Gunman's Reckoning Read online

  9

  In a way, it was an awful tribute, for one great fact grew upon him:that the colonel represented almost perfectly the power of absoluteevil. Donnegan was not a squeamish sort, but the fat, smiling face ofMacon filled him with unutterable aversion. A dozen times he would haveleft the room, but a silken thread held him back, the thought of Lou.

  "I shall be terse and entirely frank," said the colonel, and at onceDonnegan reared triple guard and balanced himself for attack or defense.

  "Between you and me," went on the fat man, "deceptive words are folly. Awaste of energy." He flushed a little. "You are, I believe, the firstman who has ever laughed at me." The click of his teeth as he snappedthem on this sentence seemed to promise that he should also be the last.

  "So I tear away the veils which made me ridiculous, I grant you.Donnegan, we have met each other just in time."

  "True," said Donnegan, "you have a task for me that promises a lot offighting; and in return I get lodgings for the night."

  "Wrong, wrong! I offer you much more. I offer you a career of action inwhich you may forget the great sorrow which has fallen upon you: and inthe battles which lie before you, you will find oblivion for the sadpast which lies behind you."

  Here Donnegan sprang to his feet with his hand caught at his breast; andhe stood quivering, in an agony. Pain worked him as anger would do, and,his slender frame swelling, his muscles taut, he stood like a pantherenduring the torture because knows it is folly to attempt to escape.

  "You are a human devil!" Donnegan said at last, and sank back upon hisstool. For a moment he was overcome, his head falling upon his breast,and even when he looked up his face was terribly pale, and his eyesdull. His expression, however, cleared swiftly, and aside from theperspiration which shone on his forehead it would have been impossibleten seconds later to discover that the blow of the colonel had fallenupon him.

  All of this the colonel had observed and noted with grim satisfaction.Not once did he speak until he saw that all was well.

  "I am sorry," he said at length in a voice almost as delicate as thevoice of Lou Macon. "I am sorry, but you forced me to say more than Iwished to say."

  Donnegan brushed the apology aside.

  His voice became low and hurried. "Let us get on in the matter. I ameager to learn from you, colonel."

  "Very well. Since it seems that there is a place for both our interestsin this matter, I shall run on in my tale and make it, as I promised youbefore, absolutely frank and curt. I shall not descend into smalldetails. I shall give you a main sketch of the high points; for all menof mind are apt to be confused by the face of a thing, whereas the heartof it is perfectly clear to them."

  He settled into his narrative.

  "You have heard of The Corner? No? Well, that is not strange; but a fewweeks ago gold was found in the sands where the valleys of Young Muddyand Christobel Rivers join. The Corner is a long, wide triangle of sand,and the sand is filled with a gold deposit brought down from theheadwaters of both rivers and precipitated here, where one current meetsthe other and reduces the resultant stream to sluggishness. The sandsare rich--very rich!"

  He had become a trifle flushed as he talked, and now, perhaps to coverhis emotion, he carefully selected a cigarette from the humidor besidehim and lighted it without haste before he spoke another word.

  "Long ago I prospected over that valley; a few weeks ago it was broughtto my attention again. I determined to stake some claims and work them.But I could not go myself. I had to send a trustworthy man. Whom shouldI select? There was only one possible. Jack Landis is my ward. A dozenyears ago his parents died and they sent him to my care, for my fortunewas then comfortable. I raised him with as much tenderness as I couldhave shown my own son; I lavished on him the affection and--"

  Here Donnegan coughed lightly; the fat man paused, and observing thatthis hypocrisy did not draw the veil over the bright eyes of his guest,he continued: "In a word, I made him one of my family. And when the needfor a man came I turned to him. He is young, strong, active, able totake care of himself."

  At this Donnegan pricked his ears.

  "He went, accordingly, to The Corner and staked the claims and filedthem as I directed. I was right. There was gold. Much gold. It pannedout in nuggets."

  He made an indescribable gesture, and through his strong fingersDonnegan had a vision of yellow gold pouring.

  "But there is seldom a discovery of importance claimed by one man alone.This was no exception. A villain named William Lester, known as ascoundrel over the length and breadth of the cattle country, claimedthat he had made the discovery first. He even went so far as to claimthat I had obtained my information from him and he tried to jump theclaims staked by Jack Landis, whereupon Jack, very properly, shot Lesterdown. Not dead, unfortunately, but slightly wounded.

