bill smiled sadly and, glancing at +Mrs. Jones, who was crying as if her heart would break, he went on, +"Well, I can prove them for her." + +"You can prove them?" Townsend asked, in surprise. + +"Oh yes," said Bill, with a flash of humor. "I used to be a judge." + +He stood still in the middle of the floor and looked into space for a +moment. He was a dejected figure as the humor that was his habit left +him and he stood there deserted by all but Marvin. But it was not his +way to remain an object of pity, either to himself or to anybody else, +and with a slight shrug he straightened and looked the judge in the eye. +Placing his hand in front of him, he tolled off the first count on the +thumb of his right hand. + +"Now, first it said," he began didactically, "that I got drunk," and he +paused and thought about it, adding, with a nod, "Well, I can prove +that! And then it said I was cruel to mother." He took a step forward +and bent his shoulders a bit, as if he would look under the brim of his +wife's hat and search her soul for the answer to his plea. "Well, I +can--no, I can't prove that, 'cause it ain't true, judge, an' I don't +believe mother ever said it." + +A dramatic hush fell in the court-room. It was suddenly, pathetically +clear to Marvin and to many others that, despite his unexpected +knowledge on other counts, Bill did not fathom the real reason behind +his wife's action for divorce. Plainly he thought she really wanted a +divorce, and, in Lightnin's sensitive code, if mother wanted it she +should have it. + +"An' then it said that I failed to provide," he went on, while the +court-room breathed softly, feeling the tug at the old man's +heartstrings. "Well, that what's on my mind, judge. I have failed. I +never thought anything about it before, and I don't see any chance of +providing, now that I do think about it. Mother an' Millie could get +along better without me. So you see, mother should get a divorce, +judge--" and here Bill for the first time in his life broke down. Tears +came into his eyes and he swallowed to keep them back. He hesitated and, +with a last brave effort, he dashed in to complete his testimony against +himself. + +"I'm all right, judge. I can go back to the Home and stay there +until"--he hesitated--"until--" and turning quickly away, "that's all, +judge." + +Before he could get to his seat Mrs. Jones had jumped up from hers and +was standing before the judge's desk, wiping the tears from her eyes and +sobbing loudly. + +"No, please, judge, don't give me a divorce! I don't want one, judge! I +can take care of Bill in our old age. They were just telling me lies, +judge, and I was a fool not to have seen through it!" + +Tears were in Townsend's eyes; also, Margaret Davis was sniffing +audibly, and the spectators in the court-room were deeply touched. +Thomas and Hammond gave one glance at each other and groaned, while Mrs. +Jones rushed to Bill and held one of his hands in both of hers, +pleading: + +"Bill, I have done you a wrong--a great wrong, and I cannot blame you if +you never look at me again, but I didn't mean to, Bill, I didn't mean +to! And if you will forgive me and take me back I will try all my life +to make up for it! Will you?" + +Bill took her hands in his and patted them. His eyes were moist, and +they blinked for a moment; then a slow, happy grin spread over his +stubbled face. + +"That's all right, mother," he said, easily. "Say, did you ever get the +six dollars I sent you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +Late that afternoon John Marvin and Bill Jones came out of the Reno +court-house together and sauntered down the street. There was a gleam of +triumph in Marvin's eyes and a deep satisfaction in his manner. +Lightnin's grin was equally expressive. + +"You better come right back to Calivada with me, John!" he urged. + +The triumph left Marvin's eyes and was replaced by a troubled +expression. + +"No, Bill," he said, quietly, "I don't think it is time for me to go +there yet. Mother and Millie may still feel that my part in the whole +scheme was not as kindly as it might have been, so I'll just drive over +to my cabin and maybe later, perhaps to-morrow morning, come over and +join you for a visit of an hour or two. It's a long time, old chap," he +said, as he patted Bill on the shoulder, "since you have been home, and +I think it is about time you were running along." + +Bill knew what was deterring him. Tactfully he said nothing, but smiled. +They walked along in silence for a block or two, until in a jeweler's +window Bill saw something that appealed to his imagination. He put his +hand in his pocket and withdrew it before it touched bottom, realizing +that his last dime had gone for a cup of coffee for himself and Zeb at a +lunch-counter early that morning. Zeb was waiting for him at the G. A. +R. Hall up the street a ways, but he had a duty to perform and it +seemed to him