THE INTERVENTION OF SWANSON
Hayes never changed his position, nor removed his eyes from Winston,
his right hand still resting upon the butt of his "45," his lips set in
rigid line. The engineer, the mist partially clearing from his brain,
retained no thought except for Farnham, who remained motionless,
staring over his head into the black, threatening muzzle of Stutter
Brown's levelled gun. These were Western men; they recognized
instantly the potency of "the drop," the absolute certainty of death if
they stirred a muscle. They could only wait, breathless, uncertain,
the next move in this desperate game. To Winston it seemed an hour he
hesitated, his mind a chaos, temptation buffeting him remorselessly.
He saw the sheriff's face set hard, and resolute behind its iron-gray
beard; he marked the reckless sneer curling Farnham's lips, the livid
mark under his eye where he had struck him. The intense hatred he felt
for this man swept across him fiercely, for an instant driving out of
his heart all thought of mercy. As suddenly he remembered the helpless
woman yonder, within easy view, possibly even then upon her knees in
supplication. It was this conception that aroused him. He withdrew
his dull gaze from off that hateful, mocking face, his clenched hands
opening, his mind responding to a new-born will. "Vengeance is mine; I
will repay, saith the Lord"--like an echo, perhaps from the very prayer
her lips were speaking, the solemn words came into his consciousness.
With face white, and lips trembling, he stepped suddenly back, and
flung up one hand.
"Don't fire, boys!" he commanded, his voice ringing clear and
purposeful. "Drop your guns; it's all right. This is my game, and I
intend to play it out alone."
Farnham laughed, the quick reaction possibly affecting even his iron
nerves. Winston whirled and fronted him, the gray eyes blazing.
"Damn you, you sneaking, sneering brute!" he burst forth. "You thief,
you woman-beater, you unspeakable cur! I surrender to the sheriff of
Gulpin County, not to you. I 've got the evidence to send you to the
penitentiary, and I 'll do it, even though I stand myself in the shadow
of death while I bear witness to your infamy. You think this arrest
will shut my mouth! You imagine this will render me harmless! But, by
God, it will not! I 'll fight you until the last breath leaves my
body. I 'll tear you out from the protection of law; I 'll show you
the kind of a man you have stacked up against. I don't know whether
this murder charge is all a trick or not; I don't more than half
believe Jack Burke is dead. But be that as it may, I 'll pull you
down, Biff Farnham, not in any revenge for wrong done me, but to save a
woman whom you know. I 'll do it, damn you, though it cost me my life!"
The sheriff's iron hand fell in restraint upon his shoulder, the burly
body interposed between them.
"You're all right," Hayes said quietly, his eyes pleasantly interested.
"You 've been squar' with me, young fellow, an' I 'm goin' ter be
squar' with you. You kin bet on that. They 'll give you a chance down
below to fight out your quarrel with Farnham."
Winston, his quick rage as instantly fading, drew one hand across his
face, the real danger of his present situation flowing back suddenly to
mind.
"Where do you mean to take us?" he questioned.
"San Juan."
"Right away?"
"Wal, 'bout as soon as we kin git you back ter whar the hosses are,
yonder."
"You promise us protection from that 'Independence' outfit?"
The sheriff nodded decisively.
"Never lost no prisoner yet to a mob," he replied confidently. "I
reckon thar'll be one hell of a fight before I do now. However, you
don't need to worry, young man. On second thought, I 'll have the
hosses brought over here, an' we 'll go down this trail."
Winston glanced about into the faces of Hicks and the Swede. There was
no help forthcoming from either, but he had already reached a definite
decision for himself.
"Very well," he said calmly, "I 'll go with you quietly, sheriff, only
I don't need any hand-cuffing."
"Never use 'em," and Hayes affectionately patted his gun. "I reckon
this yere instrument will do the business all right if any
misunderstandin' should arise atween us goin' down. However, I 'll
trouble yer to discard them weapons for the sake o' peace."
Without a word the engineer unbuckled his belt, tossed it over to
Hicks, and then slowly turned his body about to prove himself entirely
disarmed. Then he smiled, and extended his hand. The sheriff grasped
it cordially.
"There need be no hard feeling between us, Hayes," he said pleasantly.
"You 're only doing your sworn duty; I understand that. But there 's
something rotten in this affair somewhere. All I ask is a square deal."
"An' yer kin bet you'll git it, Mr. Winston, er Sam Hayes will find out
why. This yere 'Independence' outfit is no favorites o' mine, an' if
the whole difficulty turns out ter be nothin' but a minin' squabble,
the jury ain't likely ter be very hard on yer. That's my way o'
figgerin' on it, from what little I know." He glanced keenly about,
seeking to gain a clearer idea of their immediate surroundings. "Maybe
you an' Swanson better mosey back yonder to the cabin, where I can keep
an eye on you easy, while I send after the hosses. Farnham, climb back
on top of the dump there, an' give them boys the signal to come on."
