LADD, Lash, Thorne, Mercedes, they were all held tight in Belding's
arms. Then he ran to Blanco Diablo. For once the great horse was
gentle, quiet, glad. He remembered this kindest of masters and reached
for him with warm, wet muzzle.
Dick Gale was standing bowed over Nell's slight form, almost hidden in
his arms. Belding hugged them both. He was like a boy. He saw Ben
Chase and his son slip away under the trees, but the circumstances
meant nothing to him then.
"Dick! Dick!" he roared. "Is it you?... Say, who do you think's
here--here, in Forlorn River?"
Gale gripped Belding with a hand as rough and hard as a file and as
strong as a vise. But he did not speak a word. Belding thought Gale's
eyes would haunt him forever.
It was then three more persons came upon the scene--Elsie Gale, running
swiftly, her father assisting Mrs. Gale, who appeared about to faint.
"Belding! Who on earth's that?" cried Dick Hoarsely.
"Quien sabe, my son," replied Belding; and now his voice seemed a
little shaky. "Nell, come here. Give him a chance."
Belding slipped his arm round Nell, and whispered in her ear. "This 'll
be great!"
Elsie Gale's face was white and agitated, a face expressing extreme joy.
"Oh, brother! Mama saw you--Papa saw you, and never knew you! But I
knew you when you jumped quick--that way--off your horse. And now I
don't know you. You wild man! You giant! You splendid barbarian!...
Mama, Papa, hurry! It is Dick! Look at him. Just look at him! Oh-h,
thank God!"
Belding turned away and drew Nell with him. In another second she and
Mercedes were clasped in each other's arms. Then followed a time of
joyful greetings all round.
The Yaqui stood leaning against a tree watching the welcoming home of
the lost. No one seemed to think of him, until Belding, ever mindful
of the needs of horses, put a hand on Blanco Diablo and called to Yaqui
to bring the others. They led the string of whites down to the barn,
freed them of wet and dusty saddles and packs, and turned them loose in
the alfalfa, now breast-high. Diablo found his old spirit; Blanco Sol
tossed his head and whistled his satisfaction; White Woman pranced to
and fro; and presently they all settled down to quiet grazing. How
good it was for Belding to see those white shapes against the rich
background of green! His eyes glistened. It was a sight he had never
expected to see again. He lingered there many moments when he wanted
to hurry back to his rangers.
At last he tore himself away from watching Blanco Diablo and returned
to the house. It was only to find that he might have spared himself
the hurry. Jim and Ladd were lying on the beds that had not held them
for so many months. Their slumber seemed as deep and quiet as death.
Curiously Belding gazed down upon them. They had removed only boots and
chaps. Their clothes were in tatters. Jim appeared little more than
skin and bones, a long shape, dark and hard as iron. Ladd's appearance
shocked Belding. The ranger looked an old man, blasted, shriveled,
starved. Yet his gaunt face, though terrible in its records of
tortures, had something fine and noble, even beautiful to Belding, in
its strength, its victory.
Thorne and Mercedes had disappeared. The low murmur of voices came
from Mrs. Gale's room, and Belding concluded that Dick was still with
his family. No doubt he, also, would soon seek rest and sleep.
Belding went through the patio and called in at Nell's door. She was
there sitting by her window. The flush of happiness had not left her
face, but she looked stunned, and a shadow of fear lay dark in her
eyes. Belding had intended to talk. He wanted some one to listen to
him. The expression in Nell's eyes, however, silenced him. He had
forgotten. Nell read his thought in his face, and then she lost all
her color and dropped her head. Belding entered, stood beside her with
a hand on hers. He tried desperately hard to think of the right thing
to say, and realized so long as he tried that he could not speak at all.
"Nell--Dick's back safe and sound," he said, slowly. "That's the main
thing. I wish you could have seen his eyes when he held you in his
arms out there.... Of course, Dick's coming knocks out your trip East
and changes plans generally. We haven't had the happiest time lately.
But now it'll be different. Dick's as true as a Yaqui. He'll chase
that Chase fellow, don't mistake me.... Then mother will be home soon.