that that duty could best be done by the help of the +object in the jeweler's window. + +"John, will you lend me two dollars?" he asked. + +"At your old tricks, Lightnin'? You bet I can lend you two dollars! You +sure that's all you want?" Marvin laughed, taking the money from his +pocket. + +"Plenty," was Bill's brief reply, pocketing the two dollars. They walked +to the corner of the street, where they said good-by to each other. + +When Bill was satisfied that Marvin's back was well turned he sauntered +into the jewelry-shop and up to the counter, where he purchased a +sterling-silver ring, washed in gold, with a bright, shining piece of +glass set in it. + +The clerk in the store smiled at the old man as he pocketed the +monstrosity and went happily out of the store. + +How to get to Calivada from Reno had not entered his mind. It was a good +seventy-five miles, but he knew that some way or other he would get +home that night. With his mind made up to that issue, he wandered up the +street and joined Zeb, who had been waiting for him all afternoon. The +two old men, arm in arm, stood on the street corner and looked about. +And just then Rodney Harper and his wife, who were interested spectators +in the court-room during the afternoon trial, turned the corner in their +machine and stopped to say a good word to Bill. + +"What you going to do, Lightnin'?" asked Harper, while his wife beamed +at the two odd old souls. + +"What _you_ going to do?" was Bill's evasive answer. + +"Why, we are motoring back to Calivada, where we have a room at the +hotel," said Mrs. Harper. + +"Well, then, I guess," said Bill, putting his foot on the step of the +automobile, "that's just what me and Zeb is goin' to do." + +The Harpers laughed and looked at each other. They were both agreed. +Bill and Zeb climbed in and made a strange couple on the back seat of +the car as it whirled through the streets of Reno and on up into the +hills. + +In the mean time the hotel at Calivada, true to its nature, was the +scene of a new sensation. + +After court that afternoon Margaret Davis and Judge Townsend, leaving +Mrs. Jones and Millie to take the train home, went their own way. About +eight o'clock that evening they arrived at the hotel, going to the desk +where the sleek and dapper new clerk awaited them and came forward to +welcome them. "Hello, Mrs. Davis!" he said, extending his hand. + +"Good evening," Margaret replied, giggling and looking coyly back at the +judge. "Will you give me my key, Mr. Peters?" she asked. + +"Sure," he said, taking the key from the rack and handing it to her with +a smirk. + +"I didn't expect you back to-night." He smiled. + +"Well, I wasn't expecting it myself." The annoyance evidenced by the +frown on Lemuel Townsend's face immediately changed her tone. With a +"Thank you" she turned to go, but the clerk had other plans. + +"This has been a wonderful day, Mrs. Davis," he said, as he cast +languishing glances at her. Townsend was not at all pleased with the +attention Peters was showing her and he turned, asking, unctuously, "See +here, have you got a suite?" + +Peters stepped back and looked in surprise from one to the other. + +"Got what?" + +"Got a--?" repeated Townsend, but his question was broken into by +Margaret, who exclaimed: + +"Oh, Mr. Peters, we would like to see Miss Buckley and Mrs. Jones." + +"All right," he said; "I will go up and tell them you are here," and he +disappeared up the Nevada stairs. + +"But, young man," Townsend was insisting as he put his foot on the first +stair, "I want to get a--" he reiterated, but Margaret again placed a +restraining hand on his arm. "Wait until he comes down," she simpered. + +As the clerk disappeared behind the portieres at the top of the stairs, +Townsend turned to Margaret, putting his arm about her waist. "What's +the matter, dear? Don't you want the clerk to know we are married?" he +asked, in injured tones. + +"I didn't want you to tell him right before me." + +He looked into her eyes. "You are not ashamed of it, are you?" + +"No," she drawled, in her usual giggle, "but it is embarrassing to leave +here this morning to get rid of number one and come back this evening +with number two." Townsend started, removing his arm from her waist. +Putting it back, she pouted, "You are not angry, are you, dear?" + +Indulgently, but not enthusiastically, he answered, "It is a little +jarring to be referred to as number two." + +"Oh, I didn't mean that!" she exclaimed, leaning coquettishly on his +shoulder. "But I can't bear to have every one staring at us." + +"But this isn't a secret marriage, Maggie," said the judge. + +At this Margaret drew herself away from him, horror in her opened mouth +and widening eyes. "Oh, don't say that!" she protested. "My name is +Margaret," adding, sweetly, "I don't mind if they find out about it +after we are gone, dear, but let's try to keep them from finding it out +to-night." + +"All right, my darling, just as you say," and he drew her to him again. +Peters reappeared at the stairs. + +"Mrs. Jones will be down in a minute," he announced, and was going to +say more, but the sight of Margaret locked close in Lemuel Townsend's +dignified arms permitted him no further expression than a prolonged and +astonished "Oh!" which wrought a quick parting of the loving couple, +while Margaret, blushing furiously, hastened to explain: "Judge Townsend +is my husband, Mr. Peters. We were married this afternoon." + +Peters had been having much of his own way since Mrs. Jones and Millie +had retired from the actual management of the hotel, and his authority +ran away with him at times, thrusting him into situations in which his +assumption brought him quick rebuke. This was one of them. Obsequiously +and with an easy laugh he extended a congratulatory hand to Townsend, +while he remarked, "Quick work, eh, judge?" + +Townsend stood back and withered Peters with a glance that did its full +duty from head to foot. + +Margaret, kind-hearted, and seeing Peters's embarrassment, hastened to +be friendly. "We don't want you to say a word about it to anybody!" + +"Oh, I can keep a secret. My congratulations. I hope this one turns out +better than the other one did," Peters effused. + +Margaret sighed. The judge shuddered. It was the fourth time since they +were married that he had been reminded that he was number two. + +"If you don't mind," he ordered, severely, "we won't discuss that +question." + +Margaret, anxious to prevent further repartee on the subject, went +up-stairs, calling back, "When Mrs. Jones comes down, will you tell her +I will be back in five minutes?" + +When she had disappeared Townsend ordered Peters to get up a special +supper for four, suggesting that the champagne he had brought with him, +and which was in the basket on the floor, be put on ice. Peters +disappeared to do his duty, but Townsend followed close behind him, +desirous of directing the spreading of a good wedding supper for Mrs. +Townsend, Mrs. Jones, and Millie. + +He had been gone but a few minutes when Mrs. Jones came down the stairs. +She looked around, expecting to find Margaret Davis awaiting her. Not +seeing her, she returned to the floor above, when Mr. and Mrs. Harper +came bursting in. + +"How do you do? Don't you remember us?" Harper called out, as he held +forth a welcoming hand. + +"Surely!" cried Mrs. Jones. She came quickly down the stairs and shook +hands with Harper, kissing his pretty wife. + +"We just brought your husband and a friend of his over from Reno," said +Harper. + +"Oh, where are they?" Mrs. Jones asked, excitedly. She had been waiting +all afternoon for Bill and was beginning to fear lest he had decided not +to return home. + +"Oh, Bill's out there telling his experiences as a lawyer," Harper +laughed, and Mrs. Jones joined him, happy to know that Bill was back, +the same lovable old boaster as before. + +Margaret Townsend, hearing the voices, hurried to join the group, +throwing her arms wildly around Mrs. Jones's neck and giggling like a +school-girl. + +"Who do you think drove me over?" she asked Mrs. Jones, answering +herself. "Judge Townsend." + +"My, but that was romantic!" exclaimed Mrs. Jones. + +"Why, what do you know about it?" Margaret simpered, putting Mrs. Jones +from her and looking into her eyes. + +The dining-room door opened and Townsend burst in, going to his wife and +exercising his new proprietorship by putting his arm about her. She drew +away, blushing, and hastened to introduce the Harpers. + +Townsend acknowledged the introduction; then he turned to Mrs. Jones. +"I'm very glad to see you under more pleasant circumstances, mother," he +said. + +"Thank you, Lem!" she answered, tears gathering in her eyes. "Oh, what a +mean fool I was! But, Lem, I 'ain't heard a word yet about how that fine +young man made out--I'm just dyin' to know if John Marvin won his case!" + +"Oh, you really haven't heard?" exclaimed Margaret. "I should say he +certainly did win his case, my dear!" + +"Thomas and Hammond were lucky to keep out of jail," said Townsend. +"They gave up this place without a murmur." + +"What?" Mrs. Jones gasped. + +"Surely you know that the place is yours again?" Harper asked, while +they all nodded eager confirmation. + +"Ours again?" Mrs. Jones repeated, excitedly. + +"Absolutely, my dear!" Margaret hastened to explain. "And the judge and +I were married this afternoon!" Irrespective of Mrs. Jones's bewildered +gasp, Margaret rushed on: "And, mother, you are to get all the money the +railroad pays for the waterfall, and it's an awful lot! The Golden Gate +Land Company is a fake concern! To keep out of jail, where they belong, +those two sharpers are making restitution at once to Mr. Marvin and to +everybody else they can! And now you're going to have supper with us, +mother! Mr. and Mrs. Harper are