The gambler removed his hat, running one hand carelessly through his
hair, his thin lips sufficiently parted to reveal his white teeth.
"I hardly think we are exactly done yet, Mr. Sheriff," he said
sarcastically. "I 'm not very much worried regarding your suddenly
expressed sympathy for this fellow, or your desire to get him off
unscratched; but I feel compelled to insist upon receiving all the law
allows me in this game we 're playing. There 's another warrant in
your pocket for Winston."
"By thunder, yes; I 'd clear forgot it," fumbling at his papers.
"Well, I had n't; matter of some personal importance to me," the voice
taking on a lazy, insolent drawl. "Of course, the fellow is under
arrest all right, but that murder business is only part of it--I want
my wife."
Winston started forward, crouching as though he would spring directly
at the other's throat.
"Your wife?" he exclaimed madly, his voice choking. "Your wife? You
've sworn out a warrant for me on account of your wife?"
"Something of that nature, I believe," gazing at him insolently.
"Abduction I think the lawyers call it, and I notice you 've got the
lady hidden away back yonder now." He pointed across the other's
shoulder. "Caught with the goods. Oh, you 're a fine preacher of
morals, but I 've got you dead to rights this time."
Winston stood as though carven from stone, his face deathly white, his
lips compressed, his gray eyes burning, never wavering from that
mocking face. With all his strength of will he battled back the first
mad impulse to throttle the man, to crush him into shapeless pulp. For
one awful moment his mind became a chaos, his blood throbbing fire. To
kill would be joy, a relief inexpressible. Farnham realized the
impulse, and drew back, not shrinking away, but bracing for the
contest. But the engineer gripped himself in time.
"Hayes," he ejaculated hoarsely, "let the lady decide this. If she
says no, then, by God, I 'll fight you all single-handed before he ever
puts touch upon her!"
Old Bill Hicks was beside him in a single stride, his face blazing.
"I 'm damned if yer will!" he growled madly. "I 'm in on this deal,
law er no law. The whole blame thing is a bluff, an' I 'll not stan'
fer it no longer. Yer step back thar, Sam Hayes, er else Gulpin County
will be lookin' 'round fer another sheriff. I 've got plumb ter the
limit o' patience in this game."
Winston grasped the old man's uplifted arm, whirling him sharply around.
"No," he exclaimed almost wearily, "it 's not to be a fight yet;
let--let her decide between us."
She was already coming, walking alone directly across the open space
toward them. The eyes of the bewildered men were upon her, marking the
white face, rendered more noticeable by its frame of dark, uncovered
hair, the firm, womanly chin, the tightly compressed lips, the
resolute, unwavering eyes. She walked firmly, confidently forward, her
head proudly uplifted, a stately dignity about her bearing which could
not be ignored. If she perceived either Winston or Farnham in that
group she gave no sign, never halting until she stood directly before
Sam Hayes. Involuntarily, unconscious of the act, the sheriff pulled
off his hat, and stood twirling it in his hands.
"Is it indeed true," she asked, her voice thrilling with suppressed
feeling, "that you possess a warrant sworn out by Biff Farnham,
charging Mr. Winston with the abduction of his wife?"
"Yes, ma'am," and the man changed the weight of his body to the other
foot. "I 'm sorry ter say it 's true."
She lifted one hand suddenly to her forehead as though in pain.
"And you intend to serve it?"
"I have no choice, ma'am; I 'm an officer of the law."
There followed a pause, seemingly endless, the eyes of the men turned
away. She lifted her head, sweeping her gaze swiftly across the faces,
and a flush crept into the white cheeks.
"Gentlemen," her voice low and clear, but with a slight falter
occasionally yielding peculiar power to the words, "it is true I am
that man's wife." She looked directly at him, apparently oblivious of
his attempt at smiling indifference. "By the laws of God and men I am
his wife. I neither deny this, nor have ever sought to escape from its
obligations. To me, the vows of marriage were sacred when first
assumed; they remain no less sacred now. This man is fully aware of
how I feel in this regard; he knows I have proved true in spirit and
letter to my vows; he knows exactly why I am not living with him; why I
am earning my own living in the world; why I am here in this position
to-day. He knows it all, I say, because the desertion was his, not
mine; and his present deliberate, cowardly attempt to besmirch my
character by doing an injury to another is an unbearable insult, an
outrage more serious than if he had struck me a physical blow. The one
I might forgive, as I have before forgiven, but the other is beyond the
limits of pardon, if I would retain my own self-respect. I am a woman,
an honorable woman, and my reputation is more to me than life."
