IN WHICH A MAN PLOTS
When the storm broke Warden had shown by his actions that he was more
concerned over Link and Givens than over Della Wharton. He had told
Singleton to ride the trail to Willets, to search for the girl, while
himself and several of the Two Diamond men started for the line cabin.
Singleton had left the Two Diamond in the early evening, while Warden
had delayed his departure until after midnight.
Singleton had made good time, and he reached Willets long before
midnight. He made some inquiries, discovering that Della Wharton had not
been seen; and shortly after midnight he was in the low, squatty stable
in the rear of the Wolf Saloon, saddling his horse for the return trip
to the Two Diamond. He was convinced that Della had not come to Willets.
He was about to lead the horse outside when he saw two horsemen riding
through the drifts in the rear of a building near the Willets Hotel. The
light was not good, but Singleton would have recognized Red King in any
light, and he laughed exultantly as he saw the rider dismount.
Singleton abruptly closed the stable door and darted into the shadow of
the stable. Then he crouched, ran low behind a big drift, and gained the
side of a building next to the Willets Hotel. He was close to the two
riders, and he grinned maliciously when he saw that one of them was a
woman.
He heard Lawler knock on the rear door of the hotel; and he crouched in
the shadow of the building until Lawler and the woman entered. But just
before the two entered, Singleton caught sight of the woman's face as
she turned toward him for an instant and the dull light shone upon her.
He watched until Lawler came out again and rode away; and from behind
another building on the other side of the street he saw Lawler going
directly south, which direction would take him to Number One Circle L
line camp.
Then Singleton mounted his horse and followed the trail taken by Lawler.
By the time Singleton struck Lawler's trail, Lawler was out of sight
beyond a low ridge, and Singleton leisurely examined the tracks in the
snow.
He discovered that two sets of tracks led in the direction Lawler was
taking. He followed them for several miles, until there seemed to be no
doubt that Della had been with Lawler at the line camp; then he grinned
and wheeled his horse toward the Two Diamond.
* * * * *
Gary Warden was also following the two sets of tracks that led
northward. He had come upon them accidentally, while riding with one of
his men slightly in advance of the others as they went toward Willets,
where Warden intended to take the bodies of Link and Givens. He had said
nothing to his companion regarding the tracks, though he noted the
other saw them also, and was studying them, puzzled.
"Them tracks ain't more'n half a dozen hours old," the man said once,
tentatively. But receiving no answer from Warden he said no more.
In places there were three sets of tracks--two going northward, and one
leading back. Warden, his eyes glowing malevolently, followed them until
they took him into Willets. An hour later, his face flushed with
passion, he was in a little office with Sheriff Moreton, demanding
Lawler's arrest on a charge of murder.
Moreton, a slender man of medium height with a lean, strong face and
keen, penetrating eyes, had listened patiently to Warden's story.
"Lawler told you he killed 'em, eh? Well then, I reckon he must
have--Lawler ain't in the habit of lyin'. You got any witness that
Lawler killed 'em, malicious? You've just got done hintin' that Lawler
said he shot 'em in self-defense. But you say he didn't. One man's word
is as good as another's in law, Mr. Warden--you got to remember that!"
"Then you won't do anything?" snapped Warden.
"I reckon I'll do somethin'," said the sheriff, drawlingly. "I'll have
to see Lawler an' get his side of it. An' if you charge Lawler with
murder, I'll have to bring him in. But I'm warnin' you that if you ain't
got any witnesses to prove your charge, you ain't got no show of
convictin' him. An' Lawler's standin' is pretty high in this country,
Warden--an' don't you forget it!"
Warden smiled derisively. "Well, he seems to have a friend in you,
anyway. I'll investigate a little before I file formal charges."
"It's a good idee--I'd do a lot of it," advised the sheriff. "An' then,
when I'd done a lot of it, I'd do some more--just to be sure I wasn't
bitin' off more than I could chew!"
Warden left the sheriff's office, after turning the bodies of Link and
Givens over to the official. He sent his men to the Two Diamond, and
spent some time at a window in the rear of the Wolf Saloon, examining
hoof prints on the snow in the vicinity of the Willets Hotel, a short
distance from the Wolf. He was in a vicious mood.
