The Taming of Red Butte Western

by Francis Lynde

  XXIII

  THE CRUCIBLE

  Only Miss Brewster herself could have answered the question of herwhereabouts at the exact moment of Van Lew's asking. She was leftbehind, standing aghast in the midst of tumults, on the platform of theCrow's Nest. Terrified, like the others, at the sudden outburst ofviolence, she had ventured from the car to look for Lidgerwood'smessenger, and in the moment of frightened bewilderment the _Nadia_ hadbeen whisked away.

  Naturally, her first impulse was to fly, and the only refuge thatoffered was the superintendent's office on the second floor. Thestairway door was only a little distance down the platform, and she waspresently groping her way up the stair, praying that she might not findthe offices as dark and deserted as the lower story of the buildingseemed to be.

  The light of the shop-yard fire, and that of the burning box-car nearerat hand, shone redly through the upper corridor windows, enabling herto go directly to the open door of the superintendent's office. But whenshe reached the door and looked within, the trembling terror returnedand held her spell-bound, speechless, unable to move or even to cry out.

  What she saw fitted itself to nothing real; it was more like a sceneclipped from a play. Two masked men were covering with revolvers athird, who was tied helpless in a chair. The captive's face was ghastlyand blood-stained, and at first she thought he was dead. Then she sawhis lips move in curious twitchings that showed his teeth. He seemed tobe trying to speak, but the ruffian at his right would not give himleave.

  "This is where you pass out, Mr. Lidgerwood," the man was sayingthreateningly. "You give us your word that you will resign and leave theRed Butte Western for keeps, or you'll sit in that chair till somebodycomes to take you out and bury you."

  The twitching lips were controlled with what appeared to be an almostsuperhuman effort, but the words came jerkily.

  "What would my word, extorted--under such conditions--be worth to you?"

  Eleanor could hear, in spite of the terror that would not let her cryout or run for help. He was yielding to them, bargaining for his life!

  "We'll take it," said the spokesman coolly. "If you break faith with usthere are more than two of us who will see to it that you don't livelong enough to brag about it. You've had your day, and you've got togo."

  "And if I refuse?" Eleanor made sure that the voice was steadier now.

  "It's this, here and now," grated the taller man who had hitherto keptsilence, and he cocked his revolver and jammed the muzzle of it againstthe bleeding temple of the man in the chair.

  The captive straightened himself as well as his bonds would let him.

  "You--you've let the psychological moment go by, gentlemen: I--I've gotmy second wind. You may burn and destroy and shoot as you please, butwhile I'm alive I'll stay with you. Blaze away, if that's what you wantto do."

  The horror-stricken watcher at the door covered her face with her handsto shut out the sight of the murder. It was not until Lidgerwood'svoice, calm and even-toned and taunting, broke the silence that sheventured to look again.

  "Well, gentlemen, I'm waiting. Why don't you shoot?"]

  "Well, gentlemen, I'm waiting. Why don't you shoot? You are greatercowards than I have ever been, with all my shiverings andteeth-chatterings. Isn't the stake big enough to warrant your lastdesperate play? I'll make it bigger. You are the two men who broke therail-joint at Silver Switch. Ah, that hits you, doesn't it?"

  "Shut up!" growled the tall man, with a frightful imprecation. But thesmaller of the two was silent.

  Lidgerwood's grin was ghastly, but it was nevertheless a teeth-baring ofdefiance.

  "You curs!" he scoffed. "You haven't even the courage of your ownnecessities! Why don't you pluck up the nerve to shoot, and be done withit? I'll make it still more binding upon you: if you don't kill me now,while you have the chance, as God is my witness I'll hang you both forthose murders last night at Silver Switch. I know you, in spite of yourflimsy disguise: _I can call you both by name_!"

  Out in the yard the yellings and shoutings had taken on a new note, andthe windows of the upper room were jarring with the thunder of incomingtrains. Eleanor Brewster heard the new sounds vaguely: the jangle andclank of the trains, the quick, steady tramp of disciplined men,snapped-out words of command, the sudden cessation of the riot clamor,and now a shuffling of feet on the stairway behind her.

  Still she could not move; still she was speechless and spell-bound, butno longer from terror. Her cousin--her lover--how she had misjudged him!He a coward? This man who was holding his two executioners at bay,quelling them, cowing them, by the sheer force of the stronger will, andof a courage that was infinitely greater than theirs?

  The shuffling footsteps came nearer, and once again Lidgerwoodstraightened himself in his chair, this time with a mighty struggle thatbroke the knotted cords and freed him.