going to join us--and you, too, Millie +dear," she added, turning to the girl, who had joined the group and +stood there listening, her cheeks flushed with a conflict of emotions. + +"Oh!" Millie gasped. "Oh--then what--" + +What Millie was going to say was lost in a general chorus of delighted +exclamations. + +"Oh, Lem," cried Mrs. Jones, "won't you let me do the cooking? I'm just +dyin' to get back into that kitchen again!" + +"Well, I know what your cooking is like, mother," replied Townsend, +smiling; "and if you really want to go out there and cook that supper, I +say it would be a crime to stop you!" + +"Let's all help!" exclaimed little Mrs. Harper, who looked as if she +would not have the faintest idea what to do in a kitchen. + +"Fine!" echoed her amused husband. "Come on, folks!" + +Mrs. Jones led the way, and they all went out through the dining-room +and into the kitchen, bent on making a home of the place for the first +time since the new regime went into effect. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +The dapper Peters was left alone at his desk, but not for long. In a +few minutes the street door opened and Bill Jones, with a certain air +about him--one might even say with a certain flourish in his +manner--sauntered in. He ambled up to the desk. + +"Who might you be?" he asked, casually, his half-shut eyes making an +inventory of Peters. + +"I'm the manager!" Peters snapped. + +"No, you ain't," said Bill, grinning. + +"What's the reason I ain't?" inquired Peters. + +"Because you're fired," said Bill, calmly, turning his back and putting +his hands in his pockets. He gazed slowly around from floor to ceiling, +and then at the walls. Peters came from behind the desk and stood close +to him. + +"Say, Mrs. Jones pulled something like that on me," he said, "but I +ain't taking no orders from you people! I take my orders from Mr. +Hammond!" + +"Is that so?" asked Bill, nonchalantly. Drawing a letter from his +pocket, he handed it to the clerk. "Well, here they are!" he said. + +Peters opened the letter and read it. + +"Well, if I'm fired," he sighed, "I suppose I can go back to my old +job." + +A stealthy foot on the floor made Bill turn around to greet Zeb, who had +put his head in the door. + +"Got a segar for me, Bill?" Zeb whispered. + +Bill went over to the drawer in the California desk, where he knew there +was a box of cigars. He took one, extending it to Zeb. But the latter, +looking toward the dining-room, saw Millie coming, and in spite of the +fact that he wanted that cigar as desperately as he had ever wanted +anything, force of habit sent him scuttling out of the room as he warned +Bill, hoarsely, "Look out!" + +Bill called him back. "What you 'fraid of? It's only Millie." + +"Well," said Zeb, intrepid enough to grab the cigar, but not brave +enough to stay, "I'll see you to-morrow, when the women-folks is +working. It's safer then." + +Millie rushed over and took Bill in her arms, kissing him again and +again, while Bill, unused to such demonstration, tried to disengage +himself. + +"Did you just get here, daddy?" she asked, gazing fondly at him. + +"Yes," was his reply, as he sat down in the chair in front of the +table. + +"Have you seen mother?" she asked, standing very close to him. + +Bill, remembering the old days when his return home meant a searching +examination as to soberness, grinned, and then he breathed deeply toward +her. "I 'ain't had a drink in a month," he informed her. + +She laughed and was silent for a moment. Looking down at the floor, she +asked, "Did you come alone, daddy?" + +"Yes," he answered, slowly scrutinizing her. "Why didn't you speak to +John before you left the court to-day?" he asked, after a moment in +which he gazed at her intently. + +Tears came into her eyes and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I +just couldn't, daddy, that was all." + +Bill placed a reassuring hand on her hair. + +"Well, it's all right. I fixed it for you," he said, slowly. Millie +stepped back aghast, blushing violently. "You did _what_?" + +But Bill was unabashed. "I got him to promise he would come over here +and see you." Bill had done no such thing, but the one flaw to a perfect +happiness for him was the thought that John Marvin and Millie might not +make up. + +"You asked him to come over and see me?" Millie asked, in dismay. + +"No," said Bill, with a quiet grin; "I just told him you were crazy to +see him. You would have lost him if it hadn't been for me. Every girl in +Reno is crazy about John, but I got him so he's willing to marry you." + +"Oh, daddy, I don't know what I am going to do with you!" Millie was +almost in tears and leaned dejectedly on a shoulder indifferent through +habit and not will. + +"You don't mean to say you asked John Marvin to marry me?" she pouted. + +"Sure I did," said Bill, untouched by any thought of having done what +was not right. "It was a tough job