And then he achieved his third step toward victory, for Landis jerked
his head around, saw the minute hand almost upon its mark, and swung
back with a shudder toward Donnegan. From the crowd there was a deep
breath.
And then Landis was seen to raise the muzzle of his gun again, and
crouch over it, leveling it straight at Donnegan. He, at least, would
send his bullet straight to the mark when that first chime went humming
through the big room.
But Donnegan? He made his last play to shatter the nerve of Landis. With
the minute hand on the very mark, he turned carelessly, the revolver
still dangling by the trigger guard, and laughed toward the crowd.
And out of the crowd there came a deep, sobbing breath of heartbreaking
suspense.
It told on Landis. Out of the corner of his eye Donnegan saw the muscles
of the man's face sag and tremble; saw him allow his gun to fall, in
imitation of Donnegan, to his side; and saw the long arm quivering.
And then the chime rang, with a metallic, sharp click and then a long
and reverberant clanging.
With a gasp Landis whipped up his gun and fired. Once, twice, again, the
weapon crashed. And, to the eternal wonder of all who saw it, at a
distance of five paces Landis three times missed his man. But Donnegan,
sitting back with a smile, raised his own gun almost with leisure,
unhurried, dropped it upon the mark, and sent a forty-five slug through
the right shoulder of Jack Landis.
The blow of the slug, like the punch of a strong man's fist, knocked the
victim out of his chair to the floor. He lay clutching at his shoulder.
"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, rising, "is there a doctor here?"
24
That was the signal for the rush that swept across the floor and left a
flood of marveling men around the fallen Landis. On the outskirts of
this tide, Donnegan stepped up to two men, Joe Rix and the Pedlar. They
greeted him with expectant glances.
"Gentlemen," said Donnegan, "will you step aside?"
They followed him to a distance from the clamoring group.
"I have to thank you," said Donnegan.
"For what?"
"For changing your minds," said Donnegan, and left them.
And afterward the Pedlar murmured with an oddly twisted face: "Cat-eye,
Joe. He can see in the dark! But I told you he was worth savin'."
"Speakin' in general," said Joe, "which you ain't hardly ever wrong when
you get stirred up about a thing."
"He's something new," the Pedlar said wisely.
"Ay, he's rare."
"But talkin' aside, suppose he was to meet up with Lord Nick?"
The smile of Joe Rix was marvelously evil.
"You got a great mind for great things," he declared. "You ought to of
been in politics."
In the meantime the doctor had been found. The wound had been cleansed.
It was a cruel one, for the bullet had torn its way through flesh and
sinew, and for many a week the fighting arm of Jack Landis would be
useless. It had, moreover, carried a quantity of cloth into the wound,
and it was almost impossible to cleanse the hole satisfactorily. As for
the bullet itself, it had whipped cleanly through, at that short
distance making nothing of its target.
A door was knocked off its hinges. But before the wounded man was placed
upon it, Lebrun appeared at the door into Milligan's. He was never a
very cheery fellow in appearance, and now he looked like a demoniac. He
went straight to Joe Rix and the skeleton form of the Pedlar. He raised
one finger as he looked at them.
"I've heard," said Lebrun. "Lord Nick likewise shall hear."
Joe Rix changed color. He bustled about, together with the Pedlar, and
lent a hand in carrying the wounded man to the house of Lebrun, for
Nelly Lebrun was to be the nurse of Landis.
In the meantime, Donnegan went up the hill with big George behind him.
Already he was a sinisterly marked man. Working through the crowd near
Lebrun's gambling hall, a drunkard in the midst of a song stumbled
against him. But the sight of the man with whom he had collided, sobered
him as swiftly as the lash of a whip across his face. It was impossible
for him, in that condition, to grow pale. But he turned a vivid purple.
"Sorry, Mr. Donnegan."
Donnegan, with a shrug of his shoulders, passed on. The crowd split
before him, for they had heard his name. There were brave men, he knew,
among them. Men who would fight to the last drop of blood rather than be
shamed, but they shrank from Donnegan without shame, as they would have
shrunk from the coming of a rattler had their feet been bare. So he went
easily through the crowd with big George in his wake, walking proudly.
