Rayton: A Backwoods Mystery.
by Theodore Goodridge Roberts.
CHAPTER I
THE GAME THAT WAS NOT FINISHED
Samson"s Mill Settlement had, for the past fifteen years, prided itself on its absolute respectability; and then came Reginald Baynes Rayton, with his unfailing good humor, his riding breeches, and constant "haw-haw"--and corrupted the community. So it happened that five representative men of the settlement, and Mr. Rayton, sat and played poker one October night in Rayton"s snug living room. They had done it before--only last week, in fact--but the sense of guilty novelty had not yet worn off. Only Rayton and old Wigmore were absolutely at their ease.
White beans had to do in the place of the usual chips. The standard of play was very moderate--a one-cent _ante_ and a five-cent _limit_--but it seemed reckless to some of those representative citizens.
"Jane questioned me pretty sharp, to-night," said Benjamin Samson, the owner of the mill that sawed lumber and ground buckwheat for the whole Beaver Brook valley; "but I give her a bagful of evasive answers. Yes, sir-ee! I guess she suspicioned something. She"s been kinder expectin"
me to fall from grace ever since she first married me."
"Haw-haw!" brayed Mr. Rayton. "Mrs. Samson is a clever woman. She knows a bad egg, Benjamin, without having to break the sh.e.l.l."
The others chuckled.
"She ain"t as smart as you think," replied Samson, awkwardly shuffling the cards, "for at last I said to her, "I"m goin" to see Rayton," says I. "He"s started a kinder lit"ry club for his male friends." "Then you"ll learn no harm from him," says she, "for I"m sure his morals is as good as his manners. The way he lifts his hat to me is a regular treat.
_He_ knows what"s my due, even if some other folks don"t," says she."
Five men, including Samson himself, roared at this; but Rayton"s haw-haw lacked, for once, its usual heartiness.
"Oh, come now," he protested shamefacedly. "It"s not just the thing to--to be making fun of a lady. Of course I raise my hat to Mrs. Samson.
Proud to do it, I"m sure; and I"m glad she appreciates it. Harley, you are banker, I think. Pa.s.s me over fifty beans. Benjamin, when you"ve finished shoveling those cards about--I don"t call it shuffling--give us a chance to cut for deal."
Jim Harley, a shrewd man of about thirty years of age, who farmed in the summer and operated in the lumber woods, on a small but paying scale, in the winter months, counted out beans to the company in return for quarters and dimes. Samson shot the cards across the table, backs up, and every one drew. Old Captain Wigmore won the deal. He brought the cards together in a neat pile with one sweep of the hand, shuffled them swiftly and skillfully, and dealt so fast as to keep three in the air at once. It was a pleasure to watch him. Even Rayton was a fumbler with the pasteboards beside him.
The six picked up their cards and looked at them, each in a way characteristic of him. Honest Benjamin, catching sight of two kings and feeling Doctor Nash"s prying glance upon him, struggled to hide a smirk of satisfaction that was too strong for him. Rayton beamed; but that might mean anything. Old Wigmore"s bewhiskered face expressed nothing, as usual. The other visages showed hope or disgust as plainly as if the words were printed across them. Discards were thrown to the centre of the table, and Wigmore distributed others.
"What--?" queried young David Marsh, and immediately relapsed into silence.
"What _what_?" asked Rayton.
"Oh, it will keep," replied Marsh.
"Davy wants to know if four aces are any good?" suggested the doctor, winking at Rayton.
Benjamin Samson, torn with doubt, ventured three beans on the chances of his pair of kings. That started things briskly; but on the second round David Marsh went the limit. That brought things to a standstill, and the pool went to David without a challenge; but he showed his cards for all that.
"What I want to know is, who"s marked this six of clubs?" he asked.
"That"s what I began to ask, a minute back," he added, looking at Doctor Nash.
"Four of a kind," murmured Samson enviously.
"But look at the six of clubs," urged Marsh. "Look at the two red crosses in the middle of it, will you!"
All got to their feet and stared down at the card.
"What"s it for?" demanded David Marsh. "If it was marked on the back, now, it might be of some use. I"ve heard of such things."
"The marks weren"t there last night," said Rayton, "for I was playing patience with this very pack and would have seen them."
At that moment Jim Harley s.n.a.t.c.hed up the card and held it close to his eyes. "h.e.l.l!" he exclaimed. "The red crosses!"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "JIM HARLEY s.n.a.t.c.hED UP THE CARD"]
They gazed at him in astonishment, and saw that his face was colorless under the tan. The stout, excitable Benjamin laughed hysterically and fingered a pocket of his curving vest to make sure that his watch was still there. He felt very uneasy; but perhaps Jim was only playing a trick on them? That was not like Jim--but who can say what a man may not do who has fallen to poker playing? Old Captain Wigmore shared this suspicion evidently.
"Very amusing, James," he said. "You would have made a first-rate actor.
But suppose we go on with the game. Have you another deck, Reginald--one that our smart young friend has not had a chance to monkey with?"
"Do you mean that I marked this one?" cried Harley. "What the devil would I do that for? Why, you--you old idiot, I"d sooner break my leg than see----But what"s the good of talkin"?"
Old Wigmore sighed patiently, sat down, and began to fill his pipe. The others stared at Jim Harley in amazed consternation. They saw that he was not joking and so thought that he had suddenly become insane.
"Yes, I quite agree with you, Jim," said Doctor Nash soothingly.
"Captain Wigmore is an old idiot, beyond a doubt, and it is a most remarkable thing that the card should be marked with two red crosses.
Sit down and tell me all about it, like a good fellow."
"You go chase yourself, doc," returned the other unpleasantly. "You think I"m off my nut, I guess; but I"m saner than _you_ are--by a long sight."
"I never knew you to act so queer before, Jim," complained Benjamin Samson. "You give me the twists, you do. Wish I"d stayed home, after all. This card playin" ain"t healthy, I guess."
"Have a drink, Jim. Something has upset you," said Rayton.
Harley accepted a gla.s.s of whisky and water. Then he sat down and again examined the six of clubs, the others watching him keenly.
"Oh, of course it"s all foolishness!" he exclaimed. "But it gave me a turn, I must say--and it being dealt to Dave, and all that. Looked queer, for a minute, I must say. But I guess Mr. Rayton just marked it with red ink and forgot all about it."
Rayton shook his head. "Sorry," he replied, "but there"s not a drop of red ink in the house."
"Then some one else did it," said Harley. "It just _happened_, that"s all. No good in talking about it! Go on with the game, boys. I"ll just go home and get to bed."
"No, you don"t, my son," cried Doctor Nash. "You"ll just sit where you are and tell us what all this rot is about. You"ve interrupted our game, and now you have to explain things. You hinted that it was strange that the marked card should go to Davy Marsh. Now what did you mean by that?
You"ve got something on your mind, I"ll bet a dollar."
"I"m going home," repeated Harley firmly. "Are you stepping, too, Davy?
I want to have a word with you."
"Yes, I"ll come," replied Marsh. He turned to the doctor and whispered: "Safer to have somebody along with him, I guess. He don"t seem himself, to-night."
"I"m off, too," said Samson. "I don"t feel right, I can tell you. Jim, your queer actions has upset me. Wish I"d stayed quietly at home, with Jane, and read last week"s newspaper like a respectable Christian."
"I"m stepping, too," said the doctor. "It"s my duty to keep an eye on him, Rayton," he added, in an aside to his host.
The man who had caused the disturbance went over to Rayton and shook his hand. His tanned cheeks had not yet regained the glow of health and vitality that was usual to them.