"Nothing," she replied, and he backed out and away.
But in that small interval he had turned out of the course of his gay,
selfish life. If Jack Landis had hurt her like this--if she loved him so
truly--then Jack Landis she should have.
There was an odd mixture of emotions in Donnegan; but he felt most
nearly like the poor man from whose hand his daughter tugs back and
looks wistfully, hopelessly, into the bright window at all the toys.
What pain is there greater than the pain that comes to the poor man in
such a time? He huddles his coat about him, for his heart is as cold as
a Christmas day; and if it would make his child happy, he would pour out
his heart's blood on the snow.
Such was the grief of Donnegan as he backed slowly out into the night.
Though Jack Landis were fixed as high as the moon he would tear him out
of his place and give him to the girl.
14
The lantern went out in the tent; she was asleep; and when he knew that,
Donnegan went down into The Corner. He had been trying to think out a
plan of action, and finding nothing better than to thrust a gun stupidly
under Landis' nose and make him mark time, Donnegan went into Lebrun's
place. As if he hoped the bustle there would supply him with ideas.
Lebrun's was going full blast. It was not filled with the shrill mirth
of Milligan's. Instead, all voices were subdued to a point here. The
pitch was never raised. If a man laughed, he might show his teeth but he
took good care that he did not break into the atmosphere of the room.
For there was a deadly undercurrent of silence which would not tolerate
more than murmurs on the part of others. Men sat grim-faced over the
cards, the man who was winning, with his cold, eager eye; the chronic
loser of the night with his iron smile; the professional, ever debonair,
with the dull eye which comes from looking too often and too closely
into the terrible face of chance. A very keen observer might have
observed a resemblance between those men and Donnegan.
Donnegan roved swiftly here and there. The calm eye and the smooth play
of an obvious professional in a linen suit kept him for a moment at one
table, looking on; then he went to the games, and after changing the
gold which Jack Landis had given as alms so silver dollars, he lost it
with precision upon the wheel.
He went on, from table to table, from group to group. In Lebrun's his
clothes were not noticed. It was no matter whether he played or did not
play, whether he won or lost; they were too busy to notice. But he came
back, at length, to the man who wore the linen coat and who won so
easily. Something in his method of dealing appeared to interest Donnegan
greatly.
It was jackpot; the chips were piled high; and the man in the linen coat
was dealing again. How deftly he mixed the cards!
Indeed, all about him was elegant, from the turn of his black cravat to
the cut of the coat. An inebriate passed, shouldered and disturbed his
chair, and rising to put it straight again, the gambler was seen to be
about the height and build of Donnegan.
Donnegan studied him with the interest of an artist. Here was a man,
harking back to Nelly Lebrun and her love of brilliance, who would
probably win her preference over Jack Landis for the simple reason that
he was different. That is, there was more in his cravat to attract
astonished attention in The Corner than there was in all the silver lace
of Landis. And he was a man's man, no doubt of that. On the inebriate he
had flashed one glance of fire, and his lean hand had stirred uneasily
toward the breast of his coat. Donnegan, who missed nothing, saw and
understood.
Interested? He was fascinated by this man because he recognized the
kinship which existed between them. They might almost have been blood
brothers, except for differences in the face. He knew, for instance,
just what each glance of the man in the linen coat meant, and how he was
weighing his antagonists. As for the others, they were cool players
themselves, but here they had met their master. It was the difference
between the amateur and the professional. They played good chancey
poker, but the man in the linen coat did more--he stacked the cards!
For the first moment Donnegan was not sure; it was not until there was a
slight faltering in the deal--an infinitely small hesitation which only
a practiced eye like that of Donnegan's could have noticed--that he was
sure. The winner was crooked. Yet the hand was interesting for all that.
He had done the master trick, not only giving himself the winning hand
but also giving each of the others a fine set of cards.
