MACKLYN MORGAN APPEARS.
"Mate," said Cap'n Wiley, as they hurried along the street on their way
back to the hotel, "you are in every minute particular the finest
specimen of exuberant manhood that it has ever been my fortune to
associate with. Of course, I felt sure you would do up that fellow, but
you came through the seething and turgid fray without so much as a scar.
I don't believe he even touched you once."
"Yes, he did," said Merry, "a couple of times. He hit me on the
shoulder, but the blow was spent, and he caught me a fair one over the
heart. I leaped away just in time to spoil the effectiveness of that."
"But you are certainly the supreme fighter of this period of scrappers.
If you chose to enter the ring, you might be champion of the world. It
would delight my soul to be able to put up a real fight like that."
"It disgusts me," returned Merry.
"Wha-a-at?" gasped the sailor. "I think I fail to catch your meaning."
"It disgusts me," repeated Merry. "If there is anything that makes me
feel degraded, it is being compelled to take part in a fight of that
sort. I was practically forced into it on this occasion. I saw those
fellows meant mischief, and I felt that the only way to settle the
affair was to give that big duffer a thumping. It's about the only
reasoning a man can use on men of his calibre. Words and arguments fail
to affect them, and a good thrashing moves them to respect."
"But do you mean to tell me," said Wiley, "that you are not an admirer
of the manly art of self-defense? Do you mean to tell me that you take
no interest in the prize ring and the glorious heroes of it?"
"If there is anything for which I have absolutely no use," said Merry,
"it is a professional prize fighter. To me prize fighting is the most
degrading of all the so-called sports."
"This is more than passing strange," said the sailor. "If such can be
the case, will you elucidate to me how it happened that you ever learned
to use your little dukes in such a marvelously scientific manner?"
"I think it is the duty of every American youth to learn to defend
himself with his fists. No matter how peacefully inclined he is, no
matter how much of a gentleman he is, no matter how much forbearance he
may have, there is bound to come a time in his life when he will be
forced to fight or suffer insults or bodily injury. As a rule, I never
fight if I can avoid it. In this instance I might have avoided it for
the time being, but I was certain that if I did so the matter would
culminate in something more serious than a fistic encounter. Had I
escaped from that saloon without meeting Spotted Dan, he and all his
partners would have regarded me as afraid of them, and you know very
well that they would have sought to force trouble on me at every
opportunity. The easiest way to settle the whole matter was to fight
then and there, and therefore I did so."
"Well, you oughter feel proud of the job you did!"
"Instead of that, I feel as if I had lowered and degraded myself. I'll
not throw off the feeling for some time. To make the matter still worse,
it was a saloon fight. However, I do not go there to drink. Out in this
country the man who does business with the men he finds here is
sometimes compelled to enter a saloon."
"That's true--quite true," sighed Wiley. "I sometimes find it necessary
to enter one myself."
By this time they had reached the hotel, and as they entered the office
Merry suddenly paused in surprise, his eyes fastened on a man who stood
before the desk.
This man was tall and well dressed, with a somewhat ministerial face and
flowing grayish side whiskers. He was speaking to the clerk.
"I see here the name of Mr. Frank Merriwell on the register," he was
saying. "Can you tell me where to find him?"
"Mr. Merriwell!" called the clerk. "Here is a gentleman inquiring for
you."
The man at the desk turned and faced Frank.
"Is that so?" muttered Frank. "It is Macklyn Morgan!"
Morgan, one of the money kings of the great Consolidated Mining
Association of America, looked Merriwell over with a glance as cold as
ice.
"How do you do, sir?" he said, in a calm, low voice. "It seems that I
have found you at last."
"From your words," returned Merry, "I should fancy you had been looking
for me for some time?"
"I have."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, I have looked for you in Denver, in Holbrook, and at your Queen
Mystery Mine."
"It appears that I have given you considerable trouble?"
"Not a little; but I was determined to find you."
"You have done so."
"Yes; you can't hide from me."
"I have not the least desire in the world to hide from you, Mr. Morgan."
"You say so," returned the man, with a cold sneer; "but I am certain you
have taken pains to keep out of my way for the last two weeks."
"You are utterly mistaken. I would not take pains to keep out of your
way for two minutes. What do you want of me?"