She'll straighten out this--this mystery. And Nell--however it turns
out--I know Dick Gale will feel just the same as I feel. Brace up now,
girl."
Belding left the patio and traced thoughtful steps back toward the
corrals. He realized the need of his wife. If she had been at home he
would not have come so close to killing two men. Nell would never have
fallen so low in spirit. Whatever the real truth of the tragedy of his
wife's life, it would not make the slightest difference to him. What
hurt him was the pain mother and daughter had suffered, were suffering
still. Somehow he must put an end to that pain.
He found the Yaqui curled up in a corner of the barn in as deep a sleep
as that of the rangers. Looking down at him, Belding felt again the
rush of curious thrilling eagerness to learn all that had happened
since the dark night when Yaqui had led the white horses away into the
desert. Belding curbed his impatience and set to work upon tasks he
had long neglected. Presently he was interrupted by Mr. Gale, who came
out, beside himself with happiness and excitement. He flung a hundred
questions at Belding and never gave him time to answer one, even if
that had been possible. Finally, when Mr. Gale lost his breath,
Belding got a word in. "See here, Mr. Gale, you know as much as I
know. Dick's back. They're all back--a hard lot, starved, burned, torn
to pieces, worked out to the limit I never saw in desert travelers, but
they're alive--alive and well, man! Just wait. Just gamble I won't
sleep or eat till I hear that story. But they've got to sleep and eat."
Belding gathered with growing amusement that besides the joy,
excitement, anxiety, impatience expressed by Mr. Gale there was
something else which Belding took for pride. It pleased him. Looking
back, he remembered some of the things Dick had confessed his father
thought of him. Belding's sympathy had always been with the boy. But
he had learned to like the old man, to find him kind and wise, and to
think that perhaps college and business had not brought out the best in
Richard Gale. The West had done that, however, as it had for many a
wild youngster; and Belding resolved to have a little fun at the
expense of Mr. Gale. So he began by making a few remarks that appeared
to rob Dick's father of both speech and breath.
"And don't mistake me," concluded Belding, "just keep out of earshot
when Laddy tells us the story of that desert trip, unless you're
hankering to have your hair turn pure white and stand curled on end and
freeze that way."
About the middle of the forenoon on the following day the rangers
hobbled out of the kitchen to the porch.
"I'm a sick man, I tell you," Ladd was complaining, "an' I gotta be
fed. Soup! Beef tea! That ain't so much as wind to me. I want about
a barrel of bread an' butter, an' a whole platter of mashed potatoes
with gravy an' green stuff--all kinds of green stuff--an' a whole big
apple pie. Give me everythin' an' anythin' to eat but meat. Shore I
never, never want to taste meat again, an' sight of a piece of sheep
meat would jest about finish me.... Jim, you used to be a human bein'
that stood up for Charlie Ladd."
"Laddy, I'm lined up beside you with both guns," replied Jim,
plaintively. "Hungry? Say, the smell of breakfast in that kitchen
made my mouth water so I near choked to death. I reckon we're gettin'
most onhuman treatment."
"But I'm a sick man," protested Ladd, "an' I'm agoin' to fall over in a
minute if somebody doesn't feed me. Nell, you used to be fond of me."
"Oh, Laddy, I am yet," replied Nell.
"Shore I don't believe it. Any girl with a tender heart just couldn't
let a man starve under her eyes... Look at Dick, there. I'll bet he's
had something to eat, mebbe potatoes an' gravy, an' pie an'--"
"Laddy, Dick has had no more than I gave you--indeed, not nearly so
much."
"Shore he's had a lot of kisses then, for he hasn't hollered onct about
this treatment."
"Perhaps he has," said Nell, with a blush; "and if you think that--they
would help you to be reasonable I might--I'll--"
"Well, powerful fond as I am of you, just now kisses 'll have to run
second to bread an' butter."
"Oh, Laddy, what a gallant speech!" laughed Nell. "I'm sorry, but I've
Dad's orders."