And the betting was wild on that historic pot! To begin with the
smallest hand was three of a kind; and after the draw the weakest was a
straight. And they bet furiously. The stranger had piqued them with his
consistent victories. Now they were out for blood. Chips having been
exhausted, solid gold was piled up on the table--a small fortune!
The man in the linen coat, in the middle of the hand, called for drinks.
They drank. They went on with the betting. And then at last came the
call.
Donnegan could have clapped his hands to applaud the smooth rascal. It
was not an affair of breaking the others who sat in. They were all
prosperous mine owners, and probably they had been carefully selected
according to the size of purse, in preparation for the sacrifice. But
the stakes were swept into the arms and then the canvas bag of the
winner. If it was not enough to ruin the miners it was at least enough
to clean them out of ready cash and discontinue the game on that basis.
They rose; they went to the bar for a drink; but while the winner led
the way, two of the losers dropped back a trifle and fell into earnest
conversation, frowning. Donnegan knew perfectly what the trouble was.
They had noticed that slight faltering in the deal; they were putting
their mental notes on the game together.
But the winner, apparently unconscious of suspicion, lined up his
victims at the bar. The first drink went hastily down; the second was on
the way--it was standing on the bar. And here he excused himself; he
broke off in the very middle of a story, and telling them that he would
be back any moment, stepped into a crowd of newcomers.
The moment he disappeared, Donnegan saw the other four put their heads
close together, and saw a sudden darkening of faces; but as for the
genial winner, he had no sooner passed to the other side of the crowd
and out of view, than he turned directly toward the door. His careless
saunter was exchanged for a brisk walk; and Donnegan, without making
himself conspicuous, was hard pressed to follow that pace.
At the door he found that the gambler, with his canvas sack under his
arm, had turned to the right toward the line of saddle horses which
stood in the shadow; and no sooner did he reach the gloom at the side of
the building than he broke into a soft, swift run. He darted down the
line of horses until he came to one which was already mounted. This
Donnegan saw as he followed somewhat more leisurely and closer to the
horses to avoid observance. He made out that the man already on
horseback was a big Negro and that he had turned his own mount and a
neighboring horse out from the rest of the horses, so that they were
both pointing down the street of The Corner. Donnegan saw the Negro
throw the lines of his lead horse into the air. In exchange he caught
the sack which the runner tossed to him, and then the gambler leaped
into his saddle.
It was a simple but effective plan. Suppose he were caught in the midst
of a cheat; his play would be to break away to the outside of the
building, shooting out the lights, if possible--trusting to the
confusion to help him--and there he would find his horse held ready for
him at a time when a second might be priceless. On this occasion no
doubt the clever rascal had sensed the suspicion of the others.
At any rate, he lost no time. He waited neither to find his stirrups nor
grip the reins firmly, but the same athletic leap which carried him into
the saddle set the horse in motion, and from a standing start the animal
broke into a headlong gallop. He received, however, an additional burden
at once.
For Donnegan, from the second time he saw the man of the linen coat, had
been revolving a daring plan, and during the poker game the plan had
slowly matured. The moment he made sure that the gambler was heading for
a horse, he increased his own speed. Ordinarily he would have been
noted, but now, no doubt, the gambler feared no pursuit except one
accompanied by a hue and cry. He did not hear the shadow-footed Donnegan
racing over the soft ground behind him; but when he had gained the
saddle, Donnegan was close behind with the impetus of his run to aid
him. It was comparatively simple, therefore, to spring high in the air,
and he struck fairly and squarely behind the saddle of the man in the
linen coat. When he landed his revolver was in his hand and the muzzle
jabbed into the back of the gambler.
The other made one frantic effort to twist around, then recognized the
pressure of the revolver and was still. The horses, checking their
gallops in unison, were softly dog-trotting down the street.
"Call off your man!" warned Donnegan, for the big Negro had reined back;
the gun already gleamed in his hand.
A gesture from the gambler sent the gun into obscurity, yet still the
fellow continued to fall back.
"Tell him to ride ahead."
"Keep in front, George."
"And not too far."
"Very well. And now?"
