Complete weird tales of.., p.903
Complete Weird Tales of Robert W Chambers, page 903
He added that Miss Carew was the daughter of a clergyman and a missionary. And the Parson took his cue. At any rate Rue, leaning from her seat, listened to the persuasive and finely modulated voice of Parson Smawley with pleasure, and found his sleek, graceful presence and courtly manners most agreeable. There were no such persons in Gayfield.
She hoped, shyly, that if he were in Gayfield he would call on her father. Once in a very long while clergymen called on her father, and their rare visits remained a pleasure to the lonely invalid for months.
The Parson promised to call, very gravely. It would not have embarrassed him to do so; it was his business in life to have a sufficient knowledge of every man’s business to enable him to converse convincingly with anybody.
He took polished leave of her; took leave of Brandes with the faintest flutter of one eyelid, as though he understood Brandes’ game. Which he did not; nor did Brandes himself, entirely.
* * * * *
They had thirty miles to go in the runabout. So they would not remain to dinner. Besides, Brandes did not care to make himself conspicuous in public just then. Too many people knew more or less about him — the sort of people who might possibly be in communication with his wife. There was no use slapping chance in the face. Two quiet visits to the races with Ruhannah was enough for the present. Even those two visits were scarcely discreet. It was time to go.
Stull and Brandes stood consulting together beside the runabout; Rue sat in the machine watching the press of carriages and automobiles on Broadway, and the thronged sidewalks along which brilliant, animated crowds were pouring.
“I’m not coming again, Ben,” said Brandes, dropping his voice. “No use to hunt the limelight just now. You can’t tell what some of these people might do. I’ll take no chances that some fresh guy might try to start something.”
“Stir up Minna?” Stull’s lips merely formed the question, and his eyes watched Ruhannah.
“They couldn’t. What would she care? All the same, I play safe, Ben. Well, be good. Better send me mine on pay day. I’ll need it.”
Stull’s face grew sourer:
“Can’t you wait till she gets her decree?”
“And lose a month off? No.”
“It’s all coming your way, Eddie. Stay wise and play safe. Don’t start anything now — —”
“It’s safe. If I don’t take September off I wait a year for my — honeymoon. And I won’t. See?”
They both looked cautiously at Ruhannah, who sat motionless, absorbed in the turmoil of vehicles and people.
Brandes’ face slowly reddened; he dropped one hand on Stull’s shoulder and said, between thin lips that scarcely moved:
“She’s all I’m interested in. You don’t think much of her, Ben. She isn’t painted. She isn’t dolled up the way you like ‘em. But there isn’t anything else that matters very much to me. All I want in the world is sitting in that runabout, looking out of her kid eyes at a thousand or two people who ain’t worth the pair of run-down shoes she’s wearing.”
But Stull’s expression remained sardonic and unconvinced.
So Brandes got into his car and took the wheel; and Stull watched them threading a tortuous path through the traffic tangle of Broadway.
They sped past the great hotels, along crowded sidewalks, along the park, and out into an endless stretch of highway where hundreds of other cars were travelling in the same direction.
“Did you have a good time?” he inquired, shifting his cigar and keeping his narrow eyes on the road.
“Yes; it was beautiful — exciting.”
“Some horse, Nick Stoner! Some race, eh?”
“I was so excited — with everybody standing up and shouting. And such beautiful horses — and such pretty women in their wonderful dresses! I — I never knew there were such things.”
He swung the car, sent it rushing past a lumbering limousine, slowed a little, gripped his cigar between his teeth, and watched the road, both hands on the wheel.
Yes, things were coming his way — coming faster and faster all the while. He had waited many years for this — for material fortune — for that chance which every gambler waits to seize when the psychological second ticks out. But he never had expected that the chance was to include a very young girl in a country-made dress and hat.