"Laddy," interrupted Belding, "you've got to be broke in gradually to
eating. Now you know that. You'd be the severest kind of a boss if
you had some starved beggars on your hands."
"But I'm sick--I'm dyin'," howled Ladd.
"You were never sick in your life, and if all the bullet holes I see in
you couldn't kill you, why, you never will die."
"Can I smoke?" queried Ladd, with sudden animation. "My Gawd, I used
to smoke. Shore I've forgot. Nell, if you want to be reinstated in my
gallery of angels, just find me a pipe an' tobacco."
"I've hung onto my pipe," said Jim, thoughtfully. "I reckon I had it
empty in my mouth for seven years or so, wasn't it, Laddy? A long
time! I can see the red lava an' the red haze, an' the red twilight
creepin' up. It was hot an' some lonely. Then the wind, and always
that awful silence! An' always Yaqui watchin' the west, an' Laddy with
his checkers, an' Mercedes burnin' up, wastin' away to nothin' but
eyes! It's all there--I'll never get rid--"
"Chop that kind of talk," interrupted Belding, bluntly. "Tell us where
Yaqui took you--what happened to Rojas--why you seemed lost for so
long."
"I reckon Laddy can tell all that best; but when it comes to Rojas's
finish I'll tell what I seen, an' so'll Dick an' Thorne. Laddy missed
Rojas's finish. Bar none, that was the--"
"I'm a sick man, but I can talk," put in Ladd, "an' shore I don't want
the whole story exaggerated none by Jim."
Ladd filled the pipe Nell brought, puffed ecstatically at it, and
settled himself upon the bench for a long talk. Nell glanced
appealingly at Dick, who tried to slip away. Mercedes did go, and was
followed by Thorne. Mr. Gale brought chairs, and in subdued excitement
called his wife and daughter. Belding leaned forward, rendered all the
more eager by Dick's reluctance to stay, the memory of the quick tragic
change in the expression of Mercedes's beautiful eyes, by the strange
gloomy cast stealing over Ladd's face.
The ranger talked for two hours--talked till his voice weakened to a
husky whisper. At the conclusion of his story there was an impressive
silence. Then Elsie Gale stood up, and with her hand on Dick's
shoulder, her eyes bright and warm as sunlight, she showed the rangers
what a woman thought of them and of the Yaqui. Nell clung to Dick,
weeping silently. Mrs. Gale was overcome, and Mr. Gale, very white and
quiet, helped her up to her room.
"The Indian! the Indian!" burst out Belding, his voice deep and
rolling. "What did I tell you? Didn't I say he'd be a godsend?
Remember what I said about Yaqui and some gory Aztec knifework? So he
cut Rojas loose from that awful crater wall, foot by foot, finger by
finger, slow and terrible? And Rojas didn't hang long on the choya
thorns? Thank the Lord for that!... Laddy, no story of Camino del
Diablo can hold a candle to yours. The flight and the fight were jobs
for men. But living through this long hot summer and coming
out--that's a miracle. Only the Yaqui could have done it. The Yaqui!
The Yaqui!"
"Shore. Charlie Ladd looks up at an Indian these days. But Beldin',
as for the comin' out, don't forget the hosses. Without grand old Sol
an' Diablo, who I don't hate no more, an' the other Blancos, we'd never
have got here. Yaqui an' the hosses, that's my story!"
Early in the afternoon of the next day Belding encountered Dick at the
water barrel.
"Belding, this is river water, and muddy at that," said Dick. "Lord
knows I'm not kicking. But I've dreamed some of our cool running
spring, and I want a drink from it."
"Never again, son. The spring's gone, faded, sunk, dry as dust."
"Dry!" Gale slowly straightened. "We've had rains. The river's full.
The spring ought to be overflowing. What's wrong? Why is it dry?"
"Dick, seeing you're interested, I may as well tell you that a big
charge of nitroglycerin choked my spring."
