DUDGEON'S HOSPITALITY
Within half an hour of Wallace's arrival at the bank Dudgeon drove up.
He scrambled out of his rackety old buggy and stamped into the place,
passing direct into the little room Eustace had used as a private
office, where, by the chance of circumstances, he came face to face with
Mrs. Burke.
His keen, grey, hawk-like eyes flashed an envenomed look at her, and
were met by a glance not one whit less steadfast. For a moment he stood,
his shaggy white brows meeting in a scowl as he found himself confronted
by one who even to his distorted vision possessed a charm of face and
figure such as he had not seen since the days of Kitty Lambton.
Something in the eyes which met his touched a chord of memory long
suppressed. So Kitty had looked when he met her for the first time after
her flight with O'Guire; so she had looked the last time he had seen her
when she had pleaded for mercy to her dying parents and he had taunted
her and mocked her till she turned and left him with curses as
deep-voiced as any he himself could have uttered.
"This is Mrs. Burke, the purchaser of Waroona Downs, Mr. Dudgeon," he
heard, and faced round on the speaker, turning his back upon her.
"Who are you?" he blurted out.
"I am the officer in charge of the bank for the time being," Wallace
replied suavely.
"Where's Eustace? He's the only man I know in the matter."
"He is not here at present, Mr. Dudgeon. But that need not concern you.
I assume you have come to complete the sale of----"
"I only know Eustace. I'm prepared to deal with him--I don't know you
and don't want to."
"Unfortunately Mr. Eustace cannot be present. But I am in his place. I
arrived from the head office this morning with the gold you demand as
payment for the sale of Waroona Downs. You may have noticed it as you
came in--the bags are on the counter in charge of the police escort."
"But where's Eustace? That's what I want to know."
He looked from Wallace to Harding savagely.
"If you are prepared to sign the transfer, Mr. Dudgeon, we can proceed
with the business," Wallace replied. "Mrs. Burke is waiting."
Dudgeon glanced at her covertly.
She was standing, as she stood throughout the subsequent proceedings, a
silent spectator, irritating him by the mere fact that she was so
absolutely impassive. When the time came for her to sign the formal
documents which made Waroona Downs hers, Wallace placed a chair at the
table; but she ignored it, bending down gracefully as she signed her
name in beautifully flowing characters.
Old Dudgeon's hands, knotted and stiff with many a day's toil, were not
familiar with the pen. As he laboured with the coarse, splodgy strokes
which ranked as his signature, the sight of the delicate curves of the
letters she had made fanned the flame of his wrath still higher. He also
stood to sign, not because she had done so, but because he scorned to
use a chair which belonged to his enemies. When he drew back from the
table he saw how she had been standing almost behind him, looking over
his shoulder as he wrote. A smile which he read as a sign of derision
was on her lips and in her eyes.
He kicked the chair viciously towards her.
"Why don't you sit down, woman?" he exclaimed.
"Because I prefer to stand--man," she replied.
It was the first time he had heard her voice, and he started at the
sound, wincing as, with one quick, furtive glance, he met her eyes
again.
"Is that all you want?" he asked Wallace abruptly.
"Thank you, Mr. Dudgeon, that is all. Will you take the gold with you,
or leave it for safety in the bank?"
"Leave it at the bank, eh?" he sneered. "No, thank you, Mr. Wallace, I
trust you as far as I trust your bank, and you know how far that is
without my telling you."
"Very good, Mr. Dudgeon. Will you watch it while it is being carried to
your buggy? There are two troopers here who have acted as my escort
from the head office. If you care to take them with you as a
protection----"
"I want neither you nor your troopers," Dudgeon snarled. "I can take
care of myself and my money, too, without anyone's help."
He watched, with undisguised suspicion, while the counted piles of
sovereigns were replaced in the bags, while the bags were carried away
and stacked in the rackety old vehicle. Then, when the tally was
complete, he walked out of the bank, climbed into the buggy, gathered up
the reins and drove away without a word or a glance for anyone.
