MORTON'S ULTIMATUM
Oddly enough, Roderick Duncan and Richard Morton had never met.
Although Morton, during the two weeks of his acquaintance with
Patricia Langdon, had been as constantly in her company as it was
possible for him to be, there had been no introduction between the two
young men. They frequented the same clubs, and Morton had made the
acquaintance of many of Duncan's friends; they knew each other by
sight, and Duncan had heard, vaguely and without particular interest,
that Morton had fallen under the spell of Patricia's stately
loveliness. That was a circumstance which had suggested no misgivings
whatever to him. He had long been accustomed to such conditions, for
it was a rare thing that a man should be presented to Patricia without
being at once attracted and charmed by her physical beauty, as well as
by her brilliancy of wit.
It was, therefore, with unmasked astonishment that, upon responding to
a summons at his door, still holding Patricia's letter in his hand,
he found himself face to face with the young Montana cattle-king.
"Mr. Roderick Duncan, I believe?" said Morton, without advancing to
cross the threshold when Duncan threw open the door.
"Yes," he replied. "Won't you come inside, Mr. Morton? I know you very
well, by sight and name, and, although it has not been my privilege to
meet you socially, you are quite welcome. Come inside, won't you?"
The handsome young ranchman bowed, and passed into the room. He strode
across it until he was near one of the windows; then, he turned to
face Duncan, who had re-closed the door, and had followed as far as
the center-table where he now stood, gazing questioningly at his
visitor.
"Won't you be seated, Mr. Morton?" Duncan asked.
"Thank you, no. I intend to remain only a moment, and it is possible
that the question I have come to ask you may not be agreeable for you
to hear, or to answer. If you will repeat your request after I have
asked the question, I shall be glad to comply with it."
"I haven't the least idea what you are talking about, Mr. Morton,"
said Duncan, smiling, "and I can't conceive how any question you care
to put to me would be offensive. However, have it your own way. Will
you tell me, now, what that remarkable question is?"
Morton was standing with his feet wide-apart, and with his back to the
window. His hands were thrust deep into his trousers-pockets. He
looked the athlete in every line of his muscular limbs and body, and
the frankness and openness of his expression at once interested
Duncan.
"Mr. Duncan," he said, "in the country I come from, we do things
differently from the way you do them here. I was born on a ranch in
Eastern Montana, and I have lived all my life in a wild country. I
began my career as a cow-puncher, when I was sixteen, and not until
the last two or three years of my life have I known anything at all of
that phase of existence which is expressed by the word 'society.' I
indulge in this preamble in order to apologize in advance, for any
breaks I may make in that mystical line of talk which you call, 'good
form.'"
Duncan nodded his head smilingly, and Morton continued:
"Several years ago, I made my 'pile,' as we express it out there, and
since that time it has steadily increased in size, so that, lately, I
have indulged myself in an attempt to 'butt in' upon the people in
'polite society.' The question I have to ask you will amaze and
astonish you, but I shall explain it, in detail, if you desire me to
do so."
"Very well, Mr. Morton, what is the question?"
"Are you engaged to marry Miss Patricia Langdon?" demanded Morton,
abruptly; and there was a tightening of his lips and a slight forward
thrust of his aggressive chin.
Duncan received the question calmly. He thought, afterward, that he
had almost anticipated it, although he could not have told why he
should do so. He permitted nothing of the effect the question had upon
him to appear in the expression of his face, or eyes, and he continued
to gaze smilingly into the face of the young ranchman, while he
replied:
"I see no objection to answering your question, Mr. Morton, although I
do not in the least understand your reason for asking it. Miss Langdon
and I are engaged to be married, and the wedding-day is already fixed.
It is to be next Monday morning, at ten o'clock. I hope, sir, that you
are quite satisfied with the reply?"
Morton did not speak for a moment, but he reached out one hand and
rested it on the back of a chair, near which he was standing. Duncan,
perceiving the gesture, asked again:
"Won't you be seated, Mr. Morton?"
"Thank you, yes."
