her face shone somethin" wonderful.
"Lee put up a shakin" hand.
""Gurl," he sez, "did yez iver hear of Allison Lee?"
"An" all her seemed to lift.
""He is my father!" she cried. "I am Allie Lee!"
"Ah! thin that crowd wuz split up by a mon wot hurried through. He wuz a greaser--one of thim dandies on dress an" diamonds--a handsome, wicked-lookin" gambler. Seein" the gurl, he snarled, "Go back there!"
an" he pointed. She niver even looked at him.
"Some wan back of me sez thot"s Durade. Wal, it was! An" sudden he seen who the gurl wuz watchin"--Lee.
"Thot Durade turned green an" wild-eyed an" stiff. But thot couldn"t hould a candle to Lee. Shure he turned into a fiend. He bit out a Spanish name, nothin" loike Durade.
"An" loike a hissin" snake Durade sez, "Allison Lee!"
"Thin there wuz a dead-lock between thim two men, wid the crowd waitin"
fer h.e.l.l to pay. Life-long inimies, sez I, to meself, an" I hed the whole story.
"Durade began to limber up. Any man what knows a greaser would have been lookin" fer blood. "She--wint--back--to yez!" panted Durade.
""No--thief--Spanish dog! I have not seen her for nineteen years," sez Lee.
"The gurl spoke up: "Mother is dead! Killed by Injuns!"
"Thin Lee cried out, "Did she leave HIM?"
""Yes, she did," sez the gurl. "She wuz goin" back. Home! Takin"
me home. But the caravan wuz attacked by Injuns. An" all but me wor ma.s.sacred."
"Durade cut short the gurl"s s.p.a.che. If I iver seen a reptoile it wuz thin.
""Lee, they both left me," he hisses. "I tracked them. I lost the mother, but caught the daughter."
"Thin thot Durade lost his s.p.a.che fer a minnit, foamin" at the mouth wid rage. If yez niver seen a greaser mad thin yez niver seen the rale thin". His face changed yaller an" ould an" wrinkled, wid spots of red.
His lip curled up loike a wolf"s, an" his eyes--they wint down to little black points of h.e.l.l"s fire. He wuz crazy.
""Look at her!" he yelled. "Allie Lee! Flesh an" blood yez can"t deny!
Her baby!... An" she"s been my slave--my dog to beat an" kick! She"s been through Benton! A toy fer the riff-raff of the camps!... She"s as vile an" black an" lost as her treacherous mother!"
"Allison Lee shrunk under thot shame. But the gurl! Lord! she niver looked wot she was painted by thot devil. She stood white an" still, like an angel above judgment.
"Durade drew one of thim little derringers. An" sudden he hild it on Lee, hissin" now in his greaser talk. I niver seen sich h.e.l.lish joy on a human face. Murder was nothin" to thot look.
"Jist thin I seen Neale an" Slingerland, an", by Gawd! I thought I"d drop. They seemed to loom up. The girl screamed wild-loike an" she swayed about to fall. Neale leaped in front of Lee.
""Durade!" he spit out, an" dom" me if I didn"t expect to see the roof fly off."
McDermott wiped his moist face and tipped his empty gla.s.s to his lips, and swallowed hard. His light-blue eyes held a glint.
"Gineral," he went on, "yez know Neale. How big he is! Wot nerve he"s got! There niver wor a mon his equal on the U. P. "ceptin" Casey.... But me, nor any wan, nor yez, either, ever seen Neale loike he wuz thin. He niver hesitated an inch, but wint roight fer Durade. Any dom" fool, even a crazy greaser, would hev seen his finish in Neale. Durade changed quick from hot to cold. An" he shot Neale.
"Neale laughed. Funny ringin" sort of laugh, full of thot same joy Durade hed sung out to Lee. Hate an" love of blood it wor. Yez would hev thought Neale felt wonderful happy to sthop a bullet.
"Thin his hand shot out an" grabbed Durade.... He jerked him off his feet an" swung him round. The little derringer flew, an" Sandy McDermott wuz the mon who picked it up. It"ll be Neale"s whin I see him.... Durade jabbered fer help. But no wan come. Thot big trapper Slingerland stood there with two guns, an" shure he looked bad. Neale slung Durade around, spillin" some fellars who didn"t dodge quick, an" thin he jerked him up backwards.
"An" Durade come up with a long knife in the one hand he had free.
"Neale yelled, "Lee, take the gurl out!"
"I seen thin she hed fainted in Lee"s arms. He lifted her--moved away--an" thin I seen no more of thim.
"Durade made wild an" wicked lunges at Neale, only to be jerked off his balance. I heerd the bones crack in the arm Neale held. The greaser screamed. Sudden he wuz turned agin, an" swung backwards so thot Neale grabbed the other arm--the wan wot held the knife. It wuz a child in the grasp of a giant. Neale shure looked beautiful, I niver wished so much in me loife fer Casey as thin. He would hev enjoyed thot foight, fer he bragged of his friendship fer Neale. An"--"
"Go on, man, end your story!" ordered the general, breathlessly.
"Wal, b"gorra, there wuz more crackin" of bones, an" sich screams as I niver heerd from a mon. Tumble, blood-curdlin"!... Neale held both Durade"s hands an" wuz squeezin" thot knife-handle so the greaser couldn"t let go.
"Thin Neale drew out thot hand of Durade"s--the wan wot held the knife--an" made Durade jab himself, low down!... My Gawd! how thot jenteel Spaniard howled! I seen the blade go in an" come out red. Thin Slingerland tore thim apart, an" the greaser fell. He warn"t killed.
Mebbe he ain"t goin" to croak. But he"ll shure hev to l"ave Roarin"
City, an he"ll shure be a cripple fer loife."
McDermott looked at the empty gla.s.s.
"That"s all, Gineral. An" if it"s jist the same to yez I"ll hev another drink."
32
The mere sight of Warren Neale had transformed life for Allie Lee.
The shame of being forced to meet degraded men, the pain from Durade"s blows, the dread that every hour he would do the worst by her or kill her, the sudden and amazing recognition between her and her father--these became dwarfed and blurred in the presence of the glorious truth that Neale was there.
She had recognized him with reeling senses and through darkening eyes.
She had seen him leap before her father to confront that glittering-eyed Durade. She had neither fear for him nor pity for the Spaniard.
Sensations of falling, of being carried, of the light and dust and noise of the street, of men around her, of rooms and the murmur of voices, of being worked over and spoken to by a kindly woman, of swallowing what was put to her mouth, of answering questions, of letting other clothes be put upon her; she was as if in a trance, aware of all going on about her, but with consciousness riveted upon one stunning fact--his presence. When she was left alone this state gradually wore away, and there remained a throbbing, quivering suspense of love. Her despair had ended. The spirit that had upheld her through all the long, dark hours had reached its fulfilment.
She lay on a couch in a small room curtained off from another, the latter large and light, and from which came a sound of low voices. She heard the quick tread of men; a door opened.
"Lee, I congratulate you. A narrow escape!" exclaimed a deep voice, with something sharp, authoritative in it.
"General Lodge, it was indeed a narrow shave for me," replied another voice, low and husky.
Allie slowly sat up, with the dreamy waiting abstraction less strong.
Her father, Allison Lee, and General Lodge, Neale"s old chief, were there in the other room.