XI
NEMESIS
On the second day following Flemister's visit to Angels, Lidgerwood wascalled again to Red Butte to another conference with the mine-owners. Onhis return, early in the afternoon, his special was slowed and stoppedat a point a few miles east of the "Y" spur at Silver Switch, and uponlooking out he saw that Benson's bridge-builders were once more at workon the wooden trestle spanning the Gloria. Benson himself was incommand, but he turned the placing of the string-timbers over to hisforeman and climbed to the platform of the superintendent's service-car.
"I won't hold you more than a few minutes," he began, but thesuperintendent pointed to one of the camp-chairs and sat down, saying:"There's no hurry. We have time orders against 73 at Timanyoni, and wewould have to wait there, anyhow. What do you know now?--more than youknew the last time we talked?"
Benson shook his head. "Nothing that would do us any good in a jurytrial," he admitted reluctantly. "We are not going to find out anythingmore until you send somebody up to Flemister's mine with asearch-warrant."
Lidgerwood was gazing absently out over the low hills interveningbetween his point of view and the wooded summit of Little Butte.
"Whom am I to send, Jack?" he asked. "I have just come from Red Butte,and I took occasion to make a few inquiries. Flemister is evidentlyprepared at all points. From what I learned to-day, I am inclined tobelieve that the sheriff of Timanyoni County would probably refuse toserve a warrant against him, if we could find a magistrate who wouldissue one. Nice state of affairs, isn't it?"
"Beautiful," Benson agreed, adding: "But you don't want Flemister halfas bad as you want the man who is working with him. Are you still tryingto believe that it isn't Hallock?"
"I am still trying to be fair and just. McCloskey says that the two usedto be friends--Hallock and Flemister. I don't believe they are now.Hallock didn't want to go to Flemister about that building-and-loanbusiness, and I couldn't make out whether he was afraid, or whether itwas just a plain case of dislike."
"It would doubtless be Hallock's policy--and Flemister's, too, for thatmatter--to make you believe they are not friends. You'll have to admitthey are together a great deal."
"I'll admit it if you say so, but I didn't know it before. How do youknow it?"
"Hallock is over here every day or two; I have seen him three or fourtimes since that day when he and Flemister were walking down the newspur together and turned back at sight of me," said Benson. "Of course,I don't know what other business Hallock may have over here, but onething I do know, he has been across the river, digging into the innerconsciousness of my old prospector. And that isn't all. After he had gotthe story of the timber stealing out of the old man, he tried to bribehim not to tell it to any one else; tried the bribe first and a scareafterward--told him that something would happen to him if he didn't keepa still tongue in his head."
Lidgerwood shook his head slowly. "That looks pretty bad. Why should hewant to silence the old man?"
"That's just what I've been asking myself. But right on the heels ofthat, another little mystery developed. Hallock asked the old man if hewould be willing to swear in court to the truth of his story. The oldman said he would."
"Well?" said Lidgerwood.
"A night or two later the old prospector's shack burned down, and thenext morning he found a notice pinned to a tree near one of hissluice-boxes. It was a polite invitation for him to put distance betweenhim and the Timanyoni district. I suppose you can put two and twotogether, as I did."
Again Lidgerwood said: "It looks pretty bad for Hallock. No one but thethieves themselves could have any possible reason for driving the oldman out of the country. Did he go?"
"Not much; he isn't built that way. That same day he went to workbuilding him a new shack; and he swears that the next man who gets nearenough to set it afire won't live to get away and brag about it. Twodays afterward Hallock showed up again, and the old fellow ran him offwith a gun."
Just then the bridge-foreman came up to say that the timbers were inplace, and Benson swung off to give Lidgerwood's engineer instructionsto run carefully. As the service-car platform came along, Lidgerwoodleaned over the railing for a final word with Benson. "Keep in touchwith your old man, and tell him to count on us for protection," he said;and Benson nodded acquiescence as the one-car train crept out upon thedismantled bridge.
Having an appointment with Leckhard, of the main line, timed for anearly hour the following morning, Lidgerwood gave his conductorinstructions to stop at Angels only long enough to get orders for theeastern division.
When the division station was reached, McCloskey met the service-car inaccordance with wire instructions sent from Timanyoni, bringing anarmful of mail, which Lidgerwood purposed to work through on the run toCopah.
"Nothing new, Mac?" he asked, when the trainmaster came aboard.
"Nothing much, only the operators have notified me that there'll betrouble, _pronto_, if we don't put Hannegan and Dickson back on thewires. The grievance committee intimated pretty broadly that they couldswing the trainmen into line if they had to make a fight."
"We put no man back who has been discharged for cause," said thesuperintendent firmly. "Did you tell them that?"
"I did. I have been saying that so often that it mighty nearly saysitself now, when I hear my office door open."
