CHAPTER XV
GORDON BUYS A REVOLVER
Selfridge was not eager to meet his chief, but he knew he must report atonce. He stopped at his house only long enough to get into fresh clothesand from there walked down to the office. Over the Paget telephone hehad got into touch with Macdonald who told him to wait at headquartersuntil he came.
It had been the intention of Macdonald to go direct from Sheba to hisoffice, but the explosion brought about by Meteetse had sent him outinto the hills for a long tramp. He was in a stress of furious emotion,and until he had worked off the edge of it by hard mushing, the crampedcivilization of the town stifled him.
Hours later he strode into the office of the company. He wasdust-stained and splashed with mud. Fifteen miles of stiff heel-and-toewalking had been flung behind him.
Wally lay asleep in a swivel chair, his fat body sagging and his headfallen sideways in such a way as to emphasize the plump folds of hisdouble chin. His eyes opened. They took in his chief slowly. Then, ina small panic, he jumped to his feet.
"Must 'a' been taking thirty winks," he explained. "Been up nights agood deal."
"What doing?" demanded the Scotchman harshly.
In a hurried attempt to divert the anger of Macdonald, his assistantmade a mistake. "Say, Mac! Who do you think came up on the boat with me?I wondered if you knew. Meteetse and her kid--"
He stopped. The big man was glaring savagely at him. But Macdonald saidnothing. He waited, and under the compulsion of his forceful silenceWally stumbled on helplessly.
"--They got off here. 'Course I didn't know whether you'd sent for heror not, so I stopped and kinder gave her the glad hand just to sizethings up."
"Yes."
"She had the address of Miss O'Neill, that Irish girl staying at thePagets, the one that came in--"
"Go on," snapped his chief.
"So I directed her how she could get there and--"
Wally found himself lifted from the chair and hammered down into itagain. His soft flesh quaked like a jelly. As he stared pop-eyed at thefurious face above him, the fat chin of the little man drooped.
"My God, Mac, don't do that!" he whined.
Macdonald wheeled abruptly away, crossed the room in long strides, andcame back. He had a grip on himself again.
"What's the use?" he said aloud. "You're nothing but a spinelessputterer. Haven't you enough sense even to give me a chance to decidefor myself? Why didn't you keep the woman with you till you could sendfor me, you daft donkey?"
"I swear I never thought of that."
"What have you got up there in your head instead of brains? I send yououtside to look after things and you fall down on the job. I give youplain instructions what to do at Kamatlah and you let Elliot make amonkey of you. You see him on the boat with a woman coming to maketrouble for me, and the best you can do is to help her on the way. Man,man, use your gumption."
"If I had known--"
"D'ye think you've got sense enough to take a plain, straight message asfar as the hotel? Because if you have, I've got one to send."
Wally caressed tenderly his bruised flesh. He had a childlike desire toweep, but he was afraid Macdonald would kick him out of the office.
"'Course I'll do whatever you say, Mac," he answered humbly.
The Scotch-Canadian brushed the swivel chair and its occupant to oneside, drew up another chair in front of the desk, and faced Selfridgesquarely. The eyes that blazed at the little man were the grimmest hehad ever looked into.
"Go to the hotel and see this man Elliot alone. Tell him he's gone toofar--butted into my affairs once too often. There's not a man alive I'dstand it from. My orders are for him to get out on the next boat. Ifhe's here after that, I'll kill him on sight."
The color ebbed out of the florid face of Wally. He moistened his lipsto speak. "Good God, Mac, you can't do that. He'll go out andreport--"
"To hell with his report. Let him say what he likes. Put this to himstraight: that he and I can't stay in this town--_and both of uslive_."
Wally had lapped up too many highballs in the past ten years to relishthis kind of a mission. He had depressed his nerves with overmuchtobacco and spurred them with liquors, had dissipated his force in manysmall riotings. His nerve was gone. He had not the punch any more.Yet Mac was always expecting him to help out with his rough stuff, hereflected fretfully. This was the third time in a month that he had beenflung headlong into trouble. Take this message now. There was no sensein it. Selfridge plucked up his courage to say so.
"That won't buy us anything but trouble, Mac. In the old days you couldput over--"
The little man never guessed how close he came to being flung throughthe transom over the door, but his instinct warned him to stop. Hisobjection died away in a mumble.
"O' course I'll do whatever you say," he added a second time.
"See you do," advised his chief, an ugly look in his eyes. "Tell him hegets till the next boat. If he's here after that, he'd better go heeled,for I'll shoot on sight wherever we meet."
Selfridge went on his errand with lagging feet. On the way he stoppedat the Pay-Streak Saloon to fortify himself with a cocktail. He foundElliot sitting moodily alone on the porch of the hotel.
In Gordon's pocket there was a note to Macdonald explaining that he hadnothing to do with the coming of Meteetse. He had expected to send it bythe hotel porter that evening, but the curt order to leave town filledhim with a chill anger. The dictator of affairs at Kusiak might thinkwhat he pleased for all the explanation he would get from him. As fortaking the next boat, Elliot did not even give that consideration.
"Tell your master I don't take orders from him," he told Wally quietly."I'll stay till my work here is done."
They had moved a few yards down the street. Now Gordon turned,lean-loined and active, and trod with crisp, confident step back to thehotel. He had said all that was necessary to say.