  "I said I could name you, and I will!" he cried, springing to his feet."You," pointing to the smaller man, "you are Pennington Flemister; andyou," wheeling upon the tall man and lowering his voice, "you are RankinHallock!"

  The light of the fire in the shop yard had died down until its red glowno longer drove the shadows from the corners of the room. Eleanor shrankaside when a dozen men pushed their way into the private office. Then,suddenly the electric lights went on, and a gruff voice said, "Drop themguns, you two. The show's over."

  It was McCloskey who gave the order, and it was obeyed sullenly. Withthe clatter of the weapons on the floor, the door of the outer officeopened with a jerk, and Judson thrust a hand-cuffed prisoner of his owncapturing into the lighted room.

  "There he is, Mr. Lidgerwood," snarled the engineer-constable. "I nabbedhim over yonder at the fire, workin' to put it out, just as if he hadn'ttold his gang to go and set it!"

  "Hallock!" exclaimed the superintendent, starting as if he had seen aghost. "How is this? Are there two of you?"

  Hallock looked down moodily. "There were two of us who wanted your job,and the other one needed it badly enough to wreck trains and to killpeople, and to lead a lot of pig-headed trainmen and mechanics into ariot to cover his tracks."

  Lidgerwood turned quickly. "Unmask those men, McCloskey."

  It was the signal for a tumult. The tall man fought desperately topreserve his disguise, but Flemister's mask was torn off in the firstrush. Then came a diversion, sudden and fiercely tragic. With a cry ofrage that was like the yell of a madman, Hallock flung himself upon themine-owner, beating him down with his manacled hands, choking him,grinding him into the dust of the floor. And when the avenger of wrongswas pulled off and dragged to his feet, Lidgerwood, looking past thedeath grapple, saw the figure of a woman swaying at the corridor door;saw the awful horror in her eyes. In the turning of a leaf he had foughthis way to her.

  "Good heavens, Eleanor!" he gasped. "What are you doing here?" and hefaced her about quickly and led her into the corridor lest she shouldsee the distorted features of the victim of Hallock's vengeance.

  "I came--they took the car away, and I--I was left behind," shefaltered. And then: "Oh, Howard! take me away; hide me somewhere! It'stoo horrible!"

  There was a bull-bellow of rage from the room they had just left, andLidgerwood hurried his companion into the first refuge that offered,which chanced to be the trainmaster's room. Out of the private officeand into the corridor came the taller of the two garroters, holding hismask in place as he ran, with McCloskey, Judson, and all but one or twoof the others in hot pursuit.

  Notwithstanding, the fugitive gained the stair and fell, rather thanran, to the bottom. There was the crash of a bursting door, a soldierlycommand of "Halt!" the crack of a cavalry rifle, and McCloskey cameback, wiping his homely face with a bandanna.

  "They got him," he said; and then, seeing Eleanor for the first time,his jaw dropped and he tried to apologize. "Excuse me, Miss Brewster; Ididn't have the least idea you were up here."

  "Nothing matters now," said Eleanor, pale to the lips. "Come in here andtell us about it. And--and--is mamma safe?" />
  "She's down-stairs in the _Nadia_, with the others--where I supposed youwere," McCloskey began; but Lidgerwood heard the feet of those who werecarrying Flemister's body from the chamber of horrors, and quicklyshutting the door on sight and sounds, started the trainmaster on thestory which must be made to last until the way was clear of things awoman should not see.

  "Who was the tall man?" he asked. "I thought he was Hallock--I calledhim Hallock."

  The trainmaster shook his head. "They're about the same build; but wewere all off wrong, Mr. Lidgerwood--'way off. It's been Gridley: Gridleyand his side-partner, Flemister, all along. Gridley was the man whojumped the passenger at Crosswater Hills, and took up the rail to ditchClay's freight--with Hallock chasing him and trying to prevent it.Gridley was the man who helped Flemister last night at SilverSwitch--with Hallock trying again to stop him, and Judson trying tokeep tab on Hallock, and getting him mixed up with Gridley at everyturn, even to mistaking Gridley's voice and his shadow on thewindow-curtain for Hallock's. Gridley was the man who stole theswitch-engine and ran it over the old Wire-Silver spur to the mine tosell it to Flemister for his mine power-plant--they've got it boxed upand running there, right now. Gridley is the man who has made all thisstrike trouble, bossing the job to get you out and to get himself in, sohe could cover up his thieveries. Gridley was the man who put up the jobwith Bart Rufford to kill you, and Judson mistook his voice forHallock's that time, too. Gridley was----"

  "Hold on, Mac," interrupted the superintendent; "how did you learn allthis?"