"Well, there is nothing to do but to go on saying it. We shall eithermake a spoon or spoil a horn. How would you be fixed in the event of atelegraphers' strike?"
"I've been figuring on that. It may seem like tempting the good Lord tosay it, but I believe we could hold about half of the men."
"That is decidedly encouraging," said the man who needed to findencouragement where he could. "Two weeks ago, if you had said one inten, I should have thought you were overestimating. We shall win outyet."
But now McCloskey was shaking his head dubiously. "I don't know. AndyBradford has been giving me an idea of how the trainmen stand, and hesays there is a good deal of strike talk. Williams adds a word about theshop force: he says that Gridley's men are not saying anything, butthey'll be likely to go out in a body unless Gridley wakes up at thelast minute and takes a club to them."
Lidgerwood's conductor was coming down the platform of the Crow's Nestwith his orders in his hand, and McCloskey made ready to swing off. "Ican reach you care of Mr. Leckhard, at Copah, I suppose?" he asked.
"Yes. I shall be back some time to-morrow; in the meantime there isnothing to do but to sit tight in the boat. Use my private code if youwant to wire me. I don't more than half trust that young fellow, Dix,Callahan's day operator. And, by the way, Mr. Frisbie is sending me astenographer from Denver. If the young man turns up while I am away, seeif you can't get Mrs. Williams to board him."
McCloskey promised and dropped off, and the one-car special presentlyclanked out over the eastern switches. Lidgerwood went at once to hisdesk and promptly became deaf and blind to everything but his work. Thelong desert run had been accomplished, and the service-car train wasclimbing the Crosswater grades, when Tadasu Matsuwari began to lay thetable for dinner. Lidgerwood glanced at his watch, and ran his fingerdown the line of figures on the framed time-table hanging over his desk.
"Humph!" he muttered; "Acheson's making better time with me than he everhas before. I wonder if Williams has succeeded in talking him over toour side? He is certainly running like a gentleman to-day, at allevents."
The superintendent sat down to Tadasu's table and took his time toTadasu's excellent dinner, indulging himself so far as to smoke aleisurely cigar with his black coffee before plunging again into thesea of work. Not to spoil his improving record, Engineer Achesoncontinued to make good time, and it was only a little after eleveno'clock when Lidgerwood, looking up from his work at the final slowingof the wheels, saw the masthead lights of the Copah yards.
Taking it for granted that Superintendent Leckhard had long since lefthis office in the Pacific Southwestern building, Lidgerwood gave ordersto have his car pla
ced on the station-spur, and went on with his work.Being at the moment deeply immersed in the voluminous papers of a claimfor stock killed, he was quite oblivious of the placement of the car,and of everything else, until the incoming of the fast main-line mailfrom the east warned him that another hour had passed. When the mail wasgone on its way westward, the midnight silence settled down again, withnothing but the minimized crashings of freight cars in the lowershifting-yard to disturb it. The little Japanese had long since made uphis bunk in one of the spare state-rooms, the train crew had departedwith the engine, and the last mail-wagon had driven away up-town.Lidgerwood had closed his desk and was taking a final pull at the shortpipe which was his working companion, when the car door opened silentlyand he saw an apparition.
Standing in the doorway and groping with her hands held out before heras if she were blind, was a woman. Her gown was the tawdry half-dress ofthe dance-halls, and the wrap over her bare shoulders was a gaudyimitation in colors of the Spanish mantilla. Her head was withoutcovering, and her hair, which was luxuriant, hung in disorder over herface. One glance at the eyes, fixed and staring, assured Lidgerwoodinstantly that he had to do with one who was either drink-maddened ordemented.
"Where is he?" the intruder asked, in a throaty whisper, staring, not athim, as Lidgerwood was quick to observe, but straight ahead at theportieres cutting off the state-room corridor from the open compartment.And then: "I told you I would come, Rankin; I've been watching years andyears for your car to come in. Look--I want you to see what you havemade of me, you and that other man."
Lidgerwood sat perfectly still. It was quite evident that the woman didnot see him. But his thoughts were busy. Though it was by little morethan chance, he knew that Hallock's Christian name was Rankin, andinstantly he recalled all that McCloskey had told him about the chiefclerk's marital troubles. Was this poor painted wreck the woman whowas, or who had been, Hallock's wife? The question had scarcelyformulated itself before she began again.
"Why don't you answer me? Where are you?" she demanded, in the samehusky whisper; "you needn't hide--I know you are here. _What have youdone to that man?_ You said you would kill him; you promised me that,Rankin: have you done it?"
Lidgerwood reached up cautiously behind him, and slowly turned off thegas from the bracket desk-lamp. Without wishing to pry deeper than heshould into a thing which had all the ear-marks of a tragedy, he couldnot help feeling that he was on the verge of discoveries which mighthave an important bearing upon the mysterious problems centring in thechief clerk. And he was afraid the woman would see him.
