"Why, I never thought to look!"
But Nellie"s face fell when she did look.
"It was mailed at Denver!" she said, in an awe-struck voice.
Her man seemed at the very ends of the earth, and his return became a doubtful thing.
"Well, I wouldn"t talk about this to the police or anybody; they ain"t been able to find Joe, and I wouldn"t be the one to tell them where he"s at!" advised Mr. Shrimplin.
"They"ve stopped coming to the house," said Nellie.
But she looked inquiringly at Mr. Shrimplin. Where the police were concerned she had faith in his masculine understanding; Joe had always seemed to know a great deal about the police, she remembered.
"I reckon old Joe had his own reasons for skipping out, and they must have looked good to him. No, I can"t see that you are bound to help the police; the police ain"t helped you." And Mr. Shrimplin returned to the scrutiny of the bill in his hand.
That was the profound mystery. No one knew better than he that Joe was not given to such prodigal generosity; neither were twenty-dollar bills frequent with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE CAT AND THE MOUSE
Mr. Gilmore, having yielded once again to temptation, found himself at Marshall Langham"s door. He asked for the lawyer, but was informed he was not at home, a fact of which Mr. Gilmore was perfectly well aware, since he had parted from him not twenty minutes before at the court-house steps. Mrs. Langham was at home, however, and at this welcome information the gambler, smiling, strode into the hall.
From the parlor, Evelyn heard his voice. She had found him amusing in the first days of their acquaintance, and possibly she might again find him diverting, but this afternoon he had chosen ill for his call. She was quite sure she detested him. For the first time she measured him by standards of which he could know nothing, and found no good thing in him. What had Marsh meant when he forced this most undesirable acquaintance on her!
"You wanted to see Marsh?" she asked, as she gave him her hand.
"That will keep," said Gilmore cheerfully. "May I stay?" he added.
"If you wish," she answered indifferently.
She felt a sense of shame at his presence there. Everything about her seemed to sink to his level, which was a very low level, she was sure.
These afternoon calls were a recent feature of their intimacy. Before Gilmore came, she had been thinking for the hundredth time of John North--the man she had once loved and now hated, but in whose honor she had such confidence that she knew he would face death rather than compromise her. In spite of the fact that he had scorned her, had thrown her aside for another, she had had on his account many a soul-rending struggle with her conscience, with her better self. She knew that a word from her, and his prison doors would open to a free world. Time and again this word had trembled on her lips unuttered. She knew also that it was not hate of North that kept her silent. It was an intangible, unformed, unthoughtout fear of what might follow after. North, she knew, was innocent; who then was guilty? She closed her eyes and shut her lips. That North would ultimately clear himself she never seriously doubted, and yet the burden of her secret was intolerable. In her present mood, she was accessible to every pa.s.sing influence, and to-day it was Gilmore"s fate to find her both penitent and rebellious, but he could not know this, he only knew that she was quieter than usual.
He seated himself at her side, and his eyes, eager and animated, fed on her beauty. He had come to the belief that only the lightest barriers stood between himself and Evelyn Langham, and it was a question in his mind of just how much he would be willing to sacrifice for her sake. He boasted nothing in the way of position or reputation, and no act of his could possibly add to the disfavor in which he was already held; but to leave Mount Hope meant certain definite financial losses; this had served as a check on his ardor, for where money was concerned Gilmore was cautious. But his pa.s.sion was coming to be the supreme thing in his life; a fortunate chance had placed him where he now stood in relation to her, and chance again, as unkind as it had been kind, might separate them. The set of Gilmore"s heavy jaws became tense with this thought and with the ruthless strength of his purpose. He would shake down one sensation for Mount Hope before he got away,--and he would not go alone.
"I suppose you were at the trial to-day?" Evelyn said.
"Yes, I was there for a little while this afternoon," he answered. "It"s rather tame yet, they"re still fussing over the jury."
"How is Jack bearing it?" she asked.
Her question seemed to depress Gilmore.
"Why do you care about how he takes it? I don"t suppose he sees any fun in it,--he didn"t look to me as if he did," he said slowly.
"But how did he _seem_ to you?"
"Oh, he"s got nerve enough, if that"s what you mean!"
"Poor Jack!" she murmured softly.
"If you"re curious, why don"t you go take a look at poor Jack? He"ll be there all right for the next few weeks," said the gambler, watching her narrowly.
"I"m afraid Marsh might object."
At this Gilmore threw back his head and laughed.
"Excuse _me_!" he said; and in explanation of his sudden mirth, he added: "The idea of your trotting out Marsh to me!"
"I"m not trotting him out to you,--as you call it," Evelyn said quietly, but her small foot tapped the floor. She intended presently to rid herself of Gilmore for all time.
"Yes, but I was afraid you were going to."
"You mustn"t speak to me as you do; I have done nothing to give you the privilege."
Gilmore did not seem at all abashed at this reproof.
"If you want to go to the trial I"ll take you, and I"ll agree to make it all right with Marsh afterward; what do you say?" he asked.
Evelyn smiled brightly, but she did not explain to him the utter impossibility of their appearing in public together either at the North trial or anywhere else for the matter of that; there were bounds set even to her reckless disregard of what Mount Hope held to be right and proper.
"Oh, no, you"re very kind, but I don"t think I should care to see poor Jack now."
She gave a little shiver of horror as if at the mere idea. This was for the gambler, but her real feeling was far deeper than he, suspicious as he was, could possibly know.
"Why do you "poor Jack" him to me?" said Gilmore sullenly.
Evelyn opened her fine eyes in apparent astonishment.
"He is one of my oldest friends. I have known him all my life!" she said.
"Well, one"s friends should keep out of the sort of trouble he"s made for himself," observed Gilmore in surly tones.
"Yes,--perhaps--" answered Evelyn absently.
"Look here, I don"t want to talk to you about North anyhow; can"t we hit on some other topic?" asked Gilmore.
It maddened him even to think of the part the accused man had played in her life.
"Why have you and Marsh turned against him?" she asked.
The gambler considered for an instant.
"Do you really want to know? Well, you see he wasn"t square; that does a man up quicker than anything else."