'You shall have whatever you want, Paul, if we can put it over,' Stark said--promises were cheap unless one kept them. 'We'll make this a place to be proud of.' The boast recurred to Lesurge as he made his way home. 'And that damned fool swallowed it like his mother's milk,' he told the darkness.
For he did not, as yet, at all believe In the flne picture he had painted for Reuben Stark's edification, and had no intention of helping him to make it a reality. Once he had obtained what he wanted, Deadwood might rot for all he cared. He had come there with the primary object of stealing Ducane's mine; the place had revealed other possibilities and he selected Stark. His agile, crooked mind quickly evolved the bait which would enable him to use, and at the same time, fleece the ambitious, grasping saloon-keeper. There would be obstacles, of course, but Stark would remove them at his own expense.
He found Lora waiting up for him.
'When are you going to find the mine and finish with that drunken lunatic and the girl?' she asked. 'I'm weary of being cooped up in this damned shack, talking high-toned, and having no amusement.' Paul looked at her beautiful, petulant face, and nodded.
'I know it must be slow for you, but it is only for a time,' he said. 'It isn't just a matter of a mine, which may turn out to be a madman's myth after all. Deadwood is full of mines and Reuben Stark is one of them--perhaps the richest from our point of view. This time it will be a clean-up, and it means a million, so be patient.'
'Tell me the old, old story,' she hummed, and laughed at the black look he gave her.
'Oh, all right, I'll be good,' she promised. 'But it's deadly dull playing nurse to that kid. I've seen your cowboy, Green. He's not as handsome as Hickok, but he has a face most women would like to see more than once, and he appears--capable.'
'Don't fall in love with him--yet,' Lesurge warned. 'It might be a waste of time.'
'No danger of that,' she retorted. 'When I make a fool of myself it will be for something more than youth and good looks; I'm tired of living on expectations.'
CHAPTER IX
For a week after the interview with Hickok the two friends had kept away from the town. Their little stream and its banks provided them with a moderate but steady addition to their store of gold, and despite Gerry's frequent suggestions that they should search for rlcher ground, Sudden declined to budge.
''Let well alone' is one damn good motto,' he said. 'We ain't doin' so bad an' we're handy to home--an' Snowy.' This closed the argument, for Gerry still cherished the hope that the old prospector would come or send for them if Miss Ducane were in danger. So they toiled at their task, hating the work but, being cowboys, doing it as well as they could. On this particular evening they felt that some relaxation was due. When they mentioned this to Jacoo, he remarked casually:
'There are some new faces in town. Ever heard of a man named Lefty Logan?' They had not, and said as much. 'He's a gunman from California,' the old man went on. 'Has a trick of starting to go for his right-hand gun and then using the other.'
'A fool play to watch hands,' Sudden commented. 'Fella's eyes are the pointers.'
'He's acquainted with Berg,' Jacob added. 'I saw them a week ago in the Monte, but Logan has spent the last few evenings at the Paris. Possibly he didn't find what he wanted at Stark's.'
'Mebbe he'll have better luck to-night,' Sudden told him. 'C'mon, cowboy, let's go an' hit the high spots.'
'What about passin' up Bizet's this evenin'?' Gerry suggested when they reached that establishment. 'Plenty other joints.'
'Mebbe, but I'm curious to see this Lefty person,' Sudden said, and pushed through the door.
At their entry the clamour almost died away; eyes followed them as they stepped to the bar; Logan had been talking. There was menace in the atmosphere and that instinctive intuition which comes to those who tread perilous paths warned the puncher of impending danger.
'My fren's, I am glad to see you,' Bizet greeted, but his expression belied the words.
'Damned if yu look it,' Sudden smiled. 'I'd say a coupla rattlers would be more welcome.' The Frenchman shrugged. 'It is true--I lie,' he admitted.
'What's bitin' yu?' Mason asked. 'What we done?'
