CHAPTER XIV
Two men were sitting together in an inner room in a saloon in NewOrleans.
'I was never more surprised than when you came in yesterday, Bob;regular floored I was. It was only a few days ago I was thinking overthat rig we were in together. We made a good bit out of that.'
'Yes, we didn't do badly. I have wished sometimes since that I had beenas deep in it as you were, and had bolted and cleared out altogether.'
'Yes, I made most out of it; but then you see I ran most risk by a longway. You might have got a year or two for being mixed up in it, but whatwith nobbling the horse and what with having to pretty near choke thestable-boy, I should have got fourteen years safe. You could have beenwith me in that if you had been game, instead of only taking the part ofgetting round the girl, and persuading her to get the stable boy to slipout to see her for five minutes. If the fools had played their partbetter we should have got off without my having to meddle with him, butshe made such a poor story of it that he suspected something was up andcame back again and just met me as I was dropping from the window of theloft. He knew me by sight, and there was nothing to do but to bolt,while as you had been swelling it with those false moustaches no onetwigged you from the girl's description, and you were able to spend yourmoney at home.'
'Well, it did not do me much good. It went after the rest quick enough.'
'You knew where to find me from Laxey, I suppose? I know he is a pal ofyours.'
'Yes, we work together sometimes. We knew each other years and yearsago, when we both had money to spend, and spent it and more besides. Hehad more than I had. He came into a biggish fortune when he came of age,but ran through it in a couple of years. Then he had a bit of luck onthe turf, and more luck still they used to say at cards at the clubs hebelonged to, till he was one day kicked out of one of them, and that didfor him altogether, and he came down to the three-card dodge and gamesof that sort. Yes, he was wonderfully clever at cards; could do almostanything with them. I have seen him bet a company all round that he cuta king three times following, let them shuffle them as much as theyliked, and he never touched the cards till he cut, and I never saw himmiss it though there were a score of men round looking at his fingers.'
'Aye, I have seen him do that trick, and nobody was ever able to makeout how he did it. He could make the cards do 'most anything. I havewritten to him half a dozen times within the last few years, telling himwhat an opening there was out here for a chap with such talents as hehas got; but I told him straight it was of no use his coming unless hewas ready to play with pistols as well as with cards, and I expect thatis what has kept him away. I fancy it was, from what he wrote. Laxey'sweak point was that he never had nerve--if it had not been for that, hecould have made money anywhere.'
'Well, he gave me your address. It suited my book to be out of Englandfor a few months, and when I had got across the water I said to myself,"I will go down and see Joe Murdoch at New Orleans." I am not as handywith the cards as Laxey, and I don't know who is, but I have worked thethree-card trick, and many an evening when Laxey and I have beentogether, in my room or his, we spent an hour or two over the cards, andhe has put me up to some of his tricks, and I have worked at them when Ihave had nothing else to do and could not sleep, till I have come to dosome of them pretty near as well as he does. I don't mean to say that Ithought of going into that line when I came down here, but I said tomyself, "There is Joe Murdoch; we have played more than one gametogether, and I can trust him and I think he can trust me. He has beenout here six years, and I expect he must know the ropes and can give mesome good advice, whether we go in for anything together or not."'
'That is so, Warbles. We can run straight together, or if we don't runtogether perhaps I can put you on to a line of country where you maymake good running for yourself. You left England suddenly, I suppose?'
The other nodded.
'Turf business?'
'No; I suppose they would call it money under false pretences. I onlyran dark; it was a girl I have got here with me that did the trick.'
'Brought a girl over with you, Warbles? Well, I should not have thoughtyou would have bothered yourself with a girl out here.'
'Well, no, I don't suppose I should if it hadn't been that I expected tomake her useful. She goes as my daughter, and she looks on me as an oldfriend of her father's.'
'Is that so?' the other asked doubtfully.
'That is so, Joe. The girl is straight--as straight as a line. I mether--never mind how I met her--but I saw she was a sharp girl and wouldbe a good-looking one, and it struck me that such a girl could be madevery useful. I had her taught a bit and trained, and I fancy she couldpass anywhere as a lady. Well, you know when a respectable gentleman ofmy age with an uncommon pretty daughter arrives at a big hotel, say atScarborough or Brighton, and the girl is clever, you can see foryourself that there is money to be made in lots of ways. Young men makethe acquaintance of the gentleman for the sake of the girl. They willcome up to his rooms and, after a little supper, they may take a hand atecarte. Then you see a young girl can get round a young flat with somepitiful story or other, and get a loan from him to meet temporarydifficulties. Then when the time gets near for leaving, she may take afancy to a few things from jewellers and have them sent to choose from.Altogether there is no end of money to be made if the game is playedwell.'