As they sped westward the freshening wind from distant pine woods whipped their cheeks; north, blue hills and bluer mountains beyond took fairy shape against the sky; and over all spread the tremendous heavens where fleets of white clouds sailed the uncharted wastes, and other fleets glimmered beyond the edges of the world, hull down, on vast horizons.
“I want to make you happy,” said Brandes in his low, even voice. It was, perhaps, the most honest statement he had ever uttered.
Ruhannah remained silent, her eyes riveted on the far horizon.
* * * * *
It was a week later, one hot evening, that he telegraphed to Stull in Saratoga:
“Find me a chauffeur who will be willing to go abroad. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to get him here.”
The next morning he called up Stull on the telephone from the drug store in Gayfield:
“Get my wire, Ben?”
“Yes. But I — —”
“Wait. Here’s a postscript. I also want Parson Smawley. I want him to get a car and come over to the Gayfield House. Tell him I count on him. And he’s to wear black and a white tie.”
“Yes. But about that chauffeur you want — —”
“Don’t argue. Have him here. Have the Parson, also. Tell him to bring a white tie. Understand?”
“Oh, yes, I understand you, Eddie! You don’t want anything of me, do you! Go out and get that combination? Just like that! What’ll I do? Step into the street and whistle?”
“It’s up to you. Get busy.”
“As usual,” retorted Stull in an acrid voice. “All the same. I’m telling you there ain’t a chauffeur you’d have in Saratoga. Who handed you that dope?”
“Try. I need the chauffeur part of the combine, anyway. If he won’t go abroad, I’ll leave him in town. Get a wiggle on, Ben. How’s things?”
“All right. We had War-axe and Lady Johnson. Some killing, eh? That stable is winning all along. We’ve got Adriutha and Queen Esther today. The Ocean Belle skate is scratched. Doc and Cap and me is thick with the Legislature outfit. We’ll trim ’em tonight. How are you feeling, Eddie?”
“Never better. I’ll call you up in the morning. Ding-dong!”
“Wait! Are you really going abroad?” shouted Stull.
But Brandes had already hung up.
He walked leisurely back to Brookhollow through the sunshine. He had never been as happy in all his life.
CHAPTER IX
NONRESISTANCE
“LONG DISTANCE CALLING you, Mr. Stull. One moment, please.... Here’s your party,” concluded the operator.
Stull, huddled sleepily on his bed, picked up the transmitter from the table beside him with a frightful yawn.
“Who is it?” he inquired sourly.
“It’s me — Ben!”
“Say, Eddie, have a heart, will you! I need the sleep — —”
Brandes’ voice was almost jovial:
“Wake up, you poor tout! It’s nearly noon — —”
“Well, wasn’t I singing hymns with Doc and Cap till breakfast time? And believe me, we trimmed the Senator’s bunch! They’ve got their transportation back to Albany, and that’s about all — —”
“Careful what you say. I’m talking from the Gayfield House. The Parson got here all right. He’s just left. He’ll tell you about things. Listen, Ben, the chauffeur you sent me from Saratoga got here last evening, too. I went out with him and he drives all right. Did you look him up?”
“Now, how could I look him up when you gave me only a day to get him for you?”
“Did he have references?”
“Sure, a wad of them. But I couldn’t verify them.”
“Who is he?”
“I forget his name. You ought to know it by now.”
“How did you get him?”
“Left word at the desk. An hour later he came to my room with a couple of bums. I told him about the job. I told him you wanted a chauffeur willing to go abroad. He said he was all that and then some. So I sent him on. Anything you don’t fancy about him?”
“Nothing, I guess. He seems all right. Only I like to know about a man — —”
“How can I find out if you don’t give me time?”
“All right, Ben. I guess he’ll do. By the way, I’m starting for town in ten minutes.”
“What’s the idea?”
“Ask the Parson. Have you any other news except that you killed that Albany bunch of grafters?”
“No.... Yes! But it ain’t good news. I was going to call you soon as I waked up — —”
“What’s the trouble?”
