ANCIENT HISTORY
Peter wasn't at all certain that he had done the right thing. One event
had followed another with such startling rapidity that there hadn't been
time to deliberate. Jim Coast was wounded, how badly Peter didn't know,
but the obvious duty was to give him first aid and sanctuary until Peter
could get a little clearer light on Coast's possibilities for evil. None
of this was Peter's business. He had done what McGuire had asked him to
do and had nearly gotten killed for his pains. Two fights already and he
had come to Black Rock to find peace!
In his anger at McGuire's trick he was now indifferent as to what would
happen to the old man. There was no doubt that Jim Coast held all the
cards and, unless he died, would continue to hold them. It was evident
that McGuire, having failed in accomplishing the murder, had placed
himself in a worse position than before, for Coast was not one to relax
or to forgive, and if he had gotten his five thousand dollars so easily
as this, he would be disposed to make McGuire pay more heavily now.
Peter knew nothing of the merits of the controversy, but it seemed
obvious that the two principals in the affair were both tarred with the
same stick. _Arcades Ambo_. He was beginning to believe that Coast was
the more agreeable villain of the two. At least he had made no bones
about the fact of his villainy.
Peter found Coast stripped to the waist, sitting in a chair by the
table, bathing his wounded shoulder. But the hemorrhage had stopped and
Peter saw that the bullet had merely grazed the deltoid, leaving a clean
wound, which could be successfully treated by first aid devices. So he
found his guest a drink of whisky, which put a new heart into him, then
tore up a clean linen shirt, strips from which he soaked in iodine and
bandaged over the arm and shoulder.
Meanwhile Coast was talking.
"Well, _mon vieux_, it's a little world, ain't it? To think I'd find
_you_, my old bunkie, Pete, the waiter, out here in the wilds, passin'
the buck for Mike McGuire! Looks like the hand o' Fate, doesn't it?
Superintendent, eh? Some job! Twenty thousand acres--if he's got an
inch. An' me thinkin' all the while you'd be slingin' dishes in a New
York chop house!"
"I studied forestry in Germany once," said Peter with a smile, as he
wound the bandage.
"Right y'are! Mebbe you told me. I don't know. Mebbe there's a lot o'
things you _didn't_ tell me. Mebbe there's a lot of things I didn't tell
_you_. But I ought to 'a' known a globe trotter like you never would 'a'
stayed a waiter. A waiter! _Nom de Dieu!_ Remember that (sanguine)
steward on the _Bermudian_? Oily, fat little beef-eater with the gold
teeth? Tried to make us 'divy' on the tips? But we beat him to it, Pete,
when we took French leave. H-m! I'm done with waitin' now, Pete. So are
you, I reckon. Gentleman of leisure, _I_ am!"
"There you are," said Peter as he finished the bandage, "but you'll have
to get this wound dressed somewhere to-morrow."
"Right you are. A hospital in Philly will do the trick. And McGuire pays
the bill."
Jim Coast got up and moved his arm cautiously.
"Mighty nice of you, Pete. That's fine. I'll make him pay through the
nose for this." And then turning his head and eyeing Peter narrowly,
"You say McGuire told you nothin'!"
"Nothing. It's none of my affair."
The ex-waiter laughed. "He knows his business. Quiet as death, ain't he?
He's got a right to be. And scared. He's got a right to be scared too.
I'll scare him worse before I'm through with him."
He broke off with a laugh and then, "Funny to find you guardin' _him_
against _me_. House all locked--men with guns all over the place. He
wanted one of those guys to kill me, didn't he? But I'm too slick for
him. No locked doors can keep out what's scarin' Mike McGuire----"
He broke off suddenly and held up his empty glass. "Another drink of the
whisky, _mon gars_, and I'm yer friend for life."
Peter was still curious, so he obeyed and after cleaning up the mess
they had made he sank into a chair, studying the worn features of his
old companion. He had taken the precaution to pull in the heavy shutter
of the window which had been opened and to lock the door. Peter did not
relish the idea of a murder committed in this cabin.