"I have a little matter to talk over with you--some private business."
"I was not aware that there could be business dealings of any sort
between us, Macklyn Morgan."
"Be careful!" warned Morgan, lifting a thin finger. "You are putting on
a very bold face."
"And is there any reason why I should not? I know, Mr. Morgan, of your
methods at the time of my affair with the C. M. A. of A."
"I have not forgotten that."
"Nor I. Nor do I regret that, although the C. M. A. of A. was compelled
to give up its unlawful efforts to rob me, you entered into a
combination with another moneyed rascal to accomplish the work."
"Be careful!" again warned Morgan. "I am not the man to whom you can
talk in such a manner."
"Like any other man, you are one to whom I can tell the truth. If the
truth cuts, so much the worse for you, sir."
"Don't get on your high horse, young man; it will be better for you if
you refrain. Don't be so free with your accusations, for you will soon
find that there is an accusation against you of a most serious nature."
"What new game are you up to, Mr. Morgan? It seems to me that the
failures of the past should teach you the folly of your plots and
schemes."
"I have told you that I wish to have a private talk with you, young man.
Perhaps you had better grant me the privilege."
"As far as I am concerned, there is no necessity of doing so; but really
I am curious to know just what you're up to. This being the case, I will
not object. I have a room, and we may go there."
"Your record indicates that you are a desperate character, Merriwell. I
should hesitate to place myself alone with you in any room unless you
were first disarmed. If you will leave your weapons here at the desk we
will go to your room."
"I am quite willing in case you leave your own revolver, sir."
"I never carry a revolver, Merriwell."
"But you have one in your pocket now," declared Frank positively.
He seemed to know this to be a fact, and, after a moment's hesitation,
Morgan took out a small revolver, which he laid upon the desk.
"I thought it best to provide myself with such an article while in this
part of the country," he said. "There it is. I will leave it here."
Immediately Frank walked to the desk and placed his own pistol upon it.
"Come," he said. "You may follow me to my room."
In Frank's room, with the door closed behind them, Merry motioned to a
chair.
"Sit down, Mr. Morgan," he said, "and make whatever statement you
choose. I will listen."
Morgan took the chair.
"First," observed Morgan, "I wish to speak of Milton Sukes."
"I thought likely."
"You know the interests of Mr. Sukes and myself were closely allied."
Frank laughed.
"Yes; although Sukes was at the head of the concern, I know that you
conspired with him to defraud me."
"Have a care!" again warned Morgan. "You are now dealing with a man of
power and influence."
"I have dealt with such men before. As a bugaboo, the mere fact that you
have money does not frighten me in the least, Mr. Morgan. If, like
Sukes, you fancy that money gives you power to commit any fraud, like
Sukes, you are to learn your mistake."
"I know all about your scandalous attack on Mr. Sukes in Denver. I know
of your attempted blackmailing of him, Merriwell. You did try to
blackmail him, and you can't deny it."
"You lie, Morgan!" retorted Frank, with perfect control of himself.
"Then what was the meaning of your threat to expose his mining
operations?"
"Morgan, Milton Sukes pitted himself against me and attempted to rob me
of my mine. When he did so he aroused my fighting blood. He was defeated
in every effort he made against me, and the decision against him in the
courts of the Territory was the final blow that upset his plans. In the
meantime I had learned that his Great Northwest Territory Mining Company
was a swindle of the most outrageous sort. I had threatened to expose
him, and, when he found himself whipped to a standstill, he sought to
enter into a compact with me, by which I was to remain silent and let
him go on with his dishonest work.
"He sent one of his tools to me with a contract for me to sign. I tore
it up. As I say, my blood had been aroused, and I warned him then that
neither cajolery nor money could silence me. I warned him that I would
expose and disgrace him, so that every honest man in the country would
regard him with scorn and aversion. Had it been mere blackmail, Sukes
could have silenced me with money. He sought to do so, but found he was
barking up the wrong tree. He threatened libel suits and all that; but I
kept on at my work. As a last desperate resort he paid an employee of
mine to fire my office in Denver, and the result of that affair was that
the treacherous fellow who betrayed me fancied I had perished in the
fire. It drove him insane. He pursued Sukes relentlessly, and it is
certain that Sukes was finally killed by that man's hand."