  "Part of it through some of his men, who have been coming over to us inthe last half-hour and giving him away; part of it through Dick Rufford,who was keeping tab on him for the money he could squeeze out of himafterward."

  "How did Rufford come to tell you?"

  "Why, Bradford--that is--er--the two Ruffords started a little shootingmatch with Andy, and--m-m--well, Bart passed out for keeps, this time,but Dick lived long enough to tell Bradford a few things--for oldcow-boy times' sake, I suppose. I'll never put it all over any man,again, as long as I live, Mr. Lidgerwood, after rubbing it into Hallockthe way I did, when he was doing his level best to help us out. But it'spartly his own fault. He wanted to play a lone hand, and he was schemingto get them both into the same frying-pan--Gridley and Flemister."

  Lidgerwood nodded. "He had a pretty bitter grudge against Flemister."

  "The worst a man could have," said McCloskey soberly. Then he added:"I've got a few thousand dollars saved up that says that Rankin Hallockisn't going to hang for what he did in the other room a few minutes ago.I knew it would come to that if the time ever ripened right suddenly,and I tried to find Judson to choke him off. But John got in ahead ofme."

  Lidgerwood switched the subject abruptly in deference to Eleanor's deepbreathing.

  "I must take Miss Brewster to her friends. You say the _Nadia_ is back?Who moved it without orders?"

  "Yes, she's back, all right, and Dawson is the man who comes in for theblessing. He wanted an engine--needed one right bad--and he couldn'twait to uncouple the car. It was Hallock who sent that message to Mr.Leckhard that we've been hearing so much about, and it was a beg forthe loan of a few of Uncle Sam's boys from Fort McCook. Gridley got onto it through Dix, and he also cut us out of Mr. Leckhard's answertelling us that the cavalry boys were on 73. By Gridley's orders, thetwo Ruffords and some others turned an engine loose to run down the roadfor a head-ender with the freight that was bringing the soldiers. Dawsonchased the runaway engine with the coupled-up _Nadia_ outfit, caught itjust in the nick of time to prevent a collision with 73, and brought itback. He's down in the car now, with one of the young women crying onhis neck, and----"

  Miss Brewster got up out of her chair, found she could stand withouttottering, and said: "Howard, I _must_ go back to mamma. She will beperfectly frantic if some one hasn't told her that I am safe. We can gonow, can't we, Mr. McCloskey? The trouble is all over, isn't it?"

  The trainmaster nodded gravely.

  "It's over, all but the paying of the bills. That rifle-shot we heard alittle spell ago settled it. No, he isn't dead"--this in answer toLidgerwood's unspoken question--"but it will be a heap better for allconcerned if he don't get over it. You can go down. Lieutenant Baldwinhas posted his men around the shops and the Crow's Nest."

  Together they left the shelter of the trainmaster's room, and passeddown the dark stair and out upon the platform, where the cavalrymen weremounting guard. There was no word spoken by either until they reachedthe _Nadia's_ forward vestibule, and then it was Lidgerwood who brokethe silence to say: "I have discovered something to-night, Eleanor: I'mnot quite all the different kinds of a coward I thought I was."

  "Don't tell me!" she said, in keen self-reproach, and her voice thrilledhim like the subtle melody of a passion song. "Howard, dear, I--I'msitting in sackcloth and ashes. I saw it all--with my own eyes, and Icould neither run nor scream. Oh, it was splendid! I never dreamed thatany man could rise by the sheer power of his will to such a pinnacle ofcourage. Does that make amends--just a little? And won't you come tobreakfast with us in the morning, and let me tell you afterward howmiserable I've been--how I fairly _nagged_ father into bringing thisparty out here so that I might have an excuse to--to----"

  He forgot the fierce strife so lately ended; forgot the double victoryhe had won.

  "But--but Van Lew," he stammered--"he told me that you--that he--" andthen he took her in his arms and kissed her, while a young man with abandaged head--a man who answered to the name of Jack Benson, and whowas hastening up to get permission to go home to Faith Dawson--turnedhis back considerately and walked away.

  "What were you going to say about Herbert?" she murmured, when he lether have breath enough to speak with.

  "I was merely going to remark that he can't have you now, not if he wereten thousand times your accepted lover."

  She escaped from his arms and ran lightly up the steps of the privatecar. And from the safe vantage-ground of the half-opened door she turnedand mocked him.

  "Silly boy," she said softly. "Can't you read print when it's largeenough to shout at all the world? Herbert and Carolyn have been'announced' for more than three months, and they are to be married whenwe get back to New York. That's all; good-night, and don't you dare toforget your breakfast engagement!"