"Not apt to come now, are they, Pete? Well, let 'em," he answered
himself with a shrug. "But they won't if McGuire has his way. Murder is
the only thing that will suit McGuire's book. He can't do that--not with
witnesses around. Ain't he the slick one, though? I was watchin' for
just what happened. That's why I stayed in the tree so long--listenin'.
He must of slipped in like a snake. How he did it I don't know. I'm a
worse snake than he is but I always rattle before I strike."
He laughed again dryly.
"I've got _him_ rattled all O. K. Mebbe he'd of shot straighter if he
hadn't been. He used to could--dead shot. But I reckon his talents are
runnin' different _now_. Millions he has they say, _mon vieux_,
millions. And I'll get my share of 'em."
Jim Coast smoked for a moment in contented silence.
"See here, Pete. I like you. Always did. Straight as a string--you are.
You've done me a good turn to-night. You might of put me out--killed me
when you had me down----"
"I'm no murderer, Jim."
"Right. Nor I ain't either. I don't want to hurt a hair of McGuire's
head. Every one of 'em is precious as refined gold. I want him to
live--to keep on livin' and makin' more money because the more money
he's got the more I'll get--see."
"Blackmail," said Peter shortly.
Coast glanced at him, shrugged and laughed.
"Call it that if you like. It's a dirty word, but I'll stand for it,
seein' it's you. Blackmail! What's a waiter's tip but blackmail for good
service? What's a lawyer's fee from a corporation but money paid by men
to keep them out of the jail? What's a breach of promise case?
Blackmail--legal blackmail. I'm doin' nothin' less an' nothin' more than
a million other men--but I'm not workin' with a lawyer. I'll turn the
trick alone. What would you say if I told you that half of every dollar
McGuire has got is mine--a full half--to say nothin' of payment for the
years I was wanderin' an' grubbin' over the face of the earth, while he
was livin' easy. Oh! You're surprised. You'd better be. For that's the
God's truth, _mon ami_."
"You mean--he--he----" Peter's credulity was strained and he failed to
finish his query.
"Oh, you don't believe? Well, you needn't. But there's no blackmail when
you only take what belongs to you. The money--the money that made his
millions was as much mine as his. I'm going to have my share with
compound interest for fifteen years--and perhaps a bit more."
"You surprise me. But it seems that if there's any justice in your
claim, you could establish it legally."
Jim Coast laughed again.
"There's a quicker--a safer way than that. I'm takin' it." He filled his
glass again and went on, leaning far over the table toward Peter.
"_Voyons_, Pete. When we came ashore, I made you an offer to play my
game. You turned me down. It's not too late to change your mind. The old
man trusts you or he wouldn't of sent you out with that money. I may
need some help with this business and you're fixed just right to lend me
a hand. Throw in with me, do what I want, and I'll see that you're fixed
for life."
Peter shook his head slowly from side to side.
"No, Jim. He pays me well. I'm no traitor."
"H-m. Traitor!" he sneered. "_He_ wasn't overparticular about _you_. He
might of killed you or _I_ might of, if you hadn't been too damn quick
for me. What do you think Mike McGuire cares about _you_?" he laughed
bitterly.
"Nothing. But that makes no difference. I----"
A loud jangle of a bell from the corner and Jim Coast sprang to his
feet.
"The telephone," explained Peter, indicating the instrument. "That's
McGuire now." He rose and moved toward it, but Coast caught him by the
arm.
"Worried, eh?" he said with a grin. "Wants to know what's happened! All
right. Tell him--tell the----." And then, as Peter released himself,
"Wait a minute. Tell him you've got me here," laughed Coast, "a
prisoner. Tell him I'm talking. Ask for instructions. He'll tell you
what to do with me, damn quick," he sneered.
Peter waited a moment, thinking, while the bell tinkled again, and then
took down the receiver. He was in no mood to listen to McGuire.