He noted that the three sets of tracks he had followed led to the rear
of the hotel. They were clear and distinct, for no other tracks were
near them. His men and himself had evidently been the first to reach
town after the storm had abated--excepting the riders whose tracks he
had followed.
He was still at the window when he heard a step behind him, and saw
Singleton approaching.
Singleton's eyes were gleaming with knowledge. He was breathing fast.
"I met the boys, headin' for the Two Diamond," he said. "They tell me
Lawler downed Link an' Givens--an' that Lawler caught 'em cuttin' the
fence. An' Colter says he was ridin' with you an' that you was followin'
them tracks that led to town from that Circle L line cabin. Well, that
was a hot trail, Warden. She's there--in the hotel!"
"Who?" demanded Warden, his face paling, though he was convinced that
what Singleton would tell him would merely confirm his suspicions.
"Della Wharton!" declared Singleton. He related what he had seen the
night before from the stable in the rear of the Wolf; and he stood tense
and stiff behind Warden as the latter glared out of the window, his lips
in a bestial pout.
Warden spoke at last, his voice dry and light and vibrant with cold
fury.
"No women, Singleton; he told me he'd kill me if I dragged any of his
women into this deal. And now----"
"An' now he's drugged in the woman you've took a shine to," sympathized
Singleton. He scratched his head in puzzlement. "Hell's fire!" he added;
"I didn't think that of Lawler. I ain't never admired the cuss none--a
damned sight less since he walloped me--but I didn't think he'd drag
another man's woman into a cabin like that, an'----"
"Bah! Shut up!" commanded Warden, glaring malignantly at the other.
"Sure; I reckon you don't like to think of it," said Singleton. "It
would rile me some, too."
Aware that this was a matter which would not permit of even suggestion
on his part, Singleton soon found an excuse to take leave of Warden. And
for an hour after Singleton's departure, Warden stood at the window
fighting for his composure. Then, when he had succeeded, he walked out
of the front door of the saloon and made his way down the street to the
Willets Hotel. He told Keller, the proprietor, about Miss Wharton's
disappearance, and he succeeded in simulating an excellent counterfeit
of astonishment when Keller informed him that Miss Wharton was at that
moment up stairs in her room--that she had been at the hotel since the
storm broke. He pretended not to see the flush on Keller's face as he
told the lie; and his greeting to Della was distinguished by calm
casualness.
Later, when Warden told her that the Two Diamond had been lonely without
her, and that the trail was in condition for travel, she readily agreed
to accompany him. And, shortly after noon they rode out of town
together, Warden apparently in the best of humor over finding her safe;
Della elated over the success of the deception.
It was late when they reached the Two Diamond. Several of the men
cheered delightedly when they rode into the ranch yard; and Aunt Hannah
was tearfully grateful.
However, twice during the evening meal, as they sat opposite each other,
Della noted a look of sullen preoccupation in Warden's eyes. And then,
studying him covertly while she ate, she observed that he was paler than
usual; that his lips were straight and stiff, even when he smiled; that
he seemed to have little appetite and was restless and jerky.
Warden was suspicious--that was evident. She had thought, when he had
entered her room at the hotel, that his manner was strange and not
nearly so hearty as it should have been over finding her. He had been
too matter-of-fact and undemonstrative.
She never had loved Warden; she had not even respected him. She had
plumbed his nature and had found him narrow, selfish--even brutal. But
she had permitted him to make love to her occasionally--mildly, for what
doubtful amusement she got out of it, and she had responded merely for
the thrill it gave her to have a man pursue her.
When, after supper, Warden called her into his office and closed the
door behind her, she had steeled herself for any attack he might make.
She was calm, and unmoved by what she saw in Warden's face.
A lamp glowed on Warden's desk, and he motioned her to a chair that
stood beside it, so that when she seated herself the glare of the lamp
was on her face.
While she sat there, a little malice in her heart for Warden--because he
had dared to suspect her--he moved toward her and without saying a word
laid before her the handkerchief he had found.
