26
Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, andhe could have crossed the distance between their lives with a singlestep, and taken her into his heart. But he did not see. He had thrownhimself upon his bunk and lay face down, his arms stretched rigidly outbefore him, his teeth set, his eyes closed.
For what Donnegan had wanted in the world, he had taken; by force whenhe could, by subtlety when he must. And now, what he wanted most of allwas gone from him, he felt, forever. There was no power in his arms totake that part of her which he wanted; he had no craft which couldencompass her.
Big George, stealing into the room, wondered at the lithe, slender formof the man in the bed. Seeing him thus, it seemed that with the power ofone hand, George could crush him. But George would as soon have closedhis fingers over a rattler. He slipped away into the kitchen and satwith his arms wrapped around his body, as frightened as though he hadseen a ghost.
But Donnegan lay on the bed without moving for hours and hours, untilbig George, who sat wakeful and terrified all that time, was sure thathe slept. Then he stole in and covered Donnegan with a blanket, for itwas the chill, gray time of the night.
But Donnegan was not asleep, and when George rose in the morning, hefound the master sitting at the table with his arms folded tightlyacross his breast and his eyes burning into vacancy.
He spent the day in that chair.
It was the middle of the afternoon when George came with a scared faceand a message that a "gen'leman who looks riled, sir," wanted to seehim. There was no answer, and George perforce took the silence asacquiescence. So he opened the door and announced: "Mr. Lester to seeyou, sir."
Into the fiery haze of Donnegan's vision stepped a raw-boned fellow withsandy hair and a disagreeably strong jaw.
"You're the gent that's here with the colonel, ain't you?" said Lester.
Donnegan did not reply.
"You're the gent that cleaned up on Landis, ain't you?" continued thesandy-haired man.
There was still the same silence, and Lester burst out: "It don't work,Donnegan. You've showed you're man-sized several ways since you been inThe Corner. Now I come to tell you to get out from under Colonel Macon.Why? Because he's crooked, because we know he's crooked; because heplayed crooked with me. You hear me talk?"
Still Donnegan considered him without a word.
"We're goin' to run him out, Donnegan. We want you on our side if we canget you; if we can't get you, then we'll run you out along with thecolonel."
He began to talk with difficulty, as though Donnegan's stare unnervedhim. He even took a step back toward the door.
"You can't bluff me out, Donnegan. I ain't alone. They's others behindme. I don't need to name no names. Here's another thing: you ain't aloneyourself. You got a woman and a cripple on your hands. Now, Donnegan,you're a fast man with a gun and you're a fast man at thinkin', but Iask you personal: have you got a chance runnin' under that weight?"
He added fiercely: "I'm through. Now, talk turkey, Donnegan, or you'redone!"
For the first time Donnegan moved. It was to make to big George asignificant signal with his thumb, indicating the visitor. However,Lester did not wait to be thrown bodily from the cabin. One enormousoath exploded from his lips, and he backed sullenly through the door andslammed it after him.
"It kind of looks," said big George, "like a war, sir."
And still Donnegan did not speak, until the afternoon was gone, and theevening, and the full black of the night had swallowed up the hillsaround The Corner.
Then he left the chair, shaved, and dressed carefully, looked to hisrevolver, stowed it carefully and invisibly away among his clothes, andwalked leisurely down the hill. An outbreak of cursing, stamping,hair-tearing, shooting could not have affected big George as this quietdeparture did. He followed, unordered, but as he stepped across thethreshold of the hut he rolled up his eyes to the stars.
"Oh, heavens above," muttered George, "have mercy on Mr. Donnegan. Heain't happy."
And he went down the hill, making sure that he was fit for battle withknife and gun.
He had sensed Donnegan's mental condition accurately enough. The heartof the little man was swelled to the point of breaking. A twenty-hourvigil had whitened his face, drawn in his cheeks, and painted his eyeswith shadow; and now he wanted action. He wanted excitement, strife,competition; something to fill his mind. And naturally enough he had twoplaces in mind--Lebrun's and Milligan's.
