CHAPTER 6
Danger
It was the height of the reign of terror.
McMurdo, who had already been appointed Inner Deacon, with every
prospect of some day succeeding McGinty as Bodymaster, was now so
necessary to the councils of his comrades that nothing was done
without his help and advice. The more popular he became, however,
with the Freemen, the blacker were the scowls which greeted him as
he passed along the streets of Vermissa. In spite of their terror
the citizens were taking heart to band themselves together against
their oppressors. Rumours had reached the lodge of secret
gatherings in the Herald office and of distribution of
firearms among the law-abiding people. But McGinty and his men were
undisturbed by such reports. They were numerous, resolute, and well
armed. Their opponents were scattered and powerless. It would all
end, as it had done in the past, in aimless talk and possibly in
impotent arrests. So said McGinty, McMurdo, and all the bolder
spirits.
It was a Saturday evening in May. Saturday was
always the lodge night, and McMurdo was leaving his house to attend
it when Morris, the weaker brother of the order, came to see him.
His brow was creased with care, and his kindly face was drawn and
haggard.
“Can I speak with you freely, Mr. McMurdo?”
“Sure.”
“I can’t forget that I spoke my heart to you once,
and that you kept it to yourself, even though the Boss himself came
to ask you about it.”
“What else could I do if you trusted me? It wasn’t
that I agreed with what you said.”
“I know that well. But you are the one that I can
speak to and be safe. I’ve a secret here,” he put his hand to his
breast, “and it is just burning the life out of me. I wish it had
come to any one of you but me. If I tell it, it will mean murder,
for sure. If I don‘t, it may bring the end of us all. God help me,
but I am near out of my wits over it!”
McMurdo looked at the man earnestly. He was
trembling in every limb. He poured some whisky into a glass and
handed it to him. “That’s the physicbv for
the likes of you,” said he. “Now let me hear of it.”
Morris drank, and his white face took a tinge of
colour. “I can tell it to you all in one sentence,” said he.
“There’s a detective on our trail.”
McMurdo stared at him in astonishment. “Why, man,
you’re crazy,” he said. “Isn’t the place full of police and
detectives, and what harm did they ever do us?”
“No, no, it’s no man of the district. As you say,
we know them, and it is little that they can do. But you’ve heard
of Pinkerton’s?”10
“I’ve read of some folk of that name.”
“Well, you can take it from me you’ve no show when
they are on your trail. It’s not a take-it-or-miss-it government
concern. It’s a dead earnest business proposition that’s out for
results and keeps out till by hook or crook it gets them. If a
Pinkerton man is deep in this business, we are all
destroyed.”
“We must kill him.”
“Ah, it’s the first thought that came to you! So it
will be up at the lodge. Didn’t I say to you that it would end in
murder?”
“Sure, what is murder? Isn’t it common enough in
these parts?”
“It is, indeed; but it’s not for me to point out
the man that is to be murdered. I’d never rest easy again. And yet
it’s our own necks that may be at stake. In God’s name what shall I
do?” He rocked to and fro in his agony of indecision.
But his words had moved McMurdo deeply. It was easy
to see that he shared the other’s opinion as to the danger, and the
need for meeting it. He gripped Morris’s shoulder and shook him in
his earnestness.
“See here, man,” he cried, and he almost screeched
the words in his excitement, “you won’t gain anything by sitting
keeningbw like
an old wife at a wake. Let’s have the facts. Who is the fellow?
Where is he? How did you hear of him? Why did you come to
me?”
“I came to you; for you are the one man that would
advise me. I told you that I had a store in the East before I came
here. I left good friends behind me, and one of them is in the
telegraph service. Here’s a letter that I had from him yesterday.
It’s this part from the top of the page. You can read it
yourself.”
This was what McMurdo read:
How are the Scowrers getting on in your parts? We
read plenty of them in the papers. Between you and me I expect to
hear news from you before long. Five big corporations and the two
railroads have taken the thing up in dead earnest. They mean it,
and you can bet they’ll get there! They are right deep down into
it. Pinkerton has taken hold under their orders, and his best man,
Birdy Edwards, is operating. The thing has got to be stopped right
now.
