CHAPTER VI
CHAIN-LIGHTNING
Turning from Purgatory, after he had dismounted in front of the sheriff'soffice, Harlan faced three men who stood just outside of the building,watching him.
The slightly humorous smile that curved Harlan's lips might have betrayedhis reason for dismounting in front of the sheriff's office, for he hadseen Laskar standing with the two other men. But no man could have toldthat he looked at Laskar directly, except Laskar himself, who would havesworn that Harlan did not remove his gaze from him, once he had slippedfrom Purgatory's back.
For Harlan's eyes told nothing. They seemed to be gazing at nothing, andat everything. For Gage, watching the man, was certain Harlan was lookingdirectly at him as he grinned, and Deveny, like Laskar, was sure Harlan'sgaze was upon him. And all of them, noting one another's embarrassment,stood silent, marveling.
And now Deveny discovered that Harlan was watching the three of themtogether--a trick which is accomplished by fixing the gaze upon someobject straight in front of one; in this case it was Deveny's collar--andthen including other objects on each side of the center object.
Steady nerves and an inflexible will are required to keep the gazeunwavering, and a complete absence of self-consciousness. Thus Devenyknew he was standing in the presence of a man whose poise andself-control were marvelous; and he knew, too, that Harlan would be awareof the slightest move made by either of the three; more, he could detectany sign of concerted action.
And concerted action was what Deveny and Laskar and the sheriff hadplanned. And they had purposely dragged Laskar outside, expecting Harlanwould do just as he had done, and as his eyes warned he intended to do.
"I'm after you, Laskar," he said softly.
Laskar stiffened. He made no move, keeping his hands at his sides, wherethey had been all the time that had elapsed since Harlan had dismounted.
Laskar's eyes moved quickly, with an inquiring flash in them, towardDeveny and the sheriff. It was time for Deveny and the sheriff toprecipitate the action they had agreed upon.
But the sheriff did not move. Nor did Deveny change his position. Aqueer, cold chill had come over Deveny--a vague dread, a draggingreluctance--an indecision that startled him and made of his thoughts anodd jumble of half-formed impulses that seemed to die before they couldbecome definite.
He had faced gun-fighters before, and had felt no fear of them. Butsomething kept drumming into his ears at this instant with irritatinginsistence that this was not an ordinary man; that standing before him,within three paces, his eyes swimming in an unfixed vacuity whichindicated preparation for violent action, was Harlan--"Drag" Harlan, thePardo two-gun man; Harlan, who had never been beaten in a gunfight.
Could he--Deveny--beat him? Could he, now, with "Drag" Harlan watchingthe three of them, could he draw with any hope of success, with the hopeof beating the other's lightning hand on the downward flash to life ordeath?
Deveny paled; he was afraid to take the chance. His eyes wavered fromHarlan's; he cast a furtive glance at the sheriff.
Harlan caught the glance, smiled mirthlessly and spoke shortly to Laskar:
"I told you to keep hittin' the breeze till there wasn't any morebreeze," he said. "I ought to have bored you out there by the red rock. Igave you your chance. Flash your gun!"
"Harlan!"
This was Gage. His voice sounded as though it had been forced out: it washoarse and hollow.
Harlan did not move, nor did his eyes waver. There was feeling in themnow: intense, savage, cold. And his voice snapped.
"You're the sheriff, eh? You want to gas, I reckon. Do it quick beforethis coyote goes for his gun."
The sheriff cleared his throat. "You're under arrest, Harlan, for killin'Lane Morgan out there in the desert yesterday."
Harlan's eyes narrowed, his lips wreathed into a feline smile. But he didnot change his position.
"Who's the witness against me?"
"Laskar."
"Has he testified?"
"He's goin' to."
Harlan backed away a little. His grin was tiger-like, a yellow flameseemed to leap in his eyes. Laskar, realizing at last that he could hopefor no assistance from Gage or Deveny, grew rigid with desperation.
Death was in front of him; he knew it. Death or a deathless fame. Thefates had willed one or the other, and he chose to take the gambler'schance, the chance he and Dolver and the Chief had refused Lane Morgan.
Deathless fame, the respect and the admiration of every man in thesection was his if he beat "Drag" Harlan to the draw. Forever afterward,if he beat Harlan, he would be pointed at as the man who had met thePardo gunman on even terms and had downed him.
He stepped out a little, away from the front of the building, edging offfrom Deveny and Gage so that Harlan would have to watch in twodirections.
Lawson and Rogers, having advanced to a position within a dozen paces ofthe group in front of the sheriff's office, now backed away, silent,watchful. Other men who had been standing near were on the moveinstantly. Some dove into convenient doorways, others withdrew to alittle distance down the street. But all intently watched as Laskarshowed by his actions that he intended to accept his chance.