"Hello--Yes, this is Nichols.... All right, yes. Shot at from the
dark--while paying the money. You hit Hawk Kennedy in the shoulder....
Yes, _you_. I'm no fool, McGuire.... He's here--at the Cabin. I've just
fixed his shoulder----. All right----. What shall I do with him----?
Yes--Yes, he's talking.... Let him go----! Hello! Let him go, you say?
Yes----"
"Let me get to him----," growled Coast, pushing close to the
transmitter. "Hello--Mike McGuire--hello----"
"He's gone," said Peter.
"'Let him go,'" sneered Coast. "You'd bet he'd let me go." Then he
looked at Peter and laughed. "He's scared all right--beat it like a
cottontail. Seems a shame to take the money, Pete--a real shame."
He laughed uproariously, then sauntered easily over to the table, took
another of Peter's cigarettes and sank into the easy chair again. Peter
eyed him in silence. He was an unwelcome guest but he hadn't yet
gratified Peter's curiosity.
"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Peter.
"Me?" Coast inhaled Peter's cigarette luxuriously, and smiled. "I'm
goin' West, _pronto_--to get my facts straight--all at the expense of
the party of the first part. I might stop off at the Grand Canon first
for the view. I need a rest, Pete. I ain't as young as I was--or I
mightn't of let you put me out so easy to-night. I'm glad of that,
though. Wouldn't like to of done you hurt----"
"And then----?" asked Peter steadily.
"Then? Oh, I'll beat it down to Bisbee and ask a few questions. I just
want to hook up a few things I _don't_ know with the things I _do_ know.
I'll travel light but comfortable. Five thousand dollars makes a heap of
difference in your point of view--and other people's. I'll be an
eastern millionaire lookin' for investments. And what I won't know about
Jonathan K. McGuire, alias Mike McGuire--won't be worth knowin'." He
broke off and his glance caught the interested expression on the face of
his host.
"H-m. Curious, ain't you, Pete?"
"Yes," said Peter frankly. "I am. Of course it's none of my business,
but----"
"But you'd like to know, just the same. I get you." He flicked off the
ash of his cigarette and picked up his whisky glass. "Well----," he went
on, "I don't see why I shouldn't tell you--some of it--that is. It won't
do any harm for you to know the kind of skunk you're workin' for.
There's some of it that nobody on God's earth will ever know but me and
Mike McGuire--unless he slips up on one of his payments, and then
everybody's goin' to know. _Everybody_--but his daughter first of all."
Coast was silent a long moment while he drained the whisky and slowly
set the glass down upon the table. The shadows upon his face were
unpleasant, darkened perceptibly as they marked the years his thoughts
followed, and the lines at his lips and nostrils became more deeply
etched in bitterness and ugly resolve.
"It was down in the San Luis valley I first met up with Mike McGuire. He
was born in Ireland, of poor but honest parents, as the books tell us.
He changed his name to 'Jonathan K.' when he made his first 'stake.'
That meant he was comin' up in the world--see? Me and Mike worked
together up in Colorado, punchin' cattle, harvestin', ranchin'
generally. We were 'buddies,' _mon gars_, like you an' me, eatin',
sleepin' together as thick as thieves. He had a family somewhere, same
as me--the wife had a little money but her old man made him quit--some
trouble. After awhile we got tired of workin' for wages, grub staked,
and beat it for the mountains. That was back in nineteen one or two, I
reckon. We found a vein up above Wagon Wheel Gap. It looked good and we
staked out claims and worked it, hardly stoppin' to eat or sleep." Coast
stopped with a gasp and a shrug. "Well, the long an' short of that, _mon
vieux_, was a year of hard work with only a thousand or so apiece to
show for it. It was only a pocket. Hell!" He broke off in disgust and
spat into the fireplace. "Don't talk to me about your gold mines. There
ain't any such animal. Well, Mike saved his. I spent mine. Faro. You
know--an' women. Then I got hurt. I was as good as dead--but I pulled
through. I ain't easy to kill. When I came around, I 'chored' for a
while, doin' odd jobs where I could get 'em and got a little money
together and went to Pueblo. When I struck town I got pretty drunk and
busted a faro bank. I never _did_ have any luck when I was sober."