“Now read the postscript.”
Of course, what I give you is what I learned in
business; so it goes no further. It’s a queer cipher that you
handle by the yard every day and can get no meaning from.
McMurdo sat in silence for some time, with the
letter in his listless hands. The mist had lifted for a moment, and
there was the abyss before him.
“Does anyone else know of this?” he asked.
“I have told no one else.”
“But this man—your friend—has he any other person
that he would be likely to write to?”
“Well, I dare say he knows one or two more.”
“Of the lodge?”
“It’s likely enough.”
“I was asking because it is likely that he may have
given some description of this fellow Birdy Edwards—then we could
get on his trail.”
“Well, it’s possible. But I should not think he
knew him. He is just telling me the news that came to him by way of
business. How would he know this Pinkerton man?”
McMurdo gave a violent start.
“By Gar!” he cried, “I’ve got him. What a fool I
was not to know it. Lord! but we’re in luck! We will fix him before
he can do any harm. See here, Morris, will you leave this thing in
my hands?”
“Sure, if you will only take it off mine.”
“I’ll do that. You can stand right back and let me
run it. Even your name need not be mentioned. I’ll take it all on
myself, as if it were to me that this letter has come. Will that
content you?”
“It’s just what I would ask.”
“Then leave it at that and keep your head shut. Now
I’ll get down to the lodge, and we’ll soon make old man Pinkerton
sorry for himself.”
“You wouldn’t kill this man?”
“The less you know, Friend Morris, the easier your
conscience will be, and the better you will sleep. Ask no
questions, and let these things settle themselves. I have hold of
it now.”
Morris shook his head sadly as he left. “I feel
that his blood is on my hands,” he groaned.
“Self-protection is no murder, anyhow,” said
McMurdo, smiling grimly. “It’s him or us. I guess this man would
destroy us all if we left him long in the valley. Why, Brother
Morris, we’ll have to elect you Bodymaster yet; for you’ve surely
saved the lodge.”
And yet it was clear from his actions that he
thought more seriously of this new intrusion than his words would
show. It may have been his guilty conscience, it may have been the
reputation of the Pinkerton organization, it may have been the
knowledge that great, rich corporations had set themselves the task
of clearing out the Scowrers; but, whatever his reason, his actions
were those of a man who is preparing for the worst. Every paper
which would incriminate him was destroyed before he left the house.
After that he gave a long sigh of satisfaction; for it seemed to
him that he was safe. And yet the danger must still have pressed
somewhat upon him; for on his way to the lodge he stopped at old
man Shafter’s. The house was forbidden him; but when he tapped at
the window Ettie came out to him. The dancing Irish deviltry had
gone from her lover’s eyes. She read his danger in his earnest
face.
“Something has happened!” she cried. “Oh, Jack, you
are in danger!”
“Sure, it is not very bad, my sweetheart. And yet
it may be wise that we make a move before it is worse.”
“Make a move?”
“I promised you once that I would go some day. I
think the time is coming. I had news to-night, bad news, and I see
trouble coming.”
“The police?”
“Well, a Pinkerton. But, sure, you wouldn’t know
what that is, acushla, nor what it may mean to the likes of me. I’m
too deep in this thing, and I may have to get out of it quick. You
said you would come with me if I went.”
“Oh, Jack, it would be the saving of you!”
“I’m an honest man in some things, Ettie. I
wouldn’t hurt a hair of your bonny head for all that the world can
give, nor ever pull you down one inch from the golden throne above
the clouds where I always see you. Would you trust me?”
She put her hand in his without a word. “Well,
then, listen to what I say, and do as I order you; for indeed it’s
the only way for us. Things are going to happen in this valley. I
feel it in my bones. There may be many of us that will have to look
out for ourselves. I’m one, anyhow. If I go, by day or night, it’s
you that must come with me!”
“I’d come after you, Jack.”
“No, no, you shall come with me. If this
valley is closed to me and I can never come back, how can I leave
you behind, and me perhaps in hiding from the police with never a
chance of a message? It’s with me you must come. I know a good
woman in the place I come from, and it’s there I’d leave you till
we can get married. Will you come?”