Deveny, too, watched intently. He kept his gaze fixed upon Harlan, noteven glancing toward Laskar. For Deveny's fear had gone, now that thedread presence had centered its attention elsewhere, and he wasdetermined to discover the secret of Harlan's hesitating "draw," thecurious movement that had given the man his sobriquet, "Drag." Thediscovery of that secret might mean much to him in the future; it mighteven mean life to him if Harlan decided to remain in the section.
Harlan had made no hostile movement as yet. He still stood where he hadstood all along, except for the slight backward step he had taken beforeLaskar began to move. But he watched Laskar as the latter edged away fromthe other men, and when he saw Laskar's eyes widen with the thought thatprecedes action, with the gleam that reflects the command the braintransmutes to the muscles, his right hand flashed downward toward thehip.
With a grunt, for Harlan had almost anticipated his thoughts, Laskar'sright hand swept toward the butt of his pistol.
But Harlan's hand had come to a poise, just above the stock of hisweapon--a pause so infinitesimal that it was merely a suggestion of apause.
It was enough, however, to throw Laskar off his mental balance, and as hedrew his weapon he glanced at Harlan's holster.
A dozen men who watched swore afterward that Laskar drew his gun first;that it was in his hand when Harlan's bullet struck him. But Deveny knewbetter; he knew that Laskar was dead on his feet before the muzzle of hisweapon had cleared the holster, and that the shot he had fired had beenthe result of involuntary muscular action; that he had pulled the triggerafter Harlan's bullet struck him, and while his gun had been loosening inhis hand.
For Deveny had seen the bullet from Laskar's gun throw up sand atHarlan's feet after Harlan's weapon had sent its death to meet Laskar.And Deveny had discovered the secret of Harlan's "draw." The pause was atrick, of course, to disconcert an adversary. But the lightning flash ofHarlan's hand to his gun-butt was no trick. It was sheer rapidity, hishand moving so fast that the eye could not follow.
And Deveny could get no pleasure from his discovery. Harlan had waiteduntil Laskar's fingers were wrapped around the stock of his pistol beforehe had drawn his own, and therefore in the minds of those who hadwitnessed the shooting, Harlan had been justified.
Sheriff Gage thought so, too. For, after Laskar's body had been carriedaway, Harlan stepped to where the sheriff stood and spoke shortly:
"You wantin' me for this?"
Sheriff Gage shook his head. "I reckon everybody saw Laskar go for hisgun. There was no _call_ for him to go for his gun. If you'd have shothim without him reachin' for it things would have been different."
Harlan said coldly, "I'm ready for that trial, now."
The sheriff's eyes glowed with some secret significance as they metHarlan's. He was standing at a little d
istance from Deveny, and hedeliberately closed an eye at Harlan.
"Trial--hell!" he declared, "you've destroyed the evidence."
Harlan wheeled, to see Deveny standing near. And for an instant as theireyes met--Harlan's level and cold, Deveny's aflame with a hostilityunmistakable--the crowd which had witnessed the shooting of Laskar againbecame motionless, while a silence, portending further violence,descended over the street.
Then Deveny abruptly wheeled and began to walk across to the FirstChance.
He had not taken many steps, however, when there were sounds of commotionfarther down the street toward the Eating-House--a man cursing and a girlscreaming.
Deveny halted and faced the point from which the sounds came, and a scowlappeared on his face.
Harlan wheeled, also. And he saw, at a little distance down the street, agirl running, her hair tossing in a mass around her, her eyes wild withfright and terror. Behind her came a man, cursing as he ran.
Harlan heard Sheriff Gage curse, too--heard him say:
"That's Lane Morgan's daughter--Barbara! What in hell is she doin' here?"
The girl, not more than a dozen feet ahead of her pursuer, ran straighttoward Harlan. And when--as she drew closer and he saw that she was,indeed, actually coming toward him--her eyes on him as though she hadsingled him out as a protector--he advanced toward her, drawing one ofhis guns as he went.
And, grinning as she neared him, he opened his arms wide and she ranstraight into them, and laid her head on his shoulder, sobbing, andtalking incoherently. While Harlan, his grin fading as he looked at herpursuer--who had halted within half a dozen paces of the girl--commandedlowly:
"You're runnin' plumb into a heap of trouble, mister man. Throw your ropearound the snubbin' post. Then get on your hind legs an' do someexplainin'. What you chasin' this girl for?"
The man reddened, looked downward, then up at Deveny. The latter, a pouton his lips, his eyes glowing savagely, walked to where Harlan stood withone arm around the girl, while Lawson, Rogers, Gage, and several othermen advanced slowly and stood near him.