"We'll talk later. Go straight on, George, to the clump of trees beyond
the end of the street. And ride straight. No dodging!"
"It was a good hand you played," continued Donnegan; taking note that of
the many people who were now passing them none paid the slightest
attention to two men riding on one horse and chatting together as they
rode. "It was a good hand, but a bad deal. Your thumb slipped on the
card, eh?"
"You saw, eh?" muttered the other.
"And two of the others saw it. But they weren't sure till afterward."
"I know. The blockheads! But I spoiled their game for them. Are you one
of us, pal?"
But Donnegan smiled to himself. For once at least the appeal of gambler
to gambler should fail.
"Keep straight on," he said. "We'll talk later on."
15
Before Donnegan gave the signal to halt in a clear space where the
starlight was least indistinct, they reached the center of the trees.
"Now, George," he said, "drop your gun to the ground."
There was a flash and faint thud.
"Now the other gun."
"They ain't any more, sir."
"Your other gun," repeated Donnegan.
A little pause. "Do what he tells you, George," said the gambler at
length, and a second weapon fell.
"Now keep on your horse and keep a little off to the side," went on
Donnegan, "and remember that if you try to give me the jump I might miss
you in this light, but I'd be sure to hit your horse. So don't take
chances, George. Now, sir, just hold your hands over your head and then
dismount."
He had already gone through the gambler and taken his weapons; he was
now obeyed. The man of the linen coat tossed up his arms, flung his
right leg over the horn of the saddle, and slipped to the ground.
Donnegan joined his captive. "I warn you first," he said gently, "that
I am quite expert with a revolver, and that it will be highly dangerous
to attempt to trick me. Lower your arms if you wish, but please be
careful of what you do with your hands. There are such things as knife
throwing, I know, but it takes a fast wrist to flip a knife faster than
a bullet. We understand each other?"
"Perfectly," agreed the other. "By the way, my name is Godwin. And
suppose we become frank. You are in temporary distress. It was
impossible for you to make a loan at the moment and you are driven to
this forced--touch. Now, if half--"
"Hush," said Donnegan. "You are too generous. But the present question
is not one of money. I have long since passed over that. The money is
now mine. Steady!" This to George, who lurched in the saddle; but Godwin
was calm as stone. "It is not the question of the money that troubles
me, but the question of the men. I could easily handle one of you. But I
fear to allow both of you to go free. You would return on my trail;
there are such things as waylayings by night, eh? And so, Mr. Godwin, I
think my best way out is to shoot you through the head. When your body
is found it will be taken for granted that the servant killed the master
for the sake of the money which he won by crooked card play. I think
that's simple. Put your hands up, George, or, by heck, I'll let the
starlight shine through you!"
The huge arms of George were raised above his head; Godwin, in the
meantime, had not spoken.
"I almost think you mean it," he said after a short pause.
"Good," said Donnegan. "I do not wish to kill you unprepared."
There was a strangled sound deep in the throat of Godwin; then he was
able to speak again, but now his voice was made into a horrible jumble
by fear.
"Pal," he said, "you're dead wrong. George here--he's a devil. If you
let him live he'll kill you--as sure as you're standing here. You don't
know him. He's George Green. He's got a record as long as my arm and as
bad as the devil's name. He--he's the man to get rid of. Me? Why, man,
you and I could team it together. But George--not--"
Donnegan began to laugh, and the gambler stammered to a halt.
"I knew you when I laid eyes on you for the first time," said Donnegan.
"You have the hands of a craftsman, but your eyes are put too close
together. A coward's eyes--a cur's face, Godwin. But you, George--have
you heard what he said?"
No answer from George but a snarl.
"It sounds logical what he said, eh, George?"
Dead silence.
"But," said Donnegan, "there are flaws in the plan. Godwin, get out of
your clothes."
The other fell on his knees.
"For heaven's sake," he pleaded.