The bitterness of defeat was rankling in him, the defeat of his lifelong
determination that never, while he was on the earth to prevent it,
should a woman live where his faith in the sex had been wrecked. It was
bitter to think how he had been foiled after all by a woman, but still
more so when the woman was of such a type as the one who had outwitted
him. It was a new experience for him to be beaten at his own game, still
a newer experience to find himself remembering the one by whom he was
beaten as he was remembering the woman whose voice, despite his surly
antagonism, rang in his ears with a melody which was as the song of a
syren. Each time he had measured swords with her she had triumphed--just
as, in the far-off days, Kitty Lambton had triumphed.
Kitty Lambton!
He pulled himself up short as the name passed through his mind. Why
should he recall her now as Kitty Lambton when she had ceased to be
that the day she left Waroona Downs with O'Guire? Why should this
resolute woman recall her as Kitty Lambton and not as Kitty O'Guire?
As he drove along the lonely bush track which led to Taloona, his mind
drifted across the years to the time when first he had come to the
district, to the time when Kitty Lambton stood for him for all that was
noble and generous and pure in life; when he was content to work the
livelong day with a light heart and happy mind, satisfied with the
reward of her presence when his day's work was done. For a mile or so of
the journey he strove to nurse his resentment against this clear-eyed
woman whose raven black hair was in such absolute contrast to the flaxen
locks of the vanished Kitty, but whose voice had caused the intrusion of
these bygone memories into his waking thoughts. But gradually,
unconsciously, the long-suppressed recollections of the girl who had
charmed his youthful fancies took possession of him.
Hitherto, whenever he had remembered her, it was with bitterness and
anger; but now his mind was as free from anger as though the cause for
it had never existed. It was the time when Kitty was the charmer which
had come to him, the time when the gnawing anguish of betrayal was
unknown, and slowly there obtruded itself upon him a dim, shadowy,
speculating wonder as to all which might have been had she never changed
for him from the charmer to the betrayer.
But he was not used to introspective analysis, and the efforts to
grapple with the subtleties of his own subconscious memories brought a
tendency to his mind to lose the clear-cut edge of a fact in a blur of
misty vision. No longer did the memory of Nora Burke irritate him. Had
he associated her with Kitty the betrayer, the irritation would never
have passed; but as it was Kitty the charmer her voice brought to him,
he drifted, in the sere and yellow age, down the stream of fantasy upon
which he had turned his back in scorn when the blood of youth ran in his
veins.
For miles the road slipped by unnoticed and unheeded as the old horse
stumbled on at his own pace, unguided by the hand that held the reins.
The breath of life had sought to fan the withered soul, but only one
small spark, deep-smothered by the dead mass of loveless years,
smouldered weakly where the record of a long life filled with human
sympathy should have blazed in answer. The gold for which he had striven
lay forgotten at his feet; the hate which he had nurtured passed, a
vapid filmy shade, as the withered soul shrank shivering, chilled at the
void the one poor spark revealed.
The sight of his solitary hut, glowing in the warm mellow light of the
evening sun, broke in upon a reverie so deep he could never recall all
that it had contained.
A horse hitched to one of the verandah posts, against which a man in
uniform was leaning, brought him back to the world of reality with a
shock. The hawk-like eyes gleamed as suspicion flashed through his
brain. Had Wallace, despite his refusal, sent the troopers after him?
The whip-lash fell viciously across the horse's back and the old rackety
buggy rattled as Dudgeon finished his drive at a canter.
"Well, what do you want?" he cried, as he pulled up opposite his door.
Durham glanced from the stern, hard face of the man to the pile of
money-bags clustered round his feet on the floor of the buggy, and over
which he had not even taken the trouble to throw a rug.
"I am a sub-inspector of police--Durham is my name----"
"Durham?" the old man exclaimed. "Are you the man who rode down Parker,
the cattle thief, when he was making off with a mob of imported prize
stock?"
"I arrested Parker--a couple of years ago."
Dudgeon leant forward and held out his hand.
"I'm proud to meet you, my lad. That mob of cattle belonged to me. You
saved me a few thousands over that job of yours. I'm much obliged to
you. I hoped to meet you some day so as to thank you."
"I don't remember your name in the case," Durham said.
"No, my lad, there was no need for me to appear. It was a Government
affair to prosecute Parker. Why should I pay money away for the
Government? Look at the anxiety and loss of time I had to put up with.
Nobody offered to make that good."
"But you got your cattle?"