"Nitroglycerin?" echoed Gale. Then he gave a quick start. "My mind's
been on home, Nell, my family. But all the same I felt something was
wrong here with the ranch, with you, with Nell... Belding, that ditch
there is dry. The roses are dead. The little green in that grass has
come with the rains. What's happened? The ranch's run down. Now I
look around I see a change."
"Some change, yes," replied Belding, bitterly. "Listen, son."
Briefly, but not the less forcibly for that, Belding related his story
of the operations of the Chases.
Astonishment appeared to be Gale's first feeling. "Our water gone, our
claims gone, our plans forestalled! Why, Belding, it's unbelievable.
Forlorn River with promoters, business, railroad, bank, and what not!"
Suddenly he became fiery and suspicious. "These Chases--did they do
all this on the level?"
"Barefaced robbery! Worse than a Greaser holdup," replied Belding,
grimly.
"You say the law upheld them?"
"Sure. Why, Ben Chase has a pull as strong as Diablo's on a down
grade. Dick, we're jobbed, outfigured, beat, tricked, and we can't do
a thing."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Belding, most of all for Laddy," said Gale, feelingly.
"He's all in. He'll never ride again. He wanted to settle down here
on the farm he thought he owned, grow grass and raise horses, and take
it easy. Oh, but it's tough! Say, he doesn't know it yet. He was
just telling me he'd like to go out and look the farm over. Who's
going to tell him? What's he going to do when he finds out about this
deal?"
"Son, that's made me think some," replied Belding, with keen eyes fast
upon the young man. "And I was kind of wondering how you'd take it."
"I? Well, I'll call on the Chases. Look here, Belding, I'd better do
some forestalling myself. If Laddy gets started now there'll be blood
spilled. He's not just right in his mind yet. He talks in his sleep
sometimes about how Yaqui finished Rojas. If it's left to him--he'll
kill these men. But if I take it up--"
"You're talking sense, Dick. Only here, I'm not so sure of you. And
there's more to tell. Son, you've Nell to think of and your mother."
Belding's ranger gave him a long and searching glance.
"You can be sure of me," he said.
"All right, then; listen," began Belding. With deep voice that had
many a beak and tremor he told Gale how Nell had been hounded by
Radford Chase, how her mother had been driven by Ben Chase--the whole
sad story.
"So that's the trouble! Poor little girl!" murmured Gale, brokenly. "I
felt something was wrong. Nell wasn't natural, like her old self. And
when I begged her to marry me soon, while Dad was here, she couldn't
talk. She could only cry."
"It was hard on Nell," said Belding, simply. "But it 'll be better now
you're back. Dick, I know the girl. She'll refuse to marry you and
you'll have a hard job to break her down, as hard as the one you just
rode in off of. I think I know you, too, or I wouldn't be saying--"
"Belding, what 're you hinting at?" demanded Gale. "Do you dare
insinuate that--that--if the thing were true it'd make any difference
to me?"
"Aw, come now, Dick; I couldn't mean that. I'm only awkward at saying
things. And I'm cut pretty deep--"
"For God's sake, you don't believe what Chase said?" queried Gale, in
passionate haste. "It's a lie. I swear it's a lie. I know it's a
lie. And I've got to tell Nell this minute. Come on in with me. I
want you, Belding. Oh, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Belding felt himself dragged by an iron arm into the sitting-room out
into the patio, and across that to where Nell sat in her door. At
sight of them she gave a little cry, drooped for an instant, then
raised a pale, still face, with eyes beginning to darken.
"Dearest, I know now why you are not wearing my mother's ring," said
Gale, steadily and low-voiced.
"Dick, I am not worthy," she replied, and held out a trembling hand
with the ring lying in the palm.
Swift as light Gale caught her hand and slipped the ring back upon the
third finger.
"Nell! Look at me. It is your engagement ring.... Listen. I don't
believe this--this thing that's been torturing you. I know it's a lie.
I am absolutely sure your mother will prove it a lie. She must have
suffered once--perhaps there was a sad error--but the thing you fear is
not true. But, hear me, dearest; even if it was true it wouldn't make
the slightest difference to me. I'd promise you on my honor I'd never
think of it again. I'd love you all the more because you'd suffered.