"Shut up," commanded Donnegan. "I'm not going to shoot you. I never
intended to, you fool. But I wanted to see if you were worth splitting
the coin with. You're not. Now get out of your clothes."
He was obeyed in fumbling haste, and while that operation went on, he
succeeded in jumping out of his own rags and still kept the two fairly
steadily under the nose of his gun. He tossed this bundle to Godwin, who
accepted it with a faint oath; and Donnegan stepped calmly and swiftly
into the clothes of his victim.
"A perfect fit," he said at length, "and to show that I'm pleased,
here's your purse back. Must be close to two hundred in that, from the
weight."
Godwin muttered some unintelligible curse.
"Tush. Now, get out! If you show your face in The Corner again, some of
those miners will spot you, and they'll dress you in tar and feathers."
"You fool. If they see you in my clothes?"
"They'll never see these after tonight, probably. You have other clothes
in your packs, Godwin. Lots of 'em. You're the sort who knows how to
dress, and I'll borrow your outfit. Get out!"
The other made no reply; a weight seemed to have fallen upon him along
with his new outfit, and he slunk into the darkness. George made a move
to follow; there was a muffled shriek from Godwin, who fled headlong;
and then a sharp command from Donnegan stopped the big man.
"Come here," said Donnegan.
George Washington Green rode slowly closer.
"If I let you go what would you do?"
There was a glint of teeth.
"I'd find him."
"And break him in two, eh? Instead, I'm going to take you home, where
you'll have a chance of breaking me in two instead. There's something
about the cut of your shoulders and your head that I like, Green; and if
you don't murder me in the first hour or so, I think we'll get on very
well together. You hear?"
The silence of George Washington Green was a tremendous thing.
"Now ride ahead of me. I'll direct you how to go."
He went first straight back through the town and up the hill to the two
tents. He made George go before him into the tent and take up the roll
of bedding; and then, with George and the bedding leading the way, and
Donnegan leading the two horses behind, they went across the hillside to
a shack which he had seen vacated that evening. It certainly could not
be rented again before morning, and in the meantime Donnegan would be in
possession, which was a large part of the law in The Corner, as he knew.
A little lean-to against the main shack served as a stable; the creek
down the hillside was the watering trough. And Donnegan stood by while
the big Negro silently tended to the horses--removing the packs and
preparing them for the night. Still in silence he produced a small
lantern and lighted it. It showed his face for the first time--the skin
ebony black and polished over the cheekbones, but the rest of the face
almost handsome, except that the slight flare of his nostrils gave him a
cast of inhuman ferocity. And the fierceness was given point by a pair
of arms of gorilla length; broad shoulders padded with rolling muscles,
and the neck of a bull. On the whole, Donnegan, a connoisseur of
fighting men, had never seen such promise of strength.
At his gesture, George led the way into the house. It was more
commodious than most of the shacks of The Corner. In place of a single
room this had two compartments--one for the kitchen and another for the
living room. In vacating the hut, the last occupants had left some of
the furnishings behind them. There was a mirror, for instance, in the
corner; and beneath the mirror a cheap table in whose open drawer
appeared a tumble of papers. Donnegan dropped the heavy sack of Godwin's
winnings to the floor, and while George hung the lantern on a nail on
the wall, Donnegan crossed to the table and appeared to run through the
papers.
He was humming carelessly while he did it, but all the time he watched
with catlike intensity the reflection of George in the mirror above him.
He saw--rather dimly, for the cheap glass showed all its images in
waves--that George turned abruptly after hanging up the lantern, paused,
and then whipped a hand into his coat pocket and out again.
Donnegan leaped lightly to one side, and the knife, hissing past his
head, buried itself in the wall, and its vibrations set up a vicious
humming. As for Donnegan, the leap that carried him to one side whirled
him about also; he faced the big man, who was now crouched in the very
act of following the knife cast with the lunge of his powerful body.
There was no weapon in Donnegan's hand, and yet George hesitated,
balanced--and then slowly drew himself erect.
