2
c
GAMBLING WITH FATE
liy WILLIAM WALLACE COOK
Author of “The Cold Gleanerj: A .Story of the Cyanide
TanK.j," " Wilhy'j Ban," “Hij Friend the Enemy,”
‘"Roflerj of Tlutte.” Etc., Etc.
J
(Copyright, 1903, by William Wallace Cook )
(Continued from last week.)
' ' In a few moments the young man
showed himself at the door. Instant
ly Darrel stepped out and confronted
him.
“Your name is Lenvard,” said Dar
rel, quietly, “and you may call me Mc
Cloud. I wish to talk with you.”
"I do not care to talk with you,” was
the short answer.
Lenyard would have made off down
the street had not Darrel thrust an arm
through his.
“C-ome, come,” said Darrel. "For
some reason you seem to have become
suspicious of me, but I want to be your
friend.”
“You can never be a friend of mine,”
was the harsh retort.
“Very well,” was the unruffled re
sponse. “You can at least grant me 15
minutes of your time- for the sake of
Elise.”
Lenyard's arm trembled against Dar
rel’s and he walked a few steps with
out comment.
“Where are yon taking me?’’ he de
manded, at last, halting abruptly.
“To the Grand Central.”
“Not there! If you are bound to talk
with me it must be somewhere else.”
They went to H&wkbill's. It was
too early for the games and only a few
people were at the place. At a table
in an obscure corner they seated them
selves, Darrel in such position that his
eyes commanded the door.
Hardly were they in their chairs
when a white-aproned w'aiter came up
for their order.
"Nothing,” said Darrel, shortly.
“Whisky,” said Lenyard, with almost
savage impatience. The waiter went
away. "Now,” he resumed, surveying
Darrel with supreme distrust, “you can
go on. The quicker you're through and
the quicker I leave you the better I’ll
like it.”
“Mrs. Gorton and Miss Avery,” said
Darrel, plunging at once into the mat
ter, "came to me in Anaconda a month
ago with a letter from an eastern man
asking my aid in an important mat
ter.”
He paused. The waiter came up, set
down the whisky and water and Len
yard flung him his pay.
The waiter left. With a quick move
ment Darrel leaned, over, caught up the
whisky and swallowed it at a gulp. A
muttered exclamation escaped the
young man’s lips and he started an
grily to rise.
"Sit down!" ordered Darrel, looking
squarely into the young man’s eyes.
Lenyard returned the look defiantly,
but sank mutely back Into his chair.
“I'm the or.e who needs the whisky,
not you," resumed Darrel, calmly.
“Mrs. Gorton and her niece are look
ing for Miss Avery's father, who left
Newr York five > cars ago. Mr. Avery
has not been heard from, in any way,
for more than a year. The latest in
formation secured by Miss Avery
places her father in Sandy Bar; it
came to her indirectly—”
This bit of news had a strange ef
fect on Lenyard. He whitened and a
gasp escaped his lips.
“Then there's no doubt,” he mut
tered. huskily, “absolutely no doubt.”
Darrel’s glittering eyes riveted them
selves on the youth's face.
“No doubt of w hat ?” he asked, in a
compelling voice.
"Why,” answered Lenyard, slowly,
“there was a man killed in this camp
of Sandy Bar a month ago and there
were letters in his pocket—letters and
other things that went to prove that
he was other than he seemed.”
“Who did he seem to he and who
was he In reality?”
“He seemed to be a gambler named
Jack Sturgis. Now, from what you
cii me, i kuow mat the otner proo..
ias conclusive. His real name was
Ezra Avery.”
"Ah!” muttered Darrel, re ling his
ace moodily on his hand.
“God help me!” hi. red the pal
id Lenyard. “I had never seen Avery
and did not know him as Sturgis,
flight here in this room he all but
.-mined n e. A s a result of a game I
aad with him I might have lost my
fife, but as it chanced Avery lost his.
Oh, Elise, Elise!”
CHAPTER XIV.
DARREL (’O.VilNl'ES IMS TAI.K
WITH LENYARC).
The young man was shaken to the
depths of his being. A swift sym
pathy surged into the loo.; Darrel fas
tened on him.
