The Valley of Fear: Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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 physic 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?"
"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 keening 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 countersigns 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. Me 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 thechairman 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
shouldcharge 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."
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