He was puzzled. An outburst of oaths, the flash of a gun, and he would
have been at home in the brawl, but the silence, the smile of Donnegan
and the steady glance were too much for him. He moistened his lips, and
yet he could not speak. And Donnegan knew that what paralyzed George was
the manner in which he had received warning. Evidently the simple
explanation of the mirror did not occur to the fellow; and the whole
incident took on supernatural colorings. A phrase of explanation and
Donnegan would become again an ordinary human being; but while the small
link was a mystery the brain and body of George were numb. It was
necessary above all to continue inexplicable. Donnegan, turning, drew
the knife from the wall with a jerk. Half the length of the keen blade
had sunk into the wood--a mute tribute to the force and speed of
George's hand--and now Donnegan took the bright little weapon by the
point and gave it back to the other.
"If you throw for the body instead of the head," said Donnegan, "you
have a better chance of sending the point home."
He turned his back again upon the gaping giant, and drawing up a broken
box before the open door he sat down to contemplate the night. Not a
sound behind him. It might be that the big fellow had regained his nerve
and was stealing up for a second attempt; but Donnegan would have
wagered his soul that George Washington Green had his first and last
lesson and that he would rather play with bare lightning than ever again
cross his new master.
At length: "When you make down the bunks," said Donnegan, "put mine
farthest from the kitchen. You had better do that first."
"Yes--sir," came the deep bass murmur behind him.
And the heart of Donnegan stirred, for that "sir" meant many things.
Presently George crossed the floor with a burden; there was the "whish"
of the blankets being unrolled--and then a slight pause. It seemed to
him that he could hear a heavier breathing. Why? And searching swiftly
back through his memory he recalled that his other gun, a stub-nosed
thirty-eight, was in the center of his blanket roll.
And he knew that George had the weapon in his big hand. One pressure of
the trigger would put an end to Donnegan; one bullet would give George
the canvas sack and its small treasure.
"When you clean my gun," said Donnegan, "take the action to pieces and
go over every part."
He could actually feel the start of George.
Then: "Yes, sir," in a subdued whisper.
If the escape from the knife had startled George, this second incident
had convinced him that his new master possessed eyes in the back of his
head.
And Donnegan, paying no further heed to him, looked steadily across the
hillside to the white tent of Lou Macon, fifty yards away.
16
His plan, grown to full stature so swiftly, and springing out of
nothing, well nigh, had come out of his first determination to bring
Jack Landis back to Lou Macon; for he could interpret those blank, misty
eyes with which she had sat after the departure of Landis in only one
way. Yet to rule even the hand of big Jack Landis would be hard enough
and to rule his heart was quite another story. Remembering Nelly Lebrun,
he saw clearly that the only way in which he could be brought back to
Lou was first to remove Nelly as a possibility in his eyes. But how
remove Nelly as long as it was her cue from her father to play Landis
for his money? How remove her, unless it were possible to sweep Nelly
off her feet with another man? She might, indeed, be taken by storm, and
if she once slighted Landis for the sake of another, his boyish pride
would probably do the rest, and his next step would be to return to Lou
Macon.
All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of
Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes? His own rags had made him
shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made
him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in
Lebrun's. Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few
notorious escapades behind him--yes, Donnegan with such a flying start
might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment. But he must have
the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle
The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known,
feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few. He must accomplish
all these things beginning at a literal zero.
It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan. But the
paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan's actually sitting
at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with
him. He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes. And the
next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee
which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the
details of the problem. Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were
now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin
contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass. At that moment,
for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and
his feet were encased in slippers.
But clothes were the least part of his worries. To startle The Corner,
and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun,
overshadowing Jack Landis--that was the thing! But to startle The
Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just
now--where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now
averaged nearly three a day--to startle The Corner was like trying to
startle the theatrical world with a sensational play. Indeed, this
parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor
and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a
headliner. No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in
thought. Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation. At the
moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows.
"George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?"