For George had stood to one side and watched Donnegan indomitably beat
down the will of Jack Landis, and the sight would live in his mind
forever. Indeed, if Donnegan had bidden the sun to stand in the heavens,
the big man would have looked for obedience. That the forbearance of
Donnegan should have been based on a desire to serve a girl certainly
upset the mind of George, but it taught him an amazing thing--that
Donnegan was capable of affection.
The terrible Donnegan went on. In his wake the crowd closed slowly, for
many had paused to look after the little man. Until they came to the
outskirts of the town and climbed the hill toward the two shacks. The
one was, of course, dark. But the shack in which Lou Macon lived burst
with light. Donnegan paused to consider this miracle. He listened, and
he heard voices--the voice of a man, laughing loudly. Thinking something
was wrong, he hurried forward and called loudly.
What he saw when he was admitted made him speechless. Colonel Macon,
ensconced in his invalid chair, faced the door, and near him was Lou
Macon. Lou rose, half-frightened by the unexpected interruption, but the
liquid laughter of the colonel set all to rights at once.
"Come in, Donnegan. Come in, lad," said the colonel.
"I heard a man's voice," Donnegan said half apologetically. The sick
color began to leave his face, and relief swept over it slowly. "I
thought something might be wrong. I didn't think of you." And looking
down, as all men will in moments of relaxation from a strain, he did not
see the eyes of Lou Macon grow softly luminous as they dwelt upon him.
"Come in, George," went on the colonel, "and make yourself comfortable
in the kitchen. Close the door. Sit down, Donnegan. When your letter
came I saw that I was needed here. Lou, have you looked into our
friend's cabin? No? Nothing like a woman's touch to give a man the
feeling of homeliness, Lou. Step over to Donnegan's cabin and put it to
rights. Yes, I know that George takes care of it, but George is one
thing, and your care will be another. Besides, I must be alone with him
for a moment. Man talk confuses a girl, Lou. You shouldn't listen to
it."
She withdrew with that faint, dreamy smile with which she so often heard
the instructions of her father; as though she were only listening with
half of her mind. When she was gone, though the door to the kitchen
stood wide open, and big George was in it, the colonel lowered his bass
voice so successfully that it was as safe as being alone with Donnegan.
"And now for facts," he began.
"But," said Donnegan, "how--that chair--how in the world have you come
here?"
The colonel shook his head.
"My dear boy, you grieve and disappoint me. The manner in which a thing
is done is not important. Mysteries are usually simply explained. As for
my small mystery--a neighbor on the way to The Corner with a wagon
stopped in, and I asked him to take me along. So here I am. But now for
your work here, lad?"
"Bad," said Donnegan.
"I gathered you had been unfortunate. And now you have been fighting?"
"You have heard?"
"I see it in your eye, Donnegan. When a man has been looking fear in the
face for a time, an image of it remains in his eyes. They are wider,
glazed with the other thing."
"It was forced on me," said Donnegan. "I have shot Landis."
He was amazed to see the colonel was vitally affected. His lips remained
parted over his next word, and one eyelid twitched violently. But the
spasm passed over quickly. When he raised his perfect hands and pressed
them together just under his chin. He smiled in a most winning manner
that made the blood of Donnegan run cold.
"Donnegan," he said softly, "I see that I have misjudged you. I
underestimated you. I thought, indeed, that your rare qualities were
qualified by painful weaknesses. But now I see that you are a man, and
from this moment we shall act together with open minds. So you have done
it? Tush, then I need not have taken my trip. The work is done; the
mines come to me as the heir of Jack. And yet, poor boy, I pity him! He
misjudged me; he should not have ventured to this deal with Lord Nick
and his compatriots!"
"Wait," exclaimed Donnegan. "You're wrong; Landis is not dead."
Once more the colonel was checked, but this time the alteration in his
face was no more than a comma's pause in a long balanced sentence. It
was impossible to obtain more than one show of emotion from him in a
single conversation.
"Not dead? Well, Donnegan, that is unfortunate. And after you had
punctured him you had no chance to send home the finishing shot?"
Donnegan merely watched the colonel and tapped his bony finger against
the point of his chin.
