A CONSPIRACY
In settling accounts with Harrison the Mexican general had prepared the
scene, had arranged every detail of it carefully so as to eliminate any
possible chance the heavyweight might otherwise have. Yeager had no
intention of letting Pasquale fix the conditions against him as he had
against the prizefighter.
"Old Gabriel was holding four aces and Chad only a busted flush.
Pasquale knew it all the time. Harrison must 'a' guessed it too. But if
he did, I don't see why he waited for the old man to spring his trap,"
said Steve.
"It's a matter of temperament, I reckon. Some fellows are game enough
when you put 'em up against trouble good and hard, but they hang back
and wait for it to come to 'em. I expect Harrison didn't know how to
play his hand. Looked that way to me when he talked with me. Likely he
figured he had better wait and see what happened," surmised the captain.
"He waited too long."
"Till it was too late to call for a new deal. He had to play those dealt
him."
"Different here. We'll do the dealing ourselves, captain. Pasquale has
been through the deck and taken out all the big picture cards, but I
expect I can rustle up a six-full that will come handy." Yeager smiled
as he spoke at the .45 he was bestowing about his person.
Together they set the table for poker, putting on it two new decks, one
blue and one red, and a box of chips that had seen service in many a
midnight fray. On a side table were cigars, cigarettes, and liquor in
plenty. Holcomb intended to see that his guests were properly
entertained while Steve played the bigger and more dangerous game
outside.
The range-rider knew that the odds were against him, that any one of
fifty trifling accidents might bring to failure the plan he had made.
All he could do was to make his preparations as skillfully as he could
and then try to carry them out coolly and with determination.
The Mexican boy who had been hired to act as an attendant on the
card-players arrived and Yeager took his leave. The captain followed him
to the porch.
"Good luck, Steve," he said quietly.
"Same to you, captain. We'll talk this all over across the line in God's
country some time."
"Sure," nodded Holcomb. "Well, so-long."
The younger man answered the nod casually and turned away down the
street. Neither of them thought of shaking hands. Whatever was to happen
was all in the day's work. Both of them belonged to that type of
Westerner which sees a thing through without any dramatics. That this
happened to be a particularly critical thing had no effect on their
manner.
Holcomb lit a cigar and sat down on the porch to wait for his guests.
They came presently. First were Pasquale and Ochampa, rough and ready as
to clothes, unshaven, betraying continually the class from which they
had risen. Culvera dropped in after a few minutes. He had discarded his
uniform and was in the picturesque regalia of the young Mexican
cavalier. From jingling silver spurs to the costly gold-laced sombrero
he was every inch the dandy. His manners were the pink of urbanity.
Nothing was lacking in particular to the affectionate deference he
showed his chief. It suggested somehow the love of a son and the
admiration of a devoted admirer.
The general was riding a wave of exhilaration. He had trodden down
another of his enemies and was about to take to himself the spoils of
the battle. Still in his vigorous prime, he was assured the stars were
beckoning him to take the place in Mexico City that neither Madero nor
Huerta had been strong enough to hold. He promised himself to settle
down to moderation, to have done with the wild drinking-bouts that
still occasionally interfered with his efficiency. Meanwhile, to-night
he was again saying farewell to his bachelor days. He drank liberally
but not excessively.
Ochampa proposed the health and happiness of the bride. It was drunk
with enthusiasm. The general gave them the United States, the sister
republic to the north, and spoke affectingly of his desire to promote a
better feeling between the countries by this marriage. The host had not
expected his poker party to develop so much oratory, but he rose briefly
to the occasion. The subject of his remarks was, "A United Mexico."
But it was Culvera who capped the climax. He rose, wineglass in hand,
and waited impressively for silence. For five minutes his tongue flowed
on in praises of the Liberator of the people. He heaped superlatives on
extravagant approval after the fashion of our political orators.
"Need I put a name to this patriot and hero who has won the unbounded
love and loyalty of my youth?" he asked rotundly. "Need I name the
Bolivar, the Washington of Mexico, the next president of this great
republic? If so, I but repeat the name that is on the lips of all the
thousands of our people to whom he is as a father--Gabriel Pasquale."
Holcomb smiled behind the hand that stroked his mustache. There was
nobody present who did not know pretty accurately how far Ramon's
attachment to his chief went. Gabriel himself, who embraced him
affectionately in thanks, had not the least doubt. But if he had no
illusions in the matter, he did not intend on that account to warn his
lieutenant prematurely that he was next on the list to Harrison.
Poker presently absorbed their attention. Holcomb was the genial host,
watchful of their wants and solicitous that they should be supplied. No
sign of anxiety betrayed that he was keyed up to a high nervous tension.
He told stories, laughed at those of the others, high spaded for drinks
(though as a matter of fact he was as host furnishing the liquor), made
post-mortem examinations of the deck, and otherwise showed a proper
interest. It was quite necessary that when Pasquale looked back over the
evening with later developments in mind he should not be able to find
any intimations that his host was accessory to the plan to escape.
Hour after hour slipped away. The captain began to let himself hope that
the forlorn hope of Yeager had brought safety to his friends. Surely by
this time he must either have won or lost his throw for liberty.
A single shot broke the stillness of the night.
Pasquale, dealing, stopped with a card in his hand.
"Funny thing how the guns of sentries are always going off
accidentally," remarked Holcomb casually. "Boy, look to the glasses of
these gentlemen."
The deal was finished. Culvera opened the pot. The captain stayed.
Ochampa hesitated.
One shot, a second, and then a fusillade of them shattered the quiet.
Pasquale flung down his cards and rose hurriedly, overturning his chair.
"Mil diablos! What's to pay?" he cried.
The others followed him out of the room and house. He ran down the
street as fast as a boy. Already men were emerging from houses half
dressed. The sound of shots came from back of the general's
headquarters. Pasquale doubled around the house and vaulted a fence. He
butted into an excited group and flung men to right and left.
"What's the matter?" he demanded.
A soldier pointed to the open window of the room that had been occupied
by Ruth Seymour. "She's gone, Your Excellency."
"Gone! Gone where?" roared Gabriel.
"Heaven knows. Her friends have rescued her."
Pasquale broke into a storm of curses.