“There ain’t any trouble — yet. But a certain party has showed up here — a very smooth young man whose business is hunting trouble. Get me?”
After a silence Stull repeated:
“Get me, Eddie?”
“No.”
“Listen. A certain slippery party — —”
“Who, damn it? Talk out. I’m in a hurry.”
“Very well, then. Maxy Venem is here!”
The name of his wife’s disbarred attorney sent a chill over Brandes.
“What’s he doing in Saratoga?” he demanded.
“I’m trying to find out. He was to the races yesterday. He seen Doc. Of course Doc hadn’t laid eyes on you for a year. Oh, no, indeed! Heard you was somewhere South, down and out. I don’t guess Maxy was fooled none. What we done here in Saratoga is growing too big to hush up — —”
“What we’ve done? Whad’ye mean, we? I told you to work by yourself quietly, Ben, and keep me out of it.”
“That’s what I done. Didn’t I circulate the news that you and me had quit partnership? And even then you wouldn’t take my advice. Oh, no. You must show up here at the track with a young lady — —”
“How long has Maxy Venem been in Saratoga?” snapped Brandes.
“He told Doc he just come, but Cap found out he’d been here a week. All I hope is he didn’t see you with the Brookhollow party — —”
“Do you think he did?”
“Listen, Eddie. Max is a smooth guy — —”
“Find out what he knows! Do you hear?”
“Who? Me? Me try to make Maxy Venem talk? That snake? If he isn’t on to you now, that would be enough to put him wise. Act like you had sense, Eddie. Call that other matter off and slide for town — —”
“I can’t, Ben.”
“You got to!”
“I can’t, I tell you.”
“You’re nutty in the head! Don’t you suppose that Max is wise to what I’ve been doing here? And don’t you suppose he knows damn well that you’re back of whatever I do? If you ain’t crazy you’ll call that party off for a while.”
Brandes’ even voice over the telephone sounded a trifle unnatural, almost hoarse:
“I can’t call it off. It’s done.”
“What’s done?”
“What I told you I was going to do.”
“That!”
“The Parson married us.”
“Oh!”
“Wait! Parson Smawley married us, in church, assisted by the local dominie. I didn’t count on the dominie. It was her father’s idea. He butted in.”
“Then is it — is it —— ?”
“That’s what I’m not sure about. You see, the Parson did it, but the dominie stuck around. Whether he got a half nelson on me I don’t know till I ask. Anyway, I expected to clinch things — later — so it doesn’t really matter, unless Max Venem means bad. Does he, do you think?”
“He always does, Eddie.”
“Yes, I know. Well, then, I’ll wait for a cable from you. And if I’ve got to take three months off in Paris, why I’ve got to — that’s all.”
“Good God! What about Stein? What about the theaytre?”
“You’ll handle it for the first three months.... Say, I’ve got to go, now. I think she’s waiting — —”
“Who?”
“My — wife.”
“Oh!”
“Yes. The chauffeur took her back to the house in the car to put something in her suitcase that she forgot. I’m waiting for her here at the Gayfield House. We’re on our way to town. Going to motor in. Our trunks have gone by rail.”
After a silence, Stull’s voice sounded again, tense, constrained:
“You better go aboard tonight.”
“That’s right, too.”
“What’s your ship?”
“Lusitania.”
“What’ll I tell Stein?”
“Tell him I’ll be back in a month. You look out for my end. I’ll be back in time.”
“Will you cable me?”
“Sure. And if you get any later information about Max today, call me at the Knickerbocker. We’ll dine there and then go aboard.”
“I get you.... Say, Eddie, I’m that worried! If this break of yours don’t kill our luck — —”
“Don’t you believe it! I’m going to fight for what I got till someone hands me the count. She’s the first thing I ever wanted. I’ve got her and I guess I can keep her.... And listen: there’s nothing like her in all God’s world!”
“When did you do — it?” demanded Stull, coldly.