'Ah, it is not you, my fren's,' the little man cried. 'I keep de saloon. I must serve anyone. For three, four nights I have a customer I no like. He have de beeg mouth, he brag, he have keel ten men, he make de threat.' The door swung back and Bizet spat out an oath. 'Sacre, I hope he not come.' He slipped away.
With a swaggering air which was in itself offensive, the newcomer sauntered to the bar, called for liquor, and turning, surveyed the company insolently. He was not yet forty, of medium build, and his shabby attire was that of the range. Two heavy guns hung low on his hips, the holsters tied. The pushed-back, battered Stetson revealed a pale, dissipated face, washed-out greenish eyes, and a sneering slit of a mouth.
Standing a few yards from the cowboys, he appeared to take no notice of them, but Sudden knew he was being watched and weighed, that this was the killer from California, and that presently ... Outwardly calm, he was filled with a cold rage against this man who had come to take his life for no reason save the sordid one of gain. He went on talking to Gerry.
'When he makes his play, duck out,' he said. 'No sense in takin' a pill that ain't meant for yu.' The boy nodded miserably; his nerve would have been steadier had the peril been personal. He could not keep his eyes from that sinister figure lounging against the bar. Tense moments ticked by, and then, having apparently come to a decision, Logan straightened up and raised his glass.
'Here's to yaller,' he barked. 'Yaller liquor, yaller metal, yaller-haired gals, an' to hell with green.' The words struck the room to silence; the mutter of voices, chink of coins, click of poker chips and flipping of cards ceased, and the only sound was the scrape of a foot as someone behind the speaker hurriedly changed his position. Breathlessly the onlookers waited for the cowboy's answer to the challenge; it proved a surprise.
'My name is Green,' Sudden said quietly. 'Yu wouldn't know that, o' course.' He was offering a way out and a few of those present smiled contemptuously. But some, studying the set jaw and ice-cold eyes, divined the truth; this man would not slay until he was sure there was no other way. Logan, certain that his opponent was weakening, had no intention of withdrawing; he had a job to do and his evil face lit up as he rasped:
'Shore I knew it, an' I'm sayin' again, to hell with green.' His right hand, fingers outspread like talons, dropped down, but at the same time, the left hand flashed the gun on the other side from the holster only to let it clatter on the board floor as, with wide eyes and sagging knees, he pitched forward to sprawl beside it. Through the cloud of acrid smoke Sudden stared at the body for a moment and then replaced his pistol.
The excitement was soon over. Fatal affrays were frequent enough and Deadwood did not allow them to interfere withthe more important business or getting, and getting rid or, gold. The corpse was carried away, the company resumed its various amusements, and the incident became no more than a topic for conversation.
The cowboys left almost at once but it was not until they were nearing their dwelling that either spoke. Then Gerry said:
'Yu ain't much older'n me, Jim; how in hell did yu get to handle a six-gun like that?'
'Shootin' was allus easy to me,' Sudden replied, and after a silence, 'If he hadn't gambled on that trick ... ' He paused again. 'I gave him a chance.'
'Which was more than he deserved,' the boy said. 'He got what he asked for.' Jacob met them at the door and his face orightened when he saw two figures step out of the gloom.
'I am glad to see you both,' he said, and there was the slightest stress of the last word. His mild gaze rested on them. 'The danger is past?'
'This particular one won't rise again till Gabriel toots his horn,' Sudden replied grimly, and went to their room. The old man looked inquiringly at Mason.
'Logan baited him and pulled his gun; Jim got him before he could fire. I never see anythin' like it. Jim was as unconcerned as the corpse at a buryin'. One shot, plumb through the heart.' There was awe in his tone. 'No wonder they call him `Sudden'.'
'Jim is takin' it pretty hard, dunno why, a skunk like that.'
'Save to the utterly depraved, the letting of a human life, however necessary, is not a subject for pride,' came the mild reproof. 'You boys will need to be on the alert; the people who set this slayer on will try again.'
'Yu know who they are?' Gerry asked.
'Not yet, but I shall,' was the reply.