He dropped his huge body upon the leather-upholstered chair beside
him, and crossed one leg over the other, while Duncan retained his
attitude beside the table, still with that questioning expression in
his eyes.
"I suppose I ought to make some farther explanation," said Morton,
presently. He spoke with careful deliberation, choosing his words as
he did so and evidently striving hard to maintain complete composure
of demeanor under circumstances that rendered the task somewhat
difficult.
"I think one is due to me," was the reply.
"Mr. Duncan, when I hit the trail for this room, to have this talk
with you, I sure thought that I had mapped out pretty clearly what I
had to say to you. I find now that it's some difficult to express
myself. If we were seated together in a bunk-house on a ranch in
Montana, I could uncinch all that's on my mind, without any trouble. I
hope you don't mind my native lingo."
"Not in the least," replied Duncan, still smiling. "I find it very
expressive, and quite to the point."
"Well, it's this way: I arrived in the city about three weeks ago, and
one of the first persons I met up with, who interested me was Miss
Langdon. There isn't any reason that I know of why I shouldn't admit
to you that she interested me more, in about three seconds of time,
than anybody else has ever succeeded in doing, during the twenty-eight
years I have lived. I was roped, tied, and branded, quicker than it
takes me to tell you of it; and the odd part of the whole thing is
that I enjoyed the experience, instead of resenting it. I think it was
the second time I met up with her when I told her about it, and it is
only fair to her, and to you, to admit that she said 'No,'
Johnny-on-the-spot. But, somehow, it didn't strike me that it was a
final 'no,' or that she had anybody's brand on her; and so I didn't
lose the hope that some day I might induce her to accept mine. Last
Saturday afternoon, I took her in my car, in company with two other
ladies, to her father's office, down-town. She had an interview with
her father and somebody else, I suspect, while she was in the office,
and whatever that interview was, I am plumb certain that it didn't
please her. She come out of the building with her eyes blazing like
two live coals, and she was mad enough to shoot, if I am any judge."
He paused, as if expecting some comment from Duncan, but the latter
made no remark at all; nor did he change his attitude or the smiling
expression of his face. Truth to tell, he was more amused than
offended by the other's confidences. Morton continued:
"I had half-promised Miss Langdon that I wouldn't speak to her again
of love, but I sure couldn't hold in, that afternoon. I needn't tell
you what I said; but the consequence of it was that she told me she
had just concluded a business transaction--that was the expression she
used--by which she had promised to marry a man whom she would not
name. Since that time, I have studied the situation rather deeply,
with the result that I came to the conclusion you were the man to whom
she referred. That is why I have called upon you this evening, to ask
you the question you have just answered."
"Well?" said Duncan. His smile was more constrained, now.
"I'm sure puzzled to know what Miss Langdon means by the 'business
transaction' part of it, Mr. Duncan, and I have come up here, to your
own room, to tell you that, if Patricia Langdon loves you--"
"One moment, if you please, Mr. Morton. Don't you think you're going
rather too far, now?"
"No sir, I don't."
"Very well, I'll listen to you, to the end."
"If Patricia Langdon loves you, Duncan, I'll hit the trail for Montana
and the sky-line this afternoon, and I'll ask you to pardon me for any
break I have made here, this evening; but, if she doesn't love you,
and if, as I suspect, you are coercing her in this matter--"
Again, Duncan interrupted the ranchman. He did it this time by
straightening his tall figure, and raising one hand for silence.
"I think, Mr. Morton," he said, coldly, "that you are presuming rather
too far. These are personal matters between Miss Langdon and myself,
which I may not discuss with you."
Morton sprang to his feet, and faced Duncan across the table.
"By God! you've got to discuss this with me!" he said; and his jaws
snapped together, while he bent forward, glaring into Duncan's eyes.
"I've got to know one thing from you, Mr. Roderick Duncan; and I've
got just one more thing to say to you!"
"Well, what is it?"
The question was cold and very calm. Duncan's temper was rising.
"I'll say it mighty quick and sudden. It is this: If you are forcing
Patricia Langdon into this marriage against her will, I'll kill you."