She paused, breathing heavily, her head flung back, Her hands clenched
as though in desperate effort at self-control.
"You--you!" the words seemed fairly forced from between her lips,
"there has never been a time when I would not have gone to you at a
word, at your slightest expressed desire. However I may have despised
you in my secret heart, I remained loyal outwardly, and would have gone
to you in response to the call of duty. There is no such duty now.
You have openly insulted and degraded me; you have accused me before
the world; you have dragged my name in the muck; you have attempted to
dethrone my womanhood. The past is over; it is over forever. The law
may continue to hold me as your wife, but I am not your wife. The
records of the church may so name me, but they are false. A God of
love could never have linked me to such a brute--the very thought is
infamy. Do not touch me! Do not speak to me! I believe I could kill
you easier than I could ever again yield to you so much as a word."
She reeled as though about to fall, her hand pressed against her heart.
Before an arm could be out-stretched in support, she had rallied, and
turned away. With head lowered, her face shadowed by her hair she
walked slowly toward the cabin. No man in the group stirred until she
had disappeared. Then the sheriff fumblingly replaced his hat, his
eyes wandering in uncertainty from Farnham to Winston.
"By God!" he exclaimed, as though in relief, catching his breath
quickly and wiping his forehead. "By God! but that was fierce."
Recalling his own duty he reached out his hand and laid it heavily upon
the shoulder of the man standing next him. It chanced to be the Swede.
"Go on into the cabin," he commanded, a returning sternness in the
order.
The surprised man stared at him in dull bewilderment.
"Vat for Ay go--hey?"
"Because you 're under arrest."
"Vat dot you say? I vas arrest? Maybe you not know me, hey? Ay tells
you vat Ay vas mighty quick. Ay ban Nels Swanson; Ay ban Lutheran; Ay
ban shovel--"
"Oh, shut up; ye 're under arrest, I tell you--move on now."
"Vat vas dis under arrest?" the blue eyes losing their mildness, the
drooping moustache beginning to bristle. "Ay no understand 'bout dis
arrest. Vat Ay do, hey?"
"Helped to kill Jack Burke."
The startled Norseman stared at him, gulping, his eyes fairly
protruding from his face, his breath hissing between his gritted teeth.
The wild berserker blood was surging hot through his veins.
"Ut vas von lie! You kill me so! By tamn, no!"
That instant, insane with fright, he grasped the astonished officer in
the vise of his great hands, swung him into the air, and dashed him
down headlong upon the rocks. Uttering a yell like that of some wild
animal, the fellow was off, striking against Winston with his body as
he passed, leaping recklessly across the rocks, heading straight toward
the nearest thicket. It was all the work of a moment. Farnham whirled
and sent one shot after him; then, as suddenly remembering his own
peril, wheeled back to face the others, the smoking revolver in his
hand. Amid the quick turmoil old Mike sprang to the summit of the rock
rampart, his face flaming with enthusiasm.
"Go it, Swanska!" he yelled, encouragingly. "Go it, ye crazy
white-head! Be the powers, but it's the foinest runnin' Oi 've sane
fer a whoile. Saints aloive! but wud ye moind thim legs! 'Twas a
kangaroo, begorry, an' not a monkey he come from, or Oi 'm a loiar. Go
it, Swanny, ould bye! Howly St. Patrick! but he 'll be out o' the
State afore dhark, if he only kapes it up. It 's money Oi 'm bettin'
on the Swade!"
Winston stepped swiftly across to the motionless sheriff, and knelt
down beside him, his face gravely anxious. The unfortunate man lay
huddled up, breathing heavily, his head bleeding freely from two
plainly visible wounds. The engineer turned him over, one hand feeling
for his heart. Slowly the young man rose to his feet, standing beside
the body, his gray eyes fastened upon Farnham. Here was a condition of
affairs he must decide upon for himself, decide instantly, decide in
spite of law, in spite of everything.
"He appears to be rather badly hurt; not seriously, I think, but the
man is unconscious, and in no condition to be removed," he said,
managing to hold his voice to a strange quiet. "I consider myself his
prisoner, and shall remain with him until he becomes fit to travel.
Farnham, I do not acknowledge your deputyship, and if you attempt to
arrest me it will be at your peril. There are four of us here against
you, but we 'll give you a chance--go back to your own! Not a word, if
you care to live! Go, damn you--go!"
They stood and watched him, until his slender figure disappeared behind
the fringe of cedars. Then Hicks and Winston, neither man speaking a
word, tenderly lifted the wounded sheriff from off the rocks, and bore
him back into the shelter of the cabin.