"Ah," murmured the colonel, "I see another possibility. It is almost as
good--it may even be better than his death. You have disabled him, and
having done this you at once take him to a place where he shall be under
your surveillance--this, in fact, is a very comfortable outlook--for me
and my interests. But for you, Donnegan, how the devil do you benefit by
having Jack flat on his back, sick, helpless, and in a perfect position
to excite all the sympathies of Lou?"
Now, Donnegan had known cold-blooded men in his day, but that there
existed such a man as the colonel had never come into his mind. He
looked upon the colonel, therefore, with neither disgust nor anger, but
with a distant and almost admiring wonder. For perfect evil always wins
something akin to admiration from more common people.
"Well," continued the colonel, a little uneasy under this silent
scrutiny--silence was almost the only thing in the world that could
trouble him--"well, Donnegan, my lad, this is your plan, is it not?"
"To shoot down Landis, then take possession of him and while I nurse him
back to health hold a gun--metaphorically speaking--to his head and make
him do as I please: sign some lease, say, of the mines to you?"
The colonel shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair,
brought the tips of his fingers together under his vast chin, and smiled
benevolently upon Donnegan.
"It is as I thought," he murmured. "Donnegan, you are rare; you are
exquisite!"
"And you," said Donnegan, "are a scoundrel."
"Exactly. I am very base." The colonel laughed. "You and I alone can
speak with intimate knowledge of me." His chuckle shook all his body,
and set the folds of his face quivering. His mirth died away when he saw
Donnegan come to his feet.
"Eh?" he called.
"Good-by," said Donnegan.
"But where--Landis--Donnegan, what devil is in your eye?"
"A foolish devil, Colonel Macon. I surrender the benefits of all my
work for you and go to make sure that you do not lay your hands upon
Jack Landis."
The colonel opened and closed his lips foolishly like a fish gasping
silently out of water. It was rare indeed for the colonel to appear
foolish.
"In heaven's name, Donnegan!"
The little man smiled. He had a marvelously wicked smile, which came
from the fact that his lips could curve while his eyes remained bright
and straight, and malevolently unwrinkled. He laid his hand on the knob
of the door.
"Donnegan," cried the colonel, gray of face, "give me one minute."
25
Donnegan stepped to a chair and sat down. He took out his watch and held
it in his hand, studying the dial, and the colonel knew that his time
limit was taken literally.
"I swear to you," he said, "that if you can help me to the possession of
Landis while he is ill, I shall not lay a finger upon him or harm him in
any way."
"You swear?" said Donnegan with that ugly smile.
"My dear boy, do you think I am reckless enough to break a promise I
have given to you?"
The cynical glance of Donnegan probed the colonel to the heart, but the
eyes of the fat man did not wince. Neither did he speak again, but the
two calmly stared at each other. At the end of the minute, Donnegan
slipped the watch into his pocket.
"I am ready to listen to reason," he said. And the colonel passed one of
his strong hands across his forehead.
"Now," and he sighed, "I feel that the crisis is passed. With a man of
your caliber, Donnegan, I fear a snap judgment above all things. Since
you give me a chance to appeal to your reason I feel safe. As from the
first, I shall lay my cards upon the table. You are fond of Lou. I took
it for granted that you would welcome a chance to brush Landis out of
your path. It appears that I am wrong. I admit my error. Only fools
cling to convictions; wise men are ready to meet new viewpoints. Very
well. You wish to spare Landis for reasons of your own which I do not
pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder
why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to
him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I
intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through
a legal act signed by the hand of Jack."
"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly.
A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan
caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel
possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he,
Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man.
"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!"
"Without force?"
"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and
therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what
may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I
have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger
against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear
may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I
dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite
schools of action."
The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the
colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of
the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be
very apt to do as the colonel wished.
"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly.
"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the
self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would.
In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that
would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well--win her away
from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was
flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull.
I had to strike him down in self-defense.
"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you
omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important--to me.
What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?"
"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou,
though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well,
Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your
gun that struck down Landis, she'll hate you, my boy, as if you were a
snake. But if she knows that after all you were forced into the fight,
and that you took the first opportunity to bring Jack into
my--er--paternal care--her sentiments may change. No, they will
change."