'Yes, I see that. But your coming over here shows that the game can becut short.'
'No, that is the game I am going to play when I go back. We worked in adifferent direction last time and brought it off. I think we might havestopped safely enough, but I had particular reasons for wanting to gethere out of the way, so I tell you I ran off the track and came overhere. Do you think that game could be played here?'
'Not much,' the other replied. 'At some of the summer resorts it mightbe done, but it could not last long. There ain't enough big towns andplaces to work in; besides, at our hotels there ain't the same chance ofgetting to know people that there is at home, or in Paris, or in thoseplaces. People sit down to a little table to themselves to their meals,and there is no sort of general meeting-place. You would find it veryhard to work it. Got some money, I suppose?'
'About five hundred pounds, Joe.'
The other smoked in silence for two or three minutes.
'Twenty-five hundred dollars,' he said at last, 'is a tidy sum, but itwould not go far here. Besides, if you are thinking of doing anythingwith the cards you would have to move about. It wouldn't do to bide toolong anywhere. They are up to most tricks, I can tell you, and theywould think here no more of shooting a man they had a suspicion ofplaying false than you would of eating your dinner. Stores are payingwell here, because there is a crowd of people going through to the West,and most of them lay in their stock for the journey here, buttwenty-five hundred dollars would go no way towards a store. If I wereto sell out, I could with what I could get for this place and what Ihave got by me put as much more in. Still, five thousand dollars wouldbe no use for a store that would make anything of a show. I have thoughta good deal about going West myself.'
'West?' the other repeated doubtfully.
'Yes, to California; there is big money to be made out there; I don'tmean in digging for gold. In a place like that it don't want a deal ofcapital. A big tent and a few casks of spirits and a stock of cheapwines and some tables and benches is about all; but that would be toomuch for me by the time I had made the journey across. With your moneyand mine I don't know that we mightn't manage it, and if we could itought to pay big money. I could run the saloon, you could work the cardrig in a room behind, and if the girl is as good-looking as you say sheis, she would fetch them in crowds if she looked after the bar. Thereare no end of mining camps, I hear, and the miners just chuck their goldabout, and one could move off from one to another when we found the gameplaying out.'
'It sounds a good thing,' Warbles said, 'but it is a long journey, isn'tit?'
'Well, yes, it's a long journey, there's no denying that,
but there arehundreds of people starting every week. Most of them go by the Southernroute, but I am told it is a much better way to go up the river bysteamer to a place called Omaha, which is growing into a big town, andstrike across from there.'
'It is not the difficulty but the time I am thinking of. I only intendedto stop for a few months.'
'What difference will that make? You want to get money, I suppose? Well,you would get as much in a week there as you would in a month by yourscheme, which might be cut short any day, and you might find yourselfwith your hair cropped and in for five years. Why, from what I haveheard, there are men coining money out there at drinking-saloons, andafter two or three years of it we might cut it and go home, and keeprace-horses of our own if we liked.'
'Well, I will think it over, Joe. It is a biggish thing to decide on,but there ought certainly to be money in it. As you say there is nochance of getting five years, but it seems to me from what I have heardof it there is a goodish chance of a pistol-bullet or a stab from abowie-knife.'
'I expect all that there is exaggerated; besides the rows are betweenthe men that drink, and not between them and those that sell drink; asto the cards there is no occasion to do any hanky panky with them,unless you see you have got a greenhorn to deal with and the chances aregood. The cards pay anyhow: they bring men into the place and they helpto sell the drink.'
'Well, I will think it over,' Warbles repeated. 'I am getting tired ofdoing nothing all day; how I shall get through three or four months ofit is more than I can think. Perhaps I might as well do this as anythingelse. The girl would certainly be useful. To tell you the truth she ispretty difficult to manage, and I am not sure she might not after a timekick over the traces altogether; but I don't think she would mind whatwe are talking about; I am sure it will be more to her taste than theother. Well, I will come in again in the morning; it is too big a thingto be decided on straight off.'