"So you say, Merriwell; but I hold quite a different opinion--quite a
different opinion."
"Whatever your opinion may be, Morgan, it is a matter of absolute
indifference to me."
Macklyn Morgan showed his teeth.
"You may think so just now, young man, but you will change your mind. I
have been investigating this matter thoroughly. I have followed it up
faithfully. I know how and where Sukes was shot. I have taken pains to
secure all the evidence possible. You were present at the time. You were
there in disguise. Why did you pursue and hunt him in disguise? It looks
black for you, Mr. Merriwell--it looks black. These things will count
against you at the day of reckoning, which is surely coming. How will
you explain your behavior to the satisfaction of the law?"
"That's no matter to worry you, Macklyn Morgan," calmly returned
Merriwell. "If there is anything of explanation, I shall have the
explaining to do. Don't trouble yourself over it."
"You have a great deal of nerve just now, young man; but it will
weaken--it will weaken. Wait until you are arrested on the charge of
murder. Had you killed an ordinary man it might have been different; but
Milton Sukes was a man of money, a man of power, a man of influence. All
his money, if necessary, will be used to convict you. You cannot escape.
Just as true as this case is put into the hands of the law you will
eventually be hanged."
In his cold, calm, accusing way, Morgan was doing everything in his
power to unsettle Frank's nerves. As he spoke, he watched the youth as a
hawk watches its prey.
"I fail to see your object in coming to me with this," said Merry. "It
seems most remarkable. If you intend to push such a charge against me,
why don't you go ahead and do it? Why do you tell me what you
contemplate doing? The proper method is to secure every scrap of
evidence and then have me arrested without warning and thrown into
jail."
"I have all the evidence I need," asserted the money king. "Merriwell, I
have men who will swear that you fired that shot."
"Did they see me do it?"
"They did."
"Most amazing, Morgan! Are you aware of the fact that Sukes was shot in
the dark? Are you aware that every light in the place had first been
extinguished by other shots? Will you explain to me how any one could
have seen me shoot him under such circumstances?"
"One of the men was standing within two feet of you. He saw the flash of
your weapon, as did the other man, who was a little farther away."
Frank smiled derisively.
"Wonderful evidence!" he said. "I doubt a great deal if a jury anywhere
in this country would convict a man on such proof. At the time, as I
think you will acknowledge, there was another man who did some shooting.
I deny that I fired the shot. But even had I done so, who could say that
it was not I who shot out the lights and the other man who killed Milton
Sukes?"
"Did you know that you left a pistol with your name upon it in a hotel
where you stopped in Snowflake?"
"I did nothing of the sort."
"You did, Merriwell! The bullet that killed Sukes is in my possession.
It is a bullet such as would have been fired from that pistol. The
pistol is in my possession, Merriwell! I have the evidence against you,
and you can't escape!"
"Although you are lying in every particular, Morgan, I am curious to
know what your game may be. What is behind this singular procedure of
yours?"
Macklyn Morgan seemed to hesitate for a few moments, and then, leaning
forward on the edge of his chair and holding up one finger, he suddenly
exclaimed:
"There is only one escape for you!"
"And that is----"
"If I abandon the case you may escape. If I drop it there will be no one
to push it."
"And you will drop it?" questioned Merry, with pretended anxiety. "On
what inducements?"
"Now you're coming to your senses," nodded the man. "Now I fancy you
comprehend just where you are. You possess several mines, and they are
of considerable value. I have spent some money to get possession of one
of those mines, having, as both Milton Sukes and I believed, a good
claim to it. I speak of the Queen Mystery. Frank Merriwell, the day you
deed over to me the Queen Mystery and give me possession of it I will
abandon my determination to prosecute you for murder. I will even place
such proofs as I have in your hands and you may destroy them. Of course
there will remain the two men who are ready to swear they saw you fire
the shot, but they may be easily silenced. That's my proposition. And it
is by that method alone you can save your neck. Now give me your
answer."
"I will!" exclaimed Merriwell suddenly.
And then, with a spring, he seized Macklyn Morgan by the collar.
Immediately he ran the man to the door, which he hurled open.
"That is my answer!" he cried, as he kicked Morgan out of the room.