I want you all the more to be my wife--to let me make you forget--to--"
She rose swiftly with the passionate abandon of a woman stirred to her
depths, and she kissed him.
"Oh, Dick, you're good--so good! You'll never know--just what those
words mean to me. They've saved me--I think."
"Then, dearest, it's all right?" Dick questioned, eagerly. "You will
keep your promise? You will marry me?"
The glow, the light faded out of her face, and now the blue eyes were
almost black. She drooped and shook her head.
"Nell!" exclaimed Gale, sharply catching his breath.
"Don't ask me, Dick. I--I won't marry you."
"Why?"
"You know. It's true that I--"
"It's a lie," interrupted Gale, fiercely. "But even if it's
true--why--why won't you marry me? Between you and me love is the
thing. Love, and nothing else! Don't you love me any more?"
They had forgotten Belding, who stepped back into the shade.
"I love you with my whole heart and soul. I'd die for you," whispered
Nell, with clenching hands. "But I won't disgrace you."
"Dear, you have worried over this trouble till you're morbid. It has
grown out of all proportion. I tell you that I'll not only be the
happiest man on earth, but the luckiest, if you marry me."
"Dick, you give not one thought to your family. Would they receive me
as your wife?"
"They surely would," replied Gale, steadily.
"No! oh no!"
"You're wrong, Nell. I'm glad you said that. You give me a chance to
prove something. I'll go this minute and tell them all. I'll be back
here in less than--"
"Dick, you will not tell her--your mother?" cried Nell, with her eyes
streaming. "You will not? Oh, I can't bear it! She's so proud! And
Dick, I love her. Don't tell her! Please, please don't! She'll be
going soon. She needn't ever know--about me. I want her always to
think well of me. Dick, I beg of you. Oh, the fear of her knowing has
been the worst of all! Please don't go!"
"Nell, I'm sorry. I hate to hurt you. But you're wrong. You can't
see things clearly. This is your happiness I'm fighting for. And it's
my life.... Wait here, dear. I won't be long."
Gale ran across the patio and disappeared. Nell sank to the doorstep,
and as she met the question in Belding's eyes she shook her head
mournfully. They waited without speaking. It seemed a long while
before Gale returned. Belding thrilled at sight of him. There was
more boy about him than Belding had ever seen. Dick was coming
swiftly, flushed, glowing, eager, erect, almost smiling.
"I told them. I swore it was a lie, but I wanted them to decide as if
it were true. I didn't have to waste a minute on Elsie. She loves
you, Nell. The Governor is crazy about you. I didn't have to waste two
minutes on him. Mother used up the time. She wanted to know all there
was to tell. She is proud, yes; but, Nell, I wish you could have seen
how she took the--the story about you. Why, she never thought of me at
all, until she had cried over you. Nell, she loves you, too. They all
love you. Oh, it's so good to tell you. I think mother realizes the
part you have had in the--what shall I call it?--the regeneration of
Richard Gale. Doesn't that sound fine? Darling, mother not only
consents, she wants you to be my wife. Do you hear that? And
listen--she had me in a corner and, of course, being my mother, she put
on the screws. She made me promise that we'd live in the East half the
year. That means Chicago, Cape May, New York--you see, I'm not exactly
the lost son any more. Why, Nell, dear, you'll have to learn who Dick
Gale really is. But I always want to be the ranger you helped me
become, and ride Blanco Sol, and see a little of the desert. Don't let
the idea of big cities frighten you. We'll always love the open places
best. Now, Nell, say you'll forget this trouble. I know it'll come
all right. Say you'll marry me soon.... Why, dearest, you're crying....
Nell!"
"My--heart--is broken," sobbed Nell, "for--I--I--can't marry you."
The boyish brightness faded out of Gale's face. Here, Belding saw, was
the stern reality arrayed against his dreams.
"That devil Radford Chase--he'll tell my secret," panted Nell. "He
swore if you ever came back and married me he'd follow us all over the
world to tell it."