"Well, they _were_ mine--I paid for them. But that's all right. I'm much
obliged to you for the trouble you took to catch the scoundrel--ten
years I think he got? He ought to have been hanged. I'd have hanged him
if I had been the judge. What are you after now? After more
cattle-stealers?"
"Not this time. I'm on my way to Waroona; but I've been travelling all
day and my horse is a bit knocked up. Can I turn him into one of your
paddocks for the night?"
"Grass is worth money these times," the old man said slowly. "I suppose
the Government will pay me for the use of the paddock, won't they?"
"You can demand it, of course, if you care to," Durham replied.
"And where are you going to camp? You'll want a feed, I suppose?"
"I reckoned I could get one here."
"Oh, you can get one here all right. There's no luxury about the place.
I'm a poor man and just carry enough stores to keep me going. There's
only me about the place now, so you'll have to do your own cooking; but
you'll find it as comfortable as any bush pub, and cheaper, for there's
no drink to be had, and half a crown for your supper and bed won't hurt
you. You can take it or leave it--I'm not particular."
He climbed out of the buggy and began unharnessing the horse.
"You have heard of the robbery at the bank, I suppose, Mr. Dudgeon?"
Durham asked.
"Heard of what?"
He stood up with his hand still on the buckle he was unfastening.
"The robbery at the bank. I thought everyone in the district had heard
of it."
The old man remained without moving, his eyes fixed on Durham.
"Haven't heard a word. What's the yarn?"
"The bank was robbed yesterday--all the money taken, including the gold
which had been sent up to pay you for Waroona Downs. Soon after the
robbery, Eustace, the manager, disappeared."
"Then who's Wallace?"
"He is one of the officials from the head office."
"But he had the money ready to pay me. How could that be if----"
"He arrived with it to-day--he was expected about noon, I believe."
Dudgeon let go the buckle and took two slow, deliberate steps nearer
Durham.
"Brought it with him?" he exclaimed. "And only arrived about noon?"
"About that, I believe," Durham replied.
The old man snatched the hat from his head and flung it on the ground.
"Sold! by God! Sold!" he yelled. "If I'd been there before that chap
arrived, I'd have beaten them--they couldn't have paid, and I'd have
cried off the deal. Why didn't you come and tell me earlier? What's the
good of your coming here now?"
"Don't you think it rather risky to drive through the bush with a pile
of money like that in your buggy while those bank robbers are still at
liberty?" Durham said quietly.
Dudgeon stood back and looked at him quizzically.
"Oh, you're on it too, are you? That's your game, is it? Well, see here,
my lad, anyone who can take this money without my knowing it is welcome
to it. Do you understand?"
He resumed his work of unharnessing the horse, leading it away, as soon
as it was clear of the shafts, to a lean-to shed at the side of the hut
where he hung up the harness and turned the horse free.
"Well, how about that half-crown? Are you going to stay, or aren't you?
Government won't pay that, you know. You find your own tucker, my lad."
"I wish to stay here to-night," Durham answered.
"Then chuck over the cash."
It was obvious that if Durham wished to stay, he would have to pay, so
without further demur he passed over the amount Dudgeon demanded for his
supper and bed.
"Now we start fair," the old man said, as he put the money in his
pocket. "I'm under no obligation to you and you're under no obligation
to me. That is what I call trading square."
He unlocked the door and flung it open.
"You'll find some cold meat and bread on the shelf, and there's tea in
the canister over the fire-place. You'll have to fetch what water you
want from the tank."
As Durham entered the hut, Dudgeon went to the buggy and lifted one of
the bags of gold in his arms, carrying it inside.
The hut was a small and unpretentious structure. The door opened
directly into the living-room, to which there was only one small window
looking out on the verandah. A second door led into a small kitchen, off
which opened another small room used by Dudgeon for sleeping.
With the bag of gold in his arms he stood in the doorway.
"You'll have to sleep on that stretcher over there," he said, nodding to
a rough framework of untrimmed saplings with a length of coarse canvas
fastened across. "You won't be cold. Keep a good fire on. You'll find an
axe in the harness shed if you want to get any wood."
He passed on through the second door and Durham set about lighting the
fire. As he did so, Dudgeon made journeys to and fro, coming from the
back of the hut empty-handed and returning from the buggy with a bag of
gold in his arms until he had carried all the twenty-five thousand
pounds in. By that time the fire was alight, and Durham went out to turn
his horse loose. He returned by way of the harness shed, took the axe
and went to the back of the hut to cut some wood for the night. As he
turned the corner, he saw old Dudgeon with a spade in his hand, entering
the hut by the back door.