“I recall the occurrence,” said Dar
rel, hiding his own feelings under an
assumed coldness of voice and man
ner. “Sturgis was shot by a scoundrel
named Darrel.”
Lenyard straightened his lithe form
in a moment.
“Darrel was no scoundrel,’
torted hotly.
“He was a gambler,
be tfiat and not be everyth'
he r
fV
Hey
c
THEUE WAS AN OVERTURNING OF
CHAIRS AS THE MEN HURLED
THEMSELVES AT EACH OTHER.
a man could lay tongue to?”
"You shall say nothing against Dar
rel to me,” cried the young man. “I
owe him my life and my honor—he be
friended me at a tlm ■ when it re
quired courage and shill and he suf
fered dishonor and los* his own life
because of it. Do you hear me?” Len
yard’s voice rose excitedly. “I will not
hear a breath against him.”
“Very well,” said Darrel, in a paci
ficatory tone. “Please lower your
•voice—you are attracting attention this
way. Circumstances all point to the
fact that. Nate Darrel killed Sturgis,
as you must know.”
"Circumstances!” sneered Lenyard.
“All I can say is that circumstances
lie, and I shall prove them a lie and—”
He broke off sharply, the old distrust
| in the look he flashed at Darrel.
"I have heard, too,” persisted Dar
! rel, "that Darrel and Murgatroyd had
a murderous feud, based upon some of
i their rascally practices, no doubt.”
“I have looked into that,” returned
Lenyard with an obvious desire to
! parry every thrust at Darrel's reputa
! tion. “The rascally practices were all
on Murgatroyd's part. Darrel, as I
happen to know, acted like an honor
; able gentleman.”
“You surprise me!”
“It is the truth, whether you are
I surprised at it or not. Murgatroyd,
under a false name, had laid his plans
to marry a young woman in Denver.
The young woman was of good family
and her father was one of the wealth
iest mining men in Colorado. Murga
troyd had his eye on the money and
his schemes would have succeeded but
for Nate Darrel.”
“Darrel meddled in the matter, I
suppose?”
Murgatroyd took him into the plot
: ami Darrel went with it to the girl's
father.”
"An informer, eh?”
"Who would not have been an in
former under such circumstances?
Murgatroyd was given 24 hours to get
out of Denver and has never dared to
I go back there since. It was then he
swore to shoot Darrel on sight, and
he'd be equal to it—if he could.”
"Strange that the woman in the case
should have been taken with Murga
troyd, in the first place. Don't you
think so? These gambling gentry
usually show what they are."
“Murgatroyd has a way with wom
en, and with men, too, that’s hard to
understand. He's a success at gam
bling as well as at other lines of busi
ness, all through some infernal power
which he wields over his dupes. He's
a thoroughbred villain, if there ever
was one. Now that I have set you
right concerning Darrel I’d like to
know if you have finished your talk
with me?"
”1 haven't yet touched upon the mat
ter that spurred me on to seek an in
terview. There is a ■ ■ n-standing
between you and Eli.-.e Avery, is there
not ?”
"That is none of your affair. Mr. Mc
Cloud,” was the sharp and threaten
ing answer.
"You defend this gambler, Darrel,
for interfering in a love affair and now
you question my right to trench upon
a subject of the same kind.”
“It is not the same kind and you are
not Darrel." The young man got up.
"Is that all?”
It would not have been all had not
Darrel's gaze encountered a familiar
figure just entering the door. A tall,
square-shouldered man with sloe
1 «s and overhanging brows.
be all for now, Mr. Len
® * rrel. He did not deign
■? glance, but watched
cat-like intensity.
“You may be done with me, Mr, Mc
Cloud,” said Lenyard, leaning across
the table, "but I'm not done with you.”
With this enigmatical remark Len
yard walked away. Tlie tall man
peered around the room, eaiurht sight
of Darrel and advanced upon him with
slow deliberation, Darrel's hand
dropped beside him into his coat
pocket.
One. two. three, four—Darrel counted
the tall man’s steps as he crossed the
room. Presently he was at the table,
looking down at the man in the chair.
“You will come with me, McCloud,"
said the tall man. at last. His black
eyes seemed to burn as they looked into
Darrel’s. “You will come with me.”
“Very well, Mr. Murgatroyd.”
Murgatroyd turned slowly and
walked away, Nate Darrel following
him.
