A WOMAN LIES
Lawler had said little to Sheriff Moreton on the ride to Willets. Nor
had he made any comment when, in the Circle L ranchhouse, in the
presence of his mother, Moreton had shown him the statement signed by
Della Wharton. He had silently passed it back to Moreton; and had walked
to Mrs. Lawler--telling her why the sheriff had come; smilingly taking
leave of her while Moreton, sweating profusely, turned his back and
pretended to be interested in a picture on the wall.
"I reckon there's somethin' about this case that ain't been brought out
yet, Mrs. Lawler," said Moreton when he was about to depart with his
prisoner. "But things has a way of comin' out, an' I reckon we'll get
Kane out of this before long."
Outside, on their horses, Moreton rode close to Lawler.
"Kane, I reckon it's a damn lie about you killin' Link an' Givens the
way that Wharton woman says you did--in that damned paper--just
malicious, without them deservin' it?"
"Moreton, I told you my side of the story a couple of months ago. It's
the lady's word against mine."
Moreton muttered much to himself during the ride. He told Lawler how
Warden had come to him with the statement--the charge; and of how he
had waited until Della Wharton had personally appeared before him to
corroborate what she had signed.
"She don't want to have her reputation dragged into it," sneered
Moreton. "Well, before it's over she won't have no more reputation than
a coyote! I'll make the thing so damned public that she'll think I've
hired a brass band to blare it all over the country!"
Lawler merely smiled. He might have further increased the sheriff's rage
by showing him the signed confession in his pocket--the confession he
had secured from Link and Givens--but he preferred to keep silent until
he discovered why Della Wharton had brought the charge against him.
There were two possible motives. One was that Della was still in the
grip of the vindictiveness that had characterized her that last day in
the cabin--and had charged him with murder merely to be revenged upon
him; the other was that she had been influenced to the action by Gary
Warden. He intended to keep silent until events explained the motive.
And he smiled faintly at Moreton when the sheriff opened the jail doors
for him--Moreton saying that he "hated like poison to do it."
Two persons had watched Lawler and Moreton ride into town. Warden,
standing in the darkened windows of the Wolf Saloon--deserted by its
revelers shortly before--saw Moreton and Lawler dismount in front of the
jail, which adjoined the sheriff's office. Warden watched until he saw
the two men enter the building--until he saw Moreton come out alone and
enter his office. Then Warden smiled and walked to the door of a room
in the rear of the saloon, where Singleton and several other men were
playing cards. He winked at Singleton, a signal correctly interpreted by
the other, whose eyes quickened. And then Warden returned to the front
window where, later, he was joined by Singleton; for a long time both of
them watched the southern sky, into which had crept a dull red glow,
faint, and far away.
"Antrim didn't lose any time!" commented Warden, exultantly. "And Della
can tell the truth to the sheriff whenever she gets ready!"
The other watcher was Della Wharton. She had seen the sheriff leave
town, to ride southward, and she had divined what his errand meant. And
she had sat in a chair near a window for many hours, peering into the
darkness for Moreton's return with his prisoner. And when she saw them
coming she smiled as she had smiled when she had entered the room after
taking leave of Warden.
Della knew Warden better than Warden knew himself; and on the night when
he had asked her to sign the statement charging Lawler with murder, she
was convinced that Warden intended to use the statement. He had told her
that he merely intended to hold it as a threat over Lawler's head, to
dissuade him from succeeding politically; and she had permitted Warden
to think that she believed him. And when, upon her arrival from the
capital, he had told her that it was part of his strategy to secretly
present the statement to the sheriff--and that she must appear
personally before that official--she had consented, knowing that Warden
was insincere.
Della had really felt vindictive toward Lawler on that last day in the
line cabin. She had yielded to the resentment that had assailed her over
the conviction that she had made no impression upon the man. And she had
lied when she had told Warden that she had been merely infatuated with
Lawler. She discovered that after she reached the hotel following her
sojourn in the cabin with him. She wanted him more than she had ever
wanted anything in the world. And she was determined to have him. She
meant to win him even if she had to bring confusion upon Warden. And so
she smiled as she watched Moreton open the jail doors to Lawler--a smile
in which there was much triumph.