The Ranchman Part 19

He started when the girl placed a gentle hand on one of his shoulders, seeming to cringe from her touch; then he looked up at her suddenly.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

"Don't you feel well, Uncle Elam?" she inquired. Her hand rose from his shoulder to his head, and her fingers ran through his hair with a light, gentle touch that made him shiver with repugnance. There were times when Parsons hated this living image of his brother-in-law with a fervor that seemed to sear his heart. Now, however, pity for himself had rather dulled the edge of his hatred. A calamity had befallen him; he was crushed under it; and the sympathy of one whom he hated was not entirely undesirable.

No sense of guilt a.s.sailed the man. He had never betrayed his hate to her, and he would not do so now. That wasn't his way. He had always masked it from her, making her think he felt an affection for her which was rather the equal of that which custom required a man should feel for a niece. Yet he had always hated her.

"I'm not exactly well," he muttered. "It's the d.a.m.ned atmosphere, I suppose."

"Martha tells me that it _does_ affect some persons," said the girl.

"And lack of appet.i.te seems to be one of the first symptoms-in your case. For Martha tells me you have not eaten."

The girl's soft voice irritated Parsons.

"Go away!" he ordered crossly; "I want to think!"

It was not the first time the girl had endured his moods. She smiled tolerantly, and softly withdrew, busying herself inside the house.

Parsons did not eat supper; he slunk off to bed and lay for hours in his room brooding over the thing that had happened to him.

He got up early the next morning, mounted his horse and left the house before Marion could get a glimpse of him. It was still rather early when he reached Dawes. There, in a saloon, he overheard the story of the fight in the street in front of the courthouse, and with tingling eagerness and venomous satisfaction he listened to a man telling another of the terrible punishment inflicted upon Carrington by Quinton Taylor.

Parsons did not go to see Carrington, for he feared a repet.i.tion of Carrington's savage rage, should he permit the latter to observe his satisfaction over the incident of yesterday. He knew he could not face Carrington and conceal the gloating triumph that gripped him.

So he returned to the big house. And for the greater part of the day he sat in the rocker on the porch, his soul filled with a vindictive joy.

He ate heartily, too; and his manner indicated that he had quite recovered from the indisposition that had affected him the previous day.

He even smiled at Marion when she told him he was "looking better."

But his bitter yearning for vengeance had not been satisfied by the knowledge that Taylor had thrashed Carrington. He knew, now that Carrington had ruthlessly cast him aside, that he was no longer to figure importantly in the scheme to loot the town; he knew that it was Carrington's intention to rob him of every dollar he had entrusted to the man. He knew, too, that Carrington would not hesitate to murder him should he offer the slightest objection, or should he make any visible resistance to Carrington's plans.

But Parsons was determined to be revenged upon Carrington, and he was convinced that he could secure his revenge without boldly announcing his plans.

As for that, he had no plans. But while sitting in the rocker on the porch during the long afternoon, the vindictive light in his eyes suddenly deepened, and he grinned evilly.

That night after supper he exerted himself to be agreeable to Marion.

During the interval between sunset and darkness he walked with the girl along the edge of the b.u.t.te above the big valley which held the irrigation dam. And while standing in a timber grove at the edge of the b.u.t.te, he questioned her deftly about the news she had received of her father, and she told him of her visits to the Arrow.

He had watched her narrowly, and he saw the flush that came into her cheeks each time Taylor was mentioned.

"He is a remarkably forceful man," he observed once, when he mentioned Taylor. "And if I am not mistaken, Carrington is going to have his hands full with him."

"What do you mean? Do you mean that Mr. Taylor is not in sympathy with Carrington's plans concerning Dawes?"

"I mean just that. And if you had happened to be in Dawes yesterday you might have witnessed a demonstration of Taylor's lack of sympathy with Carrington's plans. For"-and now Parsons' eyes gleamed maliciously-"after Judge Littlefield, acting under instructions from the governor, had refused to administer the oath of office to Taylor-inducting his rival, Danforth, into the position instead--"

Here the girl interrupted, and Parsons was forced to relate the tale in its entirety.

"Uncle Elam," she said when Parsons paused, "are you certain that Carrington's intentions toward Dawes are honorable?"

Parsons smiled crookedly behind a palm, and then uncertainly at the girl.

"I don't know, Marion. Carrington is a rather hard man to gauge. He has always been mighty uncommunicative and headstrong. He is getting ruthless and domineering, too. I am rather afraid-that is, my dear, I am beginning to believe we made a mistake in Carrington. He doesn't seem to be the sort of man we thought him to be. If he were like that man Taylor, now--" He paused and glanced covertly at the girl, noting the glow in her eyes.