after the way you treated him," he +admonished, dropping into the chair and tipping it back while he clasped +his hands behind his head and whistled. "I told him," he went on, "that +you had made a fool of yourself, but that most women did that now and +then, and not to mind it. After he's been married awhile he'll get used +to it. I asked him, if you would own up that you were wrong like mother +did, would he give you another chance?" Bill looked up at her, adding, +complacently, "'Ain't I done a good piece of business?" + +Millie gave one shriek and ran up the stairs. Bill, unmoved by any sense +of his own iniquity, followed her to the foot of the staircase, calling +after her, "Now, if you beg his pardon when he comes--" + +She stopped at the top step and looked back. "Beg his pardon!" she +exclaimed, defiantly. "I don't even intend to _see_ him when he comes!" + +Bill held out one hand toward her in a deprecating gesture. + +"Oh, come along down-stairs again." Taking a little square box from his +pocket, he opened it and held it up to view, saying, "If you don't see +him, what is he going to do with this?" + +"What is it?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her anger +as she came slowly back down the stairs. Bill showed her his prize in +its nest of bright purple velvet. "He got it for you. He sent me out to +buy it while he was in court!" + +Mildred looked at the thing, and with one long "Oh!" of disgust she +turned and went through the door into the dining-room. + +Alone once more, Bill walked slowly, going to the desk and looking at +the register. Then he went back of the desk, examining familiar +objects. Suddenly his eyes rested on the electric-light switchboard. He +played with the lights for several seconds, turning them out finally. +With a start he grunted, "Now I broke 'em." Pushing the button again, +the lights came on, revealing Mrs. Jones, who had tiptoed in from the +dining-room when Millie told her Bill was there. When he saw her he came +out from behind the desk and she hurried toward him with outstretched +arms. + +"Are you all right, Bill?" she asked, tenderly. And Bill, smiling, +leaned over her and breathed so that she could see that he was all +right. But she had been through so much lately and where Bill was +concerned there was more tenderness than humor in her attitude. + +"Aren't you all tired out, dear?" she asked. + +Bill grinned sheepishly. It was a long time since his wife had shown +such affection for him. "No," was his quick reply. + +But her conscience bade her make sure that he was comfortable. She drew +a big arm-chair from the corner and placed it in the center of the +room, taking a pillow from the sofa and putting it on the back of the +chair. Gently she sat Bill down in it. + +He didn't know what to make of it all and he looked up at her, asking, +with a chuckle: + +"What's the matter, mother, you sick?" + +She laughed. "No, Bill, I ain't sick. I'm just thinkin'." + +Bill looked straight ahead of him. + +She took her rocking-chair and placed it next to him. Clasping one of +his hands, she leaned forward. + +"You've forgiven me, 'ain't you, Bill?" + +"Yep," chirped Bill, without so much as a glance. + +Her attempt to make love to Bill was not meeting with the success she +had hoped, but she was bound to make up to him for all the sorrow of the +last few months, and so she did not notice his apparent indifference. + +"Just think," she exclaimed, enthusiastically, "the place is ours +again!" + +"You mean it's yours again," said Bill, slowly. + +"No," She shook her head emphatically. "_Ours_, after this, Bill." + +"All right," Bill replied, again not moving. + +Mrs. Jones, seeing that her attempts to be affectionate were falling +upon unfertile ground, dropped his hand. + +"How did Mr. Marvin manage to get it away from them?" she asked. + +For the first time Bill took interest. + +"I fixed it," he said, sitting up straight in his chair. "Do you want me +to tell you how much money you get out of the waterfall?" + +"Yes, Bill. But please say _we_ get it." + +"You mean I get half of it?" + +Mrs. Jones nodded. + +"And you're going to keep it for me?" he went on. + +She smiled at him and nodded again. + +"How did you know about my getting the place back?" he asked. + +"Lem Townsend told me," she informed him. "Did you know that he and Mrs. +Davis were married to-day?" + +Bill didn't know it, but he didn't intend that his wife should know +this. Playing up to form, he smiled indulgently upon her as he stated, +glibly, "Yes, I fixed it!" + +They smiled wisely upon each other and Mrs. Jones once again took her +husband's hand. + +"We won't have any more divorce people here, will we, Bill?" + +"Then you will have to close up," was his answer. + +"I want to close up, Bill." Her voice was full of deep tenderness. "I +want to have a home again." + +"All right," Bill said, getting up from the chair. Display of