by Max Brand
29
It is your phlegmatic person who can waken easily in the morning, but anactive mind readjusts itself slowly to the day. So Nelly Lebrun rousedherself with an effort and scowled toward the door at which the hand wasstill rapping.
"Yes?" she called drowsily.
"This is Nick. May I come in?"
"This is who?"
The name had brought her instantly into complete wakefulness; she wasout of the bed, had slipped her feet into her slippers and whipped adressing gown around her while she was asking the question. It was aluxurious little boudoir which she had managed to equip. Skins of thelynx, cunningly matched, had been sewn together to make her a rug, andthe soft fur of the wildcat was the outer covering of her bed. She threwback the tumbled bedclothes, tossed half a dozen pillows into place,transforming it into a day couch, and ran to the mirror.
And in the meantime, the deep voice outside the door was saying: "Yes,Nick. May I come in?"
She gave a little ecstatic cry, but while it was still tingling on herlips, she was winding her hair into shape with lightning speed; haddipped the tips of her fingers in cold water and rubbed her eyes awakeand brilliant, and with one circular rub had brought the color into hercheeks.
Scarcely ten seconds from the time when she first answered the knock,Nelly was opening the door and peeping out into the hall.
The rest was done by the man without; he cast the door open with thepressure of his foot, caught the girl in his arms, and kissed her; andwhile he closed the door the girl slipped back and stood with one handpressed against her face, and her face held that delightful expressionhalfway between laughter and embarrassment. As for Lord Nick, he did noteven smile. He was not, in fact, a man who was prone to gentleexpressions, but having been framed by nature for a strong dominanceover all around him, his habitual expression was a proudself-containment. It would have been insolence in another man; in LordNick it was rather leonine.
He was fully as tall as Jack Landis, but he carried his height easily,and was so perfectly proportioned that unless he was seen beside anotherman he did not look large. The breadth of his shoulders was concealed bythe depth of his chest; and the girth of his throat was made to appearquite normal by the lordly size of the head it supported. To crown andset off his magnificent body there was a handsome face; and he had thecombination of active eyes and red hair, which was noticeable inDonnegan, too. In fact, there was a certain resemblance between the twomen; in the set of the jaw for instance, in the gleam of the eye, andabove all in an indescribable ardor of spirit, which exuded from themboth. Except, of course, that in Donnegan, one was conscious of allspirit and very little body, but in Lord Nick hand and eye were terriblymated. Looking upon so splendid a figure, it was no wonder that themountain desert had forgiven the crimes of Lord Nick because of thecareless insolence with which he treated the law. It requires anexceptional man to make a legal life attractive and respected; it takesa genius to make law-breaking glorious.
No wonder that Nelly Lebrun stood with her hand against her cheek,looking him over, smiling happily at him, and questioning him about hisimmediate past all in the same glance. He waved her back to her couch,and she hesitated. Then, as though she remembered that she now had todo with Lord Nick in person, she obediently curled up on the lounge, andwaited expectantly.
"I hear you've been raising the devil," said this singularly frankadmirer.
The girl merely looked at him.
"Well?" he insisted.
"I haven't done a thing," protested Nelly rather childishly.
"No?" One felt that he could have crushed her with evidence to thecontrary but that he was restraining himself--it was not worthwhile tobother with such a girl seriously. "Things have fallen into a tanglesince I left, old Satan Macon is on the spot and your rat of a fatherhas let Landis get away. What have you been doing, Nelly, while all thiswas going on? Sitting with your eyes closed?"
He took a chair and lounged back in it gracefully.
"How could I help it? I'm not a watchdog."
He was silent for a time. "Well," he said, "if you told me the truth Isuppose I shouldn't love you, my girl. But this time I'm in earnest.Landis is a mint, silly child. If we let him go we lose the mint."
"I suppose you'll get him back?"
"First, I want to find out how he got away."
"I know how."
"Ah?"
"Donnegan."
"Donnegan, Donnegan, Donnegan!" burst out Lord Nick, and though he didnot raise the pitch of his voice, he allowed its volume to swell softlyso that it filled the room like the humming of a great, angry tiger."Nobody says three words without putting in the name of Donnegan as oneof them! You, too!"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Donnegan thrills The Corner!" went on the big man in the same terriblevoice. "Donnegan wears queer clothes; Donnegan shoots Scar-faced Lewis;Donnegan pumps the nerve out of poor Jack Landis and then drills him.Why, Nelly, it looks as though I'll have to kill this intruding fool!"
She blanched at this, but did not appear to notice.
"It's a long time since you've killed a man, isn't it?" she askedcoldly.
"It's an awful business," declared Lord Nick. "Always complications;have to throw the blame on the other fellow. And even these blockheadsare beginning to get tired of my self-defense pleas."
"Well," murmured the girl, "don't cross that bridge until you come toit; and you'll never come to it."
"Never. Because I don't want him killed."
"Ah," Lord Nick murmured. "And why?"
"Because he's in love--with me."
"Tush!" said Lord Nick. "I see you, my dear. Donnegan seems to be a rarefellow, but he couldn't have gotten Landis out of this house withouthelp. Rix and the Pedlar may have been a bit sleepy, but Donnegan had tofind out when they fell asleep. He had a confederate. Who? Not Rix; notthe Pedlar; not Lebrun. They all know me. It had to be someone whodoesn't fear me. Who? Only one person in the world. Nelly, you're theone!"
She hesitated a breathless instant.
"Yes," she said. "I am."
She added, as he stared calmly at her, considering: "There's a girl inthe case. She came up here to get Landis; seems he was in love with heronce. And I pitied her. I sent him back to her. Suppose he is a mint;haven't we coined enough money out of him? Besides, I couldn't have kepton with it."
"No?"
"He was getting violent, and he talked marriage all day, every day. Ihaven't any nerves, you say, but he began to put me on edge. So I gotrid of him."
"Nelly, are you growing a conscience?"
She flushed and then set her teeth.
"But I'll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bringhim back."
"You'll have to go through Donnegan to do it."
"I suppose so."
"You don't understand, Nick. He's different."
"Eh?"
"He's like you."
"What are you driving at?"
"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terriblefighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hairand your eyes and he moves like a cat. I've never seen such aman--except you. I'd rather see you fight the plague than fightDonnegan!"
For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a littleforward.
"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I've stood for a good deal,Nelly; I've given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you--"
The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank.
"If it were serious, do you suppose I'd talk like this?"
"I don't know. You're a clever little devil, Nell. But I'm clever, too.And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?"
"For your own sake."
He stood up.
"I'm going up the hill today. If Donnegan's there, I'll go through him;but I'm going to have Landis back!"
She, also, rose.
"There's only one way out and I'll take that way. I'll g
et Donnegan toleave the house."
"I don't care what you do about that."
"And if he isn't there, will you give me your word that you won't hunthim out afterward?"
"I never make promises, Nell."
"But I'll trust you, Nick."
"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long."