Two men standing on the porch nodded a good-evening to him. Gordon,about to pass, glanced at them again. They were Northrup and Trelawney,two of the miners who had had trouble with Macdonald on the boat.
On impulse he stopped. "Found work yet?" he asked.
"Found a job and lost it again," Northrup answered sullenly.
"Too bad."
"Macdonald passed the word along that we weren't to get work. So ourboss fired us. The whole district is closed to us. We been blacklisted,"explained Trelawney.
"And we're busted," added his mate.
Elliot was always free-handed. Perhaps he felt just now unusuallysympathetic towards these victims of the high-handed methods ofMacdonald. From his pocket he took a small leather purse and gave apiece of gold to each of them.
"Just as a loan to carry you for a couple of days till you get somethingto do," he suggested.
Northrup demurred, but after a little pressure accepted theaccommodation.
"I pay you soon back," he promised.
Trelawney laughed recklessly. He had been drinking.
"You bet. Me too."
His companion flashed a look of warning at him and explained that theywere going down the river to look for work outside of the district.
Suddenly Trelawney broke loose and began to curse Macdonald with abitterness that surprised the Government agent. What struck him most,though, was the obvious anxiety of Northrup to quiet his partner and togloss over what he had said. Thinking of it later, Gordon wondered whythe Dane, who had as much cause to hate Macdonald as the other, shouldbe at such pains to smooth down the man and explain away his threats.
Elliot bought an automatic revolver next morning and a box ofcartridges. He was not looking for trouble, but he intended to beprepared for it when trouble came looking for him. With a rifle he was afair shot, but he lacked experience with the revolver. In the afternoonhe walked out of town and practiced shooting at tin cans for a half anhour. On his way back he met Peter Paget.
The engineer came straight to the subject in his mind.
"Selfridge came to
see me last night. He told me about the troublebetween you and Macdonald, Gordon. You must leave town till he coolsdown. Macdonald is a bad man with a gat."
"Is he?"
"You can drop down the river on business for a few weeks. After awhile--"
His friend looked at him coolly. "I can, but I'm not going to. Where doyou get this stuff about me being a quitter, Pete?"
Peter laid a hand on his shoulder. "Now, look here, Gordon. Don't be akid and foolhardy. Duck. I'm your friend--"
"You're his, too, aren't you?"
"Yes, of course, but--"
"All right. Tell him to duck. There'll be no trouble of my making. Butif he starts any I'll be there. Macdonald doesn't own the earth, youknow. I've been sent up here by Uncle Sam on business, and you can betyour last dollar I'll stay on the job till I'm through."
"Of course you've got to finish your job. But it doesn't all have to bedone right here. Just for a week or two--"
"Tell your friend something else while you're on the subject. If I drophim, I go scot free because he is interfering with me in my duty. I'llput Selfridge on the stand to prove it. But if he should kill me, hislast chance for getting the Macdonald claims patented would be gone.The public would raise such a howl that the Administration would have tothrow your friend and the Guttenchilds overboard to save itself. I knowthat--and Macdonald knows it. So he stands to lose either way."
Paget knew this was true. He knew, too, there was no use in arguing withthis young athlete. That close-gripped jaw and salient chin did notbelong to a slacker. Gordon would stick and see the thing out. But Petercould not drop the subject without one more appeal.
"He's not sore at you about the claims. You know that. It's because youbrought the squaw up the river to see Sheba."
"I didn't bring her--hadn't a thing to do with that. I don't know whobrought her, though I could give a good guess."
A gleam of hope showed in the eye of the engineer. "You didn't bringher? Diane said you threatened--"
"Maybe I did say I would. Anyhow, I thought better of it. But I'm gladsome one had the sense to tell Miss O'Neill the truth."
"Who do you think brought her?"
"I'm not thinking on that subject out loud."
"But if we could show Mac--"
"That's up to you. I'll not lift a finger. Your king of Kusiak has tolearn some time that everybody isn't going to sidestep him and pussyfootwhen he's around. I didn't start this war and I'm not making any peaceovertures."
"You're as obstinate as the devil," smiled Peter, but in his heart headmired the dourness of his friend.
The engineer went to Macdonald and gave a deleted version of his talkwith Elliot. The Scotchman listened, a bitter, incredulous smile on hisface.
"Says he didn't bring her, does he? Tell him from me that he lies. Yourwife let out to me by accident that he threatened to bring her. Meteetseand he came up on the boat together. He was with her at your house whenshe told her story. He's trying to save his hide. No chance."
"Elliot isn't a liar. When he says he didn't bring the woman, thatsatisfies me. I know he didn't do it," insisted Paget stiffly.
"Different here. Who else had any interest in bringing her except him?Nobody. Use your brains, Peter. He takes the first boat down the river.He comes back on the next one. She comes back, too. They couldn't figureI'd be at your house when they showed up there to tell the story. That'swhere Mr. Elliot slipped up."
Peter was of different stuff from Selfridge. He had something to say. Sohe said it.
"Times have changed, Mac. You can't shoot down this young fellow withoutmaking all kinds of trouble. First thing we'd lose the claims. TheAdministration would drop you like a hot potato if you did a thing likethat. Sheba would never speak to you again. Your friends would know intheir hearts it was murder. You can't do it."
Macdonald's jaw clamped. "Then let him get out. That's my last word tohim."