"Yes, you've told me about that," said Peter.
"So I did--on the _Bermudian_. Well, it was at Pueblo I met up with Mike
McGuire, and we beat it down into Arizona where the copper was. Bisbee
was only a row of wooden shacks, but we got some backin', bought an
outfit and went out prospectin' along the Mexican border. And what with
'greasers' and thievin' redskins it was some job in those days. But we
made friends all right enough and found out some of the things we wanted
to know.
"Now, Pete, if I was to tell you all that went on in that long trail
into the Gila Desert and what happened when we got what we went for,
you'd know as much as I do. You'd know enough to hold up Mike McGuire
yourself if you'd a mind to. This is where the real story stops. What
happened in between is my secret and Mike McGuire's. We found the mine
we were lookin' for.... That's sure----How we got it you'll never know.
But we got it. And here's where the real story begins again. We were
miles out in the Gila Desert and if ever there's a Hell on earth, it's
there. Sand, rocks, rocks and sand and the sun. It was Hell with the
cover off and no mistake! No water within a hundred miles.
"Now, this is where the fine Eyetalian hand of Mike McGuire shows
itself. We were rich. Any fool with half an eye could see that. The
place was lousy--fairly lousy! It was ours----," Coast's brow darkened
and his eyes glittered strangely as a darting demon of the past got
behind them. "Yes--_ours_. _Sacre bleu!_ Any man who went through what
we did deserved it, by G----! We were rich. There was plenty enough for
two, but McGuire didn't think so. And here's what he does to me. In the
middle of the night while I'm asleep he sneaks away as neat as you
please, with the horses and the pack-mules and the water, leavin' me
alone with all the money in the world, and a devourin' thirst, more than
a hundred miles from nowhere."
"Murder," muttered Peter.
Coast nodded. "You bet you. Murder. Nothin' less. Oh, he knew what _he_
was about all right. And I saw it quick. Death! That's what it meant.
Slow but sure. Hadn't I seen the bones bleaching all along the trail? He
left me there to die. He thought I would die. _Dios!_ That thirst!"
Coast reached for the pitcher and splashed rather than poured a glass of
water which he gulped down avidly. "There was nothin' for it but to try
afoot for Tucson, which was due east. Every hour I waited would of made
me an hour nearer to bein' a mummy. So I set out through the hot sand,
the sun burnin' through me, slowly parchin' my blood. My tongue swelled.
I must of gone in circles. Days passed--nights when I lay gaspin' on my
back, like a fish out of water, tryin' to suck moisture out of dry
air.... Then the red sun again--up over the edge of that furnace,
mockin' at me. I was as good as dead and I knew it. Only the mummy of
me, parched black, stumbled on, fallin', strugglin' up again, fallin' at
last, bitin' at the sand like a mad dog...."
"Horrible," muttered Peter.
"It was. I reckon I died--the soul of me, or what was left of it. I came
to life under the starlight, with a couple of 'greasers' droppin' water
on my tongue. They brought me around, but I was out of my head for a
week. I couldn't talk the lingo anyhow. I just went with 'em like a
child. There wasn't anything else to do. Lucky they didn't kill me. I
guess I wasn't worth killin'. We went South. They were makin' for
Hermosillo. Revolutionists. They took all my money--about three hundred
dollars. But it was worth it. They'd saved my life. But I couldn't go
back now, even if I wanted to. I had no money, nor any way of gettin'
any."
Jim Coast leaned forward, glowering at the rag carpet.
"But I--I didn't want to go back just then. The fear of God was in me.
I'd looked into Hell."
He laughed bitterly.
"Then I joined the 'greasers' against Diaz. I've told you about that.