"Yes," he resumed, "Taylor _is_ a man. My dear," he added confidentially, "there is going to be trouble in Dawes-I am convinced of that; trouble between Carrington and Taylor. Taylor thrashed Carrington yesterday, but Carrington isn't the kind to give up. I have withdrawn from active partic.i.p.ation in the affairs that brought me here.

I am not going to take sides. I don't care who wins. That may sound disloyal to you-but look here!" He showed her several black and blue marks on his throat. "Carrington did that-the day before yesterday.

Choked me." His voice quavered with self-pity, whereat the girl caught her breath in quick sympathy and bent to examine the marks. When she stood erect again Parsons saw her eyes flashing with indignation, and he knew that whatever respect the girl had had for Carrington had been forever destroyed.

"Oh!" she said, "why did he choke you?"

"Because I frankly told him I did not approve of his methods," lied Parsons, smirking virtuously. "He showed his hand, unmistakably, and his methods mean evil to Dawes."

The girl stiffened. "I shall go directly to Dawes and tell Carrington what I think of him!" she declared.

"No-for G.o.d's sake!" protested Parsons. "He would kill me! He would know, instantly, that I had been talking. My life would not be worth a snap of your fingers! Don't let on that I have said _anything_ to you!

Let him come here, and treat him as you have always treated him. But warn Taylor. Taylor may know something-it is certain he suspects something-but Taylor will not know everything. Make a friend of Taylor, my dear. Go to him-visit his ranch-as much as you like. But if Carrington says anything to you about going there, tell him I opposed it. That will mislead him."

When Parsons and the girl reached the house, Parsons stood near the kitchen door and watched her enter. He did not go in, himself; he walked around to the front and sat on the edge of the porch, grinning maliciously. For he knew something of the tortures of jealousy, and he was convinced that he had added something to the antagonism that already had been the cause of one clash between Carrington and Taylor. And Parsons was convinced that both he and Carrington had made a mistake in planning to loot Dawes; that despite the connivance of the governor and Judge Littlefield, Quinton Taylor would defeat them.

Parsons might lose his money; but the point was that Carrington would also lose. And if Parsons was wise and cautious-and did not antagonize Taylor-there was a chance that he might gain more through his friendship-a professed friendship-for Taylor, than he would have won had he been loyal to Carrington. At the least, he would have the satisfaction of working against Carrington in the dark. And to a man of Parsons' character that was a satisfaction not to be lightly considered.

CHAPTER XVI-A MAN BECOMES A BRUTE

During the days that Parsons had pa.s.sed nursing his resentment, Carrington had been busy. Despite the bruises that marked his face (which, by the way, a clever barber had disguised until they were hardly visible) Carrington appeared in public as though nothing had happened.

The fight at the courthouse had aroused the big man to the point of volcanic action. The l.u.s.t for power that had seized him; the implacable resolution to rule, to win, to have his own way in all things; his pa.s.sionate hatred of Taylor; his determination to destroy anyone who got in his path-these were the forces that drove him.

Taylor had brought matters to a sudden and unexpected crisis. Carrington had planned to begin his campaign differently, to insinuate himself into the political life of Dawes; and he had gone to the courthouse intending to keep in the background, but Taylor had forced him into the open.

Therefore, Carrington had no choice, and he instantly accepted Taylor's challenge. After reentering the courthouse, following the departure of Taylor, Carrington had insisted that Judge Littlefield have Taylor taken into custody on a contempt of court charge. Littlefield had flatly refused, and the resulting argument had been what Neil Norton had overheard. But Littlefield had not yielded to Carrington's insistence.

"That would be ridiculous, after what has happened," the judge declared.

"The whole country would be laughing at us. More, you can see that public sentiment is with Taylor. And he forced me to publicly admit that you were to blame. I simply won't do it!"

"All right," grinned Carrington, darkly; "I'll find another way to get him!"

And so for the instant Carrington dismissed Taylor from his thoughts, devoting his attention to the task of organizing his forces for the campaign he was to make against the town.

He held many conferences with Danforth and with three of five men who had been elected to the new city council-that political body having also been provided under the new charter. Three of the members-Cartwright, Ellis, and Warden-were Danforth men, cogs of that secret machine which for more than a year Danforth had been perfecting at Carrington's orders.

Some officials were appointed by Mayor Danforth-at Carrington's direction; a chief of police, a munic.i.p.al judge, a town clerk, a treasurer-and a host of other office-holders inevitable to a system of government which permits the practice.

Carrington dominated every conference; he made it plain that he was to rule Dawes-that Danforth and all the others were subject to his orders.