"Yes, sir," from George. Since the night before he had appeared totally
subdued. Never once did he venture a comment. And ever Donnegan was
conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not
untinged by superstition. Once, in the middle of the night, he had
wakened and seen the vast shadow of George's form leaning over the sack
of money. Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant's mind, no
doubt. But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan's bunk,
the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally
George returned to his own place--softly as a gigantic cat. Even in the
master's sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that
he could now trust the fellow through anything. In the morning, at the
first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected
provisions. And a comfortable breakfast followed.
"Godwin," resumed Donnegan, "was talented in many ways."
The big man showed his teeth in silence; for since Godwin proposed the
sacrifice of the servant to preserve himself, George had apparently
altered his opinion of the gambler.
"A talented man, George, but he knew nothing about coffee. It should
never boil. It should only begin to cream through the crust. Let that
happen; take the pot from the fire; put it back and let the surface
cream again. Do this three times, and then pour the liquid from the
grounds and you have the right strength and the right heating. You
understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"And concerning the frying of bacon--"
At this point the interruption came in the shape of four men at the open
door; and one of these Donnegan recognized as the real estate dealer,
who had shrewdly set up tents and shacks on every favorable spot in The
Corner and was now reaping a rich harvest. Gloster was his name. It was
patent that he did not see in the man in the silk dressing robe the
unshaven miscreant of the day before who had rented the two tents.
"How'dee," he said, standing on the threshold, with the other three in
the background.
Donnegan looked at him and through him.
"My name is Gloster. I own this shack and I've come to find out why
you're in it."
"George," said Donnegan, "speak to him. Tel! him that I know houses are
scarce in The Corner; that I found this place by accident vacant; that I
intend to stay in it on purpose."
George Washington Green instantly rose to the situation; he swallowed a
vast grin and strode to the door. And though Mr. Gloster's face
crimsoned with rage at such treatment he controlled his voice. In The
Corner manhood was apt to be reckoned by the pound, and George was a
giant.
"I heard what your boss said, buddie," said Gloster. "But I've rented
this cabin and the next one to these three gents and their party, and
they want a home. Nothing to do but vacate. Which speed is the thing I
want. Thirty minutes will--"
"Thirty minutes don't change nothing," declared George in his deep, soft
voice.
The real estate man choked. Then: "You tell your boss that jumping a
cabin is like jumping a claim. They's a law in The Corner for gents like
him."
George made a gesture of helplessness; but Gloster turned to the three.
"Both shacks or none at all," said the spokesman. "One ain't big enough
to do us any good. But if this bird won't vamoose--"
He was a tolerably rough-appearing sort and he was backed by two of a
kind. No doubt dangerous action would have followed had not George shown
himself capable of rising to a height. He stepped from the door; he
approached Gloster and said in a confidential whisper that reached
easily to the other three: "They ain't any call for a quick play,
mister. Watch yo'selves. Maybe you don't know who the boss is?"
"And what's more, I don't care," said Gloster defiantly but with his
voice instinctively lowered. He stared past George, and behold, the man
in the dressing gown still sat in quiet and sipped his coffee.
"It's Donnegan," whispered George.
"Don--who's he?"
"You don't know Donnegan?"
The mingled contempt and astonishment of George would have moved a thing
of stone. It certainly troubled Gloster. And he turned to the three.
"Gents," he said, "they's two things we can do. Try the law--and law's a
lame lady in these parts--or throw him out. Say which?"
The three looked from Gloster to the shack; from the shack to Donnegan,
absently sipping his coffee; from Donnegan to George, who stood
exhibiting a broad grin of anticipated delight. The contrast was too
much for them.
There is one great and deep-seated terror in the mountain desert, and
that is for the man who may be other than he seems. The giant with the
rough voice and the boisterous ways is generally due for a stormy
passage west of the Rockies; but the silent man with the gentle manners
receives respect. Traditions live of desperadoes with exteriors of
womanish calm and the action of devils. And Donnegan sipping his morning
coffee fitted into the picture which rumor had painted. The three looked
at one another, declared that they had not come to fight for a house but
to rent one, that the real estate agent could go to the devil for all of
them, and that they were bound elsewhere. So they departed and left
Gloster both relieved and gloomy.