And the 'Rurales' cleaned us up all right. A girl saved my life. Instead
of shootin' me against a mud wall, they put me to work on a railroad. I
was there three years. I escaped at last and reached the coast, where I
shipped for South America. It was the only way out, but all the while I
was thinkin' of Mike McGuire and the copper mine. You know the rest,
Pete--the Argentine deal that might of made me rich an' how it fell
through. Don't it beat Hell how the world bites the under dog!"
"But why didn't you go back to America and fight your claim with
McGuire?" asked Peter, aware of the sinister, missing passage in the
story.
Coast shot a sharp glance at his questioner.
"There were two reasons--one of which you won't know. The other was that
I couldn't. I was on the beach an' not too popular. The only ships out
of Buenos Aires were for London. That was the easiest way back to
America anyhow. So I shipped as a cattle hand. And there you are. I
lived easy in London. That's me. Easy come easy go. There it was I wrote
a man I knew out in Bisbee--the feller that helped stake us--and he
answered me that McGuire was dead, and that the mine was a flivver--too
far away to work. You see he must of showed the letter to McGuire, and
McGuire told him what to write. That threw me off the track. I forgot
him and went to France...."
Coast paused while he filled his glass again.
"It wasn't until I reached New York that I found out McGuire was alive.
It was just a chance while I was plannin' another deal. I took it. I
hunted around the brokers' offices where they sell copper stocks. It
didn't take me long to find that my mine was the 'Tarantula.' McGuire
had developed it with capital from Denver, built a narrow gauge in. Then
after a while had sold out his share for more than half a million
clear."
Peter was studying Coast keenly, thinking hard. But the story held with
what he already knew of the man's history.
"That's when Mike McGuire tacked the 'Jonathan K.' onto his name," Coast
went on. "And that money's mine, the good half of it. Figure it out for
yourself. Say five hundred thou, eight per cent, fifteen years--I
reckon I could worry along on that even if he wouldn't do better--which
he will.
"Well, Pete--to shorten up--I found McGuire was here--in New York--and I
laid for him. I watched for a while and then one day I got my nerve up
and tackled him on the street. You ought to of seen his face when I told
him who I was and what I'd come for. We were in the crowd at Broadway
and Wall, people all about us. He started the 'high and mighty' stuff
for a minute until I crumpled him up with a few facts. I thought he was
goin' to have a stroke for a minute, when I made my brace for the five
thou--then he turned tail and ran into the crowd pale as death. I lost
him then. But it didn't matter. I'd find him again. I knew where his
office was--and his hotel. It was dead easy. But he beat it down here.
It took me awhile to pick up the trail. But here I am, Pete--here I
am--safe in harbor at last."
Coast took the bills out of his pocket and slowly counted them again.
"And when you come back from the West, what will you do?" asked Peter.
"Oh, now you're talkin', Pete. I'm goin' to settle down and live
respectable. I like this country around here. I came from Jersey, you
know, in the first place. I might build a nice place--keep a few horses
and automobiles and enjoy my old age--run over to gay Paree once a
year--down to Monte Carlo in the season. Oh, I'd know how to _live_ now.
You bet you. I've seen 'em do it--those swells. They won't have anything
on me. I'll live like a prince----"
"On blackmail----," said Peter.
"See here, Pete----!"
"I meant it." Peter had risen and faced Coast coolly. "Blackmail! You
can't tell me that if you had any legal claim on McGuire you couldn't
prove it."
"I mightn't be able to----," he shrugged.
"What is McGuire frightened about? Not about what he owes you. He could
pay that ten times over. It's something else--something that happened
out there at the mine that you dare not tell----"
"That I _won't_ tell," laughed Coast disagreeably.
"That you _dare_ not tell--that McGuire dares not tell. Something that
has to do with his strange message about the blood on the knife, and
your placard about what you've got holding over him----"
"Right you are," sneered the other.
"It's dirty money, I tell you--bloody money. I know it. And I know who
you are, Jim Coast."
Coast started up and thrust the roll deep into his trousers pocket.
"You don't know anything," he growled.