Belding saw Gale grow deathly white and suddenly stand stock-still.
"Chase threatened you, then?" asked Dick; and the forced naturalness of
his voice struck Belding.
"Threatened me? He made my life a nightmare," replied Nell, in a rush
of speech. "At first I wondered how he was worrying mother sick. But
she wouldn't tell me. Then when she went away he began to hint things.
I hated him all the more. But when he told me--I was frightened,
shamed. Still I did not weaken. He was pretty decent when he was
sober. But when he was half drunk he was the devil. He laughed at me
and my pride. I didn't dare shut the door in his face. After a while
he found out that your mother loved me and that I loved her. Then he
began to threaten me. If I didn't give in to him he'd see she learned
the truth. That made me weaken. It nearly killed me. I simply could
not bear the thought of Mrs. Gale knowing. But I couldn't marry him.
Besides, he got so half the time, when he was drunk, he didn't want or
ask me to be his wife. I was about ready to give up and go mad when
you--you came home."
She ended in a whisper, looking up wistfully and sadly at him. Belding
was a raging fire within, cold without. He watched Gale, and believed
he could foretell that young man's future conduct. Gale gathered Nell
up into his arms and held her to his breast for a long moment.
"Dear Nell, I'm sure the worst of your trouble is over," he said
gently. "I will not give you up. Now, won't you lie down, try to rest
and calm yourself. Don't grieve any more. This thing isn't so bad as
you make it. Trust me. I'll shut Mr. Radford Chase's mouth."
As he released her she glanced quickly up at him, then lifted appealing
hands.
"Dick, you won't hunt for him--go after him?"
Gale laughed, and the laugh made Belding jump.
"Dick, I beg of you. Please don't make trouble. The Chases have been
hard enough on us. They are rich, powerful. Dick, say you will not
make matters worse. Please promise me you'll not go to him."
"You ask me that?" he demanded.
"Yes. Oh yes!"
"But you know it's useless. What kind of a man do you want me to be?"
"It's only that I'm afraid. Oh, Dick, he'd shoot you in the back."
"No, Nell, a man of his kind wouldn't have nerve enough even for that."
"You'll go?" she cried wildly.
Gale smiled, and the smile made Belding cold.
"Dick, I cannot keep you back?"
"No," he said.
Then the woman in her burst through instinctive fear, and with her eyes
blazing black in her white face she lifted parted quivering lips and
kissed him.
Gale left the patio, and Belding followed closely at his heels. They
went through the sitting-room. Outside upon the porch sat the rangers,
Mr. Gale, and Thorne. Dick went into his room without speaking.
"Shore somethin's comin' off," said Ladd, sharply; and he sat up with
keen eyes narrowing.
Belding spoke a few words; and, remembering an impression he had wished
to make upon Mr. Gale, he made them strong. But now it was with grim
humor that he spoke.
"Better stop that boy," he concluded, looking at Mr. Gale. "He'll do
some mischief. He's wilder'n hell."
"Stop him? Why, assuredly," replied Mr. Gale, rising with nervous
haste.
Just then Dick came out of his door. Belding eyed him keenly. The
only change he could see was that Dick had put on a hat and a pair of
heavy gloves.
"Richard, where are you going?" asked his father.
"I'm going over here to see a man."
"No. It is my wish that you remain. I forbid you to go," said Mr.
Gale, with a hand on his son's shoulder.
Dick put Mr. Gale aside gently, respectfully, yet forcibly. The old
man gasped.
"Dad, I haven't gotten over my bad habit of disobeying you. I'm sorry.
Don't interfere with me now. And don't follow me. You might see
something unpleasant."
"But my son! What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to beat a dog."
Mr. Gale looked helplessly from this strangely calm and cold son to the
restless Belding. Then Dick strode off the porch.
"Hold on!" Ladd's voice would have stopped almost any man. "Dick, you
wasn't agoin' without me?"
"Yes, I was. But I'm thoughtless just now, Laddy."