“Yes, Jack, I will come.”
“God bless you for your trust in me! It’s a fiend
out of hell that I should be if I abused it. Now, mark you, Ettie,
it will be just a word to you, and when it reaches you, you will
drop everything and come right down to the waiting room at the
depot and stay there till I come for you.”
“Day or night, I’ll come at the word, Jack.”
Somewhat eased in mind, now that his own
preparations for escape had been begun, McMurdo went on to the
lodge. It had already assembled, and only by complicated signs and
counter-signs could he pass through the outer guard and inner guard
who close-tiled it. A buzz of pleasure and welcome greeted him as
he entered. The long room was crowded, and through the haze of
tobacco smoke he saw the tangled black mane of the Bodymaster, the
cruel, unfriendly features of Baldwin, the vulture face of
Harraway, the secretary, and a dozen more who were among the
leaders of the lodge. He rejoiced that they should all be there to
take counsel over his news.
“Indeed, it’s glad we are to see you, Brother!”
cried the chairman. “There’s business here that wants a Solomon in
judgment to set it right.”
“It’s Lander and Egan,” explained his neighbour as
he took his seat. “They both claim the head money given by the
lodge for the shooting of old man Crabbe over at Stylestown, and
who’s to say which fired the bullet?”
McMurdo rose in his place and raised his hand. The
expression of his face froze the attention of the audience. There
was a dead hush of expectation.
“Eminent Bodymaster,” he said, in a solemn voice,
“I claim urgency!”
“Brother McMurdo claims urgency,” said McGinty.
“It’s a claim that by the rules of this lodge takes precedence.
Now, Brother, we attend you.”
McMurdo took the letter from his pocket.
“Eminent Bodymaster and Brethren,” he said, “I am
the bearer of ill news this day; but it is better that it should be
known and discussed, than that a blow should fall upon us without
warning which would destroy us all. I have information that the
most powerful and richest organizations in this state have bound
themselves together for our destruction, and that at this very
moment there is a Pinkerton detective, one Birdy Edwards, at work
in the valley collecting the evidence which may put a rope round
the necks of many of us, and send every man in this room into a
felon’s cell. That is the situation for the discussion of which I
have made a claim of urgency.”
There was a dead silence in the room. It was broken
by the chairman.
“What is your evidence for this, Brother McMurdo?”
he asked.
“It is in this letter which has come into my
hands,” said McMurdo. He read the passage aloud. “It is a matter of
honour with me that I can give no further particulars about the
letter, nor put it into your hands; but I assure you that there is
nothing else in it which can affect the interests of the lodge. I
put the case before you as it has reached me.”
“Let me say, Mr. Chairman,” said one of the older
brethren, “that I have heard of Birdy Edwards, and that he has the
name of being the best man in the Pinkerton service.”
“Does anyone know him by sight?” asked
McGinty.
“Yes,” said McMurdo, “I do.”
There was a murmur of astonishment through the
hall.
“I believe we hold him in the hollow of our hands,”
he continued with an exulting smile upon his face. “If we act
quickly and wisely, we can cut this thing short. If I have your
confidence and your help, it is little that we have to fear.”
“What have we to fear, anyhow? What can he know of
our affairs?”
“You might say so if all were as stanch as you,
Councillor. But this man has all the millions of the capitalists at
his back. Do you think there is no weaker brother among all our
lodges that could not be bought? He will get at our secrets—maybe
has got them already. There’s only one sure cure.”
“That he never leaves the valley,” said
Baldwin.
McMurdo nodded. “Good for you, Brother Baldwin,” he
said. “You and I have had our differences, but you have said the
true word to-night.”
“Where is he, then? Where shall we know him?”
“Eminent Bodymaster,” said McMurdo, earnestly, “I
would put it to you that this is too vital a thing for us to
discuss in open lodge. God forbid that I should throw a doubt on
anyone here; but if so much as a word of gossip got to the ears of
this man, there would be an end of any chance of our getting him. I
would ask the lodge to choose a trusty committee, Mr.
