Blindfolded, Earle Ashley Walcott [non fiction books to read .TXT] 📗

that he visited the house but once again. Before he had time to put any of his wicked thoughts into action I took the boy to my home, thinking that there I could keep him in safety. Mr. Knapp pooh-poohed my fears, and when Mr. Lane made a demand for the child was in favor of giving him up. 'The father is the one to care for the boy,' he said, and washed his hands of the whole matter."

"Then Mr. Knapp had nothing to do with the affair, one way or the other?"

"Oh, no--nothing at all. I believe, though, that Henry did use his name with the police, to deter them from interfering with our plans."

I remembered Detective Coogan's words, and knew that she was correct in this supposition.

"Mr. Lane," she continued, "threatened legal proceedings. But, knowing his own past, and knowing that I knew something of it, too, he dared not begin them. Mr. Knapp's feelings in the matter had made me unwilling to keep the boy in my house, but at first I thought it the best way of protecting him, and had him with me. Then one night the house was broken into, and two men were discovered in the room where the boy usually slept. I had taken him to my own bed that night, for he was ailing, and so he escaped. The alarm was raised before they found him, and the men fled. Mr. Knapp was confident that they were ordinary housebreakers, but I knew better. I dared keep the boy there no longer, and called Henry Wilton to assist me in making him safe. He found a suitable house for the boy, and hired men to guard it. But after one experience in which the place was attacked and almost carried by storm, Henry thought it better to hide the boy and watch the enemy. The rest you know."

Heaving a sigh as of relief, she went on:

"Mr. Lane was insane, I am certain. I tried to have Mr. Knapp take steps to lock him up. But Mr. Knapp could not believe that his brother was so wicked as to wish to take the life of his own child, and shut his ears to the talk of his madness. I think he was fearful of a scandal in which the relationship should become known, and the stories of his brother's early days should come to the public. But there was a time, a few weeks ago, when I was near spurring Mr. Knapp to action. It was at the time of his trip to Virginia City. Mr. Lane came to the house while I was away and scared the servants into fits with his threats and curses. Luella had the courage and tact to face him and get him out of the house, and I telegraphed for Mr. Knapp."

"I remember the occasion, though I didn't know what was going on."

"Well, Mr. Knapp was very angry, and had a long talk with Lane. He told me that the creature cried and pleaded for forgiveness, and promised amendment for the future. And Mr. Knapp believed him. Yet that very night you were assailed with Luella in Chinatown."

The truth flashed on me. The groans and cries behind the locked door in Doddridge Knapp's office, the voices which were like to one man pleading and arguing with himself, were all explained.

"I think the assault was something of an accident," she continued; "or, rather, it was more the doing of Terrill than of Lane."

"What was the cause of Terrill's enmity?" I asked. "He seemed to take a hearty personal interest in the case for a hired man."

"For one thing, a family interest. I think he is a son of Lane's early years. For another, he had a violent personal quarrel with Henry over some matter, and you have had the benefit of the enmity. But I don't think you'll hear of him again--or Meeker either. They will be in too much of a hurry to leave the state."

I thought of Terrill lying bruised and sore at Livermore, and felt no fear of him.

"You took great chances in sending me to Livermore," I said. "It might have gone hard with Mr. Knapp's plans if I had not got back."

"I thought of that. But if the boy had been where I supposed all would have been well. I should have telegraphed you before nightfall to return. But in the distraction of my search I did not give up till midnight. I left a telegram at the office to be sent you the first thing in the morning, but by that time you were here. It was a bold escape, and I feel that we owe you much for it."

At her last words we were at the wharf, and landed free from fear.

An hour later I reached my lodgings, sore with fatigue, and half-dead for want of sleep. The excitement that had spurred my strength for the last enterprise no longer supported me. I slept twenty-four hours in peace, and no dream of Doddridge Knapp's brother or of the snake-eyes of Tom Terrill disturbed my repose.


CHAPTER XXXI

THE REWARD

"I've heard about you," said Luella, when on the next evening I made my bow to her. "But I want to hear all about it from yourself. Tell me, please."

"Where shall I begin?" I asked, looking into the most charming of faces, which shone before me.

"How stupid to ask! At the beginning, of course."

"I was born of poor but honest parents"--I began.

Luella interrupted me with a laugh.