Warbles went back to his hotel. A girl was standing at the window,looking out upon the river; she turned round as he entered.
'Well, have you settled anything?' she asked. 'I am sick of doingnothing, but just thinking and thinking.'
'Care killed a cat, Linda,' the man said lightly. 'Thinking is a purewaste of time. I have had a long talk with Murdoch and he has put anentirely new idea into my head.'
'An honest idea, of course,' she said scornfully.
'You may scarcely believe me, but you are right, my dear; it is astrictly honest line.'
The girl looked at him intently.
'Well, let us hear what it is,' she said; 'you promised me the othershould be the last. I did not believe it, and told you so. I shall findit hard to believe that there is not something crooked about thissomewhere.'
'Well, there; isn't it just honest trade?' and he repeated theconversation he had had with Murdoch, omitting, however, all allusionsto his skill at cards. Her face brightened as he went on.
'That will do,' she said; 'I should say that will do first-rate. When Iwas a young 'un I often peeped in at the doors of big public-houses. Iused to think the women behind the bars had a fine time of it. I shouldnot think so now--at least, not in a big town--but in places like thoseyou talk of, it would be different altogether. I should like thejourney, too; it would be like going with gipsies, which I used to thinkwould be the happiest life in the world. I was afraid when we got outhere you would be wanting to do another thing like the last, and I wouldnot have helped you--at any rate, not till we were getting down to ourlast shilling. But I like the thought of this, and I will do my best foryou. I suppose they are a rough wild lot out there, but I think I cantake care of myself. But this time, mind, I shall want a share; I am notgoing to work for years and then be thrown over when it suits you. Iwill have my share of the profits paid over to me once a week or once amonth at the outside, and will put it away where I like. How much areyou going to put into this thing?'
'I told him I could manage five hundred, and he said he could do thesame, but I doubt whether that will be enough to carry it out properly.'
'Well, you have got two thousand left now. You said you would go halveswith me. I don't want that, but give me five hundred and you can tellthis man that I have got that money of my own and am ready to put it inwith yours, but that I am going to have an even share. I know you arecalculating that my good looks will draw, and no doubt they will. I amnot a fool, and can see what you are after; and I can see, too, that itwon't be an easy game for me to play. These miners, with their pistolsand their knives, are not like the young fellows who come into a Londonbar. They will be in real earnest out there, and it will be a dangerousgame to play with them. One has got to be pleasant with everyone and notto give a smile more to one than to another; not to give one the rightto think that he has a chance or causes him to believe that another hasa better one than he has.'
'I think that is rather too much, Sal,' Mr. Warbles said, doubtfully. 'Ihave always been kind to you.'
'There is no occasion to have any lying between us,' she broke in. 'Whyyou took me up and paid for me for years I don't know, and I don'tsuppose I ever shall know, but, at any rate, I know you well enough tobe sure that it was not out of pure kindness. If it had been, would youhave put me into the hands of a woman who was always drunk? Would youhave left me to be brought up in that court, to grow up a young thief,who might any day have been taken off and hauled before a beak? Do youthink I am such a fool as to swallow that? Then came the time when youtook me away, I saw you look me over. I saw that you said to yourself,"She will do."
'What I was to do for you I neither knew nor cared. You said you wouldhave me taught--that was enough for me. Then I had three quiet years,and I made the most of them. You told me something that first day aboutexpecting me to be useful to you, and when the time came I carried outyour orders. It was only right to do so; you had bought my services. Itwas a bargain--but don't let us call it anything else. From the firstyou had an object in saving me from starving or from the workhouse, andI suppose you thought that object was worth spending money on. Butcertainly the object was not kindness. You were always kind when youcame to see me once a year all the time I was with that woman, and it isfor that more than anything else that I am ready to help you and tocarry out your orders, but I don't want to be altogether at your mercy,still less at the mercy of the man you are going to take as partner.
'I will work with you but not under you. I don't want to interfere inyour plans, and as you would be two to one of course you could outvoteme if I did. Still, it will give me a better position if it is knownthat I am your partner and not your drudge, and I shall know that Icannot be cast off or thrown aside and left alone and friendless, andthat I can, if I like, wash my hands of the business.'
'I would not mind agreeing,' Mr. Warbles said, after sitting rubbing hischin thoughtfully for some time. 'I should not mind your having a thirdof the profits, and I think that would be fair enough seeing that youwould put in a third of the capital; and as you rightly suppose, weconsider that you would prove a great help to us. But suppose you tookit into your head to marry, where should we be then?'