Chairman—yourself, if I might suggest it, and Brother Baldwin here,
and five more. Then I can talk freely of what I know and of what I
advise should be done.”
The proposition was at once adopted, and the
committee chosen. Besides the chairman and Baldwin there were the
vulture-faced secretary, Harraway, Tiger Cormac, the brutal young
assassin, Carter, the treasurer, and the brothers Willaby, fearless
and desperate men who would stick at nothing.
The usual revelry of the lodge was short and
subdued: for there was a cloud upon the men’s spirits, and many
there for the first time began to see the cloud of avenging Law
drifting up in that serene sky under which they had dwelt so long.
The horrors they had dealt out to others had been so much a part of
their settled lives that the thought of retribution had become a
remote one, and so seemed the more startling now that it came so
closely upon them. They broke up early and left their leaders to
their council.
“Now, McMurdo!” said McGinty when they were alone.
The seven men sat frozen in their seats.
“I said just now that I knew Birdy Edwards,”
McMurdo explained. “I need not tell you that he is not here under
that name. He’s a brave man, but not a crazy one. He passes under
the name of Steve Wilson, and he is lodging at Hobson’s
Patch.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because I fell into talk with him. I thought
little of it at the time, nor would have given it a second thought
but for this letter; but now I’m sure it’s the man. I met him on
the cars when I went down the line on Wednesday—a hard case if ever
there was one. He said he was a reporter. I believed it for the
moment. Wanted to know all he could about the Scowrers and what he
called ‘the outrages’ for a New York paper. Asked me every kind of
question so as to get something. You bet I was giving nothing away.
’I’d pay for it and pay well,‘ said he, ’if I could get some stuff
that would suit my editor.‘ I said what I thought would please him
best, and he handed me a twenty-dollar bill for my information.
’There’s ten times that for you,‘ said he, ’if you can find me all
that I want.‘ ”
“What did you tell him, then?”
“Any stuff I could make up.”
“How do you know he wasn’t a newspaper man?”
“I’ll tell you. He got out at Hobson’s Patch, and
so did I. I chanced into the telegraph bureau, and he was leaving
it.
“ ‘See here,’ said the operator after he’d gone
out, ‘I guess we should charge double rates for this.’—‘I guess you
should,’ said I. He had filled the form with stuff that might have
been Chinese, for all we could make of it. ‘He fires a sheet of
this off every day,’ said the clerk. ‘Yes,’ said I; ‘it’s special
news for his paper, and he’s scared that the others should tap it.’
That was what the operator thought and what I thought at the time;
but I think differently now.”
“By Gar! I believe you are right,” said McGinty.
“But what do you allow that we should do about it?”
“Why not go right down now and fix him?” someone
suggested.
“Ay, the sooner the better.”
“I’d start this next minute if I knew where we
could find him,” said McMurdo. “He’s in Hobson’s Patch; but I don’t
know the house. I’ve got a plan, though, if you’ll only take my
advice.”
“Well, what is it?”
“I’ll go to the Patch to-morrow morning. I’ll find
him through the operator. He can locate him, I guess. Well, then
I’ll tell him that I’m a Freeman myself. I’ll offer him all the
secrets of the lodge for a price. You bet he’ll tumble to it. I’ll
tell him the papers are at my house, and that it’s as much as my
life would be worth to let him come while folk were about. He’ll
see that that’s horse sense. Let him come at ten o‘clock at night,
and he shall see everything. That will fetch him sure.”
“Well?”
“You can plan the rest for yourselves. Widow
MacNamara’s is a lonely house. She’s as true as steel and as deaf
as a post. There’s only Scanlan and me in the house. If I get his
promise—and I’ll let you know if I do—I’d have the whole seven of
you come to me by nine o‘clock. We’ll get him in. If ever he gets
out alive—well, he can talk of Birdy Edwards’s luck for the rest of
his days!”
“There’s going to be a vacancy at Pinkerton’s or
I’m mistaken. Leave it at that, McMurdo. At nine to-morrow we’ll be
with you. You once get the door shut behind him, and you can leave
the rest with us.”