“This morning at eleven. I just stepped over here to the garage. I’m talking to you from the bar. She’s back by this time and waiting, I guess. So take care of yourself till I see you.”
“Same to you, Eddie. And be leery of Max. He’s bad. When they disbar a man like that he’s twice as dangerous as he was. His ex-partner, Abe Grittlefeld, is a certain party’s attorney of record. Ask yourself what you’d be up against if that pair of wolves get started after you! You know what Max would do to you if he could. And Minna, too!”
“Don’t worry.”
“I am worrying! And you ought to. You know what you done to Max. Don’t think he ever forgets. He’ll do you if he can, same as Minna will.”
Brandes’ stolid face lost a little of its sanguine colour, where he stood in the telephone box behind the bar of the Gayfield House.
Yes, he knew well enough what he had once done to the disbarred lawyer out in Athabasca when he was handling the Unknown and Venem, the disbarred, was busy looking out for the Athabasca Blacksmith, furnishing the corrupt brains for the firm of Venem and Grittlefeld, and paying steady court to the prettiest girl in Athabasca, Ilse Dumont.
And Brandes’ Unknown had almost killed Max Venem’s blacksmith; Brandes had taken all Venem’s money, and then his girl; more than that, he had “made” this girl, in the theatrical sense of the word; and he had gambled on her beauty and her voice and had won out with both.
Then, while still banking her salary to reimburse himself for his trouble with her, he had tired of her sufficiently to prove unfaithful to his marriage vows at every opportunity. And opportunities were many. Venem had never forgiven him; Ilse Dumont could not understand treachery; and Venem’s detectives furnished her with food for thought that presently infuriated her.
And now she was employing Max Venem, once senior partner in the firm of Venem and Grittlefeld, to guide her with his legal advice. She wanted Brandes’ ruin, if that could be accomplished; she wanted her freedom anyway.
Until he had met Rue Carew he had taken measures to fight the statutory charges, hoping to involve Venem and escape alimony. Then he met Ruhannah, and became willing to pay for his freedom. And he was still swamped in the vile bog of charges and countercharges, not yet free from it, not yet on solid ground, when the eternal gambler in him suggested to him that he take the chance of marrying this young girl before he was legally free to do so.
Why on earth did he want to take such a chance? He had only a few months to wait. He had never before really cared for any woman. He loved her — as he understood love — as much as he was capable of loving. If in all the world there was anything sacred to him, it was his sentiment regarding Rue Carew. Yet, he was tempted to take the chance. Even she could not escape his ruling passion; at the last analysis, even she represented to him a gambler’s chance. But in Brandes there was another streak. He wanted to take the chance that he could marry her before he had a right to, and get away with it. But his nerve failed. And, at the last moment, he had hedged, engaging Parson Smawley to play the lead instead of an ordained clergyman.
All these things he now thought of as he stood undecided, worried, in the telephone booth behind the bar at the Gayfield House. Twice Stull had spoken, and had been bidden to wait and to hold the wire.
Finally, shaking off the premonition of coming trouble, Brandes called again:
“Ben?”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“I’ll stay in Paris if there’s trouble.”
“And throw Stein down?”
“What else is there to do?”
“Well, you can wait, can’t you? You don’t seem to be able to do that any more, but you better learn.”
“All right. What next?”
“Make a quick getaway. Now!”
“Yes, I’m going at once. Keep me posted, Ben. Be good!”
He hung up and went out to the wide, tree-shaded street where Ruhannah sat in the runabout awaiting him, and the new chauffeur stood by the car.
He took off his straw hat, pulled a cap and goggles from his pocket. His man placed the straw hat in the boot.
“Get what you wanted, Rue?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Been waiting long?”
“I — don’t think so.”
“All right,” he said cheerily, climbing in beside her. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting. Had a business matter to settle. Hungry?”
Rue, very still and colourless, said no, with a mechanical smile. The chauffeur climbed to the rumble.
