The Knave of Diamonds Part 69

He smiled abruptly. "I am going to get a drink."

"And what then?" she asked feverishly. "Nap, oh, Nap, she is staying in the house. Won't you go without seeing her?"

"I have seen her already," drawled Nap.

"You have seen her?"

His smile became contemptuous. "What of it? Do you seriously suppose she is the only woman in the world I care to look at?"

"I don't know what to think," cried Mrs. Errol. "I only know that you hold Luke's fate between your hands."

He was already at the door. He turned and briefly bowed. "You flatter me, alma mater!" he said.

And with the smile still upon his lips he left her.

CHAPTER IX

THE DIVINE SPARK

"Boney, old chap, you're the very man I want!" Such was Lucas Errol's greeting to the man who had shot like a thunderbolt into the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded him, to the general disturbance of all others who dwelt therein.

"I guess you must have known it," he said, the sinewy hand fast gripped in his. "You've come like an answer to prayer. Where have you been all this time? And why didn't you write? It's worried me some not hearing."

"Great Lucifer!" said Nap.

He sat down, leaving his hand in his brother's grasp. The cynicism had gone utterly from his face, but he did not answer either question.

"So you are winning out?" he said. "It's been a long trail, I'll wager."

"Oh, d.a.m.nably long, Boney." Lucas uttered a weary sigh. "I was nearly down and out in the winter. But I'm better, you know. I'm better." He met the open criticism of Nap's eyes with a smile. "What's the verdict?" he asked.

"I'll tell you presently. You're not looking overfed anyway." Nap's fingers began to feel along his wrist. "Did Capper say he wanted a skeleton to work on?"

"Shucks, dear fellow! There's more than enough of me. Tell me about yourself. What have you been doing? I want to know."

"I?" Nap jerked back his head. "I've nothing to tell," he declared.

"You know what I went to do. Well, I've done it, and that's all there is to it."

"I'm not quite clear as to what you went to do," Lucas answered. "You didn't turn up in Arizona. I was puzzled what to think."

"You never expected me to go to Arizona," said Nap with conviction. "You were shrewd enough for that."

"Thanks, Boney! P'r'aps I was. But I've been hoping all this while, nevertheless, that you might have the grit to keep the devil at arm's length."

Nap laughed, stretched his arms above his head, and made a vehement gesture as if flinging something from him--something that writhed and clung.

"Will it interest you to know that the devil has ceased to provide me with distractions?" he asked suddenly.

A certain eagerness came into the blue eyes. "That so, Boney?"

Nap leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "It's no virtue of mine," he said. "I found I wanted solitude, so I went to the Rockies and stayed there till I was tired. That's all."

Again the skeleton hand of the man on the bed sought and pressed his.

"Old chap, I'm real glad," the tired voice drawled. "You've found yourself at last. I always felt you would--sooner or later."

Nap's lips twitched a little. "Don't be too sure of that. Anyway it doesn't follow that I shall sit at home and practise the domestic virtues. I've got to wander a bit first and find my own level."

"Not yet, dear fellow. I'm wanting you myself."

"You!" The thin lips began to smile. "That's real magnanimous of you.

But--thanks all the same--I'm not taking any. You have the mater and Bertie and Anne Carfax to bolster you up. I guess I'm not essential."

"And I guess you can do more for me than any one of them," Lucas made quiet reply. "P'r'aps you'll think me a selfish brute to say so, but I need you badly. You're like a stimulating drug to me. You pick me up when I'm down. There is no one can help me in the same way."

"You wouldn't get Capper to say 'Amen' to that," remarked Nap.

"Capper is no oracle out of his own sphere. Besides," there was almost a note of pleading in Lucas's voice, "I know what I want better than he can tell me."

"True, very true!" Nap was smiling somewhat grimly. "And doubtless your wish is law. But it doesn't follow that you always desire what is best for yourself. Hadn't you better consult the queen before you admit the wasp to the hive?"

"You're too fond of talking in parables, my son," protested Lucas, frowning slightly. "My intelligence won't stretch to it."

"We'll try another," said Nap imperturbably. "Do you think Anne Carfax would thank you for asking me to pull in the same boat? Do you think she would second that request? Because, if so, I beg to differ."

He looked his brother full in the face as he said it, without the flicker of an eyelid. Lucas's frown deepened. He lay in silence.

After a moment Nap went on. "She may be ready to put up with it for your sake. There's nothing some women won't do for a man they care for, and I take it she has your welfare next her heart. But it's rather much to ask of her. You wouldn't want to run the risk of frightening her away."

Lucas was watching him gravely, his brows still drawn. "Boney," he said slowly at length, "I'd give a good deal to see into your soul."

Nap smiled with a faint return of cynicism. "Who's talking in parables now? Afraid I can't show you what I haven't got."

Lucas pa.s.sed the rejoinder by. "What makes you conclude that I am more to her than--any other man?"

"Circ.u.mstances," said Nap.

"What circ.u.mstances?"

"Finding her installed here as one of the family for one. Finding you pulling off the biggest deal of your life for another. And other signs--crowds of them--that I can't explain but that I can't fail to notice when I've got my nose to the trail. You needn't be shy about it.

I'm just as pleased as you are."

But Lucas's face did not clear. There followed a very decided pause.

Then, with an effort, very earnestly, he spoke.

"Nap, I don't believe you'll lie to me when I tell you that I'd rather die than be deceived. I know you cared for her once."