"Now," said Donnegan to George, "tell him that we'll take both the
shacks, and he can add fifty per cent to his old price."
The bargain was concluded on the spot; the money was paid by George.
Gloster went down the hill to tell The Corner that a mystery had hit the
town and George brought the canvas bag back to Donnegan with the top
still untied--as though to let it be seen that he had not pocketed any
of the gold.
"I don't want to count it," said Donnegan. "Keep the bag, George. Keep
money in your pocket. Treat both of us well. And when that's gone I'll
get more."
If the manner in which Donnegan had handled the renting of the cabins
had charmed George, he was wholly entranced by this last touch of free
spending. To serve a man who was his master was one thing; to serve one
who trusted him so completely was quite another. To live under the same
roof with a man who was a riddle was sufficiently delightful; but to be
allowed actually to share in the mystery was a superhappiness. He was
singing when he started to wash the dishes, and Donnegan went across the
hill to the tent of Lou Macon.
She was laying the fire before the tent; and the morning freshness had
cleared from her face any vestige of the trouble of the night before;
and in the slant light her hair was glorious, all ruffling gold,
semitransparent. She did not smile at him; but she could give the effect
of smiling while her face remained grave; it was her inward calm content
of which people were aware.
"You missed me?"
"Yes."
"You were worried?"
"No."
He felt himself put quietly at a distance. So he took her up the hill to
her new home--the shack beside his own; and George cooked her breakfast.
When she had been served, Donnegan drew the big man to one side.
"She's your mistress," said Donnegan. "Everything you do for her is
worth two things you do for me. Watch her as if she were in your eye.
And if a hair of her head is ever harmed--you see that fire burning
yonder--the bed of coals?"
"Sir?"
"I'll catch you and make a fire like that and feed you into it--by
inches!"
And the pale face of Donnegan became for an instant the face of a demon.
George Washington Green saw, and never forgot.
Afterward, in order that he might think, Donnegan got on one of the
horses he had taken from Godwin and rode over the hills. They were both
leggy chestnuts, with surprising signs of blood' and all the earmarks of
sprinters; but in Godwin's trade sharp getaways were probably often
necessary. The pleasure he took in the action of the animal kept him
from getting into his problem.
How to startle The Corner? How follow up the opening gun which he had
fired at the expense of Gloster and the three miners?
He broke off, later in the day, to write a letter to Colonel Macon,
informing him that Jack Landis was tied hard and fast by Nelly Lebrun
and that for the present nothing could be done except wait, unless the
colonel had suggestions to offer.
The thought of the colonel, however, stimulated Donnegan. And before
midafternoon he had thought of a thing to do.
17
The bar in Milligan's was not nearly so pretentious an affair as the bar
in Lebrun's, but it was of a far higher class. Milligan had even managed
to bring in a few bottles of wine, and he had dispensed cheap claret at
two dollars a glass when the miners wished to celebrate a rare occasion.
There were complaints, not of the taste, but of the lack of strength. So
Milligan fortified his liquor with pure alcohol and after that the
claret went like a sweet song in The Corner. Among other things, he sold
mint juleps; and it was the memory of the big sign proclaiming this fact
that furnished Donnegan with his idea.
He had George Washington Green put on his town clothes--a riding suit in
which Godwin had had him dress for the sake of formal occasions.
Resplendent in black boots, yellow riding breeches, and blue silk shirt,
the big man came before Donnegan for instructions.
"Go down to Milligan's," said the master. "They don't allow colored
people to enter the door, but you go to the door and start for the bar.
They won't let you go very far. When they stop you, tell them you come
from Donnegan and that you have to get me some mint for a julep.
Insist. The bouncer will start to throw you out."
George showed his teeth.
"No fighting back. Don't lift your hand. When you find that you can't
get in, come back here. Now, ride."