"Shore you was. Wait a minute, Dick. I'm a sick man, but at that
nobody can pull any stunts round here without me."
He hobbled along the porch and went into his room. Jim Lash knocked
the ashes out of his pipe, and, humming his dance tune, he followed
Ladd. In a moment the rangers appeared, and both were packing guns.
Not a little of Belding's grim excitement came from observation of Mr.
Gale. At sight of the rangers with their guns the old man turned white
and began to tremble.
"Better stay behind," whispered Belding. "Dick's going to beat that
two-legged dog, and the rangers get excited when they're packing guns."
"I will not stay behind," replied Mr. Gale, stoutly. "I'll see this
affair through. Belding, I've guessed it. Richard is going to fight
the Chases, those robbers who have ruined you."
"Well, I can't guarantee any fight on their side," returned Belding,
dryly. "But maybe there'll be Greasers with a gun or two."
Belding stalked off to catch up with Dick, and Mr. Gale came trudging
behind with Thorne.
"Where will we find these Chases?" asked Dick of Belding.
"They've got a place down the road adjoining the inn. They call it
their club. At this hour Radford will be there sure. I don't know
about the old man. But his office is now just across the way."
They passed several houses, turned a corner into the main street, and
stopped at a wide, low adobe structure. A number of saddled horses
stood haltered to posts. Mexicans lolled around the wide doorway.
"There's Ben Chase now over on the corner," said Belding to Dick. "See,
the tall man with the white hair, and leather band on his hat. He sees
us. He knows there's something up. He's got men with him. They'll
come over. We're after the young buck, and sure he'll be in here."
They entered. The place was a hall, and needed only a bar to make it a
saloon. There were two rickety pool tables. Evidently Chase had
fitted up this amusement room for his laborers as well as for the use
of his engineers and assistants, for the crowd contained both Mexicans
and Americans. A large table near a window was surrounded by a noisy,
smoking, drinking circle of card-players.
"Point out this Radford Chase to me," said Gale.
"There! The big fellow with the red face. His eyes stick out a
little. See! He's dropped his cards and his face isn't red any more."
Dick strode across the room.
Belding grasped Mr. Gale and whispered hoarsely: "Don't miss anything.
It'll be great. Watch Dick and watch Laddy! If there's any gun play,
dodge behind me."
Belding smiled with a grim pleasure as he saw Mr. Gales' face turn
white.
Dick halted beside the table. His heavy boot shot up, and with a crash
the table split, and glasses, cards, chips flew everywhere. As they
rattled down and the chairs of the dumfounded players began to slide
Dick called out: "My name is Gale. I'm looking for Mr. Radford Chase."
A tall, heavy-shouldered fellow rose, boldly enough, even swaggeringly,
and glowered at Gale.
"I'm Radford Chase," he said. His voice betrayed the boldness of his
action.
It was over in a few moments. The tables and chairs were tumbled into
a heap; one of the pool tables had been shoved aside; a lamp lay
shattered, with oil running dark upon the floor. Ladd leaned against a
post with a smoking gun in his hand. A Mexican crouched close to the
wall moaning over a broken arm. In the far corner upheld by comrades
another wounded Mexican cried out in pain. These two had attempted to
draw weapons upon Gale, and Ladd had crippled them.
In the center of the room lay Radford Chase, a limp, torn, hulking,
bloody figure. He was not seriously injured. But he was helpless, a
miserable beaten wretch, who knew his condition and felt the eyes upon
him. He sobbed and moaned and howled. But no one offered to help him
to his feet.
Backed against the door of the hall stood Ben Chase, for once stripped
of all authority and confidence and courage. Gale confronted him, and
now Gale's mien was in striking contrast to the coolness with which he
had entered the place. Though sweat dripped from his face, it was as
white as chalk. Like dark flames his eyes seemed to leap and dance and
burn. His lean jaw hung down and quivered with passion. He shook a
huge gloved fist in Chase's face.
"Your gray hairs save you this time. But keep out of my way! And when
that son of yours comes to, tell him every time I meet him I'll add
some more to what he got to-day!"