CHAPTER XV.
DARREL'S FIGHT WITH Ml’RGA
TROTD.
Darrel was a man of quick wit.
Following the cards whets a man’s fac
ulties and makes them keen and alert.
in a second his mind had ex;u ".eu
the depths of Murgatroyd’s si'.* . . .1
action and had evolved a st-.».;.u
conclusion. McCloud was known u> uz
a stranger in that part of the coun
try, yet he had had Mnrgatroyd’s re
volver and Murgatroyd, in calling Dar
rel by the assumed name, showed that
he was acquainted with the easterner.
The conjecture which swept over
Darrel with the force of supreme con
viction was this: Murgatroyd was the
man whose uncanny powers had :
worked the great ill to Junius Me- !
Cloud.
So Darrel followed in the track of
his enemy. A crisis was at hand and ,
their differences were soon to be set
tled.
Not once did Murgatroyd turn and
look back, so sure was he of his mas
tery over McCloud. At any time dur
ing that brief walk from Hawkbill’s
to the oflice of the gambler Darrel
: could have drawn that ebony-handled '
revolver and pressed the trigger with
fatal effect.
But such tactics were foreign to Dar
rel’s nature. He would meet his ene
my face to face, with no advantage on
either side.
Before turning into the hall at
Kaliper's place Darrel brushed past a
group of men, their heads together in
earnest discussion. One was the bur- |
ly marshal, another was Roy Lenyard, i
a third was the sallow-faced clerk |
whom Darrel had met in Murgatroyd’s
oflice and the fourth was a heavy-set, I
well-dressed man with a small leather
case under one arm.
At a sharp word from Lenyard the
quartette broke apart and directed
their attention at Darrel. Murgatroyd.
apparently, took no notice of his clerk,
nor of his three companions, but
; passed into the building and up the
stairs to his darkened rooms. Darrel
stumbled after him, reaching the
landing as Murgatroyd unlocked the
door, pulled it open and stepped back,
an ominous figure in the gloom of the
upper hall. \
vju in, saiu ne, curiiy.
Darrel went in and Murgatroyd fol
lowed, locking the door after him and
putting the key in his pocket. The
darkness was relieved by light reflect
ed through the front windows from the
street, and in the semi-gloom Darrel
stood, silent, watchful, waiting.
“There's a chair in the corner,’’
Murgatroyd went on; “sit down."
The command was mutely obeyed.
Murgatroyd then lighted a lamp, drew
the shades at the windows and took a
; chair, fixing his dark gaze on Darrel.
A year had passed since these two
men had last parted in Denver. Be
fore that they had known each other
well. Darrel, in returning Murga
troyd’s look, searched for some sign
of lurking recognition, hut found none.
The silence lengthened and Darrel
sv f t his glance about the room. The
j clc ’s desk, with its litter of papers,
, the rickwork and door of the vault
! whl. i served Murgatroyd in lieu of a
I ban a tall mineral cabinet against
the v >11, its topmost shelf supporting
a lar * block of “Galena’’ ore, heavy
and irkling, maps of the mining dls
i tric-t. i letter press—these passed in
j slo\ review before the owner of the
' prei es saw fit to speak.
“I ot your letter, McCloud, hut I
dou. ed whether you would he fool
; eno h to come here—here, of all
pla- s in the world.”
D rrel swerved his eyes to the
spe ,er's face, but hesitated to trust
his vok-e.
” - r?” lie murmured, at last.
“i ;■ t Pitc i have been in one of your
spells when you wrote it,” was the j
sneering comment. Murgatroyd took
a folded sheet from his pocket, opened
and read: “‘1 shall be in Sandy Bar
to-night. You may look for me, for I
shall surely come.’ ” With a jeering ]
laugh the letter was returned to the
pocket. “And here you are,” added
Murgatroyd. “Allow me to tell you,
McCloud, that you're a crazy fool.”
The letter was a surprise to Darrel
and he stirred restlessly.
"I don’t know what wild notion
brought you here,” went on Murga
froyd, "hut 1 do know that you're go
I ing to pike out of camp as quick as a
horse can carry you. Luck has fa
vored you so far, but you’re so irre- t
sponsible you're likely to spoil every
thing. A few words from you about
Nate Darrel and the game will be a
losing proposition for both of us.