But he was not permitted to make the discoveries. The woman had takentwo or three steps into the car, still groping her way as if thebrightly lighted interior were the darkest of caverns, when some oneswung over the railing of the observation platform, and SuperintendentLeckhard appeared at the open door. Without hesitation he entered andtouched the woman on the shoulder. "Hello, Madgie," he said, notungently, "you here again? It's pretty late for even your kind to beout, isn't it? Better trot away and go to bed, if you've got one to goto; he isn't here."
The woman put her hands to her face, and Lidgerwood saw that she wasshaking as if with a sudden chill. Then she turned and darted away likea frightened animal. Leckhard was drawing a chair up to face Lidgerwood.
"Did she give you a turn?" he asked, when Lidgerwood reached up andturned the desk-lamp on full again.
"Not exactly that, though it was certainly startling enough. I had nowarning at all; when I looked up, she was standing pretty nearly whereshe was when you came in. She didn't seem to see me at all, and she wastalking crazily all the time to some one else--some one who isn't here."
"I know," said Leckhard; "she has done it before."
"Whom is she trying to find?" asked Lidgerwood, wishing to have hissuspicion either denied or confirmed.
"Didn't she call him by name?--she usually does. It's your chief clerk,Hallock. She is--or was--his wife. Haven't you heard the ghastly storyyet?"
"No; and, Leckhard, I don't know that I care to hear it. It can'tpossibly concern me."
"It's just as well, I guess," said the main-line superintendentcarelessly. "I probably shouldn't get it straight anyway. It's a ratherhorrible affair, though, I believe. There is another man mixed up init--the man whom she is always asking if Hallock has killed. Curiouslyenough, she never names the other man, and there have been a good manyguesses. I believe your head boiler-maker, Gridley, has the most votes.He's been seen with her here, now and then--when he's on one of his'periodicals.' By Jove! Lidgerwood, I don't envy you your job overyonder in the Red Desert a little bit.... But about the consolidation ofthe yards here: I got a telegram after I wired you, making it necessaryfor me to go west on main-line Twenty-seven early in the morning, so Istayed up to talk this yard business over with you to-night."
It was well along in the small hours when the roll of blue-print mapswas finally laid aside, and Leckhard rose yawning. "We'll carry it outas you propose, and divide the expense between the two divisions," hesaid in conclusion. "Frisbie has left it to us, and he will approvewhatever we agree upon. Will you go up to the hotel with me, or bunkdown here?"
Lidgerwood said he would stay with his car; or, better still, now thatthe business for which he had come to Copah was despatched, he wouldhave the roundhouse night foreman call a Red Butte Western crew and goback to his desert.
"We are in the thick of things over on the jerk-water just now," heexplained, "and I don't like to stay away any longer than I have to."
"Having a good bit of trouble with the sure-shots?" asked Leckhard."What was that story I heard about somebody swiping one of yourswitching-engines?"
"It was true," said Lidgerwood, adding, "But I think we shall recoverthe engine--and some other things--presently." He liked Leckhard wellenough, but he wished he would go. There are exigencies in which eventhe comments of a friend and well-wisher are superfluous.
"You have a pretty tough gang to handle over these," the well-wisherwent on. "I wouldn't touch a job like yours with a ten-foot pole, unlessI could shoot good enough to be sure of hitting a half-dollar nine timesout of ten at thirty paces. Somebody was telling me that you havealready had trouble with that fellow Rufford."
"Nobody was hurt, and Rufford is in jail," said Lidgerwood, hoping tokill the friendly inquiry before it should run into details.
"Oh, well, it's all in the day's work, I suppose, which reminds me: myday's work to-morrow won't amount to much if I don't go and turn in.Good-night."
When Leckhard was gone, Lidgerwood climbed the stair in the stationbuilding to the despatcher's office and gave orders for the return ofhis car to Angels. Half an hour later the one-car special was retracingits way westward up the valley of the Tumbling Water, and Lidgerwood wastrying to go to sleep in the well-appointed little state-room which itwas Tadasu Matsuwari's pride to keep spick and span and spotlesslyclean. But there were disturbing thoughts, many and varied, to keep himawake, chief among them those which hung upon the dramatic midnightepisode with the demented woman for its central figure. Through whatdreadful Valley of Humiliation had she come to reach the abysmal depthsin which the one cry of her soul was a cry for vengeance? Who was theunnamed man whom Hallock had promised to kill? How much or how littlewas this tragedy figuring in the trouble storm which was brooding overthe Red Desert? And how much or how little would it involve one who wasanxious only to see even-handed justice prevail?
These and similar insistent questions kept Lidgerwood awake long afterhis train had left the crooked pathway marked out by the Tumbling Water,and when he finally fell asleep the laboring engine of the one-carspecial was storming the approaches to Crosswater Summit.
The Taming of Red Butte Western Page 11