Donnegan left his chair and began to pace the floor. He was no more
self-conscious in the presence of the colonel than a man might be in the
presence of his own evil instincts. And it was typical of the colonel's
insight that he made no attempt to influence the decision of Donnegan
after this point was reached. He allowed him to work out the matter in
his own way. At length, Donnegan paused.
"What's the next step?" he asked.
The colonel sighed, and by that sigh he admitted more than words could
tell.
"A reasonable man," he said, "is the delight of my heart. The next step,
Donnegan, is to bring Jack Landis to this house."
"Tush!" said Donnegan. "Bring him away from Lebrun? Bring him away from
the tigers of Lord Nick's gang? I saw them at Milligan's place tonight.
A bad set, Colonel Macon."
"A set you can handle," said the colonel, calmly.
"Ah?"
"The danger will in itself be the thing that tempts you," he went on.
"To go among those fellows, wild as they are, and bring Jack Landis away
to this house."
"Bring him here," said Donnegan with indescribable bitterness, "so that
she may pity his wounds? Bring him here where she may think of him and
tend him and grow to hate me?"
"Grow to fear you," said the colonel.
"An excellent thing to accomplish," said Donnegan coldly.
"I have found it so," remarked the colonel, and lighted a cigarette.
He drew the smoke so deep that when it issued again from between his
lips it was a most transparent, bluish vapor. Fear came upon Donnegan.
Not fear, surely, of the fat man, helpless in his invalid's chair, but
fear of the mind working ceaselessly behind those hazy eyes. He turned
without a word and went to the door. The moment it opened under his
hand, he felt a hysterical impulse to leap out of the room swiftly and
slam the door behind him--to put a bar between him and the eye of the
colonel, just as a child leaps from the dark room into the lighted and
closes the door quickly to keep out the following night. He had to
compel himself to move with proper dignity.
When outside, he sighed; the quiet of the night was like a blessing
compared with the ordeal of the colonel's devilish coldness. Macon's
advice had seemed almost logical the moment before. Win Lou Macon by the
power of fear, well enough, for was not fear the thing which she had
followed all her life? Was it not through fear that the colonel himself
had reduced her to such abject, unquestioning obedience?
He went thoughtfully to his own cabin, and, down-headed in his musings,
he became aware with a start of Lou Macon in the hut. She had changed
the room as her father had bidden her to do. Just wherein the difference
lay, Donnegan could not tell. There was a touch of evergreen in one
corner; she had laid a strip of bright cloth over the rickety little
table, and in ten minutes she had given the hut a semblance of permanent
livableness. Donnegan saw her now, with some vestige of the smile of her
art upon her face; but she immediately smoothed it to perfect gravity.
He had never seen such perfect self-command in a woman.
"Is there anything more that I can do?" she asked, moving toward the
door.
"Nothing."
"Good night."
"Wait."
She still seemed to be under the authority which the colonel had
delegated to Donnegan when they started for The Corner. She turned, and
without a word came back to him. And a pang struck through Donnegan.
What would he not have given if she had come at his call not with these
dumb eyes, but with a spark of kindliness? Instead, she obeyed him as a
soldier obeys a commander.
"There has been trouble," said Donnegan.
"Yes?" she said, but there was no change in her face.
"It was forced upon me." Then he added: "It amounted to a shooting
affair."
There was a change in her face now, indeed. A glint came in her eyes,
and the suggestion of the colonel which he had once or twice before
sensed in her, now became more vivid than ever before. The same
contemptuous heartlessness, which was the colonel's most habitual
expression, now looked at Donnegan out of the lovely face of the girl.
"They were fools to press you to the wall," she said. "I have no pity
for them."
For a moment Donnegan only stared at her; on what did she base her
confidence in his prowess as a fighting man?
"It was only one man," he said huskily.
Ah, there he had struck her home! As though the words were a burden, she
shrank from him; then she slipped suddenly close to him and caught both
his hands. Her head was raised far back; she had pressed close to him;
she seemed in every line of her body to plead with him against himself,
and all the veils which had curtained her mind from him dropped away. He
found himself looking down into eyes full of fire and shadow; and eager
lips; and the fiber of her voice made her whole body tremble.
"It isn't Jack?" she pleaded. "It isn't Jack that you've fought with?"