The Pagan Madonna Part 29

"And if worse comes to worse, will--will you save one for me? Please don't let Denny do it! You are old, and if you lived after it wouldn't be in your thoughts so long as it would be in his--if he killed me. Will you promise?"

"Yes--if worse comes to worse. Will you forgive me?"

"I do. But still I'm going to hold you to your word."

"I'll pay the score, whatever it is. Now suppose you come below with me and take a look at the paintings? You haven't seen my cabin yet."

What was this unusual young woman going to ask of him? He wondered. The more he thought over it the more convinced he was that she had a.s.sisted in the abduction.

CHAPTER XVI

After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair. Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?

Whata you know about this round-up? The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me. How should I smell anythin'?

Hobn.o.bbing together for days, how was I to know they were a bunch of pirates? Is your old man sore?"

"Naturally."

"I mean appertainin' to me?"

"I don't see how he could be. Who took care of you--bound you up?"

"That nice-lookin' greaser with the slue foot. Soft speakin' like a woman and an eye like a timber wolf. Some _hombre_! Where we bound for?"

"G.o.d knows!"--dejectedly.

"Bad as that, huh? Your girl?"

"No."

"No place for a girl. If they hadn't busted my arm I wouldn't care so much! If it comes to a show-down I won't be no good to anybody. Gimme my guns and we'd be headin' home in five minutes. These _hombres_ know somethin' o' my gun play. Gee, it's lonesome here!" Dodge mused for a moment. "Say, what's your old man's idea hog-tyin' you that-a-way?"

"He'll tell you perhaps."

"Uh-huh. Say, what did the Lord make all that stuff for?" with a gesture toward the brazen sea. "What's it good for, anyhow?"

"But for the sea we wouldn't have any oysters or codfish," said Dennison, soberly.

Dodge chuckled.

"Oysters and codfish! Say, you're all right! Never knew the old man had a son until you blew in. Back in New York n.o.body ever said nothin' about you. Where you been?"

"Lots of places."

"Any ridin'?"

"Some."

"Can you shoot?"

"A little."

"Kill any o' them Bolsheviks?"

"That would be guesswork. Did you ever kill a man?"

"Nope. Didn't have to. I'm pretty good on the draw, and where I come from they knew it and didn't bother me."

"I see."

"Shootin' these days is all in the movies. I was ridin' for a film company when your old man la.s.soed me for this job. Never know when you're well off--huh? I thought there wouldn't be nothin' to do but grub pile three times a day and the old man's cheroots in between. And here I be now, ridin' along with a bunch of pirates! Whata you know about that? And some of them nice boys, too. If they were riff-raff, barroom b.u.ms, I could get a line on it. But I'll have to pa.s.s the buck."

"You haven't got an extra gun anywhere, have you?"

"We'd be headin' east if I had"--grimly. "I'd have pared down the odds this mornin'. That _hombre_ with the hop-a-long didn't leave me a quill toothpick. Was you thinkin' of startin' somethin'?"--hopefully.

"No, but I'd feel more comfortable if Miss Norman could carry a gun."

"Uh-huh. Say, she's all right. No hysterics. Ain't many of 'em that wouldn't 'a' been snivellin' all day and night in her bunk. Been listenin'

to her readin'. Gee, you'd think we were floatin' round this codfish lake just for the fun of it! She won't run to cover if a bust-up comes. None whatever! And I bet she can cook, too. Them kind can always cook."

Conversation lapsed.

Below, Jane was pa.s.sing through an unusual experience.

Said Cleigh at the start: "I'm going to show you the paintings--there are fourteen in all. I will tell you the history of each. And above all, please bear in mind the price of each picture."

"I'll remember."

But she thought the request an odd one, coming from the man as she knew him.

Most of the treasures were in his own s.p.a.cious cabin. There was a Napoleonic corner--a Meissonier on one side and a Detaille on the other.

In a stationary cabinet there were a pair of stirrups, a riding crop, a book on artillery tactics, a pair of slippers beaded with seed pearls, and a buckle studded with sapphires.

"What are those?" she asked, attracted.

"They belonged to the Emperor and his first Empress."

"Napoleon?"

"The Corsican. Next to the masters, I've a pa.s.sion for things genuinely Napoleonic. The hussar is by Meissonier and the skirmish by Detaille."

"How much is this corner worth?"

"I can't say, except that I would not part with those objects for a hundred thousand; and there are friends of mine who would pay half that sum for them--behind my back. This is a Da Vinci."