The girl waved her hand impatiently. 'I am not likely to marry,' shesaid.
'So you think at present, Linda, and so a good many other girls havethought. Still, there it is. I have got to put the matter beforeMurdoch, and it has got to be put in a business shape. Would you bewilling, if we agree with you that as long as you remain with us youtake a third share of the profits, in case of your leaving us, either tomarry or for any other cause, to forfeit your third of the concern? Yousee if you weren't to do that your husband, if you had one, might sethimself down as a third owner; or, supposing you did not marry, youmight get a good offer for your share and sell out, and that would notbe fair on us.'
'No, that would not be fair. Yes, I would agree to that. I am to bejoint proprietor with you both, and to take my third of the profits todo what I like with, but if I leave you I forfeit all I have in theconcern. We will have the agreement made before a lawy
er. As far as I amconcerned, there shall be two copies made; one I will take with me, theother I shall leave with him, so that if by any chance I lose mine Ishall be able to prove my rights. Of course, I have no fear with you,papa; no man would wrong his daughter, but when there is a third personin the matter it is as well that one should look after oneself.'
Mr. Warbles with difficulty repressed an angry ejaculation; however, hewas so impressed with the value of his ally that he mastered himself,and said with an attempt at a smile, 'I had no idea you were such abusinesslike young woman, Sally.'
'I have always had to take care of myself a good deal,' she saidquietly, 'and I mean to do so as long as I can. Now it is time to godown to lunch, I think; then we might go for a drive and have a look atthe place. Are you going to see your friend again to-day?'
'No, I told him I must think the matter over, and see whether you likedthe idea before I decided one way or the other.'
Joe Murdoch offered no objection whatever when Mr. Warbles informed himof the conditions on which alone Miss Myrtle--for they had adoptedanother name when booking for New Orleans--consented to join in theventure.
'It is her money, I suppose, that she puts in?' he asked.
'It is her share of the last thing we pulled off.'
'Ah, well, it is hers then. Well, it is only fair that she should have athird. You were quite right in insisting that if she left us she shouldforfeit all further share in it. I don't like her any the worse forbeing able to look after her own interests. One wants a long-headed girlfor this business; a weak fool, who would be ready to throw herself awayon the first good-looking miner with his pockets well filled, would beof no use to us at all. One who would be inclined to flirt right andleft might be worse still, for there would be a shooting affair in theplace in no time. One wants just what I think she is, by your account ofwhat she said, a cool-headed, clever woman, who has the wit to see thatthe best game is to steer clear of them all, show no preference toanyone, and to give no one an excuse for being jealous. She is exactlythe one we want. I think even better of the thing than I did before,Warbles. The extra five hundred will make all the difference in ouroutfit; I should say it would take us five hundred to get across, butthen we should have the waggon and horses, and they would do to take thetent or the frame and boardings of the house up, to work backwards andforwards to the nearest town for spirits and food, and would pay itsexpenses by hauling things for storekeepers. I reckon it is a first-ratelook-out.'
'Where would you buy the outfit?'
'Well, we can get a waggon in pieces all numbered and ready to puttogether when we get to Omaha. We shan't want a very heavy one as thereare only three of us. We had better buy horses here; there is no sayinghow much we might have to pay at Omaha; or, what would be better, I cansend a letter by a boat that starts this evening to a man I know who hasa farm near the last steamboat stopping-place, about a hundred milesthis side of Omaha, and give him a commission to buy me four of thestrongest horses he can get there, and to drive them to Omaha so as tomeet us by next Thursday's boat. There will be nothing to keep us beyondthen.'
'No, the sooner we are off the better. I suppose you know pretty wellwhat are the things people take with them?'
'Yes; it is generally about the same thing, flour, bacon, tea and sugar,molasses, and baking-powder. Of course we shall want a few pounds ofsalt and some pepper and mustard, and a keg of salt butter. That aboutfills the list. Have you got any firearms?'
'No.'
'You will want a brace of Colts--that's revolvers, you know--and a bowieknife, which is handy for all sorts of things. I have got everything.The first thing to do is to have this agreement made; I can find a manto draw it up.'
'That won't do. The girl said this morning that she should ask thelandlord of the hotel for the name of one of the most respectablelawyers in our place, and should go with us when we give ourinstructions to him.'