  "In the meantime the rush for The Corner started. In a week there was avillage; in a fortnight there was a town; in a month The Corner hadbecome the talk of the ranges. Jack Landis found in the claims a mint.He sent me back a mere souvenir."

  The fat man produced from his vest pocket a little chunk of yellow andwith a dexterous motion whipped it at Donnegan. It was done so suddenly,so unexpectedly that the wanderer was well-nigh taken by surprise. Buthis hand flashed up and caught the metal before it struck his face. Hefound in the palm of his hand a nugget weighing perhaps five ounces,and he flicked it back to the colonel.

  "He sent me the souvenir, but that was all. Since that time I havewaited. Nothing has come. I sent for word, and I learned that JackLandis had betrayed his trust, fallen in love with some undesirablewoman of the mining camp, denied my claim to any of the gold to which Ihad sent him. Unpleasant news? Yes. Ungrateful boy? Yes. But my mind ishardened against adversity.

  "Yet this blow struck me close to the heart. Because Landis is engagedto marry my daughter, Lou. At first I could hardly believe in hisdisaffection. But the truth has at length been borne home to me. Thescoundrel has abandoned both Lou and me!"

  Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?"

  The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the moresafely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into thedistance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and thecolonel read something that set him beaming.

  "She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart withhis selfishness."

  "He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan.

  The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly hebelieved that things were getting on very well.

  "This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by thewretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. Hebelongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knowsvery much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer andhandler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions.They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and thecunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and coolfighters--the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters--all celebrated names inthe cattle country.

  "They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime andpartly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob andeven kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep withinthe bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always firstestablishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else;if it is the case of a killing, it is always the other man who is theaggressor. He has been before a jury half a dozen times, but the devilknows the law and pleads his own case with a tongue that twists thehearts out of the stupid jurors. You see? No common man. And this is theleader of the group of which Lester is one of the most debased members.He had no sooner been shot than Lord Nick himself appeared. He had hisfollowers with him. He saw Jack Landis, threatened him with death, andmade Jack swear that he would hand over half of the profits of the minesto the gang--of which, I suppose, Lester gets his due proportion. At thesame time, Lord Nic
k attempted to persuade Jack that I, his adoptedfather, you might say, was really in the wrong, and that I had stolenthe claims from this wretched Lester!"

  He waved this disgusting accusation into a mist and laughed with hatefulsoftness.

  "The result is this: Jack Landis draws a vast revenue from the mines.Half of it he turns over to Lord Nick, and Lord Nick in return gives himabsolute freedom and backing in the camp, where he is, and probably willcontinue the dominant factor. As for the other half, Landis spends it onthis woman with whom he has become infatuated. And not a penny comesthrough to me!"

  Colonel Macon leaned back in his chair and his eyes became fixed upon agreat distance. He smiled, and the blood turned cold in the veins ofDonnegan.

  "Of course this adventuress, this Nelly Lebrun, plays hand in glove withLord Nick and his troupe; unquestionably she shares her spoils, so thatnine-tenths of the revenue from the mines is really flowing back throughthe hands of Lord Nick and Jack Landis has become a silly figurehead. Hestruts about the streets of The Corner as a great mine owner, and withthe power of Lord Nick behind him, not one of the people of the gamblinghouses and dance halls dares cross him. So that Jack has come toconsider himself a great man. Is it clear?"

  Donnegan had not yet drawn his gaze entirely back from the distance.

  "This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis mustbe drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must bebrought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuressand Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so longLord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifullytheir plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw himfrom Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp--sendLou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabbyprettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!"

  At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see.

  "Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gamblingspirit; you are willing to take great chances!"

  "So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I shouldnever send her except with an adequate protector."

  "An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run thecamp as you have already admitted?"

  "An adequate protector--you are the man!"

  Donnegan shivered.

  "I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrunto win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?"

  "It is."

  "Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room,white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety.

  "She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing.

  "A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since theywere children."

  "Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts arenot broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs."

  The colonel writhed in his chair.

  "But Lou--you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you lookedclosely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does notsuspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn'twritten for weeks."

  He saw Donnegan wince under the whip.

  "It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heavenknows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis withthe sight of Lou?"

  The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan wouldundertake the journey.

  "In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that youastonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis awayfrom the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. Inthat way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and youalso make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis--namely, myself. Andin the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure--oh, be sure that I should notforget who brought the mines into my hands!"