It is hard to relate the state of Donnegan's mind at this time. Chiefly,he was conscious of a peculiar and cruel pain that made him hollow; itwas like homesickness raised to the nth degree. Vaguely he realizedthat in some way, somehow, he must fulfill his promise to the girl andbring Jack Landis home. The colonel dared not harm the boy for fear ofDonnegan; and the girl would be happy. For that very reason Donneganwanted to tear Landis to shreds.
It is not extremely heroic for a man tormented with sorrow to go to agambling hall and then to a dance hall to seek relief. But Donnegan wasnot a hero. He was only a man, and, since his heart was empty, he wantedsomething that might fill it. Indeed, like most men, suffering made hima good deal of a boy.
So the high heels of Donnegan tapped across the floor of Lebrun's. Amurmur went before him whenever he appeared now, and a way opened forhim. At the roulette wheel he stopped, placed fifty on red, and watchedit double three times. George, at a signal from the master, raked in thewinnings. And Donnegan sat at a faro table and won again, and again rosedisconsolately and went on. For when men do not care how luck runs itnever fails to favor them. The devotees of fortune are the ones shepunishes.
In the meantime the whisper ran swiftly through The Corner.
"Donnegan is out hunting trouble."
About the good that is in men rumor often makes mistakes, but for evilshe has an infallible eye and at once sets all of her thousand tongueswagging. Indeed, any man with half an eye could not fail to get themeaning of his fixed glance, his hard set jaw, and the straightness ofhis mouth. If he had been a ghost, men could not have avoided him moresedulously, and the giant servant who stalked at his back. Not that TheCorner was peopled with cowards. The true Westerner avoids trouble, butcornered, he will fight like a wildcat.
So people watched from the corner of their eyes as Donnegan passed.
He left Lebrun's. There was no competition. Luck blindly favored him,and Donnegan wanted contest, excitement. He crossed to Milligan's. Rumorwas there before him. A whisper conveyed to a pair of mighty-limbedcow-punchers that they were sitting at the table which Donnegan hadoccupied the night before, and they wisely rose without further hint andsought other chairs. Milligan, anxious-eyed, hurried to the orchestra,and with a blast of sound they sought to cover up the entry of thegunman.
As a matter of fact that blare of horns only served to announce him.Something was about to happen; the eyes of men grew shadowy; the eyes ofwomen brightened. And then Donnegan appeared, with George behind him,and crossed the floor straight to his table of the night before. Notthat he had forethought in going toward it, but he was movingabsent-mindedly.
Indeed, he had half forgotten that he was a public figure in The Corner,and sitting sipping the cordial which big George brought him at once, helet his glance rove swiftly around the room. The eye of more than onebrave man sank under that glance; the eye of more than one woman smiledback at him; but where the survey of Donnegan halted was on the face ofNelly Lebrun.
She was crossing the farther side of the floor alone, unescorted exceptfor the whisper about her, but seeing Donnegan she stopped abruptly.Donnegan instantly rose. She would have gone on again in a flurry; butthat would have been too pointed.
A moment later Donnegan was threading his way across the dance floor toNelly Lebrun, with all eyes turned in his direction. He had his hatunder his arm; and in his black clothes, with his white stock, he madean old-fashioned figure as he bowed before the girl and straightenedagain.
"Did you send for me?" Donnegan inquire
d.
Nelly Lebrun was frankly afraid; and she was also delighted. She feltthat she had been drawn into the circle of intense public interest whichsurrounded the red-headed stranger; she remembered on the other handthat her father would be furious if she exchanged two words with theman. And for that very reason she was intrigued. Donnegan, beingforbidden fruit, was irresistible. So she let the smile come to her lipsand eyes, and then laughed outright in her excitement.
"No," she said with her lips, while her eyes said other things.
"I've come to ask a favor: to talk with you one minute."
"If I should--what would people say?";
"Let's find out."
"It would be--daring," said Nelly Lebrun. "After last night."
"It would be delightful," said Donnegan. "Here's a table ready for us."
She went a pace closer to it with him.
"I think you've frightened the poor people away from it. I mustn't sitdown with you, Mr. Donnegan."
And she immediately slipped into the chair.