"How absurd you are! Anyhow, you can tell me about that later. Just begin with the San Francisco beginning. Tell me why you came and all about it."

"Very good," I said; "though really this part is much longer than the other."

Then I told her the story of my coming, of the murder of Henry Wilton, of the struggles with death and difficulty that had given the spice of variety to my life since I had come across the continent.

It was an inspiration to have such a listener. Under the encouragement of her sympathy I found an unwonted flow of words and ideas. Laughter and tears shone in her eyes as the ludicrous and sorrowful parts of my experience touched her by turns. And at the end I found--I really don't know how it happened--I found that I was clasping her hand and looking up into her eyes in a trance of intoxication from the subtle magnetism of her lovely presence.

For a minute we were silent.

"Oh," she cried softly, withdrawing her hand, and looking dreamily away, "I knew it was right--that it must be right. You have justified my faith, and more!"

"I am repaid for all by those words," I said. I am afraid I stared very hard at her, but it was pleasant, indeed, to look into Luella's eyes without any reservations or conscientious qualms in thinking of my duty to hang her father.

"You deserve a much greater reward than that," said Luella.

"I want a much greater reward than that," said I boldly.

I did not think the courage was in me. But under the magnetic influence of the woman before me I forgot what a poor devil I was. Luella looked at me, and I saw in her eyes that she understood what I would say.

I do not know what I did say. I have no doubt it was very badly put, but she listened seriously. Then she said:

"That's very nice of you to want me, but I am going to marry the president of the Omega Company."

I turned sick with despair at these words so gently said, and a pang of fierce jealousy, tinged with wonder, shot through me. "Surely she can't be in love with that red-faced brute we fought with in the Omega office," I thought. That was impossible. Besides, we had turned him out. Doddridge Knapp would be president as soon as the new board of directors elected its officers. She couldn't, of course, think of marrying her own father. I could not understand what she meant, but I knew I was furiously uncomfortable and wished I was rich enough to buy up the company. Luella saw my distress as I tried to rise and fly from the place.

"Don't go," she said gently. "What are you going to do with your men?"

"The free companions are to be disbanded," I said, recovering myself with a gulp.

"Are any of them killed?" she asked in solicitous tones.

"No. Porter is pretty badly hurt. We got him down from Livermore to- day. He was in the jail there, with Abrams and Brown. We gave bail for them, and all the men are back at the Montgomery Street place. Barkhouse is getting on all right, and there are a few bruises and cuts scattered around in my flock. But they'll all be in trim for another fight in two or three weeks."

"I suppose you'll be sorry to part with them."

"They are a faithful set, but I've had enough excitement for a while."

"And Mrs. Borton?"

"Is to be buried to-morrow."

"And you, Mr. Dudley?"

This question struck me a little blank. I had really not thought of what I was going to do.

"It's another case of an occupation gone," I said rather ruefully. "With the break-up of the plots and the close of the Omega deal, I am at the end of my employments."

With this view of the question before me, I fell into a panic of regrets, and began to blush furiously at my folly in imagining for an instant that Luella could think of me for a husband.

"No," said Luella thoughtfully. "You are just at the beginning."

The tone, even more than the words, braced my nerves, and once more there glowed within me a generous courage of the future.

"You are right. I thank you," I said feelingly. "I have faith in the opportunities."

"And I have faith--" said Luella. Then she stopped.

"In the man, I hope," I ventured.

Luella did not answer, but she gave me a look that meant more than words. I was a trifle bewildered, wondering where I stood in the eyes of this capricious young woman, but my speculations were cut short by the coming of Mrs. Knapp.

There was no reservation in her greeting. Whatever lingering doubts of me her mind had held, they had all melted away in the fire of that last journey that had ended the struggle for the life of the boy. As we talked over the events of the month, I found nothing left of the silent opposition with which she had watched my growing friendship with the daughter of the house. At last she cried:

"Oh, I had almost forgotten. Mr. Knapp wishes to see you in his room before you go."

"I am at his service," I said, and went at once to the den of the Wolf.

"Ah, Wilton, I find you're not Wilton," he growled amiably. The loss of his brother had not affected his spirits.

"Quite true," I said.

"You needn't explain," he said. "The women folks say it's all right, though I don't quite understand it myself."

"I can tell you the story," I said.

"I don't want to hear it," he growled. "I've tried you, and that's enough for me."

I murmured my appreciation and thanks