affection +always embarrassed him. His attitude amused and at the same time hurt +Mrs. Jones, so she changed her subject to one that she felt might +interest him. + +"We are all going to have some supper soon, Bill. I have been cooking +it," she said. + +Bill patted her tenderly on the hand. "Mother, I found out one thing +when I was at the Home. I found that you were a good cook." + +She smiled happily, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Bill +looked at her a moment in surprise; then he laughed. + +A shadow crossed her face and she gazed into his eyes. "You don't mind +my doing that, do you, Bill?" she asked. + +There was a pause for a moment. Bill shifted awkwardly from side to side +as he stood up. + +"No, I guess I don't," he said. + +Mrs. Jones walked toward the dining-room, pausing half-way across the +room. + +"Bill," she said, glancing down at the floor, "would you kiss me?" + +Bill gaped at her in surprise. + +"Yes," he said, slowly walking to her. Mrs. Jones saw his hesitation, +and, realizing the humor of the situation, laughed heartily. + +"Oh, never mind, Bill! You can kiss me later." + +"Now, mother, I was going to." He grinned and followed her to the door, +but she was through it before he could reach her. He stood still and was +about to reopen the door when Marvin burst in, out of breath, but a new +radiance in his eyes. + +"Why, John," Bill remarked, "I thought you were going over to the +cabin!" + +"Well, I was," said Marvin. "But I heard about Lem and Mrs. Davis being +married, and I knew that everybody would be over there having a good +time. I didn't mean to be out of it. Where's your wife?" + +"Oh, she's all right. She's cooking supper," Bill replied. + +Marvin hesitated a moment. He went to a window and looked out; then he +came back, putting his arm through Bill's. + +"Is Millie--?" + +He could get no farther, for Bill interrupted him. + +"Oh yes, she's waiting for you. She's afraid you're not going to forgive +her." + +"Well, I think I can convince her of my forgiveness," said Marvin. + +Delving into his pocket Bill brought forth the ring. + +"When you see her just give her this," he said. + +Marvin smiled. "Now I know why you borrowed that two dollars this +afternoon!" + +"Sure! You can find her. She's around some place. After you give it to +her come in to the party." + +"What party?" + +Bill nodded toward the dining-room door. "Lem and his wife are giving a +party and we want you to come. But you can't come until you get Millie," +said Bill. + +Marvin turned and walked toward the stairs, wondering where Millie was. +His thought brought his wish, for she parted the curtains and came +slowly down. She stopped when she saw him, but there was a look in his +eyes that she could not mistake and her heart was beating as it had not +done for many months, ever since she and Marvin had walked on the shores +of Lake Tahoe many months ago. + +"Daddy has told you what I should say to you, hasn't he?" she asked, +coming slowly down the stairs. Marvin went half-way up. + +"What is it?" he asked. + +"Well, I have made a fool of myself and I am ashamed of myself and I beg +you to forgive me!" + +Pausing on the stairs, she lowered her eyes, coloring deeply. Marvin +could not help laughing, and there was a dimple of amusement in Millie's +cheek. He put an arm around her and led her down into the lobby. + +"I could tell you something better than that to say," he stated, seeing +that her eyes were at last answering his, "you might say, for example, +'John, dearest, I know that you love me always,' because that is +something a woman must know!" + +They both laughed delightedly at this repetition of the words he had +used in the court-room. + +"And I suppose I should say"--but here Millie turned her head +away--"please marry me!" + +"Exactly!" Marvin cried. "And my answer is, Yes, Millie--if you will +have me!" + +Suddenly he remembered the horrible ring Bill had bought. He took it +from his pocket, saying, with mock tenderness, "Millie, I want to show +you something, and--" + +[Illustration: ... HE TOOK IT FROM HIS POCKET, SAYING, "MILLIE, I WANT +TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING"] + +"I have seen it!" she interrupted, laughing softly, glancing down at the +object in its gaudy setting. + +"Well, we mustn't disappoint Lightnin'," said Marvin. "Put it on your +finger, dear, for the old fellow's sake and let him see it. It will show +him that his efforts were not in vain--no ring could be more beautiful +in thought than this one!" + +"You're right, John!" she said, with shining eyes, as she slipped the +thing on her finger and raised her face for a kiss. + +At that psychological moment Bill stuck his head in the door. He +withdrew, of course, but only to return in an instant with the whole +party at his heels. + +Bill was leading his wife by the hand. Gesturing toward Marvin and +Millie, his shrewd old eyes