"Ah, that's good," the old man exclaimed, when Durham entered the
living-room with an armful of cut wood. "That'll last the night through.
I see you made the tea, so I had mine as I was wanting a feed. You'll
have to boil some more water--there was only enough for one in the first
lot you made."
"I made that tea for myself, Mr. Dudgeon," Durham exclaimed.
"Well, make some more. There's plenty of water in the tank--I won't
charge you any more for using the can twice, though every time it's put
on the fire means so much less life for it."
Durham swung round in heat.
"You're the meanest man on the face of the earth," he cried.
Dudgeon looked at him with his shaggy brows almost obscuring the cold,
hawk-like eyes.
"If you hadn't paid me for your grub and a camp, I'd turn you out of the
place," he snarled. "You've no more gratitude for kindness than a black
fellow."
Durham bit back the angry retort which rose to his lips. Little wonder
the bank people were so indifferent to the old man's safety; little
wonder no one had troubled to bring him news of the incident which
formed the main item of gossip from end to end of the district. If this
was the way he treated a visitor who paid, and paid dearly, for his
board and bed, how, Durham asked himself, would he treat an ordinary
guest?
But he held his peace, refilled the can with water and set it to boil,
Dudgeon sitting in the one chair the room contained, as he stolidly cut
a pipeful of tobacco.
When the water boiled, Durham made a second brew of tea and took his
seat on a stool which was by the table. He helped himself to bread and
meat and commenced his meal, but never a word did Dudgeon speak. He sat
placidly smoking, his eyes on the smouldering embers of the fire,
without as much as a glance in the direction of his visitor.
The sun went down and the interior of the hut grew gloomy.
"Haven't you a lamp?" Durham asked. "I cannot see what I am eating."
"Make the fire up--that's good enough for me," Dudgeon replied without
raising his head.
On the shelf over the fire-place Durham had noticed a kerosene lamp, a
cheap, rickety article with a clear-glass bowl half-full of oil. He rose
from the stool, reached for the lamp, put it on the table and lit it.
"Here, that oil costs money," Dudgeon snarled as he looked round. "Half
a crown won't cover luxuries--you'll pass over another bob if you're
going to waste my oil."
Durham resumed his seat without heeding.
"Do you hear?" Dudgeon exclaimed. "If you ain't going to pay, you ain't
going----"
He stood up as he spoke, stood up and took a step towards the table with
one hand outstretched to lift away the lamp.
Durham, looking round as he moved, saw his eyes suddenly open wide and
stare fixedly at the door.
At the same moment a voice rang through the room.
"Hands up, or you're dead men!"
Springing to his feet Durham faced towards the door.
Standing in it were two figures, one the yellow-bearded man he had seen
at Waroona Downs, the other a man of slighter build whose face was
entirely concealed by a handkerchief hanging from under his hat and
gathered in at the throat, with two holes burned for the eyes. Each man
held a revolver, the masked man covering Durham, the bearded man
covering Dudgeon.
"Hands up!"
There was the sharp ring in the voice which betokens the strain of a
deadly determination. The eyes which glanced along the sights of the
levelled weapon, aimed direct at Durham's head, were merciless and hard.
Unless they were the last words he was ever to hear, Durham realised
there was only one course open. He raised his hands above his head. A
side glance showed him Dudgeon standing with his arms up.
"Turn your back, and put your hands behind you," he heard the bearded
man say, and Dudgeon shuffled round.
A double click followed, a familiar sound to Durham--the click of
snapping handcuffs.
"Now, Mr. Detective, it's your turn," he heard the man say. "Put your
hands behind you."
The eyes behind the mask wandered for an instant from their aim to
glance at the shackled Dudgeon.
On that instant Durham acted.
Straight at the face of the man beside him he hit, and as his clenched
fist came in contact with the bearded face, he ducked.
A shrill cry came from the man he had struck, almost simultaneously
with the report of a revolver-shot.
Durham heard a scream of pain from Dudgeon, but before he could know
more there was a crashing blow on his head, and he fell senseless to the
floor.