Peter got up too. His mind had followed Coast's extraordinary story, and
so far as it had gone, believed it to be true. Peter wanted to know what
had happened out there at the mine in the desert, but more than that he
wanted to know how the destinies of this man affected Beth. And so the
thought that had been growing in his mind now found quick utterance.
"I know this--that you've come back to frighten McGuire, but you've also
come back to bring misery and shame to others who've lived long in peace
and happiness without you----"
"What----?" said Coast incredulously.
"I know who you are. You're Ben Cameron," said Peter distinctly.
The effect of this statement upon Jim Coast was extraordinary. He
started back abruptly, overturning a chair, and fell rather than leaned
against the bedpost--his eyes staring from a ghastly face.
"What--what did--you say?" he gasped chokingly.
"You're Ben Cameron," said Peter again.
Coast put the fingers of one hand to his throat and straightened slowly,
still staring at Peter. Then uneasily, haltingly, he made a sound in his
throat that grew into a dry laugh----
"Me--B-Ben Cameron! That's damn good. Me--Ben Cameron! Say, Pete,
whatever put _that_ into your head?"
"The way you frightened the old woman at the kitchen door."
"Oh!" Coast straightened in relief. "I get you. You've been talkin' to
_her_."
"Yes. What did you say to her?"
"I--I just gave her a message for McGuire. I reckon she gave it to him."
"A message?"
"Oh, you needn't say you don't know, Pete. It didn't fetch him. So I put
up the placard."
Peter was now more bewildered than Coast. "Do you deny that you're Ben
Cameron?" he asked.
Coast pulled himself together and took up his coat.
"Deny it? Sure! I'm not--not him--not Ben Cameron--not Ben Cameron.
Don't I know who I am?" he shouted. Then he broke off with a violent
gesture and took up his cap. "Enough of your damn questions, I say. I've
told you what I've told you. You can believe it or not, as you choose.
I'm Jim Coast to you or Hawk Kennedy, if you like, but don't you go
throwin' any more of your dirty jokes my way. Understand?"
Peter couldn't understand but he had had enough of the man. So he
pointed toward the door.
"Go," he ordered. "I've had enough of you--get out!"
Coast walked a few paces toward the door, then paused and turned and
held out his hand.
"Oh, Hell, Pete. Don't let's you and me quarrel. You gave me a start
back there. I'm sorry. Of course, you knew. You been good to me
to-night. I'm obliged. I need you in my business. More'n ever."
"No," said Peter.
"Oh, very well. Suit yourself," said Coast with a shrug. "There's plenty
of time. I'll be back in a month or six weeks. Think it over. I've made
you a nice offer--real money--to help me a bit. Take it or leave it, as
you please. I'll get along without you, but I'd rather have you with me
than against me."
"I'm neither," said Peter. "I want nothing to do with it."
Coast shrugged. "I'm sorry. Well, so long. I've got a horse back in the
dunes. I'll take the milk train from Hammonton to Philadelphia. You
won't tell, Pete?"
"No."
"Good-night."
Peter didn't even reply. And when the man had gone he opened the door
and windows to let in the night air. The room had been defiled by the
man's very presence. Ben Cameron? Beth's father? The thing seemed
impossible, but every fact in Peter's knowledge pointed toward it. And
yet what the meaning of Jim Coast's strange actions at the mention of
his name? And what were the facts that Jim Coast _didn't_ tell? What had
happened at the mine that was too terrible even to speak about? What was
the bond between these two men, which held the successful one in terror,
and the other in silence? Something unspeakably vile. A hideous pact----
The telephone bell jangled again. Peter rose and went to it. But he was
in no humor to talk to McGuire.
"Hello," he growled. "Yes--he's gone. I let him go. You told me to....
Yes, he talked--a long while.... No. He won't be back for a month....
We'll talk that over later.... No. Not to-night. I'm going to bed....
No. Not until to-morrow. I've had about enough of this.... All right.
Good-night."
And Peter hung up the receiver, undressed and went to bed.
It had been rather a full day for Peter.