fairly snapping with whimsical happiness, +Lightnin' exclaimed: + +"Mother--look! I fixed that!" + + +THE END + + + + +BOOTH TARKINGTON'S NOVELS + + +_SEVENTEEN._ Illustrated by Arthur William Brown. + +No one but the creator of Penrod could have portrayed the immortal young +people of this story. Its humor is irresistible and reminiscent of the +time when the reader was Seventeen. + +_PENROD._ Illustrated by Gordon Grant. + +This is a picture of a boy's heart, full of the lovable, humorous, +tragic things which are locked secrets to most older folks. It is a +finished, exquisite work. + +_PENROD AND SAM._ Illustrated by Worth Brehm. + +Like "Penrod" and "Seventeen," this book contains some remarkable phases +of real boyhood and some of the best stories of juvenile prankishness +that have ever been written. + +_THE TURMOIL._ Illustrated by C. E. Chambers. + +Bibbs Sheridan is a dreamy, imaginative youth, who revolts against his +father's plans for him to be a servitor of big business. The love of a +fine girl turns Bibbs' life from failure to success. + +_THE GENTLEMAN FROM INDIANA._ Frontispiece. + +A story of love and politics,--more especially a picture of a country +editor's life in Indiana, but the charm of the book lies in the love +interest. + +_THE FLIRT._ Illustrated by Clarence F. Underwood. + +The "Flirt," the younger of two sisters, breaks one girl's engagement, +drives one man to suicide, causes the murder of another, leads another +to lose his fortune, and in the end marries a stupid and unpromising +suitor, leaving the really worthy one to marry her sister. + + + + +THE NOVELS OF MARY ROBERTS RINEHART + + +_DANGEROUS DAYS._ + +A brilliant story of married life. A romance of fine purpose and +stirring appeal. + +_THE AMAZING INTERLUDE._ Illustrations by The Kinneys. + +The story of a great love which cannot be pictured--an +interlude--amazing, romantic. + +_LOVE STORIES._ + +This book is exactly what its title indicates, a collection of love +affairs--sparkling with humor, tenderness and sweetness. + +_"K."_ Illustrated. + +K. LeMoyne, famous surgeon, goes to live in a little town where +beautiful Sidney Page lives. She is in training to become a nurse. The +joys and troubles of their young love are told with keen and sympathetic +appreciation. + +_THE MAN IN LOWER TEN._ Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. + +An absorbing detective story woven around the mysterious death of the +"Man in Lower Ten." + +_WHEN A MAN MARRIES._ Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker. + +A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him, finds that his +aunt is soon to visit him. The aunt, who contributes to the family +income, knows nothing of the domestic upheaval. How the young man met +the situation is entertainingly told. + +_THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE._ Illustrated by Lester Ralph. + +The occupants of "Sunnyside" find the dead body of Arnold Armstrong on +the circular staircase. Following the murder a bank failure is +announced. Around these two events is woven a plot of absorbing +interest. + +_THE STREET OF SEVEN STARS._ (Photoplay Edition.) + +Harmony Wells, studying in Vienna to be a great violinist, suddenly +realizes that her money is almost gone. She meets a young ambitious +doctor who offers her chivalry and sympathy, and together with +world-worn Dr. Anna and Jimmie, the waif, they share their love and +slender means. + + + + +STORIES OF RARE CHARM BY GENE STRATTON-PORTER + + +_MICHAEL O'HALLORAN._ Illustrated by Frances Rogers. + +Michael is a quick-witted little Irish newsboy, living in Northern +Indiana. He adopts a deserted little girl, a cripple. He also assumes +the responsibility of leading the entire rural community upward and +onward. + +_LADDIE._ Illustrated by Herman Pfeifer. + +This is a bright, cheery tale with the scenes laid in Indiana. The Story +is told by Little Sister, the youngest member of a large family, but it +is concerned not so much with childish doings as with the love affairs +of older members of the family. Chief among them is that of Laddie and +the Princess, an English girl who has come to live in the neighborhood +and about whose family there hangs a mystery. + +_THE HARVESTER._ Illustrated by W. L. Jacobs. + +"The Harvester," is a man of the woods and fields, and if the book had +nothing in it but the splendid figure of this man it would be notable. +But when the Girl comes to his "Medicine Woods," there begins a romance +of the rarest idyllic quality. + +_FRECKLES._ Illustrated. + +Freckles is a nameless waif when the tale opens, but the way in which he +takes hold of life; the nature friendships he forms in the great +Limberlost Swamp; the manner in which everyone who meets him succumbs to +the charm of his engaging personality; and his love-story with "The +Angel" are full of real sentiment. + +_A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST._ Illustrated. + +The story of a girl of the Michigan woods; a buoyant, loveable type of +the self-reliant American. Her philosophy is one of love and kindness +towards all things; her hope is never dimmed. And by the sheer beauty of +her soul, and the purity of her vision, she wins from barren and +unpromising surroundings those rewards of high courage. + +_AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW._ Illustrations in colors. + +The scene of this charming love story is laid in Central Indiana. The +story is one of devoted friendship, and tender self-sacrificing love. +The novel is brimful of the most beautiful word painting of nature, and +its pathos and tender sentiment will endear it to all. + +_THE SONG OF THE CARDINAL._ Profusely illustrated. + +A love ideal of the Cardinal bird and his mate, told with delicacy and +humor. + + + + +ZANE GREY'S NOVELS + + +_THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS_ + +A New York society girl buys a ranch which becomes the center of +frontier warfare. Her loyal superintendent rescues her when she is +captured by bandits. A surprising climax brings the story to a +delightful close. + +_THE RAINBOW TRAIL_ + +The story of a young clergyman who becomes a wanderer in the great +western uplands--until at last love and faith awake. + +_DESERT GOLD_ + +The story describes the recent uprising along the border, and ends with +the finding of the gold which two prospectors had willed to the girl who +is the story's heroine. + +_RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE_ + +A picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago when Mormon +authority ruled. The prosecution of Jane Withersteen is the theme of the +story. + +_THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN_ + +This is the record of a trip which the author took with Buffalo Jones, +known as the preserver of the American bison, across the Arizona desert +and of a hunt in "that wonderful country of deep canons and giant +pines." + +_THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT_ + +A lovely girl, who has been reared among Mormons, learns to love a young +New Englander. The Mormon religion, however, demands that the girl shall +become the second wife of one of the Mormons--Well, that's the problem +of this great story. + +_THE SHORT STOP_ + +The young hero, tiring of his factory grind, starts out to win fame and +fortune as a professional ball player. His hard knocks at the start are +followed by such success as clean sportsmanship, courage and honesty +ought to win. + +_BETTY ZANE_ + +This story tells of the bravery and heroism of Betty, the beautiful +young sister of old Colonel Zane, one of the bravest pioneers. + +_THE LONE STAR RANGER_ + +After killing a man in self defense, Buck Duane becomes an outlaw along +the Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a +young girl held prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down +upon himself the wrath of her captors and henceforth is hunted on one +side by honest men, on the other by outlaws. + +_THE BORDER LEGION_ + +Joan Randle, in a spirit of anger, sent Jim Cleve out to a lawless +Western mining camp, to prove his mettle. Then realizing that she loved +him--she followed him out. On her way, she is captured by a bandit band, +and trouble begins when she shoots Kells, the leader--and nurses him to +health again. Here enters another romance--when Joan, disguised as an +outlaw, observes Jim, in the throes of dissipation. A gold strike, a +thrilling robbery--gambling and gun play carry you along breathlessly. + +_THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS_ By Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey + +The life story of Colonel William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," as told by +his sister and Zane Grey. It begins with his boyhood in Iowa and his +first encounter with an Indian. We see "Bill" as a pony express rider, +then near Fort Sumter as Chief of the Scouts, and later engaged in the +most dangerous Indian campaigns. There is also a very interesting +account of the travels of "The Wild West" Show. No character in public +life makes a stronger appeal to the imagination of America than "Buffalo +Bill," whose daring and bravery made him famous. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightnin', by Frank Bacon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTNIN' *** + +***** This file should be named 34280.txt or 34280.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/8/34280/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/34280.zip b/34280.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce9c0b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/34280.zip 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..9c64c4f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #34280 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34280) |