She took it up deliberately, looked at it, and as deliberately stuck it
into her belt.
"It's mine, Gary," she said.
"I found it in a bunk at a Circle L line camp, occupied during the storm
by Kane Lawler. I thought perhaps you would like to explain how it got
there."
"I left it there, Gary--I forgot it."
"You admit you were there?"
"Certainly. Why should I deny it? Do you want to know why I went there,
Gary?"
"I'd like to know, of course," said Warden. He was standing, tense, his
eyes glowing with passion that he was trying to control; his face
ashen.
"I started for the Circle L. I wanted to see Lawler. You didn't know
that I had met him one day at the foot of the stairs leading from your
office, in town. Well, I did, Gary; and I fell in love with him."
She heard Warden's gasp; saw his eyes glow into hers with a jealous fury
that seemed to threaten to drive him to violence.
"Bah; don't be silly, Gary," she admonished coldly. "You know I never
have cared for you in the way you wanted. I shall have to respect the
man I marry, and I never could respect you, Gary. You are too--too much
as you are now. You'd like to punish me, physically; you'd like to hurt
me, in some way--if you could. You'll never be a lover to any woman,
Gary--you are too insincere. You never have loved me; you have merely
been flattered over having me near you. And it is only your vanity that
is hurt, now."
Warden laughed unpleasantly; though she knew from the expression of his
eyes that he knew she had spoken truthfully.
"Well--go on," he said, shortly.
"That is all, Gary," she laughed. "Except that I got lost and went to
the cabin instead of the house. Lawler was there; we were both
there--for ten days. And then, because I didn't want my reputation to
suffer, I had Lawler take me to the hotel at night, to make it appear
that I had been there all the time. Interesting, isn't it?"
"Very," said Warden. "I think I understand. But why didn't Lawler marry
you to save your reputation--if you loved him so much?"
Her smile was shallow and hard.
"I expect Lawler thought my reputation didn't need saving--or wasn't
worth it. For he refused me, point blank."
"Gallant--eh?" mocked Warden.
She laughed. "Well, I don't know that I blame him. I have thought,
since, that I went at it very crudely. I should have played the innocent
instead of doing what I did. He's wary as a serpent, Gary, and wise."
"Do you still love him?"
Her eyes flashed spitefully. "I hate him, now! I think I was merely
infatuated. I thought it was love, but I can see now that it wasn't. I
don't think I ever really have loved a man, Gary."
Warden laughed. He knew she had told him the truth--he could see truth
in her eyes.
"He killed Link and Givens," said Warden. "Did you see it?" At her nod
he went on: "Just how did it happen?"
She told him, and he evinced disappointment. Then, during a silence, he
watched her keenly, a gleam of craft in his eyes.
"How much do you hate him, Della?"
Her eyes narrowed and she regarded him steadily, noting the subtle glow
in his eyes. She smiled, with sinister understanding.
"You want me to swear that he killed those two men wantonly, Gary--is
that it?" She laughed mirthlessly; "I would do it if--if I didn't have
to risk my precious reputation."
"You won't risk your reputation," exulted Warden. "I'll fix that. We
don't want to charge him openly with the murder--and he can't be
convicted without evidence. What we want to do is to hold a threat of
exposure over him--to fix him so that he won't ever be able to run for
an office in this state--as he intends to. For they are grooming him,
right now. And the governor is back of the scheme to break him--you know
that. If you'll sign a statement to the effect that you were a witness
of the murder, and that Lawler was the aggressor, I'll hold it over him,
and we'll make him get down off his hind legs and be good. When I show
him the statement you can be sure he will never want to stand trial. And
we won't force him. We'll let the court at Willets examine him; and
they'll have to let him off."
"It would be satisfying--wouldn't it, Gary?" she said, after a time.
"You're a brick, Della!" he laughed.
She got up and stood beside him as he wrote. And Warden did not see the
designing light in her eyes as she watched him. And her smile, as she
signed her name to what he had written, was inscrutable--containing much
knowledge of Warden's motives, and concealing still more of her own.
In her room, while undressing, she laughed.