That blow-up on the War Eagle trail
was the best thing that ever happened
—for us. If you yield to any of your
mad eccentricities now there’s no tell
ing what harm you may do ”
This touched at a vital point of the
Sturgis matter. Darrel longed to learn
more, but knew he could not question
without arousing suspicion. He made
no answer.
“What have you done with that re
volver?’’
Darrel took the ebony-handled
weapon from his pocket.
“Give it to me,” said Murgatrovd,
starting up and snatching it roughly.
“Didn’t you have one of your own?
You played hell using this that night.”
Fiercely Murgatroyd pulled down the
cylinder and examined the cartridges.
"One empty shell,” he muttered,
frowning blackly; “slugs in the other
five shells and the slugs marked.” He
stamped his foot in a fury. “How in
the devil's name did those marks come
there? Did you do it, you?” He
hurled ihe question at Darrel, who re
ceived it silently. “But you couldn't
have done that, you’d have had no ob
ject in doing it. It must have been
Darrel, when he sat in that office,
there, writing his note that afternoon
I was awray in the hills. Much good
that evidence will do Darrel now.”
A steel letter opener—either a repli
ca of the one Darrel had used in the
inner office when he marked the bul
lets, or else the same—lay on the
clerk’s desk near the lighted lamp. It
was sharp and might prove of use in
an emergency. Darrel leaned one arm
on li, desk close to the instrument
and bowed his head on his lifted hand.
In disarming himself by yielding up
the weapon he believed he had effect
ively disarmed any doubts of Mur
gatroyd’s. present or to come. He was
eager to know more of this man’s rela
tions with McCloud.
“I’ll put this revolver in the vault
for now.” said Murgatroyd, “and when
I have seen you safe out of town I’ll
put six fresh cartridges in the cylin
der.”
Then, while he worked at the knob
of the combination, he dropped the
weapon into his pocket. In a few mo
ments he pulled open the vault door,
made as though he would step inside
but halted and whirled around to see
what his companion was doing.
Darrel had not changed his position
and still had his elbow on the desk
and his chin in his hand. A spar
kling gem on Darrel’s finger drew Mur
gatroyd’s eyes and brought an ex
clamation to his lips.
The circlet was a coiled serpent with
diamond head—a ring Darrel had
worn for years. Murgatroyd had seen
it often and knew it well.
Recognition came with a rush. Mur
gntroyd’s hand dropped to the pocket
tha* held the revolver and Darrel’s
leaped to the letter-opener, and there
was an overturning of chairs as the
men hurled themselves at each other.
A lurid oath broke from Murgatroyd
hut was strangled under the gripping
white fingers of his adversary. The
revolver was not drawn nor the let
ter-opener used; from the first shock
of contact necessity threw them back
on their bare hands.
Neither spoke. Each felt that this
was to be their final battle and the
sharp, hard breath came from their
lips as they clinched and fought.
Then followed a terrible half-minute.
Murgatroyd was like a wolf, remember
ing only the injury suffered at the
hands of one whom he had believed to
be his friend. Darrel was calmer, but
none the less determined.
Chairs were tipped over, the desk
and lamp barely escaped, and then, in
a frenzy of brute force, they fell
against ihe mineral cabinet, dropping
to the floor with the cabinet on top
of them.
Darrel was no match for his antag
onist in such rough work and he was
underneath. A feeling flashed through
him that he had failed, and that the
victory would be Murgatroyd's, but the
block of galena, tipping with the cabi
net, struck the stronger man on the
back of the head and crashed to the
floor.
Murgatroyd’s fingers relaxed; with
a stifled groan he straightened out and
iay like one dead. Excited and breath
less, Darrel drew himself out from un
der the cabinet and rose to his feet.
Murgatroyd was at his mercy and
what should he do with him? As he
debated the question he heard a quick
tread of feet in the hall below.
Acting on a quick impulse, he flew
to the vault, pulled open the inner
doors, dragged the unconscious Murga
troyd inside and had closed him in
and turned off the combination when
the marshal burst open the hall door
and flung into the room, followed by
the thick-set. man.
Darrel, leaning against the wall,
eyed the newcomers calmly.
(To be continued.)
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