So George mounted the horse and went. Straight to Milligan's he rode and
dismounted; and half of The Corner's scant daytime population came into
the street to see the brilliant horseman pass.
Scar-faced Lewis met the big man at the door. And size meant little to
Andy, except an easier target.
"Well, confound my soul," said Lewis, blocking the way. "A Negro in
Milligan's? Get out!"
Big George did not move.
"I been sent, mister," he said mildly. "I been sent for enough mint to
make a julep."
"You been sent to the wrong place," declared Andy, hitching at his
cartridge belt. "Ain't you seen that sign?"
And he pointed to the one which eliminated colored patrons.
"Signs don't mean nothin' to my boss," said George.
"Who's he?"
"Donnegan."
"And who's Donnegan?"
It puzzled George. He scratched his head in bewilderment seeking for an
explanation. "Donnegan is--Donnegan," he explained.
"I heard Gloster talk about him," offered someone in the rapidly growing
group. "He's the gent that rented the two places on the hill."
"Tell him to come himse'f," said Andy Lewis. "We don't play no favorites
at Milligan's."
"Mister," said big George, "I don't want to bring no trouble on this
heah place, but--don't make me go back and bring Donnegan."
Even Andy Lewis was staggered by this assurance.
"Rules is rules," he finally decided. "And out you go."
Big George stepped from the doorway and mounted his horse.
"I call on all you gen'lemen," he said to the assembled group, "to say
that I done tried my best to do this peaceable. It ain't me that's sent
for Donnegan; it's him!"
He rode away, leaving Scar-faced Lewis biting his long mustaches in
anxiety. He was not exactly afraid, but he waited in the suspense which
comes before a battle. Moreover, an audience was gathering. The word
went about as only a rumor of mischief can travel. New men had gathered.
The few day gamblers tumbled out of Lebrun's across the street to watch
the fun. The storekeepers were in their doors. Lebrun himself, withered
and dark and yellow of eye, came to watch. And here and there through
the crowd there was a spot of color where the women of the town
appeared. And among others, Nelly Lebrun with Jack Landis beside her. On
the whole it was not a large crowd, but what it lacked in size it made
up in intense interest.
For though The Corner had had its share of troubles of fist and gun,
most of them were entirely impromptu affairs. Here was a fight in the
offing for which the stage was set, the actors set in full view of a
conveniently posted audience, and all the suspense of a curtain rising.
The waiting bore in upon Andy Lewis. Without a doubt he intended to kill
his man neatly and with dispatch, but the possibility of missing before
such a crowd as this sent a chill up and down his spine. If he failed
now his name would be a sign for laughter ever after in The Corner.
A hum passed down the street; it rose to a chuckle, and then fell away
to sudden silence, for Donnegan was coming.
He came on a prancing chestnut horse which sidled uneasily on a weaving
course, as though it wished to show off for the benefit of the rider and
the crowd at once. It was a hot afternoon and Donnegan's linen riding
suit shone an immaculate white. He came straight down the street, as
unaware of the audience which awaited him as though he rode in a park
where crowds were the common thing. Behind him came George Green, just a
careful length back. Rumor went before the two with a whisper on either
side.
"That's Donnegan. There he comes!"
"Who's Donnegan?"
"Gloster's man. The one who bluffed out Gloster and three others."
"He pulled his shooting iron and trimmed the whiskers of one of 'em with
a chunk of lead."
"D'you mean that?"
"What's that kind of a gent doing in The Corner?"
"Come to buy, I guess. He looks like money."
"Looks like a confounded dude."
"We'll see his hand in a minute."
Donnegan was now opposite the dance hall, and Andy Lewis had his hand
touching the butt of his gun, but though Donnegan was looking straight
at him, he kept his reins in one hand and his heavy riding crop in the
other. And without a move toward his own gun, he rode straight up to the
door of the dance hall, with Andy in front of it. George drew rein
behind him and turned upon the crowd one broad, superior grin.