'Good,' Murdoch said; 'she must be chock full of good sense. It is clearthat there will be no getting over her easily. She is right, you know,quite right; for the man I was thinking of going to might not have takensufficient care of her copy.' And he winked at his associate.
'That is what she suspected, no doubt,' Mr. Warbles said, in an injuredtone. 'After all I have done for her, it is hard to be distrusted.'
'It must be, I should say, Warbles, mightily hard, after, as you say,all you have done for her.'
'She said when I came out she'd get the name and address before I cameback, and that I had better bring you with me, so that we could gotogether at once. You had better tog yourself up a bit.'
'I should think so. You are such a respectable looking swell, Warbles,that I ain't fit to walk down the street with you, let alone to beintroduced to a young lady. Well, just look at that paper for a fewminutes.'
Mr. Warbles sat down and amused himself until Murdoch's return inwatching the young man in charge of the bar who, having been up tillfour o'clock in the morning, was now languidly wiping down the counter,decanting liquids from one bottle to another, washing glasses, andgenerally setting things straight. When Murdoch appeared he was dressed,and Mr. Warbles looked at him approvingly.
'This is my English suit,' Murdoch explained. 'I have not put it on tentimes since I came over. You see, people here mostly wear either blackor white, with waistcoats cut low so as to show a lot of white shirt. Idress their way, of course; as a rule it don't do to look peculiar;besides, there is rather a prejudice against Britishers down here, andit is no use rubbing them down the wrong way. If you dress as otherpeople do, and keep a quiet tongue in your head, you have a good chanceof steering clear of rows. Of course you cannot always do that when youare running a saloon, but even here you can do fairly well if you keepyour eyes open and act according to character. If it is a great bigswaggering sort of bully who gets drunk and kicks up a row, I havepistols always handy behind the bar, and when I jump over with one ineach hand I can generally get him out as quiet as a lamb. If I see thatit is a regular hard case, a fellow who means downright mischief, I lielow and take no heed, only sending out my man quietly to fetch aconstable. As a rule he never finds one, still it makes all thedifference. If there is a man shot and an inquest the next morning I amable to prove that I did my best to put a stop to the matter, and so Iget off without being blamed; for a New Orleans jury are not foolsenough to suppose anyone is going to shove himself between two angry menwhen their hands go to their pistol pockets.'
When they arrived at the hotel Mr. Warbles asked his companion to stopoutside while he fetched the girl down.
Joe Murdoch had been prepared to see a good-looking young woman, but hewas completely taken aback by the appearance of the girl who came outwith Mr. Warbles. He had been on English racecourses long enough to beable to distinguish a lady when he saw her, and he at once decided thatthis girl would pass for one in any society. She was well but quietlydressed, had a graceful walk and a good carriage, while her face wasexceptionally pretty. 'My eye,' he muttered to himself, 'wherever didWarbles pick her up?'
'This is my old friend, Joe Murdoch, Linda'--for the name of Sally hadbeen dropped as being vulgar and objectionable, from the day hertraining had begun. 'This is my adopted daughter, Joe.'
'Glad to meet her, I am sure,' Mr. Murdoch said, with a humilityaltogether uncommon to him. 'I am very glad to think that we are goingto travel together, Miss Myrtle.'
'I shall be glad to travel anywhere, Mr. Murdoch. This seems to me adreary place.'
'Not dreary when you know it; far from that. It is a stirring place,except in the old French quarters, but one wants to know it.'
'We took a drive yesterday,' Linda said; 'and it seems to me that it isthe worst smelling and most unhealthy sort of place I was ever in.'
'Well, yes, I can't say much for it in that way, and occasionally we getyellow fever here bad, but I have never had an attack myself. Whoseoffice are we going to, Warbles?'
'I wish you would call me Myrtle,' the latter said irritably; 'there isno
good in calling up that old name here.'
'We are going to Mr. Searle's,' Linda said quietly; 'this is the streetI think. I got the directions how to find it at the hotel. He is arespectable lawyer, I am told.'
'Very much so, Miss Myrtle, quite highly so. I believe that he is a verysharp fellow too, and it is not always the two things go together. Hewas with his father; the old man died two years ago, and now the youngone has got it all in his own hands. He does all the best shippingbusiness here.'
On entering they found that Mr. Searle was disengaged, and were at onceshown into his office.